Initial Impressions 6/12/17: 3.5 stars 
 THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA was actually quite a different experience than THE THIEF! It started off in a very different but good way with a POV switch from first person to third person. I don't normally like structure changes mid-series BUT I actually did appreciate that Megan Whelan Turner made that decision for this book, and I'm assuming, the rest of the series. THE THIEF was very much a Gen-centric story while THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA started getting more into the political side of this world, involving Attolia, Eddis, and Eugenides' role between them. 
 Things were INTENSE right off the bat. I totally wasn't expecting that given that the first book was... well, not light but it definitely had a lighter tone and nothing too crazy happened. THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA really stepped it up with a reality check for the characters and brought a whole lot of serious to this series. 
 I sort of started to drift towards the end. There was a... well, I guess it was a twist since it was only revealed in the end of the book but I wouldn't really call it a twist -- but anyway, it was something that didn't really sit right with me. I had a hard time coming to terms with it, and since it was involving Eugenides, I couldn't tell if it was a lie/con at first so I spent some time not believing it, but it seems to be the real deal. It's hard to talk about since I don't want to spoil anything but essentially it felt a little out of character for a few of the characters and it just didn't really fit for me. I got a little used to it when the book ended, especially since it seems like it's going to be a major part of the next book, but I may have a rough time adapting. I guess we'll see what happens next! 
 I also found myself wanted more world-building in this book. I loved the mythology stories in THE THIEF and the gods were still involved here but the politics were the main focus of the world-building aspect here. I don't have an issue with that because I actually loved the political motives in books like GRAVE MERCY, but for some reason I just didn't feel like it was quite moving things forward and giving me that world-building satisfaction like I was wanting. I can't quite put my finger on it but there was just something missing. 
 I'm still looking forward to finishing the series (if my stupid computer had allowed me to sync my audiobook to my phone this morning but noooo). It seems like things are being put together in loosely cohesive pieces that will really come together to make up the full large picture in future books. I'm hoping that the events of THE THIEF will become more relevant in future books because it kind of seemed like Gen's whole mission then was a little thrown away in THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA... But I guess we'll see what the end-goal is here!