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Dec 24, 2011

Lisa O. rated it:

I elected Froi as my favorite male character of the year for 2011, but Eugenides definitely gets second place.

The Queen of Attolia is the second book in The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner and in this review THERE WILL be spoilers. If you haven't read the first book, The Thief, I strongly suggest you not to continue reading this.

I think that, if you liked The Thief, you'll probably like this book even more. I'd rather not get into the synopsis to leave all More...

7 comments like (16 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Maggie rated it:

If you have any interest in reading this book, DO NOT READ THE GOODREADS SUMMARY. Read Tatiana's review instead. It's not that the summary is so spoiler-heavy, but it tells you more than you need to know. Some people may prefer that -- I suspect these are the same people who go on guided tours and stick to detailed itineraries when they explore new places. Not that there's anything wrong with that.* But I think you tend to miss the forest for the trees when you're too focused on finding the next More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 08, 2011

Emily rated it:

Now I finally understand why everyone seems to like this book so much more than the first. You see, The Thief is a wonderful little book filled with excellent writing, an interesting protagonist, an exciting fantasy world and a great big twist near the end. The Queen of Attolia had all of this, but it just had more of everything. It was everything I loved about the first book... on steroids.

Every character and every sentence - damn it, every word even! - is important, serves it's own p More...

6 comments like (18 people liked it)

Mar 26, 2010

Lightreads rated it:

Well well! So our pleasant, feather-brained little fantasy romp grew a bigger, bitchiner sequel. Turner made the very good choice of switching from first person to roaming third, and tossed us straight in to political intrigue and war and post trauma.

So – and, frankly, this is one of those spoilers that has to be revealed because talking about the book without it is like talking about Harry Potter without talking about magic . . . this sentence was going somewhere. Since when is drun More...

5 comments like (18 people liked it)

Oct 31, 2011

AnEyeSpy rated it:

Everyone does it. You made me do it. Where "it" is painful. Permanent. Like piercing - ears, eyebrow, navel (the bellybutton skin never healed, the eye-ring drew uncomfortable attention, the ear-lobes still itch red), tattoos (people ASK for needles? shiverrrr), cosmetic surgery (not to MY soft skin), physical abuse (a bully who can be provoked by a weakling is not strong), chop hands off thief, kill murderer. Decoration adds to beauty, attaining a cultural ideal is worth any suffering More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 09, 2010

Peep (Pop! Pop!) rated it:

I really wanted to like this book. I really did. I loved the first one, you know. I thought Gen was hilarious and really someone I'd like to have around with - even if he was annoying.

The Queen of Attolia started out really good. I really was not expecting anything like that to happen. It was very surprising and I almost thought it was a dream. Where the first book had twists that had me smiling and gaping, this one had few. It was just ok. Eugenides had grown and changed so much tha More...

8 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 24, 2011

Tatiana rated it:

If I were ever to write a book, this is the one I would want to see my name on. I am not very good at writing positive reviews, so this will probably sound cheesy, but I totally loved every word, every sentence of this story!

"The Queen of Attolia" is a second book in Megan Whalen Turner's series about the Thief of Eddis Eugenides. I moderately liked the first book, especially for its conciseness and intricate world-building rooted in Greek history and mythology, but this se More...

19 comments like (27 people liked it)

Nov 14, 2010

Jillian -always aspiring- rated it:

I was underwhelmed by the first book in this series, The Thief, so I kept my expectations low when I began The Queen of Attolia. However. . .I loved it. The plot gripped me, the characters enamored me, and the whole experience rang true with a winning adventure filled with breathless expectations, heart-pounding moments, and stunning turnarounds. Turner really hits her stride here, getting to the heart of her story, world, and characters all together. It's a thrilling ride, and I can't wait More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Amelia, the pragmatic idealist rated it:

The gist of the story is easy to figure out. Eugenides is an infamous thief wanted in three separate countries. Luckily for him, his status as a cousin to the Queen has been enough to keep him safe, until a botched mission early in the novel results in a shocking and devastating punishment. The rest of the story, in large part, deals with Eugenides picking up the pieces of his life and attempting to recover from that event. Against the strong character-driven emotionality of the story is an elab More...

