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Star Wars: The Padmé Trilogy #3
Nadzieja królowej
Szukając nadziei w galaktyce ogarniętej wojną... Padmé Amidala jest dawną królową, obecną senatorką – i świeżo upieczoną żoną. Ale jej małżeństwo z Anakinem Skywalkerem musi pozostać tajemnicą, bowiem Jedi nie mogą żyć w związkach. Niestety, nowożeńcy mają dla siebie mało czasu. Anakin walczy podczas kolejnych bitew wojny klonów, a Padmé toczy własny bój o pokój w Senacie Galaktycznym. Dawna dwórka Sabé powróciła na Tatooine, by znów próbować uwolnić tamtejszych niewolników, jednak Padmé wzywa ją pilnie na Coruscant. Pani senator musi udać się na misję ogromnej wagi, a nikt nie może wiedzieć, że opuściła stołeczną planetę. Sabé jest jedyną osobą, która potrafi przekonująco odgrywać jej rolę w Senacie przez dłuższy czas. Sabé się zgadza, a za sprawą jej decyzji obie kobiety wkraczają na drogę, która bezpowrotnie odmieni ich przyszłość. Na trylogię o Padmé Amidali składają się następujące powieści: TOM 1. Cień królowej TOM 2. Próba królowej TOM 3. Nadzieja królowej
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2022
291 people are currently reading
7956 people want to read
About the author
E.K. Johnston
23 books2,667 followersE.K. Johnston had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she’s learned anything, it’s that things turn out weird sometimes, and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it’s about a pairing she likes.
You can follow Kate on Twitter (@ek_johnston) to learn more about Alderaanian political theory than you really need to know, or on Tumblr (ekjohnston) if you're just here for pretty pictures.
You can follow Kate on Twitter (@ek_johnston) to learn more about Alderaanian political theory than you really need to know, or on Tumblr (ekjohnston) if you're just here for pretty pictures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 860 reviews
October 26, 2023
Queen's Hope is a YA-Star Wars Canon novel mainly following Senator Padme Amidala. To put it in timeline perspective, this novel falls concurrently with some of the events of Attack of the Clones and directly thereafter.
This is also a time of upheaval in the galaxy as the Clone Wars are raging.
Padme and Anakin have decided to take their relationship to the next level, even though they have to keep it 100% secret.
They are a committed to one another, completely in love and want to make that commitment binding. There's no doubt there will be some challenges, but they really want to give it a try as husband and wife, so they do.
The honeymoon period is but the blink of an eye, however, as Anakin, a Jedi Knight, is called forth to actively fight in the Clone Wars.
Padme's involvement in the Wars is more subtle, but no less important. In fact, as Padme is prone to do, she ends up getting herself way more involved in the political investigations than the average government official would; as in willingly puts herself in harms way.
During the time Padme is off on a secret mission, one of her most loyal and best handmaidens, Sabe, takes over the role of Senator Amidala.
Sabe makes her own discoveries during her time posing as Amidala. The halls of leadership aren't as copacetic as they would lead you to believe.
And of course, looming quietly on the fringes of this narrative is Chancellor Palpatine, like a dark cloud hovering over a picnic.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. In a way, it felt like I was adding some behind-the-scenes substance to the content I have previously read and watched. That's always what I am looking for with Star Wars novels and why I continue to pick them up.
I love the feel of continuously building-out this world that has been a part of my life for practically my whole life.
Before I started really getting into Star Wars novels, it was just a fun, nostalgic movie and t.v. franchise that I enjoyed. Having the boosted content of the novels has elevated my fan status to a whole new level.
If you enjoy Star Wars films, or any of the t.v. shows, or comics, I highly recommend checking out some of the Canon novels. In my opinion, you can really start anywhere, pick a timeline era you find interesting and just dive in!
I personally have been absolutely loving all of the content that has been released over the past few years. There's a great list of contributing authors and the stories are so well done!
Padme is a fascinating character to me, so I have loved having this trilogy from E.K. Johnston. It has really enhanced my understanding of her, particularly being able to see and understand her relationships with her handmaidens in a different light.
I was slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see more of Padme and Anakin's relationship in this one, but I do understand they really didn't have much of one at this time, due to them both being pulled in different directions during the Clone Wars.
So, it does make sense, but I still would have liked to have gotten a little more of them together.
Overall, I think this is a great book. The audiobook is freaking fantastic, with the sound effects included really adding to the intensity. You can't go wrong with Star Wars audibooks!! 10/10 recommend that format.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney LucasFilms Press and Disney Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I had a blast with this one and look forward to more Canon content in the future!!
This is also a time of upheaval in the galaxy as the Clone Wars are raging.
Padme and Anakin have decided to take their relationship to the next level, even though they have to keep it 100% secret.
They are a committed to one another, completely in love and want to make that commitment binding. There's no doubt there will be some challenges, but they really want to give it a try as husband and wife, so they do.
The honeymoon period is but the blink of an eye, however, as Anakin, a Jedi Knight, is called forth to actively fight in the Clone Wars.
Padme's involvement in the Wars is more subtle, but no less important. In fact, as Padme is prone to do, she ends up getting herself way more involved in the political investigations than the average government official would; as in willingly puts herself in harms way.
During the time Padme is off on a secret mission, one of her most loyal and best handmaidens, Sabe, takes over the role of Senator Amidala.
Sabe makes her own discoveries during her time posing as Amidala. The halls of leadership aren't as copacetic as they would lead you to believe.
