Lady Smoke by, Laura Sebastian

4 Stars!! 

“A queen without a crown, without a throne, without a coronation. What, exactly, do you imagine you're queen of?” 


Lady Smoke picks up right where Ash Princess left off. Theo is trying to get everything in order on her travels with Dragons-bane and her fleet. They are all looking for allies to take down the Kaiser and Cress. 


Things I Liked: 
Theo shows a ton of growth in this book as her character falls in line with the title of Queen. Shes starting to come into herself and really see what kind of leader she will make. She has lots of hard decisions to make and she is learning everything as she goes along. 

My ship.... oh my ship .... ITS STILL KICKING!! Things may be a little rocky but Im telling you Im going down with this one!! 


The Shadows - They bring so much more to the book! I just love them- Heron, Blaise and Art all protect and handle Theo in their own individual ways. Art doesnt take any crap and is always mouthing off to her, but at the same time has Theo's back no matter what. Heron is quiet - yet he also will stand up to Theo when he is not on board with something. Blaise.... will do anything for Theo even if it means he has to pay with his life. He loves her and is so loyal- as her oldest friend- these two have an unbreakable bond. 

The ending... I NEED BOOK 3 now!!!! 

What I didn't really like: 

Some parts dragged a bit unlike the first book. There was also something major that happens towards the end - and the way it was handled had me scratching my head.. like is this really how this is about to go down?? I needed something bigger after everything Theo went through. I dont want to spoil anything but I personally needed this person to be put through HELL.. And maybe he was a little but not to my satisfaction. It just felt a bit lazy. 

Lady Smoke was a really good read. I have seen some people like this one more than Ash Princess. But for me, I find that Lady Smoke suffered a little bit of middle book syndrome. I cant put my finger on what it was, but something was missing. Im not worried though- I think whatever it was will come back in full force once I read the final book. I still 100% recommend this series!