Sapphique (Incarceron, #2) by Catherine Fisher - My Revew

GoodReads Summery

Finn has escaped Incarceron only to find that he must defend his right to the throne from another challenger. His life and Claudia's hang on Finn convincing the Court that he is the lost prince, even though he has his own doubts about being the true heir.

My Review

Sapphique picks up right where Incarceron left off. Like the first book, the story still switches from Outside to Inside. If in Incarceron, only the prison wing where our heroes started from was explained, and on the Outside, only the castle and the Wardens Manor were described, SAPPHIQUE takes us on a grand magical tour - Here we see more of the vastness of the Prison - more towns traveled through, a multitude of gangs attacking, different lands, places to explore. At the same is true for the Outside.

In this sequel, Finn's been sprung out of one prison and into another, finding himself trapped in the usual politicking . The outside believe that he is the lost prince Giles and the future king of the Realm. But he still can't remember his past life and plagued by his memories from Incarceron (and by the idea that his friends still trapped in Incarceron). When trying to make sense, he got nothing but strange seizures and blackouts. The Queen is also scheming to deny Claudia and Finn any chance of happiness, let alone control of the realm.

To make things worse there is a second Prince Giles that came to challenge his claims. This someone looking just like Finn but is much more adept at playing the political game shows up, nobody knows who the real prince is.

Romance? Book one built up so much anticipation for his reunion with Claudia. Finn and Claudia are betrothed, that doesn’t necessarily mean love, but they intend on ruling the Realm as Queen and King (Attia is desperate to see Finn again, but he barely gives her a thought). Both are busy battling their own monsters in the form of power mongers intent on keeping Protocol and the Realm from change, and Finn off the thrown. It is also, hard to love someone when you have doubts in him and Claudia doubts that Finn is the real Giles. It is also difficult when this person suffer from sullen and moody nature. So she can't help herself but to questions him time and again and she is cold and frustrated. But Finn is desperate for affirmation and even though he remembers very little about his past, when Claudia compare him to the other guy ahe start to believes rhat he is the real missing heir to the throne.

So if Claudia started in this book as obnoxious and self- centered.. as the plot went, her character softened much. As much she seems fearless I can't really see her ever surviving the Prison.

Inside Incarceron- Attia and Keiro try to find a way to escape on their own. They go through more wings of the prison. Each wing is unique and interesting to read about. The Incarceron itself leads them through its vastness as they try to find the way to the prisons heart. While Keiro lost faith in his oath brother and is determined to find a way outside, Attia meets up with magician named Rix who is in possession of Saqqhique's glove, which can connect a person's mind to Incarceron .So in a way the glove might be another way to escape the prison and Attia will do anything to possess the glove herself. So once again, the myth of Sapphique's escape plays an important part, as do the Steel Wolves and their opposition to Protocol/Era. While Claudia and Finn handles the court intrigue, Jared tries to figure out a way to open the Portal, and what to do about the illness that is out to kill him sooner rather than later.

So if you wanted to know if Finn was really Giles, if Kiero would escape Incarceron and if the Glove was the answer to it all....