Book Review: Queen of Attolia

Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief #2)
by Megan Whalen Turner
Paperback, 362 pages
Published February 1st 2006 by Eos (first published May 31st 2000)
Source: Bought

Summary:

Revenge

When Eugenides (yoo-JEN-ə-deez), the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eugenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered...she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge.

...but

Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times. 

...at what price?

When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph, and his greatest loss, comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago...

Review:

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 that it was the sequel to that book I read from when I was so much younger.

My memory of The Thief is very fuzzy, but I do remember that Gen was a very smart thief. In the beginning of Queen of Attolia, I was reminded of this and also of how much of a jerk Gen can be. Irene, the queen of Attolia, is described as a ruthless, barbaric queen. Even Gen thinks she is terrifying. Although, how he manages to be terrified and be a complete butt around her at the same time is way beyond me. Though, I must admit, it is one of Gen’s characteristics that makes him such a loveable character.

The first part of the book was rather slow. Pretty much the lot of it showed how depressed Gen got when he lost something that was very important to him. But I still liked the part, because I felt like it was an opportunity to see Gen as not so cocky as he usually was. I also got to see some wonderfully done character development. Gen practically turned from a goatfoot to someone swoon worthy. He may not be as attractive  as your usual YA guy, but his genius is so hot, I’d totally marry him this instant.

This is book is strongly recommended to everyone especially the reluctant readers. My only advice is that you buy the e-book instead because there's so many awesome events that happened that you would absolutely need to bookmark. You may also have to reread some parts to get better grasp on Gen's genius.

Rating: 5/5 stars!!