And of course, looming quietly on the fringes of this narrative is Chancellor Palpatine, like a dark cloud hovering over a picnic.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. In a way, it felt like I was adding some behind-the-scenes substance to the content I have previously read and watched. That's always what I am looking for with Star Wars novels and why I continue to pick them up.
I love the feel of continuously building-out this world that has been a part of my life for practically my whole life.
Before I started really getting into Star Wars novels, it was just a fun, nostalgic movie and t.v. franchise that I enjoyed. Having the boosted content of the novels has elevated my fan status to a whole new level.
If you enjoy Star Wars films, or any of the t.v. shows, or comics, I highly recommend checking out some of the Canon novels. In my opinion, you can really start anywhere, pick a timeline era you find interesting and just dive in!
I personally have been absolutely loving all of the content that has been released over the past few years. There's a great list of contributing authors and the stories are so well done!
Padme is a fascinating character to me, so I have loved having this trilogy from E.K. Johnston. It has really enhanced my understanding of her, particularly being able to see and understand her relationships with her handmaidens in a different light.
I was slightly disappointed that we didn't get to see more of Padme and Anakin's relationship in this one, but I do understand they really didn't have much of one at this time, due to them both being pulled in different directions during the Clone Wars.
So, it does make sense, but I still would have liked to have gotten a little more of them together.
Overall, I think this is a great book. The audiobook is freaking fantastic, with the sound effects included really adding to the intensity. You can't go wrong with Star Wars audibooks!! 10/10 recommend that format.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney LucasFilms Press and Disney Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I had a blast with this one and look forward to more Canon content in the future!!
May 29, 2024
I don't even have to tag this for spoilers because absolutely NOTHING happened.
In Queen's Shadow, I got to learn more about Padme's struggle with settling into the Senate and how she adjusted to that. In Queen's Peril, I learned about the beginning of her reign as queen of Naboo.
In this, absolutely NOTHING happens until the last third of the book and it amounts to nothing. It doesn't change anything about what we all know will happen in Revenge of the Sith. So why does this book exist?
I really don't know.
I'm tempted to say that it exists because of one scene where Johnston is trying to hit a quota or something. I think it's great when the LGBT community gets representation, even if I'm not a part of it, but this was easily just Johnston including representation and doing nothing with it.
There is now a transgender clone trooper named Sister. She exists in one scene and NEVER appears again. It felt so forced and amounted to nothing. Like we’re not gonna explore this? I mean, I understand why not, the book is about Padme, but it makes it so much more obvious how out of place the scene is. It was just another filler scene in this filler book. This scene does do one thing: it takes the crown of cringey writing from George Lucas and props it nicely on Johnston's head. Please read:
"The Jedi are all about transcending things," Anakin said. "I don't think we can complain if you've transcended gender."
This is a 19 year old sheltered boy with anger issues. I can’t picture him saying this.
Speaking of Anakin, Johnston does NOTHING with Padme and Anakin's relationship, except make me hate both of them more. I love both of them as characters but she somehow made this stale relationship even worse, when she could've expanded on it and fleshed it out more. (That's basically the premise of this book; she could've fleshed out characters but spent more time describing Padme's outfits and inserting her ideas of representation).
In the last few pages of the book, Padme even ADMITS that she just loves the thrill she gets when she's with Anakin, all the sneaking around and how they're basically living a holodrama or whatever she calls it.. WTF??? I know that's very realistic for people to get attached to other people based solely on emotion (which is hardly a healthy foundation for a relationship) but now you've condemned Padme to this childish mindset? You could've had their relationship make more sense and you ruined it even more.
I last read Queen's Shadow a little less than two years ago and I remember loving Johnston's more simple yet vivid writing style. However, spending time away from her writing and reading other books (and also reading tips on writing for Instagram) made me realize how mediocre her writing actually is. I think she spends a lot of time describing clothes rather than expanding on internal monologues because she doesn't really have much else to write for the characters, which is something she should've worked on. She writes too many dialogue tags rather than just letting the characters go back and forth naturally.
Those are my main initial thoughts. I may add more later but honestly I really wanna be done with this book that just spits in the face of Star Wars. I did like how she concluded Sabe and Padme's relationship in the end (without going into spoilers) but I wish more of this substance had been included in the rest of the book. There's too many POVs for there to really be time to spend with Sabe and/or Padme-I'd even say you get less of them as MCs than in the previous books, which is odd considering Padme's face is literally on the cover.
I was SO excited when I saw this on the shelf. I loved Queen's Shadow (Peril, not as much) and I was looking forward to the conclusion. Unfortunately, Johnston really failed to deliver-this was a massive train wreck and I honestly don't know how she accomplished that.
To conclude my review, I had seen another review talking about Johnston being racist and I did some research into it and honestly, finding the stuff she has written on Twitter has made me very wary and disappointed in her behavior. I already bought Ahsoka, but I honestly feel uncomfortable reading it or supporting her in any capacity while she continues to behave this way. But even if she didn't act that way, this book would be enough to turn me off from her other works. Take this as you will, but I encourage you to do your own research and come up with your own conclusions.
In Queen's Shadow, I got to learn more about Padme's struggle with settling into the Senate and how she adjusted to that. In Queen's Peril, I learned about the beginning of her reign as queen of Naboo.
In this, absolutely NOTHING happens until the last third of the book and it amounts to nothing. It doesn't change anything about what we all know will happen in Revenge of the Sith. So why does this book exist?
I really don't know.
I'm tempted to say that it exists because of one scene where Johnston is trying to hit a quota or something. I think it's great when the LGBT community gets representation, even if I'm not a part of it, but this was easily just Johnston including representation and doing nothing with it.
