Beneath the mountain, the king's reign of tyranny is absolute; the one troll with the capacity to challenge him is imprisoned for treason. Cécile has escaped the darkness of Trollus, but she learns all too quickly that she is not beyond the reach of the king's power. Or his manipulation.

Recovered from her injuries, she now lives with her mother in Trianon and graces the opera stage every night. But by day she searches for the witch who has eluded the trolls for five hundred years. Whether she succeeds or fails, the costs to those she cares about will be high.

To find Anushka, she must delve into magic that is both dark and deadly. But the witch is a clever creature. And Cécile might not just be the hunter. She might also be the hunted…

Title : Hidden Huntress
Author : Danielle L. Jensen
Series : Malediction Trilogy (book two)
Format : physical
Page Count : 464
Genre : YA fantasy
Publisher : Strange Chemistry
Release Date : June 2, 2015

Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★

Hollis' 3 star review

I ended my review of book one by saying how GR told me I'd read book two, but after the ending of book one, I was hard pressed to believe it. Having now actually read the book.. what? None of this was remotely familiar. I can't explain it at all but.. hey, it is what it is.

So while book one was a surprise for how much I still enjoyed it, this one was obviously knocked down a peg. I wasn't mad at the plot, the separations, or the losses and conflicts. I was mostly surprised by how there was one major reveal that should not have been a reveal. Or, rather, as it seemed so obvious from the get-go, I was frustrated it took the entire book for it to be unveiled. It was just painful. Yes, the characters had a red herring or two along the way but the fact that it never even crossed their mind.. arg. I wanted to give them a good shake. Particularly because these are not dumb characters.

Having said that, I didn't see other reveals (post-major reveal) coming but really appreciate Jensen's little "hah! you thought you knew it all" move. I should've seen it coming, because this series has always had layers and she's made a lot of smart and atypical choices, but based on how long the main event took.. I just didn't think there'd be room for more. Really enjoyed that.

Otherwise, if not for that complaint, I did enjoy this. Jensen didn't pull punches in the sense that the stakes are high in this world and truly no one is safe. In both how that pertains to what these characters must endure and the friends they lose along the way. We also get further confirmation as to the world and how these trolls initially were part of it all and.. well, other spoilery things I'm not going to hint at. Naturally.

We've come full circle on one part of this conflict but there's much more to come after the ending. And wow what an ending. I certainly didn't expect the author to pull that particular rabbit out of the hat but she did. I'm really hoping we go out with a bang and yes, I'm diving right in to book three.