This was a great addition to the Ash Princess series. There is a lot to work with here and I can always get behind a strong female lead. This series does pretty well at my library and would be a great recommendation for my teens that have already devoured the Red Queen series and are looking for a read-alike.

LADY SMOKE is every bit as addictive as the first in this engrossing trilogy. Picking up where the first book left off, we follow Theo as she leaves Astrea, the place where she should be queen if the Kalovaxians had not invaded and taken over. She has spent the last ten years under the cruel Kaiser, a prisoner in the palace while her people suffered in slavery. Now that she has escaped with some other Astrean rebels, with the Kalovaxian Prinz as her captive, she finds herself conflicted over the limited freedom she gets on the Dragonsbane's ship.

Astrean queens do not typically marry, but Dragonsbane has organized an event for Theo to choose a spouse. This would be to acquire their military aid in retaking Astrea from the Kalovaxians, but Theo is not so naive as to believe there is not also something big in it for Dragonsbane. Theo will need to figure out motives, allies/enemies, and plot for ways to retake her kingdom from the foreign land where they are now staying.

What I loved: Sebastian really has a gift with pacing. The plot moves quickly and smoothly throughout the book, capturing and keeping the reader's attention. This book takes place less in Theo's head (though there is still a lot of important things happening there), as we meet royalty from other kingdoms and expand the world we met in the first book. There is much more political intrigue, mind games, and dangerous relationships in this second book. Romance really takes a backseat, and I really enjoyed it.

There are also some interesting discussions about war, the people who fight in them, political motives, the concept of virginity, and interpersonal relationships. It all makes for a truly fascinating novel. While this is the middle book in the trilogy, there's nothing middling about this, and it is a really great novel in its own right (certainly not just a space filler between books).

Final verdict: Atmospheric, engaging, and beautifully crafted, LADY SMOKE is a wonderful continuation of this dark YA fantasy series. Expect plenty of political intrigue, mystery, and war/rebellion-related violence. While not for the faint of heart, this series is highly addictive with fully developed characters and lots of twists and turns.

An absolutely amazing second book in the series. I’m in love with all the characters - even the ones that don’t deserve to live because of their cruelty.

Great story and loved the romance. Loved the cast of characters and how the story came to be. Great story and I would read this author again.

The perfect sequel. So much more than I was expecting—and I had fairly high expectations. If you like fantasy and girls reclaiming their narrative and fighting back against all the true evils of the world this book, this series, is for you. I wasnt happy with a couple of the MC's decisions, but they ended making sense in the end. Despite those decisions, Theo was a cunning and resourceful character. I liked how she used being underestimated to her advantage. Living with the Kaisers and his court these past 10 years has given her plenty of time to get to know her enemies weaknesses. Shes learned how to play head games and inflict damage from the best, they just never expected her to turn it on them. I loved seeing her put King Estrio in his place, especially about the whole virginity test.

I give the book five stars. I love this series! I love the characters and the world the author created. I would recommend the book, the series, and the author!

Lady Smoke is absolutely gripping, just as the first book. Theo and her Shadows have escaped from the Kaiser, but that doesn't mean they are safe. She is determined to free her country whatever the cost. However, Blaise is being consumed by his powers, Soren may well not survive being Theo's captive, and she cannot stop thinking about her last conversation with Cress.

Is Theo powerful enough to defeat the Kaiser? Who can she trust? Lady Smoke has everything fantasy readers need: magic, alliances, bloodlust, sacrifices, and such an unexpected and epic ending! In a way,Theo reminded me a little bit of Celaena Sardothien from Throne of Glass at times. She is so brave and impulsive!

It is true that this sequel does not have as many dark scenes as Ash Princess, mainly because Theo is no longer the Kaiser's prisoner (yeah, I love gory stories, I am not going to lie), but I am so addicted to this blurry love triangle anyway! Once you think Theo has made her mind... surprise! Once you think things cannot get worse.... surprise! I NEED THE THIRD BOOK.

This novel is the follow-up to Ash Princess. Very much enjoying this series and I felt like the main characters were a little more rounded out in this one, making for a very enjoyable read. I completely devoured it within about 2 days and looking forward to the third book!

