The Queens of Renthia is a series set in a land where nature spirits are out to destroy humanity. Some women are born with the power to control the spirits, and those strong enough train to become potential heirs to the thrones of their kingdoms. It's a superficially brutal world, and perhaps not the most nuanced in world-building execution, but it's also a world where characters support and care about one another, heroes take many forms, and villains are always more than just villains. These books aren't particularly dense or challenging, but there's a lot to like in them. You can read my review of the first book here. 
 The strength of this series lies unquestionably in its relatable female protagonists. While The Queen of Blood gave us Daleina, a girl with a small amount of power and big goals, the sequel introduces Naelin, a mother of two in a failing marriage. She doesn't want her power to take her away from her children, but is dragged into training to become an heir anyways. 
 My main criticism of the first book had to do with the pace at which we learned critical information about the process of training to become a candidate/heir/queen. I wanted to know more of it sooner in order to understand Daleina's goals. If you've made it to book two, all of that structure is already in place. My main concern going into this book was that it would have a repetitive plot. Look, a new character training to be an heir! Fortunately, I found that not to be the case. This plot unfolds incredibly differently from Daleina's training in the first book. It's not a coming-of-age story like the first book was, but I still think that The Reluctant Queen will be compelling for YA crossover readers because the writing is incredibly accessible and the plot is edge-of-your-seat stuff. I really do think that this series should be finding a much wider fan base than it has thus far. 
 As to any fans of the first book who are dissuaded by the new protagonist and the book description's assertion that Daleina is dying... I think you should give this second book a chance. Daleina is still a major POV throughout the book. Not to mention, her sister Arin gets great character development as well with a bit of an empowering twist that was a pleasant surprise. 
 As to where the story may be going... I'll admit that for a planned trilogy I'm surprised that we've stayed entirely within the one kingdom of Aratay for two whole books. The neighboring kingdom of Semo is now a major part of the plot, but we know next to nothing so far about the other kingdoms. I'd love to see this become a longer series with books set in all of the other kingdoms and chances to get to know their queens.