11 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 08, 2011

Janette added it

I read this book to see what happens to the Thief (from the first book in the series). I have to say I was impressed by the character growth.

The main character seemed really fleshed out, realistic, and really likable. I routed for him the whole book. I also liked Edis a lot and thought the dialogue was first rate. My only complaint (Spoiler alert!)was that without any real foreshadowing on about page 250 the thief tells Attolia that he's been in love with her for years. Really? More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 26, 2009

Holly rated it:

Sometimes a book just blows you away and you're left speechless - so here are my starstruck (or would it be bookstruck?), random thoughts about QofA. And to think I wasn't sure if I'd ever get around to reading this (!).

I liked the Thief, but wasn't amazed by it (I know, I know, I'm in the minority here). Yes, the huge, come-out-of-nowhere plot twist ending was superb, and I loved the rich world she has created based on ancient Greece and the Mediterranean. But I have to admit th More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2008

Cheryl rated it:

I liked THE THIEF; I *loved* this, as I don't mind third-person narrators keeping information back from me until the appropriate time, and this is so well-constructed and character-driven . . . As I read it, I felt like Megan Whalen Turner was accomplishing the fictional equivalent of playing a perfect chess game or composing a Mozartian sonata, so carefully is each piece of information provided to the reader at precisely the right time and in precisely the right order. This incredible intellige More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2007

Sophia rated it:

Hmm... I still haven't made up my mind about this one. I read Thief a while ago, and hadn't realized how much of the plot was important to reading this one, so there were parts I knew I wasn't understanding because I'd forgotten the earlier plot. The world, modeled on the ancient Mediterranean empires, is really intriguing, and I'm surprised this series is classified as YA because there's a lot of strategy and adult subtlety that seems like it would go over the heads of most teens. The character More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Lucy rated it:

There is a thing that happens in this book that is among my most traumatic literary moments. It makes me cringe every time I think about it. Every time it is referred to in The King of Attolia I cringe too.

I love this book beyond words. But I will have to gird myself for a reread because I mentally twitch away from the cringeworthy thing.

Reread, 7/19/09:
This is the first time I'm rereading Queen of Attolia, and wow. The first time I read it I was so furious at A More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Aug 20, 2008

Arwen rated it:

I love this unusual book. It had one of the most unlikely and beautiful love stories I've ever read as well as adventure, political intrigue and war. This is a sequel to The Thief, so read that first.

The Queen of Attolia is set in the three countries of Attolia, Eddis and Sounis, loosely based on Greece. The time period is the late middle ages.

Eugenides, the hero from The Thief, is back for more adventures. Gen changes the most in this book, going from a light-hearted More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 20, 2008

Valerie rated it:

I liked The Queen of Attolia, but not as much as the first installment in the series, The Thief. All of the characters were still really interesting, especially Gen, who's a little older and wiser in this tale, and the Queen of Attolia is definitely complex and captivating enough to deserve to be the title character of the book. But with the countries of Eddis, Attolia and Sounis constantly on the brink (or at) war, there was a lot of discussion of war - strategies, alliances, projections - and More...

7 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 07, 2009

Beanbag rated it:

Just a quick review since I left a gushing one for The Thief which is the book that begins this outrageously wonderful YA series by Megan Whalen Turner.

This book could easily be spoiled, so I won't say much. It's darker than its predecessor, but the payoff is excellent. Exciting, suspenseful and emotional, it's the first book I literally walked around the house reading while continuing to try to do my chores. I could not put it down.

While The Thief is told in the fir More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 28, 2011

Laura rated it:

4/5; 4 stars; A-

I enjoyed this book a lot. The characterization was beautifully done. I am editing my original review here because I failed to mention a very important aspect of this book. While the The Thief, Eugenides, is a main character, the story is by no means all about him. The two queens, Eddis and Attolia were interesting and truly kick-ass, each in her own way.

