I probably missed some of the subtleties of this book, not least in what to expect from various characters, not having read book 1. My assumption is that the protagonist, Muna, is new to this books, as is the original setting in Janda Baik, but by chapter 5 the story has moved to England, and introduces rather a lot of characters in a hurry -- I did not at any point get some of them sorted out, and I'm not sure how much of that is because they weren't particularly relevant to this story, and how much was that they are generally back ground characters.

The plot is a relatively simple one in places, but there are a lot of twists and turns to get from one point to the next. I'm not sure how obvious the author meant for some of those twists to be, but it was certainly relatively obvious in places what was going to happen later. This isn't a complaint -- I like seeing how a story unfolds, regardless of whether I know what is going to happen.

There are places where the story is quite nasty. Not just in terms of 'period appropriate' misogyny and racism, but in terms of the individual interactions. There were a couple of sections where I thought the number of twists and turns of the story meant it was about to devolve into farce, and was pleased that it did not.

On the positive, there are some lovely explorations of what family means, in particular how sisters interact. This isn't necessarily all positive interaction, but the cross-cultural nature of the narrative means that there are some very different perspectives to explore. ( )

This book, a follow-up to Sorcerer to the Crown, makes for a fun read that, while featuring characters from its predecessor, can be read as a standalone. Muna and her sister embark on a journey to see the Sorceress Royal in England (Prunella), but the sisters are separated and Muna arrives alone. The story picks up with plenty of schemes from the fairy world, annoyances from family members, and nontraditional romances. If there's a flaw, it's that sometimes this story felt like it was expanding in too many directions at once. However, most of the storylines came together by the end for a satisfying conclusion. Overall, fun reading and I hope to read more from this author. ( )

Cho, Zen. The True Queen. Sorcerer Royal No. 2. Ace, 2019.
Malaysian fantasy author Zen Cho is a hot property. It has been five years since the first novel in this series appeared, and judging from the reviews, her readers thought the wait was worth it. But for me, the elements of this novel don’t quite come together. It begins well enough with the story of two sisters who suddenly appear on a fictional island, and who both suffer from amnesia. They are taken in by a local witch, who tells them someone has stolen something from them. One sister, Sakti, has an abundance of magical ability but is overconfident and self-absorbed. The other, Muna, lacks magical ability but is kind and self-sacrificing. Clearly, one sister needs to learn humility, and the other needs to gain self-confidence. I like the story arc that it produces, but then the plot starts. The witch sends them on a magical journey to London to discover who has stolen pieces of their souls. They arrive at a London that is a bit like Jane Austen’s world, except that there are dragons and other magical creatures masquerading in human form and an aristocracy rife with magicians and more racial and ethnic diversity than Jane Austen ever dreamed of. From here on the book adds genre tropes and punching prosocial buttons—critiquing discrimination based on race, class, and gender. The sisters’ coming of age story, the whimsical fairy world, and the Regency romance with its anachronistic social themes all too often get in each other’s way. Cho has a nice prose style and good command of the smaller elements of her narrative structure, so it is easy to see why her fans are drawn to her. 4 stars, but it is not for me. ( )

I liked the first book in the series but this was a disappointment. It just seemed kind of thin. Some of the things that should have been a surprise were obvious immediately. The Regency flavor from the first book was weak in this book. The main characters n the first book were side characters in this one and the main characters in this book weren't that interesting, more repetitious in displaying their traits. ( )

I received a free ebook copy of The True Queen from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5*

I'm sorry to say that I wasn't as charmed by The True Queen as I was by the first in this series, Sorcerer to the Crown. Zacharias and Prunella, who I loved in the first installment, do not feature very much in this. Instead, we follow a character with memory loss who is on a dangerous adventure. Not a bad story, but I felt more stressed than enchanted.

Points for historical queerness, though a bit vaguely stated. ( )