Book Review: The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen

Read all my book reviews here. Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter for more book recommendations!

The Bridge Kingdom broke a reading slump for me — I said as much in my review — so The Traitor Queen walked in carrying expectations it never asked for. Here’s my honest verdict: it’s a perfectly decent sequel that I wanted to love and merely liked.

The spoiler-free setup: this picks up directly after book one’s ending, which I won’t touch, with Lara and Aren’s situation transformed and the cost of secrets coming due. If you haven’t read The Bridge Kingdom, stop here and go do that first. It’s the better book, and this one leans on it hard.

What I Loved About The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen

The things that made book one sing are still here: the assassin competence, the spycraft, the storm-lashed world that does real plot work. Jensen’s writing remains a pleasure to read, and if you closed book one needing to know what happens next, this is a good follow-up that answers those questions.

What I Didn’t Love About The Traitor Queen

It’s predictable in a way book one never was. I called most of the turns before they arrived, and the plot ambles where the first book sprinted — I kept wanting to feed the pacing an espresso. I’ll also be honest about a structural gripe: the next two books in this series hand the spotlight to side characters, and I’m rarely on board when fantasy authors fall for their side characters hard enough to give them entire books. I signed up for this couple. Learning their story was pausing deflated my momentum, fairly or not.

Final Thoughts on The Traitor Queen

If The Bridge Kingdom hooked you, The Traitor Queen is a good follow-up and a satisfying close to this pair’s arc. What I personally missed was the twisty, fast-paced feeling of books like ACOTAR and Fourth Wing — the sense that anything could happen on the next page. This one plays it safer. Three stars, no regrets, and my Bridge Kingdom review is where the real love letter lives.

My final score: 3 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do I recommend this book? 👍 Yes — if book one hooked you.

🔥 A Deadly Trials Romantasy on Kindle Unlimited: The Ash Trials

Saffron Vale wakes in a ruined wedding dress, locked in a prison for the kingdom’s deadliest criminals — with no memory of who she is.

To survive the brutal Ash Trials, she must outlast shifters, spellcasters, and something even more dangerous: the truth about herself. Her only allies? A traitorous commander from her past and an assassin who swears she’s the real monster here.

The truth could save her — or destroy everything.

Get the book now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited: