I requested this many years ago (six, I think!) and I can vaguely recall that I didn't realise this was a sequel. Alas, that was my fault. However, present day me has not read the first and can not see myself reading it anytime soon, so for now I am removing this from my shelf. I have given this 5 stars to not negatively impact the overall rating.

I absolutely adore this author and series! The story telling and mythology is incredible ! I can't wait for the next book in this series! A must read!

Unfortunately, this book ended up being a dnf for me. I find it hard to give it a fair rating due to the fact that I didn’t get that far in the story.

This was such a strong sequel, and I enjoyed it almost as much as Rebel of the Sands. Hamilton is a great writer, and I look forward to more from her.

I read the first book and did enjoy it however, at the time I didn't realise how inappropriate it was for a white author to be writing this story in place of POC. Regardless of having initially enjoyed the first book, I did try to read this sequel but I didn't get far. It just felt like it was out of place and not the author's story to tell. So, I DNF'd this book.

I did not finish this, as I found it to rely quite heavily on stereotypical representations of the Middle East and various concepts surrounding it. This is unfortunate but not all too surprising, alas. That being said, I did enjoy the author's writing style from what little I read.

Kind of the draft with this one not as good as the first one the excitement has died down for me. Read this one again just to do it justice.

4.5 stars

I ended up listening to this book rather then reading it. If you enjoyed the first book then you won't be disappointed by this sequel. I love Amani just as much, she's still smart and strong and just absolutely kick ass.

I have no interest in this series.

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I liked this more than the first book. Can’t wait to read the final book in this series. Love this world and the characters.

The first book in this series, Rebel of the Sands, blew me away so I couldn’t wait to read its sequel. Traitor to the Throne expanded the fictional world so much, and just as I have come to expect from Hamilton, the world building was exquisite. The story kept me gripped from beginning to end and the last quarter was so tense I’m fairly certain I actually squealed at one point!

I enjoyed reading about Amani’s journey in this story and her arc as an independent woman. While there is romance it was refreshing to read about a strong and sucessful woman who wasn’t that way because of her love interest!

Another action packed and fast paced story that kept me hooked!

Thanks to Netgalley and Faber and Faber for giving me this book to review.

Traitor to the Throne is the enjoyable second book in the Rebel of the Sands trilogy but I did not like it as much as the first book. The main problem I had was that a important story point happened between the two books and it was key to so many of the characters motivations, that it would have been so useful to have included it in a prologue so people know what happened. This book is more political than the previous book but it was still good as we get to see more of the Sultan and how he truly believes he is what is best for his country.

Amani is still brave and sassy but she is not as impulsive or selfish as she was before because she thinks more about her actions and how they affect not just her but those she cares about. Jin is hardly in this book which was disappointing as I don’t like the troupe of separating couples in the second book to add drama. The characters from the first book are back but I loved the new characters as they add something new to the story but especially Sam as he is cheeky and charming.

While not as good as the first book I still really enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading Hero at the Fall. I would recommend Traitor to the Throne to fans of the first book, Rebel of the Sands.

I haven't got enough words for how much I loved this book! It was even better than book 1 and that's rare for me. It's fast paced but still manages to be full of intrigue and plot twists. The characters are well rounded and I especially love the main love interest in this story. They have such nice chemistry. Cue, dreamy sigh.

Highly recommend!

The #RebeloftheSands series is such an enjoyable fantasy ☀️🔥🏜 I love the Persian inspired setting and the concept of djinni. They’re such action packed, fast moving novels. I struggled a lot to put them down 😅
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Book 1, #RebeloftheSands, is a fantastic introduction to the world without the presence of too much Big Bad evil. The whole western vibe and sharpshooting combined with magic just works so well. I really wish we’d gotten more Iksander though and that the funniest secondary character hadn’t been killed 😭
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#TraitortotheThrone was a wild ride! Slower burn, but with a more complicated and detailed plot. I didn’t expect so many characters from book one to reappear!! The sultan was a very interesting big overarching villain. The harem girls were exhausting though, such stereotypical high school mentalities 🙄
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#HeroattheFall was a good conclusion. It destroyed my emotions a lot very quickly. My first cry was at 100 pages 😭😭😭😭 No time was wasted in this plot. I’m a bit conflicted about the way some things were resolved for spoilery reasons, but overall a fitting ending. I really enjoyed how we got that glimpse of how the surviving characters futures unfolded.
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I would LOVE to come back to this world in the future. Maybe not Miraji, but one of the other countries in the world 🙏
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Series rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unfortunately, I am no longer interested in reviewing this book on my blog. Thank you for the opportunity.

