Book Stop Corner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Power changes everything till it is difficult to say who are the heroes and who the villains.” 





Sherry D. Ficklin, an American author, pens her next book in the Stolen Empire series that accounts the journey of Sophie- a young Duchess of Imperial Russian Kingdom, called Queen of Tomorrow, where Sophie portrays the young Catherine the Great. Being a Duchess is not an easy thing when the smell of death and threat of murder lurks at every corner of Sophie's life.





Synopsis:

Sophie—now Catherine, Grand Duchess of Russia—had a tough first year at Imperial Court. Married at sixteen to Grand Duke Peter, heir to the throne, and settled in their own palace, things are finally looking up. As a new day dawns, she thinks only of securing her future, and the future of their country, during one of the greatest political upheavals of her time. Fighting desperately against forces trying to depose the Empress Elizabeth and put the young Prince Ivan on her throne, Sophie soon finds herself in the middle of a war brewing between her beloved Prussia, and her new empire. But even as she navigates the fragile political landscape, she quickly realizes that she has only begun to discover the tangled web of deceit and infidelity woven over the lavish court of Oranienbaum Palace.

When a strange and delicate alliance forms between the young couple, she glimpses a future of happiness, only to see it lost in a moment at the hands of those who still seek to end her life—and prevent her reign. Out of favor with the empress and running out of options, Sophie will have to sacrifice her own innocence on the altar of Russia if she is to save the nation, and herself. To survive, she will have to do the unthinkable, betray those closest to her and become something greater and more dangerous than she ever imagined she could be… a queen.


This book opens right where the first book ended with a cliffhanger, thus putting the readers' mind at ease. Oranienbaum Palace is now Sophie's home where she represents herself as the Duchess of Russia. Leaving behind her world in Prussia was not an easy decision but it surely turned Sophie into an one hell of a kick-ass princess who is brave enough not only to withstand her husband, Peter's infidelity and his taunts, but also singlehandedly manages the politics and the deception going on around the palace to throwout the Grand Empress, thus putting her young son to the throne. Will Catherine be able to handle everything as she is supposed to like a queen?


Well, well, can this book be anymore perfect!! Perfect heroine, imperfect surroundings, perfect ploy against the queen, perfect setting and perfectly challenging twists- these all sum up and can make any reader to give a 5 star rating to this book. And once again, the book cover manages to allure the minds of it's readers thus compelling them to read the book from cover-to-cover.

The writing is once again pretty perfect and this time things have matured and violence and back-biting and agenda to kill the queen is everywhere with some adrenaline rushing action scenes that have been described with keen detail. The pacing is really fast and there is enough drama that will keep the readers engaged till the very end. The narrative is engaging and free-flowing.

This time there is an air of grandeur hanging by the palace walls. From beautiful gowns to enchanting feats to fairytale style balls will steal away a reader's heart and mind with the vivid descriptions. Once again, the author have strikingly and elegantly painted the Oranienbaum Palace in Russia. The timeline will give the readers a feeling like they are indeed on a time-warp.

The characters from the first book and some new characters introduced in this book are all very strongly developed. Especially, Sophie's characterization is done brilliantly as Sophie becomes a mature and a calculative as well as a calm and brave princess and any reader will easily feel intimidated by her powerful demeanor. Prince Peter is as hopeless as he was in the first book. The female characters are all very fiery and are shining with real powers.

The love triangle in the first book still continues in this book too, although Peter's best friend, Sergei is depicted with lots of depth and his indifference towards Sophie feels less surreal. The chemistry and the passionate love scenes are described with lots of emotions and at times can make the readers feel like it's bit graphic.

Overall, Queen of Tomorrow is little bit more intense and darker than the first book and once again this book signs off with a cliffhanger. I'm eagerly waiting to read the last book in this series.



Read the review of the first book, Queen of Someday

Verdict: Completely must read YA series that has history, passion, fantasy and danger!

Courtesy: Thanks to YA Bound Book Blog Tour for the review copy. 
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Author Info:
Sherry D. Ficklin is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she’s on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is only seen in blurry photographs.
Visit her here 


Book Purchase Links:

• Amazon US 
• Amazon India