Was unaware this was the second part in a series.

Rating based on average response by other readers as I have not read the first book and felt a bit lost.

The Two Faced Queen is the second book in the Legacy of the Mercenary Kings trilogy. As you will know, if you caught my review of book one it was a book I rather enjoyed and I a thrilled I am able to write this review having thoroughly enjoyed book two as well. Second books can easily fall under the pressure of second book slumps but this book doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, it has some middle book qualities but the improvements in this book more than make up for it.

First and foremost the improvement to the character in this installment was immense. Several book friends I know found our main character to be a bit of a pain, and I really can’t deny that. Michael was a bit of an impulsive tit and felt quite childish at times but I still really liked him. I found there to be a raw quality to his personality that I enjoyed, but before his brash behavior got tiresome Martell has given him the growth he needed.

The characterizations as a whole was much improved in this book. I was also pleased to see much more depth to the bonds and relationships that this book gave us too. Michael and Serena were very fun to read and their growing relationship had me going through a whole host of emotions.

Martell has also written some great scenes and dialogue in this book. I found Martell’s writing to be super easy and fun to read. It translates well and kept me turning to the next page.

I feel like this series can go so far and has already shined so bright. I am incredibly excited to get to book three and will likely listen to the audio too because it is done by one of my favourite narrators.

Looking forward to the next sequel. The story is good. The characters are interesting. Hoping for more of the development of the world and the magic itself.

Sadly, not totally for me. It's not bad, not in the least, but it's unsatisfactory. The characters don't feel fully formed, and I can't put my finger on why I found it so unfulfilling. It's not Sarah Maas that's a certainty.
It's the second book in a trilogy, so perhaps it just suffers from that lag a lot of second books do? Maybe so.
I can't fully recommend it, but others have loved it, so it would be worth giving it a try.

I loved the first book in this series and I loved this one.
It's gripping, fast paced and entertaining.
Excellent world building and character development, a tightly knitted plot.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

4.5 of 5 stsrs
https://lynns-books.com/2021/04/19/the-two-faced-queen-the-legacy-of-the-mercenary-kings-2by-nick-martell/
My Five Word TL:DR Review : No middle book syndrome here!

The Two-Faced Queen is everything that I hope for in a second book and then some. This is one crazy ride of a story, full of yet more intrigue and deceit involving immortals, serial killers and a continuing fight for the throne.

I’m not going to recap The Kingdom of Liars here (there are plenty of reviews already out there for that purpose but I would just mention that if you haven’t read the first and intend to do so then this review may contain spoilers.

We start off with a very handy synopsis of what took place in book 1 kindly and considerately provided by the author.

As the story sets off Michael Kingman escaped execution by the skin of his teeth after being taken on as apprentice to Dark of Orbis Mercenary Company. Nobody would willingly risk bringing down the wrath of a mercenary company let alone one that is so well known. However, this temporary reprieve doesn’t totally eliminate the risk to Michael. There are no shortage of people who have himl in their sights, the Two Faced Queen being perhaps the most formidable.

Following the death of her father, Princess Serena (aka The Two Faced Queen) is overcome with the desire to punish Michael. She doesn’t believe that the King took his own life and is hellbent on revenge. Meanwhile, outside the city gates the rebellion continues to brew. Refugees begin to flood the city and to complicate matters further a serial killer, known previously as the Heartbreaker has returned to the Hollows and to say the plot thickens would be to seriously underplay the issue.

What I loved about The Two Faced Queen.

The writing is excellent and the story is superbly plotted. There’s so much going on here and I can’t deny that I needed to really stay focused in order to keep up with all the intrigue and characters. This is one tricksy number with no shortage of action or twists. I was absolutely hooked and constantly wanting to read just one more chapter.

The characters are fascinating, flawed and truly compelling. I can’t deny that there’s a very busy cast that sometimes means keeping everything clear in your mind can be difficult but I genuinely loved so many of these. Michael has come on leaps and bounds since the first book. He isn’t in such a dither now but is much more focused. Dark is truly fascinating as is the Orbis Mercenary Company, who we get to meet more of. I must say I loved the apprentice trial that Michael was put through and more than that the outcome – what a surprise. There’s also a great sense of family here with Michael’s mother being recovered and the family returning to the Kingman Keep. The Royals and the Kingman family share such a complicated past and that is explored much more in this instalment. It seems that Serena and Michael may have strong feelings for each other. Naomi and Trey both return and play outstanding roles and seriously, I just can’t help feeling so impressed by the way everything comes together. That ending.

