These Infinite Threads (This Woven Kingdom #2)

What I liked:
This Sequel to This Woven Kingdom brings our three characters Alizeh long lost gin queen, Kamaran the crown prince, and Cyrus, the mysterious prince from Tulan, into an epic love triangle heated with endless banter. The title These Infinite threads perfectly describes how our characters' lives have interwoven since we met them in This Woven Kingdom. Themes around loyalty, trust, and betrayal resonate on all sides as the characters regain their balance and take stock of who surrounds them, their motives, and their next step.
Final Verdict:
You will enjoy this series if you enjoy bantering, love triangles, gin, and imbalance between the lower class and royals. These Infinite Threads are a lush, atmospheric, and enigmatic tale. I can hardly wait for book three in 2024.

THESE INFINITE THREADS is an enchanting YA fantasy sequel, picking up right where the first book left off. At the end of THIS WOVEN KINGDOM, Kamran and Alizeh have been pulled apart by circumstance, with a large battle breaking out in the ballroom. The beginning of this second book picks up with the battle fallout, the evil king, Kamran's grandfather, dead and Kamran unsure of Alizeh's allegiance and the extent of her betrayal. The neighboring king, Cyrus, has come for her, but whether they have been working together all along is unclear to Kamran, especially when Alizeh disappears on a dragon with Cyrus.

Told from the perspectives of Alizeh and Kamran separately, this sequel follows their individual journeys in the fallout of the king's death and as they question their futures. Alizeh is the jinn queen, but she has no crown or throne. Cyrus wants to marry her, but at the behest of Iblees, whose desires are known to be insidious. However, Alizeh questions whether this might be the best step for her if they are to wed in title only. Things become complicated as she spends time in his palace and kingdom, with her empathies and trust tested at every turn.

Kamran is furious at the betrayal he feels he knows, but as he is confronted by others, he once again questions what he knows. His grief and conscience are warring within him to forge a path forward, but he is not yet sure who he will be and what kind of king - as well as how he will avenge the betrayals and aggression by Cyrus and his kingdom. The story builds in two parts for quite the cliffhanger that will leave readers eager for the next installment.

What I loved: This sequel picks up right where the first left off, so it would be helpful to have recently read the first (or at least reread the ending) so that readers can step right back into the story. No time is spared for recapping, as the plot feels quite quick and steady, leading into the fallout from the crescendo of the battle. Themes around loyalty, trust, and betrayal resonate on all sides as the characters regain their balance and take stock of who surrounds them, their motives, and next steps.

Other themes include gossip and its falseness, hope and faith in leaders, prophecy and foresight, empathy and the way it can be twisted, weakness or strength in emotion, and political power. Both Kamran and Alizeh are left with gossip over what happened and the people with whom they are surrounded. Kamran is questioning every he knew about Alizeh and the wealth of things he did not know. Alizeh is questioning Cyrus, and what she knows of him through the gossip spread in her country. The truth of the matter is more difficult to find than they would have expected, and they each learn about the fallacies of listening to these as they try to parse apart the truth of what happened. Both are in positions of leadership, but this is not a given, and they consider the weight of these expectations and those who seek to take it away from them, under different circumstances.

A strong element in the first book was the romance, and that has twisted in this book, but it remains a strong and compelling element of this second book. There are some heart-wrenching and jaw-dropping moments later in the story, full of this passion and yearning that really change the readers' perspectives. This is an element that will be particularly interesting to follow in future books. Along those lines, while there is a lot of greater depth and additional mysteries around prophecy and the roles these characters will play, the story leaves us with a lot of unbound threads that will need to be answered in future stories. Though this is a middle book, the plot advances quite a bit, while also taking us to another cliffhanger. That ending left me gasping and screaming for more!

The world-building remains strong in this second book, building off the first and expanding into the neighboring kingdom of Tulan through Alizeh's new experiences. The magic and culture is infinitely interesting, and I am curious to see how this will continue to evolve. The dual perspectives keep both characters' stories moving forward. In the future, I would love to get Cyrus's perspective as well - he remains quite an enigma, but his story becomes quite the source of compelling mystery. Alizeh and Kamran remain infinitely interesting, and while they each have some missteps, they capture the readers' hearts so easily.

Final verdict: Lush, atmospheric, and enigmatic, THESE INFINITE THREADS continues the compulsive story of THIS WOVEN KINGDOM in an unforgettable and heart-wrenching read that will leave the reader gasping for more.