There is now a transgender clone trooper named Sister. She exists in one scene and NEVER appears again. It felt so forced and amounted to nothing. Like we’re not gonna explore this? I mean, I understand why not, the book is about Padme, but it makes it so much more obvious how out of place the scene is. It was just another filler scene in this filler book. This scene does do one thing: it takes the crown of cringey writing from George Lucas and props it nicely on Johnston's head. Please read:
"The Jedi are all about transcending things," Anakin said. "I don't think we can complain if you've transcended gender."
This is a 19 year old sheltered boy with anger issues. I can’t picture him saying this.
Speaking of Anakin, Johnston does NOTHING with Padme and Anakin's relationship, except make me hate both of them more. I love both of them as characters but she somehow made this stale relationship even worse, when she could've expanded on it and fleshed it out more. (That's basically the premise of this book; she could've fleshed out characters but spent more time describing Padme's outfits and inserting her ideas of representation).
In the last few pages of the book, Padme even ADMITS that she just loves the thrill she gets when she's with Anakin, all the sneaking around and how they're basically living a holodrama or whatever she calls it.. WTF??? I know that's very realistic for people to get attached to other people based solely on emotion (which is hardly a healthy foundation for a relationship) but now you've condemned Padme to this childish mindset? You could've had their relationship make more sense and you ruined it even more.
I last read Queen's Shadow a little less than two years ago and I remember loving Johnston's more simple yet vivid writing style. However, spending time away from her writing and reading other books (and also reading tips on writing for Instagram) made me realize how mediocre her writing actually is. I think she spends a lot of time describing clothes rather than expanding on internal monologues because she doesn't really have much else to write for the characters, which is something she should've worked on. She writes too many dialogue tags rather than just letting the characters go back and forth naturally.
Those are my main initial thoughts. I may add more later but honestly I really wanna be done with this book that just spits in the face of Star Wars. I did like how she concluded Sabe and Padme's relationship in the end (without going into spoilers) but I wish more of this substance had been included in the rest of the book. There's too many POVs for there to really be time to spend with Sabe and/or Padme-I'd even say you get less of them as MCs than in the previous books, which is odd considering Padme's face is literally on the cover.
I was SO excited when I saw this on the shelf. I loved Queen's Shadow (Peril, not as much) and I was looking forward to the conclusion. Unfortunately, Johnston really failed to deliver-this was a massive train wreck and I honestly don't know how she accomplished that.
To conclude my review, I had seen another review talking about Johnston being racist and I did some research into it and honestly, finding the stuff she has written on Twitter has made me very wary and disappointed in her behavior. I already bought Ahsoka, but I honestly feel uncomfortable reading it or supporting her in any capacity while she continues to behave this way. But even if she didn't act that way, this book would be enough to turn me off from her other works. Take this as you will, but I encourage you to do your own research and come up with your own conclusions.
August 11, 2025
A good book. This has been my favourite book of the trilogy. I like how the characters have grown, how they fit together, and apart.
This book is set during the beginning of the Clone Wars. Right at the start of Padme's secret marriage to Anakin. It is different to seeing yhus from Padme's perspective. Padme has always had to keep secrets, but she has to keep them from the people closest to her. It's an interesting dynamic.
Though I have found these books a bit on the slower side, this really eorks for this book in particular. Especially the growth of the characters. The handmaidens were not just body doubles for Padme. There were closer yo her than her family, and now I see them all choosing their own paths.
The book also gives insight into the web cast by Palpatine. His political manipulations, ruthlessness, and patience for the long game. Turning every outcome to his advantage. Finally, some great extra passages on the women's legacy for Leia in both nature and nurture.
This book is set during the beginning of the Clone Wars. Right at the start of Padme's secret marriage to Anakin. It is different to seeing yhus from Padme's perspective. Padme has always had to keep secrets, but she has to keep them from the people closest to her. It's an interesting dynamic.
Though I have found these books a bit on the slower side, this really eorks for this book in particular. Especially the growth of the characters. The handmaidens were not just body doubles for Padme. There were closer yo her than her family, and now I see them all choosing their own paths.
The book also gives insight into the web cast by Palpatine. His political manipulations, ruthlessness, and patience for the long game. Turning every outcome to his advantage. Finally, some great extra passages on the women's legacy for Leia in both nature and nurture.
December 10, 2022
No. Just no.
A book whose blurb suggests a focus on Anidala instead ends up meandering on a mundane political situation with Saché, and several boring, completely aimless plot points and POVs - yet there's no overarching story to connect them.
The title is incredibly unfitting - where is the hope at the start of an intergalactic war, especially when we all dread what will happen to the characters we know and love afterwards?
Together, these books form a mediocre and obviously unplanned trilogy - the worst since the sequels.
Queen's Shadow was the only decent installment and should have remained a standalone while another, unbiased author (AKA someone who actually doesn't hate Anakin Skywalker) could have been handed the reins for the novel dedicated to his and Padmé's romance (Mike Chen is RIGHT THERE, he did a great job writing the relationship in Brotherhood).
More reasons why this book sucks:
- Padmé's own wedding isn't even told from her POV and lasts less than two pages.
- The entire honeymoon period is skipped over and referenced in just a couple of sentences.
- Everything "show, don't tell" is thrown out the window as demonstrated by these two quotes:
- "Once they had decided to have an actual wedding..." Okay WHY did they decide on this and why did this conversation not occur in the book itself?
- "It had been easy to fall for Anakin Skywalker...and that scared her." WHY was it so easy to fall for him? Don't just state that and move on!
