Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

The Monstrous Citadel is the second novel in Mirah Bolender’s Chronicles of Amicae series. And it is also one of the novels I’ve been most anxiously waiting for this past year. Once again, we’re back in Amicae, a city torn apart by the infestations they were so convinced they had chased out of the city.

In a world with magic, dark creatures lurk just out of sight. Magical artifacts can attract these creatures, creating dangerous infestations. No city is free of the risk, no matter how long Amicae thought they were above it all.

And that is where the Sweepers come in. It’s their job to keep their cities clean of infestations. Unfortunately, Amicae is down to only two of them, thanks to their hubris. But Laura and Okane are more than willing to continue putting up the fight.

The Chronicles of Amicae have quickly become one of my favorite series. So, my review might be just a tiny bit biased. But I’d like to think that this could be considered a recommendation in and of itself.

Writing

Mirah Boldender’s story is one that wormed into my brain and has refused to leave. Ever since the City of Broken Magic came out, I’ve been desperate to see more in this world. And The Monstrous Citadel lived up to the insane expectations formed within my head.

This was a dynamic and fast-paced read. It had so many twists and turns and plenty of shocking developments. It would seem that Amicae is changing, regardless of how they feel about it. And the world is getting just a little bit larger in the process.

Mirah Bolender increased the complexity of this world by adding more political scheming and aspirations. Suddenly, many more people are trying to take a little bit of the world for themselves. Or perhaps now we’re simply aware of it.

But that wasn’t all there was to love about this novel. Laura has always been the perfect leading lady – determined, opinionated, and unafraid to be different. But this novel gave us more opportunities to be charmed by her Sweeper partner, Okane.

Development

The Monstrous Citadel was a lot of things. Bolender fits so much into this book; it’s almost hard to believe. And yet, the novel itself doesn’t feel rushed. Instead, it steadily moves forward, throwing Laura and Okane from moment to moment.

One thing is for sure: this novel will keep you on the edge of your seat. There are so many shocking twists and turns. Some of them are hinted at early on and thus made complete sense when the truth was outted. But others were truly shocking and carried with them a great amount of emotional depth.

It seemed like I blinked my eyes, and The Monstrous Citadel was over with. Okay, that’s not entirely accurate. My point is that I read it so quickly rather than savoring it. I do regret that a little bit. Especially because now I have a long wait for any news about the next novel in the series.

Conclusion

The Monstrous Citadel was another fascinating read in this series. Once again, we’ve been transported back to Amicae and all the characters we’ve grown to love. It is a broken world in many ways. But it’s a fascinating one nonetheless.

I honestly loved everything about this book. But as I mentioned above, I might be ever so slightly biased. And frankly, I’m okay with that. So seriously, give this series a try. And let me know if you end up as hooked on it as I am.

This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.

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