The Two Faced Queen is a sequel that seriously builds on the foundations of the first book. The Kingdom of Liars was indeed well named, so many lies, so much deceit and none of it helped when you consider that the nobles and royalty all suffer gaps in their memory as a result of too much magic use. There’s no shortage of history or family backstories and I loved the final resolution which makes me super excited for the next instalment. Plus, a murder mystery that feeds into the plot so beautifully.

Overall, I have no criticisms, I had an excellent time reading this and was absolutely gripped. I can’t wait for more.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

Michael Kingman returns in the second instalment of the Legacy of the Mercenary King series. This time he’s really up against it. With Princess Serena and her brother the Corrupt Prince wanting his head, and the Rebel Emperor also wanting the same, he will need all the help he can get from his friends and family, and even the odd enemy or two.
He has to catch the notorious Heartbreaker serial killer, stop a rebellion and prove his innocence, along with other tasks, as well as saving his friends and himself before all is lost.
Nick Martell has produced another fantastic novel of the highest quality.
His writing is outstanding. The characters are superb. The story is incredibly enticing and the atmosphere is magical.
A truly wonderful story.
I’ve loved both books in this series and can’t wait for more. Outstanding.

Unfortunately, I have decided to DNF this book for now. I feel especially bad since I also received the physical arc and I thought that there would be improvement in the story and the writing but alas, I didn't see any of that.

I still don't know if I'm supposed to take the story and characters seriously or not and if it's supposed to read as a parody or not which takes away from my enjoyment of the book.

As a whole, the plot is a mess and I struggle to find the motivation to finish it which saddens me since I really wanted to enjoy this book.

this was disappointing. i got in the book and the first few chapters seemed really promising because of the promise of character dynamics and i guess that set unrealistic expectations, but welp the more i read i realized a lot other aspects are there that i didnt enjoy.

The first of which is the writing style, it felt.. umm boring (simply imo). I think the main reason was that while the characters and the plot itself were pretty okay, it wasnt something phenomenal or even something that had a grip on me, so i looked to the writing style more to try to find smth to hold on to, and its definitely not a beautiful lyrical writing style, but at the same time i found that it also lacked in descriptions to build any atmosphere within the writing, making it seem monotone hence i found it boring.

With regards to the plot, it felt abundantly overused and there weren't nuances, the characters while had depth, did not grow within the story or did anything for me to have been invested in them and the character dynamics were simply cringe at best. Ill say that the magic system too couldve been explored a bit more but i liked the idea of it. In terms of worldbuilding, i think this aspect is what i like the most about this book, especially around the 70% mark and the bits about the history really intrigued me, wish it led to a better usage and incorporation of which in the present timeline tho.

Anyway, this book simply wasnt for me. If youre an epic fantasy reader check this out and see whether you vibe with it!! Thank you to netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Two-Faced Queen is Nick Martell's exhilarating sequel to his debut The Kingdom of Liars.

I must say when I read The Kingdom of Liars, I was pretty impressed. Nick Martell did a fantastic job, writing an intriguing and well-paced plot. He introduced characters that are engaging if sometimes a little annoying, and endearing. There was intricate world-building and a complex magic system.

So, when I saw that the story of The Two-Faced Queen continued in the city of Hollow, I was wondering how Nick Martell was going to expand on something that he had done a pretty good job of building in the first place.

Well, he showed me, didn't he? It turns out that Nick Martell had a whole lot more up his sleeve and The Kingdom of Liars was just the tip of the iceberg.

The story takes place shortly after the events of the Kingdom of Liars and we find him indentured to Dark, the Orbis Corporation Assassin. His mother is no longer a Forgotten and the family are now living in Kingman Keep.

Outside the walls, the rebellion is still encamped slowly strangling the city of Hollow. In addition to this, refugees are flooding into Hollow, making a bad situation worse.

As part of his apprenticeship with Dark, they are tasked to find out where the refugees are from and who leads them.

This sets off a series of events. Firstly, a series of horrific murders lead to the return of a serial killer that has lain dormant for a number of years. The city of Hollow is now in the hands of Serena, The two-faced Queen of the title, who just happens to be Michael's childhood best friend and has set out to kill him because she thinks he killed her father. Oh, on top of that he has to pass his apprentice assassins test.

Just another day at the Kingsman residence then!

