Disillusioned

Chancery is trying her best to figure out how to rule not just her bit of the world, but how to follow through with staking claim to basically all of earth. Queen of Queens is a pretty bold assertion and perhaps one only a naïve girl is able to make. Chancery has a rough idea of what this will entail, but perhaps not as much as her sister Judica or their older sisters might know. Certainly not what she was brought up to expect she would be thinking about at 18 years old, and not at all what the other blood-thirsty ruling families were planning for the Alamecha reign just a few short months ago. She is in a tough spot, trying to stay true to who she is while gaining/maintaining control over the masses, while mending relationships that are even more important to her than her queendom. She grows a lot in this book and it is interesting to see the other characters’ development, too.

It’s hard being a 17-year-old who goes from being in her mother’s and sister’s shadows to unexpectedly taking the most powerful position in the world. It’s even harder when you not only take your mom’s place as empress but have to tell the other five world rulers that you’re the prophesied Queen of Queens and would they please hand over their royal rings? In Displaced, Chancery had to grow from a shy teenager to a world leader in days. This time she has to grow even more as she fights not just for the power to rule, but HOW to rule. She will not be her mother, Enora the Merciless, but she needs to be strong and wise and just and revolutionary. A tall order for a teen. Especially a teen who is trying to avoid being assassinated by an enemy while searching for her mother’s killer, rebuilding her relationship with her twin sister, and figuring out how to outwit political leaders who have been in power for hundreds of years. Is Chancery up for the task? She’s not sure, despite the prophecy. But she decides that it’s time for some changes in the way the world is run, and immediately starts working toward that. For a bit, she seems a little too much like the typical teen heroine of a dystopia. Girl accepts mantle of leadership and begins campaigning for equal rights for all. Girl receives opposition from everyone in her circle over age 17. Girl is torn between two guys: the obvious, logical choice and the one she knows she shouldn’t love. But this stereotypical behavior serves to make the plot twists that much more surprising. And Chancery begins to learn the balance between holding firmly to her goals and listening to others, even though she really can’t trust anyone as one person after another becomes suspect or reveals hidden secrets. Ultimately, she has to decide on her own how she can fulfill the prophecy without destroying the world. I lose Chancery’s voice at times in this book. And that’s rather fitting, because she is searching for herself. By the end of the book, she has learned and grown, but she still has maturing to do before she can truly come into her own. Honestly, that’s refreshing. She has just turned 18 and is doing what no one has done before. One of Ms. Baker’s strengths in writing is that each book has plenty of character development, action, and reveals. Many series use the first book to introduce characters and most of the surprises. Subsequent books carry the plot forward (along with heavy focus on developing romance and introspection), but the reader knows the characters. In the Birthright series, each book makes huge strides in character development. The characters you think you know well may not be who you think they are, and with each solved mystery another appears, a new layer to the puzzle. I enjoyed the fact that there are so many GOOD characters in this book. The two men who love Chancery are not just good-looking boys who are attracted to her, but leaders in their own right who want to encourage her in her reign, have wisdom to offer, and are willing to sacrifice their comfort, desires, and even their lives for her. Any number of secondary characters are noble, kind, and helpful. Even the villains are not generally pure evil, but their actions and attitudes are shown as understandable. I feel like I ended this book with as many questions as I had at the beginning…just different questions, as many of my earlier ones DID get answered throughout rather than dragging on interminably. I ended with a sense of satisfaction at what had happened as well as intense anticipation of what was to come.

In my review of book one I boldly stated that we all knew who Chancery would end up with. Well, after reading this book I'm no longer sure! My reasons for thinking one of the love interests could never work, which made him a mere distraction, are now gone. That's all I'm going to say, other than I did not see that twist coming! I think that's what Bridget does the best as a writer. She continuously blindsides me with things I do not see coming in every one of her books. Chancery is finally gaining the confidence she needs in this book and I'm glad! She has so much self doubt, and blames herself for everything. These are traits that can get annoying at times, but they also make her seem more real. I'm excited to see what she will do in future books, especially with that ring. This ends on a cliffhanger and I dying to find out what happens next.