First of all, the prologue of The Wolf Queen Book II is beautiful and intense. It gives an intriguing explanation for Ameenah's connection to the wolves. And it shows the villainous roots of the Hir, completely solidifying how terrible and dangerous he is.
In this book Ameenah and her friends must travel to the different provinces of Yet to convince the leaders to work together against the threat of the Hir. There is a sort of "side quest" feel to some of their adventures, as new mysteries, threats, and even allies are discovered along the way. I love that Nasir and his sister Kiva must go to one province while Ameenah, Opa, and T'ebak must go another. We get to follow both stories, which are tied together by their common goals but also the ever-present love of Ameenah and Nasir, who must now travel apart. They both go through their own trials, and it was very satisfying to see them finally meet again and work together in the final battle.
It was nice to see gentle Siama again in this book, and after expecting the return of Oorala as well, I was not disappointed! We learned more about Opa, one of my favorite characters from the first book. Ameenah is certainly the star of the Wolf Queen duology, but the author did a wonderful job of creating many memorable characters to round out the story. Highly recommended!