Book Review ~ Hidden Huntress

Hidden Huntress (Malediction Trilogy #2)

by Danielle L Jensen
publisher Angry Robot
genre: YA, Fantasy, 

**Received egalley from netgalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Summary (Goodreads): 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…

My Thoughts: Stolen Songbird, the first book of the series, was a 5 star read for me unfortunately this one didn't quite reach that high. I'm not sure if this fell into middle book syndrome or because I thought I knew who the witch was at the end of book one and after the first couple chapters of this one I was sure.
Watching Cecile struggle with something that was so obvious did not make for an interesting read. Add in how horrible her mother, brother, and best friend were (whether it was to her or Tristan) and it was a struggle reading her POVs at times. Tristan was better, trying to repair things with his friends and figure out all the different power plays that had been put into motion while he was locked away.
I still like the magic and history of this world. Which was an even bigger factor in this book. Not just Anushka but Cecile and another witch she meets along her hunt. Cecile makes some choices that are questionable and could have an impact later on.
Overall, there were a lot of ups and downs in this one. I'm hoping that Cecile is not as conflicted and can move forward with what needs to be done. There's a battle brewing on three different fronts and I'm interested to see what sides Cecile and Tristan end up on in Warrior Witch.

Rating: 4