Review : Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen

Summary (from Goodreads)  

Title : Hidden Huntress (The Malediction Trilogy #2)
Author : Danielle L. Jensen
Publication Date : June 2nd 2015
Publisher : Angry Robot
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

Sometimes, one must accomplish the impossible.

Beneath the mountain, the king’s reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cécile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king’s power. Or his manipulation.

Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. But by day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for five hundred years. Whether she succeeds or fails, the costs to those she cares about will be high.

To find Anushka, she must delve into magic that is both dark and deadly. But the witch is a clever creature. And Cécile might not just be the hunter. She might also be the hunted…

Personal Thoughts

Stolen Songbird was one of my favorite YA fantasy books last year. Having loved it as much as I did, I was impatient to read Hidden Huntress because I needed to know how things would develop between the characters and find out more about the world building. Hidden Huntress was a long book, but every word of it was thrilling and entertaining in every way.

Like Stolen Songbird, Hidden Huntress is told in the POV of both Cecile and Tristan. At the beginning of the book, due to circumstances, these two are separated with Cecile back at home and Tristan in Trollus. Both these characters are made to go through hell and beyond in Hidden Huntress. Seriously, my heart ached for all the painful obstacles that Tristan and Cecile had to overcome. These two are some of the strongest characters I have ever come across and while I loved them both in the previous installment, in this one, I had so much more admiration for them. Tristan's situation, particularly, broke my heart and made me want to throw his abusive and power-crazy father off a cliff. He continued to torture the boy so much and it hurt to watch Tristan stomach it all.  Throughout it all, thoughts of Cecile was what pushed him not to give up. Cecile, by herself, is a wonderful main character. She was brave, head strong and willing to do everything to protect her loved ones. I think my love for her in this book was so much stronger, because if I were in her place I definitely would not have been able to survive as she did, bearing the emotional impact that her chase for the witch, Anushka. The secondary characters continued to impress me in this sequel and I was particularly fond of Sabine, who felt more like a main character to me.

Cecile and Tristan were separated from each other for about 60% of the book and that was hard for me because I usually prefer my couples to be together in sequels, but I also admit that without their separation, this story could not have been told. When they were reunited, the moments between them were heavy, but emotionally charged. They were the perfect couple for each other and I loved how supportive they were. The world building in Hidden Huntress continued to expand. More information about Anushka's curse and the division between the trolls and the humans was revealed, all of which was complex and very well-written. The plot in the books was a bit slower than it was for Stolen Songbird, but the pacing picked up halfway through. From that point on, Danielle L. Jensen continued to throw one twist after the other, most of which I did not see coming. I loved that she was able to surprise me so much because it made it hard to put the book down. The book ended with a bang and I'm honestly so excited to read the next book to find out how the author wraps up the story. From the way this ended, I have no doubts that it will be action-packed, intense and will probably give me one or two mini heart-attacks.

Hidden Huntress was a wonderful and satisfying sequel, with the author allowing the characters to mature beautifully, expanding the world building and surprising readers with the twists and turns. If you loved Stolen Songbird, don't hesitate to pick up this sequel. If you haven't read Stolen Songbird and are a fan of YA fantasy, drop everything and go read it asap.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5


Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the e-ARC of Hidden Huntress.

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