Structurally, Nick Martell does not shift much from the first book. Michael is the main character. However, in this book, he is not as difficult to spend time with, and Nick Martell does a nice job of retconning book 1, which gives a different perspective of Michael’s behaviour in Kingdom of Liars. Additionally, Michael grows in this book, which I liked a lot. I think the skill that Nick Martell shows in growing his characters organically is clearly evident. Michael seems more like a real person. Yes, he does make mistakes, and at times he does not see the bigger picture, but we see him learning from his mistakes.

Unfortunately, some of the characters that we spent time in book 1 with, such as Kai do not get as much page time as the previous book, but I found that the relationship that grows between Michael and Dark is quite a fascinating one, and made up for the absence of the other characters.



Naomi is a lot more prominent in the Kingdom of Liars, and we see the after-effects of the incident that involved the Crooked Prince. We learn that as well as losing her job, it is also causing her pain to the extent that she has to seek other means in order to control this.

However, a number of the characters get their time in the spotlight. For one the Two-faced queen herself, Serena, who deluded by her grief, relentlessly chases Michael. Symon, the King of Stories, who I have to say I found quite interesting and wished we could have spent some more time with him, although he gets two interludes in the book in order to change the focus from Michael. Most interestingly, however, is Gwen. I have always found Gwen to be a character that I wanted to spend more time with, and in this book, we get to do that.

The plot of the book runs at full pace, yes there are some lulls in it, but generally, Nick Martell creates a sense of urgency as the book comes to its conclusion. One of the things that I really like about Nick Martell’s writing is that he successfully weaves cross-genre plots. In one instance there is the serial killer plot and the race against time to find the killer before they strike again, interweaved with a solid fantasy book of rebellion and unrest.

On top of this, Nick Martell massively increases the world that the characters inhabit. We get more about the magic system and the lore too. And as we spend time with Dark and Michael, we get more information about the Assassins company and get to meet the crew.

In the Two-Faced Queen, Nick Martell successfully weaves a thrilling plot, expansive world-building with fantastic characters in a book that you won’t want to put down.

The Two-Faced Queen is the second book in Nick Martell’s The Mercenary Kings series, which started with The Kingdom of Liars. It’s epic fantasy set in a world where using magic results in a memory loss and a broken moon drops pieces down to the earth.

I had a lot of issues with the first book—the plot was all over the place and there were too many unnecessary characters, among other things—but I decided to give the sequel a try. Unfortunately, the issues continued.

There were, if possible, even more going on than in the first book. The rebels, the king’s death and Michael trying to prove his innocence, the princess and the succession to throne, Michael trying to restore the Kingman legacy, avenging his father and taking revenge on his step-father where joined with refugees from a far-away country, Michael training to be a mercenary, a serial killer, and an assassin, to name only a few. And all of it was Michael’s responsibility.

Needless to say, with everything going on, the focus wasn’t properly at anything. Like in the first book, Michael was running all over town, doing this and that, and mostly failing. None of the plotlines flowed organically, let alone so that the reader could follow or anticipate what would happen. There were no logical plot points or climaxes. Continuity and logic issues that I hope only occur in the advance copy I read—characters showing up in scenes they’re not supposed to be or knowing things they’re not supposed to know—didn’t help matters either. There were no moments of peace to give Michael—and the reader—time to reflect what was going on and why. Mostly, I suspect, because the author had no idea either.

The entire first half felt like a collection of filler scenes to make the book long enough for some imaginary epic fantasy word count. For example, Michael made a lot of noise about the necessity of helping the refugees as part of his Kingman legacy, but a chapter later they were completely forgotten and never brought up again except as props.

There were too many characters too like in the first book—mostly the same characters, with nothing to do. Problem for this reader was that they weren’t really re-introduced or connected to the events of the previous book. The author assumed that the reader would remember them all, but personally I had no clue. I spent the first half of the book wondering who all these people were and why they mattered.

It didn’t make things easier that some of them were seen in new light. Michael got his memory back at the end of the previous book and the nameless people of the first book were now his old friends. Unfortunately they weren’t connected with the memories the reader had of them. Who was Joey and why he needed heart surgery? Who was Dawn in the previous book?

It didn’t help that the author can’t really create distinct secondary characters. I could’ve sworn that Michael’s sister Gwen was a soldier or in law enforcement in some capacity, yet she turned out to be a blacksmith who liked to dress as a boy. I had no recollection of that.

The only positive change was Michael himself. Now that he could remember who he was, he was less obnoxious and obsessed with revenge. Like he said himself, the curse had prevented him from growing up. Not that there was much character growth here, but at least he tried to be a better person.

