The Queen's Secret

The Queen's Assassin #2

by Melissa de la Cruz

Lilac's birthright makes her the Queen of Renovia, and a forced marriage made her the Queen of Stavin. But being a ruler does not mean making the rules. For Lilac, taking the throne means giving up the opportunity to be with love of her life, the kingdom's assassin, Caledon Holt.

Worse, Cal is forced to leave the castle when a horrific set of magical attacks threatens Lilac's sovereignty. Now Cal and Lilac will have to battle dark forces separately, even though being together is the only thing that's ever saved them.

In the riveting conclusion to Melissa De La Cruz's fantasy duet, love and magic are at war, and victory rests on a knife's edge.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Magic, Audiobook, Young Adult Fantasy

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2021

About the author

Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.

Reviews

[Feyre · Rating 1 out of 5]

I learned a long time ago that tears don't save lives. All they do is blur your vision.

Boy, I am disappointed 😭 What the heck did I read?! I had my worries when I started this. Worries I might get confused because I remembered excactly nothing from the first book. Apart from liking it. That problem was solved by the author by giving us a little summary before starting with the new story and I got into the story easily enough. There were still things I was a little confused about but I can't tell if that was because of lack of knowledge or because of the story. The writing was nice and I liked Holt and Lilac well enough. But I think for me the first book lived off their interaction which was really limited here since they're being kept apart for almost the whole book.
For most of this I was convinced that this was a middle book of a trilogy. It certainly read like one until the last 20 final pages or so. That's when an ending was written that felt completely like "Oh my, there should've been another book but I kinda just wanted to make this a duology and I'm ending this real quick!" to me. And the way everything was solved made me personally role my eyes a lot. I don't know how others saw it, so please give this duology a try if you're interested.

[Ayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you for the ARC courtesy of penguin teen! this book was a joy!

[ry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I barely tolerated the last book but I despise this one.

I skimmed through the whole thing, incredibly bored and regretting my choices. I wish I never laid my eyes on this, I am now condemned to forever wonder.

Both covers were pretty, which is why I bought it in the first place. Good marketing but I just wish it actually had some plot that didn't bore me to death.

If one were to punish me, I think they would walk over to my bookshelf, pick up this book and force me to reread it.

[Kay · Rating 1 out of 5]

So disappointing. The ending? A joke tbh. I love Melissa de la Cruz and I loved the Queen’s Assassin but this did not work. At all.

I mean… Horse tornados??? If you know.. you know.

[L. | That_Bookdragon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️

(Warning for potential spoiler for book 1 if you read this)

Thank you so much to PRH International for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion!

Happy book birthday to The Queen's Secret!

I had already really enjoyed the first book in this duology, and this one was fun as well. Cal and Shadow/Lilac's relationship is explored deeper as everyone around them tries to keep them apart. I was a little bit sad about this part though and wished we could have been offered more of them together. The writing felt a bit juvenile at times with a lot of telling and not showing, which was already the case with the first installment in the duology. However, I really liked the ending and it was overall a fun reading experience.

My Bookstagram

[McKenzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. The idea of the book is an intriguing one, and I feel like it could have been a really captivating story, but it fell flat for me. I think part of the issue is that this book seems a little too young for me, but the main issue was that nothing really interesting happened until I was 75% into the book. I realized that I could skip pages at a time, and not really miss any information. Also, the big conflict in the book was resolved over the course of like four pages. It felt extremely anticlimactic, and honestly a little rushed. There was a lot going on with the storyline, and a lot of the plot just seemed like fluff.

I also really wanted to love these characters, but I did not. Lilac and Cal spent the entire book talking about their feelings but still never really acting upon them. I was unable to get into the story enough to where I cared what happened. This book has all the potential to be a great fantasy story, but the execution needs a lot of work.

[Hanny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate this damn book. I hate the damn ending. I hate the damn plot. I hate the characters personality in this damn book.