- There's a completely random chapter inserted in the middle of the book for the sole purpose of introducing a trans clone trooper who gets validated by Anakin and is never mentioned again. This cheap and forced 'diversity' is rife in the Disney canon and interrupts the pacing - and always seems to anger both the right and left communities. Who are they trying to appeal to here?
- The galaxy is full of millions of species and therefore probably several genders but the author feels the need to make a massive scene where a character identifies as non-binary and it's so stupid and cringe. Let these characters exist how they are instead of having them and the readers reassured by main characters to say "look how woke these protagonists are!"
- Sabé and Anakin's dynamic is utterly wasted. Sabé selfishly thinks "ugh why would Padmé keep a secret from me" and never considers "hey how did this happen? When did she reunite with this younger guy we knew as a kid with worrying psychopathic tendencies? When did she get together with him and why did she decide to marry him?"
- Tonra is just there. Supposedly a main character for two out of three books, he's still a total nonentity with no personality. Someone pointed out that we never find out what his first name is and if so that's a huge oversight on behalf of the author. Similarly, what is Sabé's surname? Every other handmaiden has one.
Lore-wise, what did this book contribute? Nothing. Now, how about a character study set a few months before Revenge Of The Sith with Padmé discovering and coping with her pregnancy? Wouldn't that be a story worth telling?
This trilogy did not do justice to one of the most underused and underappreciated characters in the franchise. Far from it, as she is reduced to a prop in her own story.
One star because I got the opportunity to use Padmé gifs.
December 10, 2022
This is the third book of a trilogy. A reader can jump right into this book as each book really doesn't connect. Each book is just time spent with Padme and can be read as stand alones.
This book met my expectations. If you saw my rating you can surmise I wasn't expecting much and it delivered on that front. I have not been a fan of this series. In fact I would say this is the worst trilogy of any written material in this galaxy. The only reason I read it was because I read the first two books and I had to see it to the end. In this book the time frame is the beginning of the Clone Wars. Padme and Anakin is secretly getting married. The author decided to write about the mundane activities of Padme's life instead of her dealings on the whole galaxy stage. We spend more time on her wedding outfit getting done in time for the wedding instead of a faction of species reaching out to her that could help benefit the Republic. Yeah. I pick up a novel from this universe wondering about a wedding gown. This whole series has been like this so it really was not a surprise. Where is the space fantasy? Where is the drama? Where is good versus evil? Nope. Let's write about attire and how characters look instead of telling a story. And there is a story here which was hinted at but let's not explore it.
As you can tell I think this trilogy is a complete waste of time. I strongly believe that this trilogy was written just to prove how politically correct we can be in this universe. That was its goal at the sacrifice of everything else. No drama. No cohesive story telling. Just for the sole point at saying look at us. We have these characters that are up to date with today's world. I am really disappointed in this book and series and for the life of me do not understand why other readers enjoy it so much. I think even the author knew it was done as it is only barely above two hundred pages.
This book met my expectations. If you saw my rating you can surmise I wasn't expecting much and it delivered on that front. I have not been a fan of this series. In fact I would say this is the worst trilogy of any written material in this galaxy. The only reason I read it was because I read the first two books and I had to see it to the end. In this book the time frame is the beginning of the Clone Wars. Padme and Anakin is secretly getting married. The author decided to write about the mundane activities of Padme's life instead of her dealings on the whole galaxy stage. We spend more time on her wedding outfit getting done in time for the wedding instead of a faction of species reaching out to her that could help benefit the Republic. Yeah. I pick up a novel from this universe wondering about a wedding gown. This whole series has been like this so it really was not a surprise. Where is the space fantasy? Where is the drama? Where is good versus evil? Nope. Let's write about attire and how characters look instead of telling a story. And there is a story here which was hinted at but let's not explore it.
As you can tell I think this trilogy is a complete waste of time. I strongly believe that this trilogy was written just to prove how politically correct we can be in this universe. That was its goal at the sacrifice of everything else. No drama. No cohesive story telling. Just for the sole point at saying look at us. We have these characters that are up to date with today's world. I am really disappointed in this book and series and for the life of me do not understand why other readers enjoy it so much. I think even the author knew it was done as it is only barely above two hundred pages.
Want to read
September 8, 2021Clone Wars-era Padme novel? YES PLEASE.
May 16, 2022
As a huge fan of Queen's Shadow and Queen's Peril, I was THRILLED to have the chance to read an ARC of Queen's Hope. E.K. Johnston did an incredible job fleshing out Naboo culture and tradition and breathing life into the Queen's handmaidens in the first two books. I was so excited to see how the full decoy switch would work in the Senate.
Unfortunately, where the first two books had the advantage of peaking behind the scenes into large moments of Padme's life that weren't already depicted, Queen's Hope struggles to bring find space between the events of Episode II and The Clone Wars series where we see Padme take on countless risky solo missions on behalf of the Senate. At the end of the day, Queen's Hope seemed to struggle to bring anything new to Padme's story. The storyline with Sabe was definitely interesting, but I had hoped to see something new in Padme's life.