Sequels are a hit-or-miss for most people. They have to entertain to reader enough so they will read the third novel as well as come up with a good storyline. Amani proved to be a strong heroine in the first one and she I enjoyed the new setting and the new characters. The plot is better than in the first one, the first one was a bit slow to start. The villain was not one-dimensional either, which also helped. Also, there are not enough books about djinnis.

After the brilliance of Rebel of the Sands, the sequel had a lot to live up to. And it certainly did. Amani's sharp tongue and even sharper shooting are back, and the stakes were even higher. The plot had so many twists and the pacing was spot on. I would have liked to see more on Jin in this book, but the number of new, strong female characters went some way to making up for that. The magic and myths were even more richly detailed in this novel and I really enjoyed reading it.

We'll admit, we liked the first book in this trilogy. There was a desert and magic and guns and oooh, a conspiracy. So exciting, so delighting...so much better than the sequel. Traitor to the Throne became a skim read for us and we just can't see why. All the elements of a fantasy book that we love were there, but the stopped doing something for us and...

We know this review is so late. It's SOOOO many months passed the publishing date for this novel and that's because when we were approved for reading Traitor to the Throne prior to publication we didn't finish it. We gave up and didn't review.

But then recently we got a print copy from the library and thought, we'll sit down and finish this book now. We'll finally review it.

And our review, in two words is: We're done.

This world and the characters in it, just aren't for us, but we're glad we gave them as much of a chance as we could.

Now a full-fledged member of Prince Ahmed's rebellion, Amani - the Blue-Eyed Bandit - has made it her life to throw herself into danger. After the rebel camp's location is attacked, however, Amani finds herself in more danger than she has ever been.

She finds herself a prisoner of the Sultan. Without her powers.

I had trouble getting into this book; the start is a bit slow and confusing, especially when you, like me, had forgotten a bit of what happened in the previous novel. I'd definitely recommend freshen up on that a bit before getting into this sequel - because, gods, it does become incredible.

Having Amani in the palace, as a prisoner of the Sultan, showcases just how much goes on behind those walls - and how difficult it can be to decide who is a friend and who is an enemy. She becomes the Sultan's tool, a person he uses to tell which diplomats are telling the truth and which ones are lying. But it does not feel like she is being used; the Sultan shows her kindness, acts like a father to her.
At least, for as long as he needs to.

There are new, interesting characters appearing as well. There's Sam, a demdji from another country who has been impersonating the Blue-Eyed Bandit. Shira, Amani's cousin and the pregnant wife of the Sultim (crown prince). And Princes and Princesses, some friends and some foes - and you might not figure out who is who until it's too late.

The ending of this book is explosive, magnificent, and it did make me pick up the next book right away. Seriously, do read this series right away, if you haven't already!

Let me start with the fact that I liked this book. But I didn't love it. It has some definite second book issues. I actually want to say, "middle book" issues, but I don't know how many books are planned for the series. It's long and tedious and starts a few months after the events of the first book, but ends before anything is really concluded.

There was also very little Jin and Amani. Well, just so little Jin in general. But one of my favorite parts of the first book was Amani and Jin's banter and unquestioning trust in each other. I missed that a lot in this book. The court intrigue and thoughts about what makes a good leader/ruler (and what the difference might be) was not a substitute as far as I was concerned.
That brings me to complaint number two. I missed the Amani who threw herself into action. The Amani of this book is sedentary and largely helpless and naive. I might not have minded it if so much of the book wasn't this. But I felt bogged down in her being trapped.

Overall, I liked it but didn't love it.