The second half of the book was better and more coherent, with a few truly emotional scenes at the end. All the unnecessary distractions were eliminated and the plot concentrated on finding the serial killer. Their identity was a twist that would’ve been more impactful with better foreshadowing from book one. Now it was merely one of the WTF moments the book was full of.

In my review of the first book I noted that it could’ve used a stern editor that would’ve cut the unnecessary plotlines. The second book would’ve benefited from multiple point of view characters. They could’ve been given some of the plots that poor Michael tried to handle by himself to add some depth and coherence to them. The author clearly has a lot he wants to tell, but the chosen method doesn’t do it justice. The one additional POV there was didn’t move the plot forward at all and so was fairly useless.

I think the books’ problems stem from worldbuilding. Martell has clearly spent years creating a complex and intriguing world containing everything possible, and wants to cram it all in, whether it serves the overall plot or not (like what’s with the moon). Many scenes existed solely to introduce the world, making the plot incoherent. The plotline about the immortals will—likely—be the guiding line from here on. In hindsight, it probably was that in the previous book too. It merely got swamped under all the unnecessary distractions.

The book ended at a new place for Michael. The issues with his step-father aren’t solved and new issues have emerged. There’s so much to come that this likely won’t be a classical trilogy but a longer series. I’m not entirely sure, however, that I’ll continue farther than this with Michael.

I'm afraid to say that I did not love this book as much as I wanted to. Although the opening chapters built intrigue and suspense, I found the middle of the book a slow grind and lacking clarity in its journey.

I did enjoy the characters, particularly that Michael seems to have grown in comparison to the first novel. Also, sarcasm is always going to be the way to my heart.

Overall I found The Two Faced Queen fine, just a little slow paced to keep me hooked.

Synopsis: This is the second novel of Nick Martell’s Legend of the Mercenary Kings series, sequel to last year’s The Kingdom of Liars (review). Main protagonist Michael Kingman escaped his death once more under the protection of the Orbis Mercenary company.

Inside Michael’s beloved city Hollows the two siblings Queen-in-Waiting Serena and her brother the Corrupt Prince long for the throne. Serena seeks revenge, because she doesn’t believe in Michael’s tale that her father, the former king, committed suicide.

Outside the city, the rebellion under the Emperor is still waiting to assault the city.

Michael has to follow Orbis mercenary Dark’s command as his apprentice and solve numerous riddles and most importantly: catch a serial killer Heartbreaker, who tears out his victims’ hearts, and also win back Serena’s trust and love.

He tries to figure out the inner workings of Orbis company, because he wants to advance as a fully accepted member and get free of Dark’s harassments.

Walking among Immortals and dragons, fighting against unknown types of magic, he can only trust in his family. Now, can he?

Review: I struggled to find back into the setting, because I didn’t remember all the names, abilities, and numerous relations exposed in the first volume. Yes, it is a highly complicated, tangled mess of a novel which asks for a lot of concentration.

This hurdle lasted for the whole first half of the novel before I was fully able to enjoy the ride and the plot picked up speed, action, and energy. It developed into a fast-paced, witty fantasy thriller featuring a highly capable foe who set up a kind of tournament for his victims, just for entertainment.

Lots of characters from the first novel got more attention and details, especially Dark, that uber mercenary, losing layer after layer like an onion. But even at his core, he is always able to come up with an unexpected twist for naive Michael. Michael matured only a tiny bit:

“Yeah, well, we can’t all be the perfect Michael Kingboy can we?”
“Kingman,” I said. “My last name is Kingman.”
“Then why do you act like a child? Kingboy makes more sense.”

This sequel finishes the setting of the city Hollow and opens up the world for the next volume. I’m very looking forward seeing this, hopefully next year.

Recommende for advanced readers of Epic Fantasy.

The two faced queen follows book 1 in this series as part of a duology. An interesting story with new elements in fantasy that really intrigued me.

I enjoyed the story but at times felt it was a little slow in the middle., its possible that this series just isn't for me.

Michael Kingman our main protagonist can be slightly annoying but overall the characters in general were interesting and followed the story line as Michael was labeled a traitor. and murderer for killing the King of the Hollows.

I just felt that unfortunately some parts (the romance for example) just felt a little flat but it could just have been my disconnect keeping me from a really great read. The plot was a little all over the place but the last 30 was fantastic and concluded perfectly.

I did feel a slight disconnect to the characters and a overwhelmed plot changed my thoughts to a 3 star rating.

