Published: November 5, 2019
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: Chronicles of Amicae #2
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 416 (Paperback)
My Rating: 3.5/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
The Monstrous Citadel is the sequel to Mirah Bolender’s City of Broken Magic–a fast-paced, adventure fantasy where a bomb squad defuses the magic weapons of a long forgotten war.
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.
City of Broken Magic was one of my favorite books from 2018 and I was desperate for the sequel as soon as I turned the last page. Well, the sequel is now here and The Monstrous Citadel suffered a wee bit from the sophomore slump.
This was an enjoyable book, but there were drastic changes in the cast thanks to the events in book one and I just didn’t like them. The major new characters introduced were Sweepers from another city brought over to help out Amicae. At risk of spoilers I won’t go into more detail here, but the new folks were simply untrustworthy from the start and it wasn’t subtle. It was a strong right hook of “something’s not right with these people” but it wasn’t revealed until a bit later what exactly was sketchy.
Fortunately, Laura and Okane were still pretty awesome. Laura is a take-charge kind of girl and Okane is more comfortable with his new place in society. He’s still quite shy and I remain glad that the author didn’t throw these two into a relationship. I’m breathing a sigh of relief – they can just be friends and co-workers! PLATONIC!
Most of the plot is heavily centered on dealing with the new Sweepers, but the more interesting bits are scattered about. The Amicae gangs are leaning on the Sinclair Sweepers and the rogue sweepers from the city of Rex are still a threat and these two things really help keep the story lively. I’ve also really enjoyed getting to see some new scenery this time around and I think the world building is really cool. The history of the cities and infestations is sprinkled throughout the story and honestly, I’d love to have some more of that!
Like I said previously, this book has the sophomore slump and while enjoyable, I didn’t like it nearly as much as the first book. I’ll definitely read future installments and I hope the pace picks back up. I’m confident it will, as things were starting to get wild in the latter portion – running through the wild lands, panicked escapes, and the bloody crazy Rexians.
Powder & Page 
Leave a comment