To fill the space between Padme and Sabe's narratives, Johnston makes the risky move of jumping into the minds of various key characters from the greater Star Wars universe. Imagine a Star Wars greatest hits playlist that jumps from Anakin Skywalker, to Bail Organa, to Yoda, to Darth Sidious himself still playing the role of Chancellor Palpetine. This for me, was a risky move, as these are beloved familiar characters with their own unique complex motives and background that include distinct speech and thought patterns. In the earlier books, Johnston seemed to take immense care in distinguishing between the narratives of Padme and each of her handmaidens, so I had hoped other characters would receive the same treatment. Unfortunately though, these moments from outside perspectives really disappointed and fell flat for me. One example, Yoda and Jar Jar have incredibly iconic and distinct speech patterns but seem to tire of them mid-way through the page and begin speaking as the other characters do. *Note: I did read an ARC, and do not know to what extent dialogue may have been changed before final publication.*
I acknowledge that this novel is geared towards a young adult audience, but the characters are adults, and part of a beloved science fiction pantheon. They should speak like adults. Some of the phrasing and dialogue seemed incredibly juvenile and immature for the key players in an intergalactic war. Maybe its just me and I should read Star Wars books aimed at older audiences, but this doesn't seem to be a problem in the other YA Star Wars books coming out.
All in all, I will read every Padme Amidala adventure that Disney cares to create, but Queen's Hope seemed rushed and careless. I DNF'ed it pretty close to the end. Queen's Shadow remains my favorite of the series and I will probably never tire of re-reading it.
Thank you to Disney Publishing Worldwide and E.K.Johnston for the Netgalley e-ARC.
Unfortunately, where the first two books had the advantage of peaking behind the scenes into large moments of Padme's life that weren't already depicted, Queen's Hope struggles to bring find space between the events of Episode II and The Clone Wars series where we see Padme take on countless risky solo missions on behalf of the Senate. At the end of the day, Queen's Hope seemed to struggle to bring anything new to Padme's story. The storyline with Sabe was definitely interesting, but I had hoped to see something new in Padme's life.
To fill the space between Padme and Sabe's narratives, Johnston makes the risky move of jumping into the minds of various key characters from the greater Star Wars universe. Imagine a Star Wars greatest hits playlist that jumps from Anakin Skywalker, to Bail Organa, to Yoda, to Darth Sidious himself still playing the role of Chancellor Palpetine. This for me, was a risky move, as these are beloved familiar characters with their own unique complex motives and background that include distinct speech and thought patterns. In the earlier books, Johnston seemed to take immense care in distinguishing between the narratives of Padme and each of her handmaidens, so I had hoped other characters would receive the same treatment. Unfortunately though, these moments from outside perspectives really disappointed and fell flat for me. One example, Yoda and Jar Jar have incredibly iconic and distinct speech patterns but seem to tire of them mid-way through the page and begin speaking as the other characters do. *Note: I did read an ARC, and do not know to what extent dialogue may have been changed before final publication.*
I acknowledge that this novel is geared towards a young adult audience, but the characters are adults, and part of a beloved science fiction pantheon. They should speak like adults. Some of the phrasing and dialogue seemed incredibly juvenile and immature for the key players in an intergalactic war. Maybe its just me and I should read Star Wars books aimed at older audiences, but this doesn't seem to be a problem in the other YA Star Wars books coming out.
All in all, I will read every Padme Amidala adventure that Disney cares to create, but Queen's Hope seemed rushed and careless. I DNF'ed it pretty close to the end. Queen's Shadow remains my favorite of the series and I will probably never tire of re-reading it.
Thank you to Disney Publishing Worldwide and E.K.Johnston for the Netgalley e-ARC.
April 8, 2022
don't let the one star fool you, if I could give a 0 star rating I would.
I knew I probably wouldn't enjoy this book from the start because I believe generally Ek Johnson is incapable of writing Padme. But I had already wasted time reading the other books so I thought to give it a chance in hopes that her writing had improved.
spoilers: it hasn't
As a book overall it has little to do with Padme herself. it's a pity because padme is a great character, kind and flawed, full of layers and she definitely deserves a book dedicated on her. Ek's trilogy is not it.
if I could sum up Padme's characterization from this author's trilogy I would say: "Beautiful, kind but sad" because that's all Padme is, right?
I also get the sense that the author doesn't even like Anakin. He's completely out of character along with Padme. You could replace their names with someone's else and nothing would change really.
Would I recommend this book/trilogy? No.
I can only see people who found padme "pretty" in the films and wanna self insert themselves enjoying this book.
But if you actually love the character I'd suggest you to head to other books and comics that do thousand times better job.
I knew I probably wouldn't enjoy this book from the start because I believe generally Ek Johnson is incapable of writing Padme. But I had already wasted time reading the other books so I thought to give it a chance in hopes that her writing had improved.
spoilers: it hasn't
As a book overall it has little to do with Padme herself. it's a pity because padme is a great character, kind and flawed, full of layers and she definitely deserves a book dedicated on her. Ek's trilogy is not it.
if I could sum up Padme's characterization from this author's trilogy I would say: "Beautiful, kind but sad" because that's all Padme is, right?
I also get the sense that the author doesn't even like Anakin. He's completely out of character along with Padme. You could replace their names with someone's else and nothing would change really.
Would I recommend this book/trilogy? No.
I can only see people who found padme "pretty" in the films and wanna self insert themselves enjoying this book.
But if you actually love the character I'd suggest you to head to other books and comics that do thousand times better job.
May 4, 2022
Happy, happy sigh!
I was so delighted when I found out that there was going to be a book about Padme, and that it was going to be written by my friend Kate, one of the most passionate Star Wars fans I know! And then we ended up with a TRILOGY! (So fitting!) A trilogy of books about the badass queen-turned-senator and her equally badass handmaidens!
I loved this one in particular, giving us some romance, some fashion, some action, and some Wookiees . . . also, an unexpected Baby Shark reference! As well as a glimpse into the lives of some of the other boss women of Star Wars, which I just could not love enough!