FULL REVIEW HERE: https://bensblurb336971199.wordpress.com/2021/02/26/the-two-faced-queen-review/

Nick has written a brilliant story about mystery, murder, magic and Michael Kingman. He has weaved a tricky tale of deceit and untrustworthy characters, power hungry monsters and broken alliances. There is magic unlike you’ve seen before twists and turns akin to a rollercoaster. Yes Nick’s books start off slow but once that rollercoaster goes over that drop and you’re looking down into those pages wondering what is going to come next you won’t want to let go for fear of never getting your heart back out of your mouth

.

3.5 stars

The Two-Faced Queen is the sequel to The Kingdom of Liars, following Michael Kingman after he has been framed for the murder of the King of Hollow. Set in a world where the cost of magic is losing memories and secrets about the city and it's history are coming to light.

A serial killer has made a recurrence in the city, alongside Michael being accused of killing the king and being in the warpath of the princess Serena, soon to be the queen. Michael and Serena were childhood best friends but now Serena hates him. In order to save himself from execution he is protected by the company he works for as well as agreeing to investigate the murders. There is a lot going on in this book and I feel like the first half suffers a bit from feeling directionless with too much going on.

For me the second half of the novel was a LOT stronger than the first. I feel like the plot becomes a lot more cohesive and starts moving in a direction that was really enjoyable, with some great reveals! I loved learning about the dragons and Dark's agenda. Also the whole heart eating thing was slightly creepy but also ngl I loved reading about it and how it fit into the story.

While I didn't love any of the characters enough to bump this up to 4 stars, I really liked Naomi and Chloe (basically the gay characters lol) and I feel like once Naomi came into the story it really started picking up for me. Michael was a decent character and fairly solid for a main character, there was nothing I disliked about him but I didn't quite feel a deep emotional connection. I did really like the villians though (pretends to be shocked), I always like it when villians have well portrayed motivations and we get to see a bit of their backstory. I wasn't a big fan of the "romance" between Michael and Serena, although I usually love the childhood best friends to lovers trope I didn't really feel the connection between them and the dynamic just felt a bit off to me.

In conclusion I had a fun time reading this but it probably won't stick in my mind.

Michael Kingman deserves a bloody break. Actually, I’d be swearing right now when I’m writing this review as I am so emotional writing this. A masterpiece. A true masterpiece! The Two Faced Queen is a fantastic book, it improves upon the sequel in so many ways. It made me go emotional I had my fists bawling in certain high moments. High tension action, gripping drama, and so many secrets. This book is a temple of secrets. That I can say without a shadow of a doubt. This is a story that had me broken down to tears. A story, that had I looked at it again, would still cry over. I am so amazed, and yet so sad and so happy at the same time. This is a story of triumph over evil. I don’t care how grim-dark it is, there is an element of heroic scope in this story. An understanding. A very mature understanding of the grim realities of what is a hero, and what is a villain. I can see my own bias towards Michael in this story. And to be honest, I don’t mind at all. I have not seen such a character like him, and neither would I ever want to again, because a character like Michael achieves so much in this novel, that he may be the very best definition of what defines an actual anti-hero. He is like Jorg Ancrath from Mark’s Lawrence’s The Broken Empire trilogy, similar but not too familiar. Jorg is more of a coward, whereas Michael is more of a villain trying to be a hero. If these two were to ever meet, I am sure they’d have a lot to talk about. A lot.

I just want to get this out of my system. The people treating Michael as a person who’s a liar, a man that lies to protect his family, are so rude and bad to him I was wondering for a second. Michael may not be the best hero, nor the best villain. But he is Niccolò Machiavelli reborn. He is a clever man. The result of his upbringing of being branded a traitor for something his father was accused of, does not mean that all the people in this world have to be rude to him. I’d argue that most of the characters were far more selfish and evil. Michael is an innocent human being that was beset by powerful figures such as the cunning Angelo, his foster father, and Domet. A man whose’s motives are still shrouded even to this day. And the entire conflict between the Hollow and the Kingman family. Jeez the Hollow’s need to give it a break. They really need to.

Do you know who I’m most angry at? Serena. She is no doubt grieving over the loss of her father. But I ask. What did Serena’s family do to help King Issac’s mental health? Easy, let’s put the blame on Michael because he is there! Although Serena does improve at the end. And Naomi, who is a great character, I just have to say stop flirting with Michael when you have feelings for another person. This, this right here. You see my emotions coming alive as I write this review? This is the hallmark of a great writer. This is the stuff of legends. This is what stories are made of. This is how you tell a story. Kingman may never seek to be a hero, he may never seek to be a good man. But he has a curse. A curse to help people and get insulted by those that were his friends and are still his friends. Trey and Rock? Best characters. I don’t want Trey and Kingman to confront…but there is a chance.

