The Queen Will Betray You levels up Sarah Henning’s Sand and Sky series

Sarah Henning’s The Princess Will Save You was a surprise delight of Summer 2020, a feminist retelling of The Princess Bride that saw the heroine get a chance to rescue her kidnapped love. Sequel The Queen Will Betray You picks up where the first novel left off, continuing the romance of Ardenian princess Amarande and her stableboy turned secret prince Luca even as the larger world of the Kingdom of Sand and Sky expands around them.

Having rescued Luca and killed Prince Renard, a neighboring royal who wanted to force her to marry him, Amarande must head home to try and reclaim her kingdom from the very patriarchy that calls her unfit to rule it. Luca, for his part, must return to the vicious Torrent, to establish himself as the long-lost heir to an ancient kingdom. an exploration that will reveal that Ama’s beloved father, King Sendoa, may not have been the hero she always believed him to be.

There are still plenty of Princess Bride connections to be found, but in truth, the series is now at its best when it leaves its attempts at in-jokes behind and embraces the complex fantasy world it’s building on its own. Sure, there are times where a well placed “As you wish” works, but there are multiple moments where the novel’s determination to stick in a recognizable sequence – an Inigo Montoya-esque face-off toward the end is particularly awkward – hamstrings the rest of the story.

The decision to keep Amarande and Luca apart again for another novel could have grown tiresome – instead, their separation is used to expand and deepen the world of the story, exploring the history of the lost kingdom Luca is destined to rule and filling in some of the gaps about the vicious Warlord who has essentially enslaved his people. (Along with Ama’s father’s uncomfortable connections to his rise.)

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of The Queen Will Betray You is its decision to give over its spotlight to the story’s elder generation of women, Ama’s presumed-dead mother Geneva; Koldo, the general who secretly loved King Sendoa even as she commanded his armies; and Ines, the bloodthirsty queen of a rival kingdom who is tired of waiting for her moment to rule. Featuring older female characters in this way is sadly often lacking in the world of YA fantasy, but Henning makes sure to give each woman her due here as the intelligent leaders who probably would have exceeded the men in their lives if only they’d been given the chance to do so.

That Ama comes from a similar school of Sand and Sky women is no surprise, but I do with this sequel had spent more time on her evolution as a leader in her own right. So much of The Queen Will Betray You sends her reeling, as everything she thought she knew about her family and the kingdom she was set to inherit is upended, and yet we spend almost no time on her reactions to any of that.

Instead, it’s simply more determination to get back to Luca, to help Luca claim his throne, to be with Luca no matter what. This is an endeavor that I support, by the way, because the couple remains as adorable as it ever has – I simply would have preferred a little more focus on how the (excuse the pun) torrent of personal and familial revelations Ama must face in the first third of the book impact her. Part of the problem is that there are simply too many ancillary characters to service here, and several get short shrift. (See also: The messy revelations about Osana’s divided loyalties.)

Much bloodier than its predecessor and with a higher body count, The Queen Will Betray You isn’t afraid to attach real stakes to its storytelling, even with an ending whose basic outline most of us can guest. With some genuine surprises and a cast of great characters, this is a fantasy ride you’ll still likely enjoy more than most.

The Queen Will Betray You is now available. Let us know if you’re planning to add it to your summer reading list!