I was so delighted when I found out that there was going to be a book about Padme, and that it was going to be written by my friend Kate, one of the most passionate Star Wars fans I know! And then we ended up with a TRILOGY! (So fitting!) A trilogy of books about the badass queen-turned-senator and her equally badass handmaidens!
I loved this one in particular, giving us some romance, some fashion, some action, and some Wookiees . . . also, an unexpected Baby Shark reference! As well as a glimpse into the lives of some of the other boss women of Star Wars, which I just could not love enough!
June 17, 2022
3.5 Stars
I enjoyed some of the scenes in this one, but it was hard not to compare it to Brotherhood which takes place during the same period but is so much stronger. This is worth reading if you love more time between Padme and Anikan, but it does not add much to the larger story.
I enjoyed some of the scenes in this one, but it was hard not to compare it to Brotherhood which takes place during the same period but is so much stronger. This is worth reading if you love more time between Padme and Anikan, but it does not add much to the larger story.
March 31, 2022
i received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
guys, this is the anidala book i’ve wanted my whole life. the fact that it has taken so long for us to get one is crazy but i’m so thankful it’s here nonetheless.
padmé and sabé are the standouts, as they should be. i loved each and every one of the new characters that were introduced along with all the appearances of characters we know and love. this is by FAR the best book in the trilogy. be sure to get it on tuesday as it, and the rest of the trilogy, are so worth the read.
guys, this is the anidala book i’ve wanted my whole life. the fact that it has taken so long for us to get one is crazy but i’m so thankful it’s here nonetheless.
padmé and sabé are the standouts, as they should be. i loved each and every one of the new characters that were introduced along with all the appearances of characters we know and love. this is by FAR the best book in the trilogy. be sure to get it on tuesday as it, and the rest of the trilogy, are so worth the read.
August 18, 2022
"For one of the few times in her life, Padmé Amidala had no idea what to do."
First of all, the cover art is beautiful but misleading. That image of Padmé is from a deleted scene in Revenge Of The Sith yet this story takes place during and after the events of Attack Of The Clones, three and a half years prior to that.
These books were obviously not planned as a trilogy. As I finished rereading Queen's Shadow, the epilogue broke me but I also wondered how much more effective it could have been had it been placed at the end of this book instead, the grande finale!
Of the three books, this one featured Padmé the least, maybe for like a third of the pagetime. Sabé and Saché have many scenes, plus there's a handful from Yané, Anakin, and Bail Organa's POVs - and unfortunately, Palpatine's. Why were there so many Palpatine POVs? They added absolutely nothing to the 'plot' except to hear him cackle over how clever he is and how great his plan is blah blah - this is stuff we know already.
"The list of things that Palpatine needed was long and incredibly secret"
Wow, thanks for that very insightful piece of information.The multitude of random POVs make up an unfair proportion of an already very short book.
Queen's Hope feels rather like an unfinished Clone Wars episode; think Dark Disciple but focused on Padmé.
Those who have had the misfortune to endure my rants on the franchise will know that Amidala's episodes are *holds up hands some of my least favourite in the animated series, primarily for featuring too little politics (c'mon she's a senator!), too much cat-and-mouse front line Separatist hunting (again, she's a politician not a secret agent) and wayyy too much getting caught and almost dying until her darling hubby and/or his peers come to rescue her.
Thankfully the adventure Padmé goes on in this book doesn't fall prey to these - actually, it was a good combination of action and politics, though the mission itself wasn't exactly intriguing. Plus there's no man swooping in last minute to play the hero (*cough looks pointedly at Bloodline).
Spoilers-but-not-really-spoilers-since-we-all-know-what-happens-anyway ahead
I already know I'm being generous with my rating due to my love for the characters and era. Plus it definitely helped that this was much better written than Queen's Peril. The many subplots actually concluded, no matter how seemingly pointless (Saché's chapters almost put me to sleep). Plus Anidala, so yeah. The first 20% of the book was heartwarming, reading about their wedding and the build-up to it.
""Do you think your father would show me how to make this sort of flower... thing?" Anakin asked. "When we visited him, I noticed his garden and how much you liked it. I know we can't do anything like that right now, but maybe someday?""
*cathartic fangirl screaming
Unfortunately they're apart for the other 80% and only reunite in the last few pages. Anakin is used as a plot device to strain Sabé and Padmé's relationship, then conveniently disappears from the story (until the short but sweet ending.)
Apart from the aforementioned parts, I'm struggling to think of anything else I actually enjoyed because the rest of the book was a bit of a hot mess, and the MISCOMMUNICATION going on between everyone started driving me crazy. Actually, most problems I have with Queen's Hope can be observed in one scene; the first interaction in ten years between Sabé and Anakin.
For ridiculous reasons, Padmé doesn't tell Anakin about the Sabé switcheroo. As I mentioned before, words cannot describe how much I hate the miscommunication trope, but this also made Padmé seem incredibly moronic. And Dormé says she's supposedly careful when it comes to the secrecy of their relationship?
"Padmé is the soul of discretion when it comes to organizing trysts, as I am sure you can imagine, but Anakin is as subtle as a drunken gundark."
How does Dormé know so much about Anakin? He and Padmé literally only just got married and he went to war straight afterwards. We never see Padmé tell her about anything either. See, these are the kind of scenes that the book lacked. I really can't describe Padmé and Dormé's relationship outside of what's seen in Episode 2 and this was a missed opportunity to show a deep trusting, or anything else between them.
