Mini Review: The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

Title: The Exiled Queen
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Release Date: September 28th, 2010
Source: Around The World ARC Tours
Synopsis from Goodreads:
*This is a SEQUEL! Synopsis contains SPOILERS for book one!*
You can't always run from danger...

Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, Han Alister journeys south to begin his schooling at Mystwerk House in Oden’s Ford. But leaving the Fells doesn’t mean danger isn’t far behind. Han is hunted every step of the way by the Bayars, a powerful wizarding family set on reclaiming the amulet Han stole from them. And Mystwerk House has dangers of its own. There, Han meets Crow, a mysterious wizard who agrees to tutor Han in the darker parts of sorcery—but the bargain they make is one Han may regret.

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden's Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen.

The Exiled Queen is an epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction.

If you're in the mood for pure fantasy, then you should definitely try these books! They're a lot different than a lot of the fantasies that I've read. I love how the point of view alternates between Han and Raisa, though they're not around each other much. I really enjoyed the setting of Oden's Ford, it was kind of like a boarding school, and I love boarding school books! The characters were definitely my favorite part! They're all very likeable, but not perfect by a long shot.

The drawbacks were that I was confused about the politics many times, and that sometimes there's too much time spent explaining things and my mind would wander. I think that I would have enjoyed it more of some things were cut out and it was about one hundred pages shorter, but I'm not the editor!

Basically: I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to the next one! 4 Stars!

Cover Comments: I really like this cover, it's mysterious. It fits well with the first one also.