[Olivia Reilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

where do I begin 🧐

This book COULD have had potential, there were so many idea’s that could have worked but like not in 2 books? So much happened that nothing was overly important??? & the entire purpose of the first book was literally important at the very end of the second book and lasted a few chapters???? The female MC was disappointing, where’s that badass woman who runs her own world??? And the male MC was better but just as flat. I can’t talk down the writing styles or whatever bc I’m no Lit Major BUT I struggled to comprehend what was going on, and literally skimmed the last like 8 chapters 🤓

A positive, I surprisingly enjoyed the 3rd party POV and the idea of the baddies in the book

[aly · Rating 3 out of 5]

*2.5 stars

Uhm... what? I really struggled to get through The Queen's Assassin. Like, it-almost-took-me-a-month-to-read-it kind of struggle. Luckily, this book was strangely short so it wasn't too hard to get through. (That was the first thing I noticed- this book was really small compared to the first book in the duology.)

That's about as much as I can dredge up in ways of something positive. If you did not enjoy the characters of the first book, I can assure you that they do not get any better. Cal and Shadow spend the entirety of the book pining after each other to no avail. I think they have one conversation. When they are not thinking about each other, they are literally just not thinking. Seriously. Their internal monologue can be reduced down to "Ooh, I wonder if I can see Cal/Shadow, and ooh, I wonder if I can get Cal/Shadow to be jealous, and ooh, I wonder if I can just get Cal/Shadow alone for a moment."

Apart from Cal and Shadow being annoying, I can't even tell you what the plot was because nothing actually happened. The big ending was literally one page, and apart from that, there was no action. Cal would ride out to solve some big problem and would literally run back to the palace. Isn't this guy supposed to be the Queen's Assassin?

I don't even know what to say about the ending. After all that desperate pining and hopelessness, all she had to do was... talk to her husband? Also, what was this whole pregnancy thing? Her willingness to give up one of her twin children was worrying, to say the least. Perhaps the funniest thing is that she had approximately 0 conversations with Cal in reference to being pregnant with his child and running away with him. It was rough, if anything.

I feel like my opinion is a bit of an outlier because people seem to feel otherwise about this book. Subjectively, there was little I found myself enjoying. But hey, you might see something in this duology that I didn't. Give it a try.

[Abby Warner · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 🌟🌟WTF DID I READ!? plot was everywhere, pacing was slow and fast and the twist-climax at the end was anticlimactic and was dealt with in the span of 5 pages. lilac was a completely different person from this book to the first, cal was sort of the same. but also i think from the first book i enjoyed the moving scenery, however this book quite literally was all in one castle. no exciting plot points really and the overarching plot was so overlooked it didn’t even matter in the end. ending sort of made up for the other nonsense from the book but also lacked true intentions of what the characters would have done, so really was just confused and i don’t accept that ending. twists were also seen from a mile away - so there was no shocking surprises in my opinion.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Source* Library
*Genre* Young Adult / Fantasy
*Rating* 3-3.5

*Thoughts*

The Queen's Secret is the second and final installment in author Melissa de la Cruz's The Queen's Secret duology. Lilac is the princess of Renovia by birth, and the queen of Stavin from her marriage to King Hansen. But her heart belongs to Caledon Holt, an assassin sworn to protect the queen. For awhile Hansen and Lilac have an arrangement. They are married in name only, and each has lovers in secret thus the name of the book. But after a series of strange events begins occurring in the kingdom of Stavin and Lilac is called a Renovian witch, Hansen decides it is time for them to stand together as a unit, and produce an heir to unite their kingdoms.

*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*

https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to PRH International for sending me a copy of The Queen’s Secret.
This duology is a quick and fun read, perfect for fans of forbidden love and royalty.

[Casey Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ever since I devoured the first book in this series, well, it's very safe to assume that I was going to do the exact same thing to The Queen's Secret. There's just something about these characters that completely sucks me in. It also doesn't hurt that the adventure itself flies by and just leaves me wanting more too.

Now I wont say that each and every twist amazed me - because that would be a lie. For some, they felt a bit predictable or dare I even say it - forced. Especially when it came to either the King or her mom. Something just felt off and it felt like Lilac was more compromising than anything. So I didn't necessarily want her to be lonely because of her following her duty while her own husband got to be happy with his mistress.

There's just something about Cal that makes me ooh and aah. I love the guy so much and I was so happy with everything that went down. Well, not the scares and stuff that revolved around him or Lilac. That was not fun to digest but I could see why it happened and how things were going to go down after that.

