The Monstrous Citadel by Mirah Bolender : Review

Amicae, City of Sweepers, survived the Falling Infestation which nearly destroyed it thanks to the efforts of Laura and Okane. While the ancient monsters have been beaten back for the moment, new and more monstrous dangers face them in the form of belligerent bureaucracy, dangerous gangs, grasping Sweepers bent on personal glory . . .

And Rex, the City of Kings, who breed their own kind of monstrosity.

Laura and Okane must go to Rex to reclaim the secret weaponry that keeps Amicae safe and come face to face with a horrifying truth about the Rex and their designs on all of Orien’s cities.

I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a reading rut lately and struggling to find anything new to really get into so I was pretty excited to receive this book in the mail.  The second book in the Chronicles of Amicae by Mirah Bolender, The Monstrous Citadel was a fun and fast-paced read full of so much action and intrigue that I felt like I was sitting on the edge of my seat all night long. This was yet another story that kept me up well past my bedtime because every chapter left me wanting to know what was going to happen next.

Out of all the books I reviewed last year I think I can honestly say City of Broken Magic was easily one of the weirdest and best books I had the pleasure of reading. I was honestly a bit worried going into this book that it wasn’t going to be as good as City of Broken Magic or that it would fail to meet my expectations. So I was pleasantly surprised when The Monstrous Citadel not only met all of those expectations but blew them all out of the water. Mirah Bolender took everything that made the first book in this series so great and somehow managed to expand and improve upon it all.

I honestly did not expect this book to get as political as it did but I think those politics added a whole new interesting layer to the story. I loved learning more about the other cities in the world and getting a look at how they manage infestations in places other than Amicae. Laura and Okane were as fun and awesome to read about as they were in the first book and I loved watching their friendship grow and expand throughout the book. I’m even more impressed with Mirah Bolender’s world and character building in The Monstrous Citadel than I was with the first book in the series.

I can’t really think of anything in this book that I really disliked and I can’t wait to buy the audiobook in the next few days so that I can experience the story again in a new medium. I would have no hesitation recommending this book to anyone looking for something new to read, though I would highly recommend that anyone interested in this book read City of Broken Magic first so that they aren’t lost or confused.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.