Fray, the second novel in the Unraveled Kingdom Series, fell short of the first novel in the series and my expectations. This novel continues where the other one left off. Now Sophie Balstrade no longer owns her charm/clothing shop and is set to be married to Theodor, the crown prince of the kingdom. They are set to make reforms to their nation’s feudal system of government, but are facing stiff opposition from the nobility who want to maintain the status quo.
Where this novel falls short for me is that it was overly long, and in some cases very dull. Mainly the middle part of the novel where Sophie and Theodor are traveling to Serafin for a meeting for trade among the Equitorial States was dry and often not very interesting. That’s not to say that there weren’t interesting parts in here, but much of that section should have been cut and edited down. I get the impression that the since trilogies are the order of the day in fantasy, the author and publisher wanted to make this a trilogy, but there doesn’t seem to be enough material here to make it a trilogy and keep it entertaining throughout. There also wasn’t much progression in Sophie’s and Theodor’s characters. In fact, Theodor seemed to be less interesting in this novel than he did in the first novel.
The pace of the novel picked up toward the end, and that part was more enjoyable. I’m invested enough to want to keep on reading to complete the trilogy, but with a bit less vigor than before.
