I felt the beginning of this book dragged on! But the second half was way better and I feel the third book will be as good as the first, but this was a filler book to get everything set up

I read Stolen Songbird , a.k.a book one of the Malediction Trilogy and I was interested enough to read the second book. But the things that I liked about book one where nowhere to be found in book two. For those who haven’t yet read Stolen Songbird there may be spoilers.

What I liked: The first installment left off at a cliffhanger and the second novel immediately jumped into action. Cecile embarks on a quest to find Anushka, break her curse, and save Tristan. In this novel the love story played a secondary role, which allowed me to get to know the characters better individually.

The Bad: It turns out getting to know the characters better individually was less than satisfying. For one, Cecile and Tristan are consumed by thoughts of their romance but still embark on completely separate quests. They were both working towards different goals and even though the parallel quests were not confusing to understand, they were taxing. For example, Tristan continues to work to free the Half Bloods (it sounds like a bad Harry Potter reference but it really just means individuals who are part troll and part human) and Cecile tries to unite with Tristan by finding Anushka. Unfortunately, the independent narratives bring out the worst in both of the characters. Without the romance driving their relationships, thoughts, and actions the narrator's are sadly predictable and lackluster. Secondly, there were several key details that the author didn’t address well that left me very confused. The first example is Cecile’s bond mark.

Spoiler

Cecile never conceals her mark, but yet in the final chapter Anushka is shocked by the existence of a bond between Cecile and Tristan. You would think that a witch who has lived 500 hundred years with the sole goal of cursing trolls, would notice a detail that pointed to a flaw in her future plan. Like seriously, Anushka saw Cecile almost every day and only when she realized Cecile was bonded to Tristan did she notice the mark.

The second big thing I found unbelievable and confusing was the explanation for Anushka’s curse.

Spoiler

In the first novel, we are told Anushka cursed the Trolls for a good reason: to make sure they would be trapped in Trollus and could never hurt humans. This is a seemingly morale action-- to trap the race that would harm your own-- but at the conclusion to the is novel we are told the backstory of the curse. Basically, Anushka loved King Alexis. King Alexis loved her but was bonded to powerful Queen Lamia. Lamia is jealous of Anushka and Anushka’s bastard daughter. To punish her, Lamia kills Anushka’s daughter. Anushka seeks revenge and so she curses all the trolls. But in order to extend the life of the curse, Anushka would have to live forever. And get this, the only way she could continue cursing the people who murdered her first daughter, was to murder her following daughters and granddaughters. It doesn’t make sense to me. Not one bit. I mean if the murder of my first daughter bothered me enough to curse an entire race, wouldn’t I want to treasure my other daughters? Overall, Anushka could have been a very dynamic character by having good intentions as her motivator. Instead we got a black and white villain who had a very ironic method of revenge.

“She killed him for his weakness, but she cursed the trolls as revenge against Lamia. What the Queen wanted more than anything was to see her children rule the world, and all Anushka wanted was to take that dream from her.”

The third thing I am still puzzling about is, what happened to Cecile’s grandmother.

Spoiler

Yes the book says that she was killed by Anushka but it doesn’t add up. Why would Anushka take both the grandmother and Genevieve in such a short period, especially when there was only one solstice in the time period? It would have made a lot more since if Anushka was parading as the grandmother and her next victim would be Genevieve.

The fourth thing I found odd was the fact that

Spoiler

Cecile has magic on both sides. On her father’s side, her grandma is a witch and on her mother’s side she has Anushka. Isn’t magic rare? Wouldn’t it be odd to have two magical matriarchs? I understand what the author was trying to do; she was trying to mislead us into believing that Cecile’s mother’s side had no magic. Well it didn’t work. I could assume that Cecile was related to Anushka from book one because of the resemblance and other hints.

Finally at the conclusion to the novel

Spoiler

dragons suddenly attack. WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? Up until this point there had only been the slight mention of the POSSIBILITY of dragons existing, but no actual evidence. Even in the troll city there were no dragons to be found. But once the curse is broken dragons suddenly appear? Ugghh this book is dragging me through the mud.

Everything else: Coming into this book, I was still wondering what the trilogy title meant. There has been no mention of ‘malediction,’ so I looked it up. Apparently malediction means a magical word or phrase uttered with the intention of bringing about evil or destruction; a curse. Basically the series is called the ‘Curse Trilogy’ in fancier lingo. I do appreciate how all of the titles have a theme. Stolen Songbird, Hidden Huntress, Warrior Witch The author did warns us in the first book that she loved alliteration. What it comes down to when rating a book, is is entertainment value. It can have no meaning, no themes, no symbols but as long as I enjoy it I will rate it well. I am giving this novel two stars because I was bored by the predictability of the plot. I enjoyed the first book but this one left me cold. I don’t think I will read the third book unless someone gives me it on a 12 hour flight to Japan.

Pretty decent way the story unfolds. Enjoying the side storylines too.

I really liked this sequel. It still kept much of the feel of the first book, but it also felt distinctly different.
I don't want to give too much away, but I missed the interaction between certain characters from the first book in this one. The relationships were a big part of why I liked the first one so much.
The author kept the changing POVs, but in this one she did it every chapter or every other chapter, so it was interesting to get to know Tristan a bit more.

