A Kingdom for a Stage (Shadow Players, #2)

by Heidi Heilig

Caught in a war between the rebels and the invading colonizers, Jetta must make an impossible choice―save her people or protect her sanity.

The second book in Heidi Heilig’s acclaimed Shadow Players trilogy blends traditional storytelling with ephemera to weave an enthralling fantasy that fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir will sink into.

Jetta is a wanted criminal. The army wants her for treason against the crown, for the sabotage of Hell’s Court temple, and for the murder of General Legarde. They also want her for the power in her blood―the magic that captures wandering spirits to give life to puppets, to rocks, to paper . . . to weapons. They’re willing to trade the elixir that treats Jetta’s madness for the use of her blood. The rebels want her, too, to help them reclaim their country. Jetta may be the one who can tip the scales in this war.

But Jetta fears using her power will make her too much like Le Trépas, the terrifying and tyrannical necromancer who once held all Chakrana under his thumb―and who is Jetta’s biological father. She’s already raised her brother from the dead, after all. And scared off Leo, the only person who saw her as she truly is. With Le Trépas at large and a clash between the army and the rebels becoming inevitable, Jetta will have to decide if saving her country is worth sacrificing her soul.

Acclaimed author Heidi Heilig creates a rich world inspired by Southeast Asian cultures and French colonialism. Told from Jetta’s first-person point-of-view, as well as with chapters written as play scripts and ephemera such as songs, maps, and letters, A Kingdom for a Stage is a vivid, fast-paced journey that weaves magic, simmering romance, and the deep bonds of family with the high stakes of epic adventure. It will thrill fans of Stephanie Garber and Renée Ahdieh.

Content warnings: Mental illness (bipolar), blood use in magic, gun violence, war, colonialism, racism, descriptions of dead bodies, mention of reproductive coercion, mentions of torture, mention of suicide

• ISBN10: 0062651978
• ISBN13: 9780062651976
• Publish Date: 8 October 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jo]

Trigger and content warnings are under spoiler tags.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features abduction, imprisonment, torture, a person being burned alive, a massacre, and murder.

Having adored For a Muse of Fire, I was so excited for Heidi Heilig's second book in The Shadow Players Trilogy, A Kingdom for a Stage, especially as Heilig is one of my favourite authors. But while I really enjoyed it, I was a little disappointed - but my disappointment has absolutely nothing to do with Heilig's story or writing.

A Kingdom for a Stage is an important book for the trilogy; things are discovered, identities are revealed, Jetta learns more about her power, and she becomes more involved with the rebels and a key part in them trying to win back their country. It's fast paced, and intriguing, and complicated. There are times when it's completely devastating, and others where your heart is in your mouth. It feels like a second book in some places - putting things into place so the final book can happen - but while still being exciting and completely gripping. I honestly love this series and these characters, and revelled in seeing where the story took them next.

There's a lot about this book I can't talk about in much detail without giving away major spoilers, but there's one thing I did want to touch on in more detail.It was great to see more of Xavier and Theordora when Jetta is imprisoned, seeing how they think and what their plans are, but also how they can be kind of conflicted. Xavier is now General Legrand as Jetta killed his father at the end of the previous book. But he's also not his father. He wants to make him proud, and he makes choices and decisions with that in mind, but he's also not callously cruel. I very much got the idea if he had been raised by someone who wasn't so evil, he would have been a decent guy. But the subjugation of Chakrana and specifically the rebels, bringing them back under the control of the armée, is his duty. Theodora is actually pretty awesome. She's clever and so inventive, and just wants to create and learn, and she has created things that aren't meant for violence. But she's also the daughter of the former general and sister of the current general, and with her skills, she also has a duty to perform. Though she treats Jetta with more kindness and respect than anyone else. It was awesome getting to know them both better and understand where they're coming from.

Then Jetta is rescued, and the book focuses on travelling to safety, and learning what the rebels are up to and planning once they're there. And danger is imminent the whole time. I loved how Jetta got to learn more about herself and her powers. I loved discovering who the Tiger is, and just how awesome - if sometimes coldly strategic - he is. I loved getting to see the other characters again, especially Cheeky and Tia. I loved learning about Akra and his life now, after being brought back from the dead by Jetta. I loved seeing how everything that was happening effected Jetta's relationship with Leo. I loved being with these people and being in this story.

