Review: Hidden Huntress (Malediction Trilogy #2) – Danielle L Jensen

hidden huntressSometimes, 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…

Rating: 3/5

It took me around a month to try finish this, so needless to say, I’m a tad disappointed. I was so looking forward to the sequel to Stolen Songbird, but Hidden Huntress didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

I will note that the book got better towards the last third, but initially the pace was achingly slow. We have Cecile pretty much moping around, being locked in her room and escaping and going on crusades to try find the witch to break the troll’s curse. But she has no idea how to go about looking for her, which makes for some pretty boring reading. Really, you’re going to go around high society and look at everyone suspiciously? MY, WHAT A SENSIBLE PLAN.

Tristan’s perspective was a tad more interesting, but in the beginning even his narrative was boring – getting tortured and moping in the dark and trying to come up with a plan. The reader doesn’t actually need to read 209342093 pages about the characters coming up with a plan. Just give us the damn idea already.

I also figured out the identity of Anoushka quite early on, so it wasn’t that fun watching our characters fall into the trap. Logic, yo.

But it’s not all doom and gloom.I did like the bromance going on between Chris and Tristan – there were some rather comedic comments between the two. Things also got more interesting when Tristan and Cecile were reunited. The political intrigue between the two factions in the troll kingdom, as well as between the trolls and the humans, was also, well, intriguing.

All in all, not as good as I was hoping for, but hopefully the final book will amp up the pace.

ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

PS. Sorry for the lack of commenting in the past few days – came down with a viral stomach thing, and then my laptop broke, so am relying on internet when and if I can get it. Gah, technology. :/

8 thoughts on “Review: Hidden Huntress (Malediction Trilogy #2) – Danielle L Jensen

  1. I’m glad this got published despite all the issues with the original imprint. However, Stolen Songbird wasn’t my cup of tea and judging from this review, I think I’d have even less luck with the sequel. Guessing things early on and the fact that it was tedious don’t exactly sound promising.
    Great, clear review, though.

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    1. Yup, I was quite worried when the Strange Chemistry/Angry Robot saga happened, so I am glad that the author still got the book out. But this sequel was definitely a disappointment.

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  2. Aw, I’m so afraid I won’t like this after loving Stolen Songbird. D: The beginning sounds dull, and I hope I won’t feel the urge to DNF. :( The bromance sounds really adorable though–I love a bit of humor in fantasy every now and then. :)

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    1. It was really dull for me – it doesn’t normally take me this long to finish a book! But the bromance really did make me chuckle.

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  3. Awww, I’m sorry to hear that this one was a disappointing read for you, dear! Sounds extremely exhausting if you have to keep reading someone thinking of a plan… and a dragging one at that. I would definitely have lost my wits!

    Faye at The Social Potato

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    1. Ha, I was just bummed because I adored the first book. Hopefully the final one makes up for the dodgy middle book.

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  4. I still want to give this series a go since I loved Stolen Songbird. I just hope the beginning doesn’t kill it for me.

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    1. Once I got past halfway things picked up a bit. But yes, I adored the first book in the series – hoping for an excellent final book to make up for it!

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