I really liked Ash Princess because even though it was very trope heavy, it was done with enough skill that it felt fresh. I expected the same from Lady Smoke but this read a lot more like your average, saggy middle book that so many YA trilogies fall into. The developments were kind of forced and the pace was off. I think it's because the Theo-Cress relationship that made the first book so strong was absent here, and there were no super compelling developments to make up for it. It was fine, but I'm not dying to read the third book.

This book was better than I expected. At times, the main character can be a bit Mary Sue-ish, but the twist at the end more than made up for it. I am greatly looking forward to see what happens in the next and final book.

Ash Princess is excellent and Lady Smoke does not disappoint! Characters, pirates, wonderful twists and one of my favorite female protagonists. I love the emotional twists of this novel--wonderful mix of over the top scenarios and exciting plot and relatable, fun characters create a wonderful fantasy escape.. Theo is so unique made so tough by years of being treated so badly, but also flawed in her view of reality. She is innocent and guilty all at once and we want her to succeed.

Thank you, Penguin Random House, for giving me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"My mother was the Queen of Peace. But I am not that sort of Queen."

This sequel to Ash Princess was worth the wait. I've always loved political fantasies since they typically have enough intrigue to keep the pages flipping. With that in mind, Lady Smoke gave me the reading experience that I expected. Even though I didn't completely recall everything that happened in the first book, I didn't have a hard time getting back into Theo's dysfunctional world.

The plot was probably one of the reasons for the latter phenomenon since it was somewhat reminiscent of The Selection, one of my favorite YA series. After Theo escaped from the clutches of the evil Kaiser and took refuge in Sta' Crivera, she desperately needed an army to back her up. Unfortunately, the only way to reach that goal was to marry a foreign royal, who would then claim a part of her beloved kingdom. Theo was unwilling to sacrifice her agency to any of her not-so-benevolent suitors, but she had no choice but to entertain their proposals. After all, the fate of Astrea was at stake. When Theo finally selects her future husband, something terrible happens, and she fears that it's the Kaiser's fault.

Although the romantic/political drama was very familiar, I was too engaged to feel bored or jaded. Theo and her friends were always on edge, especially around the king of Sta' Crivera. Their alliance was shaky, so he could sell them out to the Kaiser if he thought that helping them was becoming inconvenient. Moreover, there was a malevolent force in the palace. If Theo didn't manage to find it, she would have to give up on procuring a powerful husband. I loved the irony of her situation. She had outsmarted the Kaiser only to face a similarly cunning enemy.

Theo matured a lot in this book. By visiting one of the camps of her fellow refugees, she realized that there were people who had bigger problems than her. She also discovered the fatal flaw of her supposedly perfect mother. I liked that instead of feeling discouraged, she heeded the call of leadership; she strove to be strong and wise enough to give hope to those who had resigned themselves to poverty and suffering. In light her tenacity, it was no wonder that she had the affections of Blaise and Prince Soren.

Compared to Theo, the two male leads were not that inspiring. Blaise had a suicidal streak or Messianic complex, while Soren had overrated daddy issues (and he was often a "lad in distress"). Also, the love triangle that they had with Theo bordered on emotional cheating. Still, I appreciated how they never failed to lift Theo's spirit through sincere words of affirmation. Without them, she would've succumbed to her bouts of self-doubt and pessimism.

Dragonsbane, Theo's aunt, was the most complex character. I had some assumptions about her from the very beginning, and most of them turned out to be wrong. For a pirate, she sometimes had a striking sense of honor. Well, it was probably because her daughter (Artemisia) was Theo's close friend. Haha. Anyway, I'll try not to be judgmental toward fictional characters.

With all that said, Lady Smoke was an utterly engaging combination of fantasy and politics. The fast pace made the book seem like it had less than 492 pages. I guess it would have been perfect without the overrated love triangle.

Strong, dynamic characters make a wonderful fantasy!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review Lady Smoke by Laura Sebastian!
Theo is on Smoke, Dragonbane’s ship, with her Shadows and Soren. They are all working towards gathering allies to get her palace and reign back. Dynamic, strong characters plus the world building make Lady Smoke interesting to read and the uncertainty of Theo’s future drew me into the story even more. The characters’ backgrounds are intense and built fascinating characters that keep growing and stay steadfast by Theo’s side. Amazing strength and loyalty create unparalleled love for the kingdom they are all trying to get back. As the story carries on, more atrocities are brought to light and make the group even more determined! I don’t want to spoil anything but I’m thoroughly enjoying this series and anxiously awaiting the third book! 5 stars for great world building and strong, dynamic characters!