While I really liked this book, it was a lot heavier and darker than the first...at times a little too sad for me.

Hidden Huntress didn't fall into that dreaded second book syndrome trap (i.e., where it feels less like a story and more like a springboard into the final third book). However, for different reasons, I don't think it was able to hold its own.

Cécile and Tristan are just as delightful to read in this book as in the first, [b:Stolen Songbird|17926775|Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy, #1)|Danielle L. Jensen|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1386265289s/17926775.jpg|25125333], and I thought their relationship continued to develop in an organic and natural way. They do have a great deal of chemistry and they rely on each other equally.

The world-building, descriptions, and characterizations were still well within the range of the first book. But, here again, I found the book to be a tad bit long. I'm not even sure where I'd trim it, because it's an overall feeling and nothing I can pinpoint, but it's there again like in the first book.

But, aside from that I felt like this novel was entirely too predictable. All the plot points and all the little turns were fine and enjoyable to read. It's one or two larger key plot elements that are supposed to lead to the big reveal that I knew either early on or even from midway through the first book. I knew the identity of Anushka from the last book, and it was beyond irritating at times (like shake the book worthy) to have to wait so long for the characters to figure it out. Far too long. The mystery surrounding Anaïs in this book was easy to figure out, and though I didn't have to wait that long for it to be made known, it was bothersome to realize that it not only took Tristan more than a nanosecond to figure it out, but that none of the other trolls around him had realized it yet. That made for a frustrating read and it was difficult at times to push through it and not skim.

I am interested enough to see where the story goes from here to continue with the series, but I'm not actually excited to pick it up, just curious enough to have it on my list.

https://librarianonthelake.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/stolen-songbird-and-hidden-huntress-by-danielle-l-jensen/

DNF at 25%

I think I'm officially calling quits on this one. I started reading this three months ago after falling in love with the first book and was a little startled when, after almost 50 pages, that I was starting to hate the characters that I had fallen in love with in Stolen Songbird. I decided at around the quarter mark that I would take a short break from it and pick it back up again after I had revitalized myself with another book. As you might have guessed, it didn't happen.

Cecile always seemed to straddle the line between endearingly pig-headed and annoying. I liked her a lot in Songbird, but she was almost unbearable in Hidden Huntress. Her life choices are questionable and her thought process is mind-boggling. I just didn't GET her and the fact that she was surrounded almost exclusively by annoying characters (her mother, her brother, and her friend whose name I don't even remember) also didn't help.

We also lose all the beautiful little romantic moments between Cecile and Tristan because they are separated for most of the book. Watching Tristan be repeatedly condemned for his decisions during Songbird while Cecile runs around footloose and fancy-free irked me.

There was so much potential with this series. I guess I'm going to just have to pretend that the series concluded with a purposeful open ending so readers can decide how Cecile and Tristan complete their mission.

This was kind of a disappointment. The way it moved. The OBVIOUS "twist" finale. Just wasn't enough.

It took me forever to read this book, but at least it was entertaining. It wasn't terrible, mind you, but Stolen Songbird was better, so I can't give this one a higher rating. Unfortunately, I saw the biggest plot twist coming from the very beginning, so by the last few chapters I just wanted to slap everyone in the face for their stupidity. I guess it's ok, though. I've seen worse. I just hope the third instalment is as good as this ending wants me to believe.

Cecile is living with her mother and singing in the theater. She has a cold relationship with her mother but she seeks for her aproval. Meanwhile, Tristan is a prisoner below the mountain and is almost dying. Cecile makes a promise to Tristan's father to find Anushka and free the trolls in exchange that they release Tristan a treat him better. Meanwhile, Tristan see that there is much more happening in Trollus that it seems, and tries to amend all the damage that he has done.

This books is told both by Tristan and Cecile's pov (one chapter each). I really liked reading Tristan's pov because he is smart and kind and is really trying his best. But I hated Cecile. I really did. Which sucks, because I liked her in the first book. She was so easy to manipulate, so reckless and blind that it made me mad most of the time. I know this is YA, but just because she is young she doesn't have to be so selfish and childish. Her desitions were awful and you could just tell that it was the wrong thing to do. That made her extremely annoying to read.
The big revelation was so obvious that it was kinda like waiting for the characters to catch up. There are SO many hints and the main characters were so blind that it exasperates me (except for Tristan, who can see it quite quickly but it's already too late).

Spoiler

The fact that her mother wasn't really her mother was kinda a revelation, but it was obvious after his father talked about her big change of mind about him and her relationshiop with her mother. But that she was Anushka was as clear as day since moment one.

But I think the thing that most annoyed me was how both main characters can't comunicate. Or at least they choose not to comunicate with each other. Most of the trouble could have been avoided if they just stoped protecting each other and themselves and just talked. Like, stop lying and keeping things and work things out together. But no, Cecile seems to be incapable of trusting people, and makes whatever desition she sees fit by herself, even if it involves other people. I've seen this type of character before, and it just ruins the whole series.
I would read the next book to see how the story develops, but this was such a dissapointment that I don't expect much anymore.