I'm a little surprised that this book and in fact the series is considered YA or juvenile lite More...

8 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 01, 2009

Angie rated it:

Wow. I just...wow. Talk about a sequel. In fact, I'm pretty sure that as sequels go The Queen of Attolia should be the standard textbook in a class entirely devoted to how to write a killer sequel. The kind of sequel that will leave your readers completely unable to contain their glee at how it was just as good as they weren't daring to hope it would be. The kind that makes them keep their husbands up at night expounding upon the splendor that is such a sequel.

A note on the cover: I More...

9 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2008

Natalie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Dec 02, 2011

Rachel rated it:

Review also posted on my blog.

It has been so long since I read the first book in the Queen’s Thief series. The Thief was one of the earliest fiction, and one of the few middle grade books that I’ve read from cover to cover. I remember liking the protagonist, Gen/Eugenides, very much. Though, before I randomly picked up Queen of Attolia in a second-hand bookshop (and I only picked it up because I was curious as to why it was so tattered, the edges were so white), I totally had no idea t More...

0 comments like

Oct 27, 2011

Sistermagpie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Oct 02, 2011

Shortlatte rated it:

This review covers the first three books in the series.

I spent the last two days devouring the first three books in Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series, and I am in love. In love with Turner’s complex storytelling, in love with how she deliberately misleads readers time and again, and most importantly, I am in love with Gen.

For those who have read the series already and wish to hear this blogger’s thoughts, read on. For those who have yet to read it, some spoilers More...

0 comments like

Sep 30, 2011

Sid rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Sep 30, 2011

Cori rated it:

I’m not sure why I can’t seem to see what so many people love about this series of books. Reading The Queen of Attolia on the heels of A Game of Thrones probably wasn’t the best idea. The latter was so deep and so sweeping and so epic that it made the former feel…flat. I couldn’t picture TQoA very well in my head and I didn’t follow the wars — the movements of troops, the different allies, or the places of battles. Keeping things straight felt futile. More than anything, I felt like the plot, ch More...

0 comments like

Sep 10, 2011

Jess rated it:

It's very, very rare that I like the second book in a series more than the first, but while I liked The Thief, I absolutely loved The Queen of Attolia.

I didn't at first, though. I missed the happy Gen who made me laugh and kept me reading even when the pace in The Thief was a little slow. I hated--and I mean hated--Attolia for what she did to Gen. I wish there had been more with the Magus. And like the first book, this one had quite a few bits where the travelogue affected the pace More...

0 comments like

Aug 01, 2011

Karene rated it:

It's such a breath of fresh air when a series actually gets better as it progresses. Hooray! This book was fantastic. I think my biggest complaint is actually with the back cover...it pretends to be subtle, but gives away the biggest surprise of the book when it says that "his greatest triumph--as well as his greatest loss--can only come if he succeeds in capturing something the Queen of Attolia may have sacrificed long ago." Hmm. What could they possibly mean by THAT?! Anyway, t More...

2 comments like

May 24, 2011

Ahmedhassan is currently reading it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Apr 02, 2011

April rated it:

Review Originally posted HERE

OK, I mentioned already that I absolutely love this series. This book is my FAVORITE of the four. I love, love, love this book! Why? Oh what is there not to love? Again, Turner keeps us on our toes as the plots twists and turns in ways we never imagined. She has a talent for writing exactly what she means while making you think something entirely different until she brings everything in full-circle revelation. I am always surprised, shocked and deeply sat More...

0 comments like

Mar 29, 2011

Isolde rated it:

I was interested to see what happened to Gen, so I checked this book out. A couple of years had passed since the last book and Gen is about 18 or 19 (I think). The author never tells us his age. Instead there are numerous references of him being young or still a boy or having grown. Honestly, just tell me his age and be done with it. The story starts out with Gen being in Attolia, trying to steal something. Unfortunately, he is caught and as a punishment, the Queen has his hand cut off. D More...

1 comment like