Was I a character in this story, I’d be a High Archmage that could be a Spellborn mage that can manipulate memories for good. Not bad. And I’d say to most of Michael’s friends and enemies. That man has sacrificed himself for you. He’s done a lot more in this book, been on the receiving curse of endless insults, of endless banter. Perhaps you lot could be a little more grateful. If Michael were gone, I’d bet you would miss him. Because I have never seen such a character like Michael, and nor should I ever hope to. I do not think I would want to see a character like that, who has achieved so much throughout all the ups and downs he’s gone through. In the end, Michael has one of the best redemption arcs in this entire novel. And Nick, you’ve done it. I don’t know what structure you used. I know when I read your tweets about writing this novel and how you were struggling through it. Guess what? This was worth every minute. Every minute of blood, sweat, and tear that went into the making of the Two-Faced Queen’s manuscript has worked. I have discovered so many secrets, that I wonder what I would do with all that knowledge. I pity Michael, for he has a far greater destiny ahead of him. A far greater one.

Remembered memories are bitter and sweet, are they not? This novel will take you all over the place. You will discover heart-breaking secrets, engage in vicious brutal combat, and witness some of the most horrifying scenes you’ll see. The quality and level of writing are akin to that of the writers who write the scripts for Elder Scrolls Online, Dragon Age Inquisition, and God of War. Some criticism I’ve had is I’ve noticed there are a lot of noble families. I would have wanted more simplification of them. Another thing is I need a map. There are so many new empires, kingdoms that I want to explore, plus pirates and ships! This world is much bigger. I say dear reader when you read the first book, the Kingdom of Liars, this book expands. And it expands wonderfully. Dark is one of the deepest, best characters I’ve read. He still holds more secrets than I know.

And Angelo is a horrendous being. As was Dark’s Grandfather. As is nearly everyone except Gwen, Dawn, Trey, Rock, Michael, Juliet, Domet, the King of Stories, and the true villains of this story. And a request. I want more of the King of Stories. There is a certain place called the Gold Coast…and I say to Nick, give me pirates, give me oceans, give me glorious naval battles, give me sun-baked deserts, and give me Arabian-style fantasy, please. Let me meet with the Sultans of the Gold Coast, or something like that. Oh and just have Serena and Michael marry each other and break the stupid rigid traditions that their family imposes on them please? It’s clearly evident, the two are in love with each other. I don’t need to be Odin in American Gods to figure that one out from the first book! I’m shipping them now.

You, sir, have done a tremendous book. This is one of those books where my criticism, is naught but few! This is one of those books you need to have on your bookshelf. But it is imperative that you buy both: The Kingdom of Liars Book 1, and the Two-Faced Queen Book 2. Without these two in order, you will not understand the chain of events that link this book together. It is fantastic, and I thoroughly recommend this novel! Thoroughly!

I will be submitting Amazon/Waterstones review at day of release!

After reading the Kingdom of Liars and finding some parts of it to be excellent and other parts to be obnoxious (like our main character sometimes) so I was looking forward to reading this one because I did like the world building.

I genuinely feel like there’s so much going on in this book that it’s hard to write a summary. I will say that it builds nicely off the first book and continues Michael’s story from where we left him at the end of book one. Many of the things I found annoying were better in this second book and I really felt like it was incredible, particularly that last quarter of the book which sets up what appears to be the ultimate showdown in the third (and I’m assuming final) book.

I really think Nick Martell’s strength is his storytelling and writing style. It was just an enjoyable read and at times I was on the edge of my seat and it was difficult to put the book down. I’m looking forward to book three!

Pretty good. Better than the first book. I found the first half of the story a bit meandering but the end was good. I’m still invested enough that I want to k is what happens at the end.

I had the highest of hopes for The Two-Faced Queen after loving Kingdom of Liars last year but I was left a little disappointed with this one, even though it pains me to say it. Overall, I found this book to be a bit long and meandering, when there was no need for it. There were a few things that just felt like they were there for filler, as opposed to lending itself to the overall plot. The first half of the book took me a week to get through, which is definitely not the norm for me. I managed to get through the other half quicker. The premise of these books is always excellent, I just found the execution of this one to be a bit lacking for me. And I hate saying that.