Oh man. So much happened in the second half of the book that my mind is still spinning. All I'm going to say is that I'm so freaking happy with how this one ended. It just made my heart fill up with so much joy because of it. It's a bit bittersweet to walk away from this now but I'm glad with how everyone got their happy ending.. I guess.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well wasn't this disappointing? While I wasn't blown away with the first book, I definitely enjoyed it and after that ending, I really wanted to know how everything would turn out for Shadow and Cal. Cue giant disappointment.

I read a few reviews who said this book felt like the second book in a trilogy and I couldn't agree more. The beginning of the story was so dragged out that it almost seemed there was no way for the author to wrap everything up. But then, everything got wrapped up prettily in the last 2 chapters. I'm honestly thinking, this duology could have been solved in one book. Nothing happened in the first 80% of the book - literally nothing. Then in one paragraph the big bad was dealt with and HEA!

And that's another issue, the ending. I really believe the author had no idea how to end it but knew she wanted it to be happy and because of that, we ended up the most convoluted conclusion ever. There was even an eye roll because it was that ridiculous. Really? Cal's content still being a secret? And the king & queen each having their side pieces and then children with their side pieces, but yet they're one big happy family? I call bull shit

I think what bothered me the most was how much the characters changed from first book to the next even though they happened right after each other. Shadow/Lilac was this fearless girl who stood up for herself but the Lilac we got here was the pitiful meek little girl who couldn't do a thing for herself. She just sat in her room and complained about her life and how unfair everything was. But then would get randomly jealous and be angry for no reason. I just did not like her at all in this book. Cal pretty much stayed the same so at least there was that...

Honestly, this is a story where I wish the ending was more bittersweet. I think that's only me though because I never really felt the OMG connection between Lilac and Cal. So I was fine if they didn't end up together, I actually wanted that. Instead, we got this.

[Meenu · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

What did I just read? I thought the first book was okay.But this book was really bad.The story dragged till the end and the ending was so underwhelming.First book had a plot and character development even though it was slow.But this book ruined it. Shadow/Lilac had a purpose in the first book. But here she has nothing, literally NOTHING to do other than worry about producing an heir while pining for Cal. I thought Cal and Lilac were good in the first book but here both were so annoying being jealous and arguing all the time.Whatever danger/mystery they had was solved just like that in the last moments with lazy writing.And when we talk about lazy writing how can we not mention Hansen.What was he doing in the whole book? And Hansen and Rhema? Seriously? Was it REALLY necessary for them to end up like that without any development?

It seemed like the author planned for something big, but got bored of it and then finished it with a lame plot.

I'm sorry but this book is a huge disappointment.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

@fantasyandfolklore on Bookstagram

I really enjoyed the first book of this duology, The Queen’s Assassin, but the sequel was a little disappointing... part of what made book one so good was the MCs’ banter and angst-filled relationship. Sadly, the scenes between them in book two are so sparse (and lacking banter!), you forget why you were rooting for them in the first place. The ship sunk. 🚢

There was a lot of potential with new characters, and possible obstacles to overcome, but they felt underdeveloped. It almost felt more like a middle grade read apart from some of the more mature content. It is an easy read and I did enjoy the first half of the book, but then things went off the rails and it felt like the story was just trying to wrap up just so it could wrap up.

And I was disappointed by the ending.

I was waiting for Lilac’s smash-the-patriarchy moment but it never really came.

[Nicole Alycia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was nowhere near as good as the first one in my opinion. There was just too much focus on the romance and not enough focus on what could have made this book totally badass like the first one! But that’s just me maybe. I was slightly disappointed in this book.

[Kelli Marissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, that ending was truly terrible - and so anticlimactic and nonsensical that the author had to explain everything to us afterwards lol

[elle · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star.

boring, dry, horrible, ending was shit

[sophie nicole]

dnf @ 17 percent i don't like where this is going... they made shadow such a prissy bitch i can't stand reading about her

[laurenshadwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way the story ended was so sweet

[Erin (erinevelynreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lilac is the princess of Renovia by birth, and the queen of Stavin from her marriage to King Hansen. But her heart belongs to Cal, an assassin sworn to protect the queen. For awhile Hansen and Lilac have an arrangement, they are married in name only, and each has lovers in secret. But when a series of strange events begin occurring in the kingdom of Stavin, Hansen decides it is time for them to stand together as a unit, and produce an heir to unite their kingdoms. But strange things continue to occur, and Lilac and Cal race to figure out who is behind them before it is too late.