Unaware she's away, Anakin sneaks into Padmé's apartment in the middle of the night only to find Sabé sleeping in her place. Immediately knowing it's not his wife, he proceeds to choke Sabé. Is this reaction not a little extreme, even for Anakin? The two already met before in Episode 1, wouldn't he have sensed who she was? And sure Anakin isn't the brightest crayon in the box but would he really give himself away as a Jedi that easily?
The dialogue between the two is more comparable to that of a thirteen-year-old girl whining at her little brother for stealing the remote control to watch Looney Tunes rather than that of two adults discovering a secret in the life of someone close to them:
""Remember that Padmé is fighting this war, too. She's going to do things differently than you, and she has to act like she's a normal senator. You don't keep secrets very often, and that's how you are, but Padmé's life and work is secrets. Can you respect that?"
"I'm trying," Anakin said. "I like it when everything is straightforward.""
He was attacking her a few minutes ago and now he's accepting her talking down like he's still nine? The entire conversation is nothing but childish and doesn't in any way convey the betrayal and fear felt on Sabé's part or the shock on Anakin's.
That's essentially the rest of the book too. Everyone behaves like children because...plot. PLEASE have a proper conversation like the adults you are. Several characters make the exact same kind of jokes. Star Wars has crap dialogue but I've never seen it this juvenile. Maybe it would've been acceptable in Queen's Peril when they were young teens but these are sophisticated grown women talking now. It's jarring.
The writing was a step up from the previous book in the trilogy, but it still needed a lot of work:
"Her heart cracked in her chest"
"A smile played on her lips"
Please no. I suffered enough of this at the pen of SJM.
"With his arms around her, he could almost reach her bare feet"
- uh? Just how long are Anakin's arms if he can do that???
""Thank you, Captain," Padmé said. "I really do feel kind of gross.""
Can anyone actually imagine these words coming from Padmé Amidala???
Yay, another character says the word "sh**" in a Star Wars book despite this supposedly being a galaxy far far away with completely different customs and cuss words. Yes, I know Han Solo throws out 'hell' in the original movie but at least that's been canonised to mean something; there happen to be two alternatives for sh** - kriff AND stang. How hard would it be to use them instead?
""And then Geonosis happened, and then -"
"And then you got married," Sabé said. She tried not to sound judgmental, but it was a challenge."
The Tusken Raider incident is brought up by Padmé to Sabé in an abrupt manner, and she says admirably that it's proof of Anakin's "strong sense of justice" - what? And here I thought Johnston was finally going to have them properly discuss the elephant in the room. Sabé is naturally shocked (finally someone is), but because she's still blinded by her jealousy (more on that in a bit) her reaction seems more petty than anything else. Afterwards, everyone acts like the situation's been dealt with and they never mention it again.
The ending of the book made me nothing short of angry. We all knew that Sabé and Padmé were going to part ways eventually, but here we find out that they sever their bond over ANAKIN. No, seriously, this strong, powerful female friendship is tossed aside because of a GUY. Wow. Bechtel test, anyone? This book barely passes it.
Sure Sabé says Anakin is only one of the reasons, but it's obvious that she's jealous of him. She even tries to make Padmé choose between them.
Also this:
"And now he was grown, a Jedi Knight, and connected to Padmé in ways that Sabé feared were deeper than he had admitted to. Maybe she was jealous. But she wasn’t wrong."
See?
Now, it's been a while since I picked up the Darth Vader 2020 comic run, but I specifically remember . This doesn't make much sense any more after what we learn in this book.
"You don't exactly have to be here either," Tonra reminded her. "We're both here because we left something undone and we want to try again."
While it was great to see Sabé finally embrace herself as a person and not just as the Queen's Shadow, it still felt like she had no personality outside of it. Freeing the slaves was Padmé's wish after all, not hers. Even after their relationship is broken down, she's doing Amidala's work for her.
Also, Sabé and Tonra's relationship is incredibly boring. Is it platonic? Is it romantic? Doesn't matter because Tonra is such a tool. We never even find out what his first name is! He's there to help Sabé on Tatooine and nothing else, and when she's away she doesn't seem to think much of him at all.
On the contrary, Padmé behaves and thinks more like a lovestruck schoolgirl than a newlywed senator; giggling over the 'thrill' of her little tryst - really?
""You told me once that when you gave your heart to someone, it would be a disaster," Sabé reminded her. "I should have known you weren't exaggerating.""
I feel like I should address some of the problematic aspects of this book, the Queen's Trilogy as a whole and its author. However I'm not sure I'm the right person to do that, so I instead advise anyone who might be interested to do their own research and decide for themselves whether this author is worth their support.
Finally, there are these interludes placed throughout the novel that are supposedly tributes to the women of Star Wars. I originally loved the idea of this, and the beginning chapter with Shmi Skywalker was great. But I'm still confused at the choice of their placements in the story. Why does the final book in Padmé's trilogy end with a chapter on Breha Organa? Also I originally thought there were only tributes to Prequel-era women, yet Leia is there? She was literally a newborn at the end of Episode 3. And where are the other handmaidens? Shouldn't they get tributes? Wasn't that a running theme in these books, to shine light on their importance in the franchise?
""My hands are yours," she said. "Please don't ask me for them again.""
2.5 stars.
_______________
Pre-review
Whyyy is this taking so long to come out I mean we finally get to see Anidala in a canon novel so please just give it to me
First of all, the cover art is beautiful but misleading. That image of Padmé is from a deleted scene in Revenge Of The Sith yet this story takes place during and after the events of Attack Of The Clones, three and a half years prior to that.