A solid fantasy read that exceeded my expectations.

If you haven't read the Red Queen series, you'll love Ash Princess and Lady Smoke. Theo is fierce and a little broken, the twists were fun if not entirely unexpected, and the world Laura Sebastian created was interesting and engaging.

That being said, I read and loved Red Queen so Ash Princess and Lady Smoke had too much in common for me to really love them. While I'll admit many YA fantasy series follow the same patterns and tropes, here almost every scene felt like an echo of Red Queen.

Despite the similarities, it was enjoyable to read, but I don't think I'll be back for book 3.

I read this book during January's edition of 24in48 readathon. This has sort of become a tradition for me, since I also read Ash Princess during last year's 24in48 readathon. I was very surprised by this book, if I'm honest. I don't know what I was expecting, but I definitely wasn't expecting what went down in this book.

Lady Smoke picks up right where Ash Princess left off, with Theo, her Shadows and Prinz Soren on Dragonsbane ship, trying to find some way to outsmart Soren's dad. There's a lot of twists and turns in this book that I didn't see coming, and a few things I may have anticipated but still enjoyed.

One thing that stood out to me in this book was the fact that we get to see Soren not only as a potential love interest for Theo, but also as the person that led his men into battle against innocent people, just because his father wanted to rule the world by any means necessary, but mostly by force. I liked the way the subject was dealt with, and also the fact that I never felt pressured to see him one way or another. There wasn't a time when I felt that his sins were forgotten, nor that he was seen as a big bad entirely. I liked that a lot, and it's a theme that was present with Theo in Ash Princess. Is Soren just as bad as his father, or is Soren just a symptom of his father's reign? Personally I don't feel comfortable saying one over the other, because while he led his men into battle and he ordered the death of so many innocent people, I can't ignore the fact that he was raised by a power hungry, greedy man that wanted to rule the world, and that he couldn't do anything short of either defecting or trying to dethrone his father, in which case Soren probably would have ended up being killed at the order of his father. So while I do agree that Soren did terrible things, I can't really disregard the fact that he was a pawn and a puppet for his father's plans, just like I can't ignore the fact that he was raised to be in the military, where direct orders are obeyed without question.

The same theme of identity and questioning one's character is present in other characters, mostly Dragonsbane and Blaise. I never could quite figure out Theo's aunt, just like I never could figure out if Blaise was truly on the verge of unraveling or if there was something more that was happening to him. Is Dragonsbane trying to get rid of Theo and become queen of Astrea, or is she trying to help out Theo, she's just using whatever means necessary to do so? Is Blaise losing his grip on his powers and becoming more and more lost to it, or can he be fixed? So that theme is still there in this book, and I hope it will be present in the last book of the trilogy as well.

The book had some surprises I didn't anticipate, although looking back I probably should have. There needs to be a balance in everything, and this book balanced things out for Theo, even if this means she may end up in a lot of danger in the next book.

The pacing of the book as rather slow for about a half of this book, and then it picked up quite nicely. I would have wanted for the book to be a little more fast-paced, but I was still able to enjoy it. There were a few things I expected to see happen and I truly liked seeing them close to what I imagined.

All in all, I really enjoyed this second installment in the Ash Princess trilogy and I am very impatiently looking forward to see how it all ends.

This was such a great story. I can’t believe I got an ARC because I was so excited to read it. The plot was intriguing and the characters were fully developed and you could really feel like you were in their shoes

Ursprünglich gepostet auf Books on Fire
https://www.booksonfire.de/2019/02/laura-sebastian-lady-smoke.html

Zitat
"A queen without a crown, without a throne, without a coronation. What, exactly, do you imagine you're queen of?" - Kapitel 34 "Arrest"

Meine Meinung
Bereits letztes Jahr war "Ash Princess" eines meiner Jahreshighlights. Als ich dann erfuhr, dass "Lady Smoke" zwei Monate eher erscheinen würde, konnte ich es kaum noch erwarten. Und ich wurde nicht enttäuscht.

