The book has very little politics. What it does have in spades is court intrigue and manipulations. Even though the plot seems silly and far-fetched, I somehow got really attached to the characters. Reading these books feels a lot like watching a soap opera: the storyline is completely unrealistic and frustrating and yet you cannot stop watching it. One thing that I did not like about book 2 is how quickly all the main characters abandoned the love interests from book 1 and moved on to someone new. It's almost like all the drama we saw in book 1 did not exist. This made the characters look fickle and immature. There were also plenty of moments that were just too convenient: someone walking in just in time to see something untoward, or discovering a hidden wedding invitation, etc.
Because I read the unedited advanced copy of the novel, I noticed a couple of things that I hope will be fixed in the finished copy: (a) there is no such thing as Cyrillic numerals, there is the Cyrillic alphabet, but the numerals are exactly the same as are used in Western Europe and America; and (b) the author kept referring to nobility as royalty, these are two different things. These are minor points. Afterall, this is not a historic fiction novel, but still they are annoying enough in a book that is already pretty silly overall. 3 out of 5 stars, purely for the entertainment value.
An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com
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