I loved the first book in this duo-logy, but the second one just fell a bit flat for me. It was enjoyable to read, and I loved being back in the world of Avantine, but the elements I loved from the Queen’s Assassin were sorely lacking from The Queen’s Secret, such as the epic quest and the witty banter between the two leads. What I didn’t like was that there were not enough scenes between the two leads. I liked how it ended, but it took a while to get there.

I wish I had taken the time to re-read The Queen’s Assassin before reading The Queen’s Secret. There was so much that I had forgotten, and many of the world-building topics are not re-explained as they are revisited in the second book. This will not be an issue for those that are reading the two books together, but if it’s been a few months since you read the first book, I would recommend skimming or rereading the first book.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the review copy! All opinions are my own.

[Kendall Lambrecht · Rating 2 out of 5]

worse than the first book 🤮

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting series with an interesting ending

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love ridiculous and absurd, but this is a whole new level. I have never read something so unintentionally outlandish. A horse turning into a clawed tornado? I mean, sure. But there's more. Let me summarize this whole thing for you so you don't have to read it.

Prepare for the wildness. This is the plot of the book.

Premise: Centuries ago, a tyrant decided to hoard and keep all magical secrets for himself and his people. He had monks collect information on and spells for all magical things, recording them in a single book/scroll. In the previous book, the Tyrant was still alive as a shapeshifter and he and his monk's goal was to kill Shadow.

Now

Queen Lilac is married to King Hanson. Lilac continues to see Cal, the Queen's assassin who does not assassinate and, in concept, still searches for the scroll. Hanson continues to see his consort, Cecelia. They don't see anyone else, so no one's cheating. In case you were wondering.

Cal, the centuries-old kid Janson, and a new junior assassin (who's totally pretty btw) adventure to the magical abbey mentioned in book 1 where, like in Book 1, nothing important happens. Then they trot the original queen's castle, which is burned down. People are escaping the city. Also not important. Then they return. During this time, the people have turned on Lilac. She's an outsider, witch, etc. You see, at royal a horse race, her horse turned into a tornado with feathers and claws. Tornado-claw-horse ripped open Cecelia's horse. So Lilac=bad. Then people started dying at the castle. Cal and crew return. One day, after Cecelia jumps off the castle's parapet and Lilac is poisoned, the cursed kid Janson builds a witch circle in the courtyard, attracting all the castle's crows and killing them with poisoned seeds. One by one, the dead crows turn into bodies: they were all the Tyrant's monks. The crow's keeper freaks out and Turns. Into. A. Crow Tornado. A tornado with feathers and claws. All the people in the courtyard are frozen by the feathers. But un-poisoned Lilac comes to the rescue, sending a fire arrow into the heart of the Crow Tornado. Crow Tornado dies and is really the shape-shifting Tyrant. They burn him and kill him. When his body turns to ashes: a gold box appears. The scrolls are in the box. Fin.

[Kiele · Rating 3 out of 5]

***3.5 stars***

I was expecting The Queen's Secret to disappoint me, and since my expectations were so low, it didn't. It was actually better than I had been expecting. Though it definitely wasn't as good as the first book, The Queen's Assassin, I still thought it was okay. I think that The Queen's Assassin easily could have, and probably should have, been a standalone, this book wasn't awful. I liked seeing how everything played out.

[Maya Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved how this book tied of the series. it was almost a little to good to be true but i’m not complaining. i honeslty didn’t care for hansen the entire series but at the end i loved him he’s a goddamn saint. ugh so cute and fast paced

[Princess · Rating 3 out of 5]

No review really, just know I'm happy it's over and I can see why it has the average it does. I gave this a 3 star because I feel like it's very mid. The first book was also mid. The magic system didnt make the most sense, the only thing that kept me going was the romance.

[paige hammond · Rating 1 out of 5]

that was utterly painful