"Lady Smoke" tappt nicht in die Falle vieler zweiter Bände und kann nicht mit dem ersten Band mithalten. Nein, für mich war dieser Band sogar besser. Warum? In "Lady Smoke" erfahren wir so viel mehr über die Welt außerhalb Astreas. Diese Welt füllt sich plötzlich mit Leben und den verschiedensten Gesellschaften. Was viele aus der LGBTQ+-Community freuen dürfte, ist der natürliche Umgang mit anderen Sexualitäten als Heterosexualität. So gibt es unteranderem einen Hinweis auf ein vielleicht künftiges homosexuelles Pärchen, sowie eine Bewerberin um Theos Hand zwischen all den Männern. Es wird kein großes Aufheben darum gemacht, sondern natürlich in den Plot eingewoben. So wie es auch sein sollte.

In diesem Band gibt es auch ein Wiedersehen mit alten Bekannten. Mit manchen rechnet man, aber mit manchen absolut nicht und genau das fand ich wunderbar. Allgemein schafft es Laura Sebastian einen immer wieder auf falsche Fährten zu locken, um einen am Ende dann zu überraschen. Die Geschichte fühlt sich dadurch realistisch an. Denn wie im Leben, kann man nur soweit ahnen, was passieren wird und wird am Ende dann meist doch wieder überrascht.

Das Highlight blieb für mich aber weiterhin Theo selbst. Eine Protagonistin, die zwar Gefühle zulässt, sich aber nicht davon dominieren lässt. Sie hechelt keinem Mann hinterher, sondern ist unabhängig und dennoch liebenswert. Leider bekommen das noch immer nur sehr wenige Autoren hin. Wie auch in "Ash Princess" ist sie nicht perfekt. Sie macht Fehler, bezahlt dafür und lernt daraus. Ihre Taten haben Konsequenzen. Sie ist nicht abgebrüht, aber auch keine Jungfrau in Nöten. Sie tut, was sie tun muss, aber steht für ihre Überzeugungen ein. Theo repräsentiert für das Idealbild einer emanzipierten Frau. Zugleich fand ich schön, dass auch Theo manchmal am Imposter-Syndrom leidet, also dem Gefühl nicht genug zu tun oder nicht ausreichend zu sein, an dem viele junge Menschen immer mal wieder leiden. Auch ich. Und es tat gut zu lesen, dass ich damit nicht allein bin, und sehen, dass das alles nur in meinem Kopf ist, half mich wieder zu fokussieren.

Abschließend möchte ich noch etwas zum Schreibstil sagen. Dieser war nämlich auch wieder ausgezeichnet. Ich konnte den ereader kaum aus der Hand legen. Ein Kapitel geht noch und noch eins und noch eins und plötzlich war ich durch. Für mich kann Frühjahr 2020 gar nicht schnell genug kommen, denn dann erscheint Band 3 "Ember Queen". Mein persönlicher Wunsch wäre es, dass irgendwann nochmal eine Novelle erscheint, die die Geschichte aus Cress Perspektive erzählt.

Fazit
"Lady Smoke" schafft, woran viele zweite Bände scheitern: Es zieht nicht nur gleich mit dem Vorgänger "Ash Princess" sondern überholt es mit Leichtigkeit. Ich weiß nicht, wie "Ember Queen" das noch toppen soll, aber ich möchte es am liebsten sofort lesen und nicht bis Frühjahr 2020 warten müssen.

The first book in the series, Ash Princess, was interesting but almost forgettable. It seemed like so many other YA fantasy books, nothing really new. Lady Smoke was pretty similar. Lots of YA troupes, but nothing that made it stand out or took them in a new direction. I'm also super sick of love triangles and this is another series that relies on them heavily. An interesting read, but not something I'll be recommending right off.

I think this is a wonderful follow-up to a great first entry into this universe. I can't wait to see what happens next.

4,5*
Pros: Better character development, both of the MC and the secondary ones. Amazing world-building. LGBT secondary characters. Interesting take on flawed humanity and the complexity that makes us human. Delves into war and its many sides and intricacies. Crossed Ts left by the first book. Strong and complex secondary characters. Focuses in oppression, poverty and the terrible conditions of refugees, which is very important these days as well. All in all, a very good sequel with an important ending that left me wanting for more.

Cons: Still somewhat predictable and slow to begin.