But there isn't a huge amount that happens in the great scheme of things. What does happen is integral to the story, there just didn't feel like there was a lot of it. It's not that the story was slow, or boring at any point, because A Kingdom for a Stage isn't either. It's not without action, there's actually quite a bit of it. It has a bloody earthshaking conclusion that is going to have epic consequences for the final book in thr trilogy. My issue, I guess, is the length.

The book is 446 pages long. It's a fairly big book, and experience tells me that a hell of a lot goes on in books that are quite long, so I was expecting more. And when I finished, I wanted more. The length is deceptive, because the font of the text is on the larger size. And a fair number of pages are the scripted chapters, the letters, the posters and flyers, and the sheet music, which adds to the length, but takes even less time to read. I flew through A Kingdom for a Stage in no time at all, because of the size of the font and ephemera, and it's not as long as it seems. If the font was smaller, it would probably be the length of your average novel, but because it's been formatted to seem longer, I was left feeling surprised that not as much happened as I expected. Honestly, the story itself is great, it's awesome, I enjoyed (if "enjoyed" is the word to use, a fair number of awful things happen) every second of it. My issue is the design and formatting of the book (and I don't mean the inclusion of the ephemera here, I think they're incredible). If the font was smaller, the book itself would be physically smaller, and so my expectations would have been different. So I did finish feeling somewhat disappointed. I think it's unfair to the readers, because it feels kind of misleading. And I feel it's also unfair to Heilig, too, because the book they wrote doesn't deserve my disappointment. It was brilliant! It's a weird one, because I finished last night thinking, "That's it?" and feeling a little short changed, but also having absolutely no issue with the story itself.

It took writing this review, to actually think about the story I read, to realise that my problem isn't with the story at all, and to separate my disappointment from it. I really, really loved A Kingdom for a Stage. It's fantastic, and really moves the story forward to a place that has left me really excited to see where things will lead in the final book, On This Unworthy Scaffold. Just keep in mind the length of the book deceptive.

[Kat @ Novels & Waffles]

In Japanese, there's this word まあまあ (maa maa), which when roughly translated, means something along the lines of "so-so," "passable," or "meh." That basically sums up my feelings for this book; there was nothing I particularly disliked about it, but there was nothing I particularly liked about it, either. It was まあまあ.

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

There are spoilers for For a Muse of Fire (first in the series) below. You can find my review for that book here.

** Here Be Spoilers**

Oh man, I loved this book! From the plot-line to the characters, everything was done well. It was a worthy sequel to For a Muse of Fire, which was a huge relief after some of the sequels I’ve read lately.

Jetta is a great character. She’s tough without being cold and emotionless. In fact, her emotions are a big part of what makes her so tough. She has an illness that is most definitely bipolar (as confirmed by the author). I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but books that feature mental illness with consideration and respect automatically get extra points from me. This one in particular means a lot, since I also have bipolar. It is a mental illness that is rarely represented in YA, and even more rarely mentioned in the fantasy genre. Heidi Heilig’s choice to not only feature it in a fantasy, but to show both the positive and negative aspects of it is pretty stinking cool. But I digress.

In this book, Jetta has been offered a medication that will help with her illness, in exchange for the use of her blood by the crown. Whoever uses the blood can bind souls to inanimate objects, essentially animating-and controlling-them. The crown wants to use her power as a weapon against the rebels, who Jetta sympathizes with.

The rebels also want to use Jetta. Meanwhile, she’s afraid to use her power at all, worrying that it will make her like her biological father. He’s a monstrous necromancer, and everyone is afraid of what would happen if he- or another like him- came to power.

Of course, there’s also ye random romantic entanglement with Leo, another rebel. I’m not a huge fan of their relationship because it often came across as an unnecessary distraction from the rest of the plot, but I admittedly don’t like most dramatic bookish relationships.

I liked that Heilig didn’t pull punches. I was justifiably concerned about what would happen to some of the characters in the book. I like when an author gives things a sense of urgency, and she does that very well. I raced through this book, enjoying every moment of it.

I feel like this series is very underrated and deserves way more hype. It’s well-written and fast-paced, with memorable characters and an interesting plot. The mental illness representation just pushes it even higher in my esteem. I highly recommend this book.

Have you read this book? What did you think?