These books were obviously not planned as a trilogy. As I finished rereading Queen's Shadow, the epilogue broke me but I also wondered how much more effective it could have been had it been placed at the end of this book instead, the grande finale!
Of the three books, this one featured Padmé the least, maybe for like a third of the pagetime. Sabé and Saché have many scenes, plus there's a handful from Yané, Anakin, and Bail Organa's POVs - and unfortunately, Palpatine's. Why were there so many Palpatine POVs? They added absolutely nothing to the 'plot' except to hear him cackle over how clever he is and how great his plan is blah blah - this is stuff we know already.
"The list of things that Palpatine needed was long and incredibly secret"
Wow, thanks for that very insightful piece of information.The multitude of random POVs make up an unfair proportion of an already very short book.
Queen's Hope feels rather like an unfinished Clone Wars episode; think Dark Disciple but focused on Padmé.
Those who have had the misfortune to endure my rants on the franchise will know that Amidala's episodes are *holds up hands some of my least favourite in the animated series, primarily for featuring too little politics (c'mon she's a senator!), too much cat-and-mouse front line Separatist hunting (again, she's a politician not a secret agent) and wayyy too much getting caught and almost dying until her darling hubby and/or his peers come to rescue her.
Thankfully the adventure Padmé goes on in this book doesn't fall prey to these - actually, it was a good combination of action and politics, though the mission itself wasn't exactly intriguing. Plus there's no man swooping in last minute to play the hero (*cough looks pointedly at Bloodline).
Spoilers-but-not-really-spoilers-since-we-all-know-what-happens-anyway ahead
I already know I'm being generous with my rating due to my love for the characters and era. Plus it definitely helped that this was much better written than Queen's Peril. The many subplots actually concluded, no matter how seemingly pointless (Saché's chapters almost put me to sleep). Plus Anidala, so yeah. The first 20% of the book was heartwarming, reading about their wedding and the build-up to it.
""Do you think your father would show me how to make this sort of flower... thing?" Anakin asked. "When we visited him, I noticed his garden and how much you liked it. I know we can't do anything like that right now, but maybe someday?""
*cathartic fangirl screaming
Unfortunately they're apart for the other 80% and only reunite in the last few pages. Anakin is used as a plot device to strain Sabé and Padmé's relationship, then conveniently disappears from the story (until the short but sweet ending.)
Apart from the aforementioned parts, I'm struggling to think of anything else I actually enjoyed because the rest of the book was a bit of a hot mess, and the MISCOMMUNICATION going on between everyone started driving me crazy. Actually, most problems I have with Queen's Hope can be observed in one scene; the first interaction in ten years between Sabé and Anakin.
For ridiculous reasons, Padmé doesn't tell Anakin about the Sabé switcheroo. As I mentioned before, words cannot describe how much I hate the miscommunication trope, but this also made Padmé seem incredibly moronic. And Dormé says she's supposedly careful when it comes to the secrecy of their relationship?
"Padmé is the soul of discretion when it comes to organizing trysts, as I am sure you can imagine, but Anakin is as subtle as a drunken gundark."
How does Dormé know so much about Anakin? He and Padmé literally only just got married and he went to war straight afterwards. We never see Padmé tell her about anything either. See, these are the kind of scenes that the book lacked. I really can't describe Padmé and Dormé's relationship outside of what's seen in Episode 2 and this was a missed opportunity to show a deep trusting, or anything else between them.
Unaware she's away, Anakin sneaks into Padmé's apartment in the middle of the night only to find Sabé sleeping in her place. Immediately knowing it's not his wife, he proceeds to choke Sabé. Is this reaction not a little extreme, even for Anakin? The two already met before in Episode 1, wouldn't he have sensed who she was? And sure Anakin isn't the brightest crayon in the box but would he really give himself away as a Jedi that easily?
The dialogue between the two is more comparable to that of a thirteen-year-old girl whining at her little brother for stealing the remote control to watch Looney Tunes rather than that of two adults discovering a secret in the life of someone close to them:
""Remember that Padmé is fighting this war, too. She's going to do things differently than you, and she has to act like she's a normal senator. You don't keep secrets very often, and that's how you are, but Padmé's life and work is secrets. Can you respect that?"
"I'm trying," Anakin said. "I like it when everything is straightforward.""
He was attacking her a few minutes ago and now he's accepting her talking down like he's still nine? The entire conversation is nothing but childish and doesn't in any way convey the betrayal and fear felt on Sabé's part or the shock on Anakin's.
That's essentially the rest of the book too. Everyone behaves like children because...plot. PLEASE have a proper conversation like the adults you are. Several characters make the exact same kind of jokes. Star Wars has crap dialogue but I've never seen it this juvenile. Maybe it would've been acceptable in Queen's Peril when they were young teens but these are sophisticated grown women talking now. It's jarring.
The writing was a step up from the previous book in the trilogy, but it still needed a lot of work:
"Her heart cracked in her chest"
"A smile played on her lips"
Please no. I suffered enough of this at the pen of SJM.
"With his arms around her, he could almost reach her bare feet"
- uh? Just how long are Anakin's arms if he can do that???
""Thank you, Captain," Padmé said. "I really do feel kind of gross.""
Can anyone actually imagine these words coming from Padmé Amidala???
Yay, another character says the word "sh**" in a Star Wars book despite this supposedly being a galaxy far far away with completely different customs and cuss words. Yes, I know Han Solo throws out 'hell' in the original movie but at least that's been canonised to mean something; there happen to be two alternatives for sh** - kriff AND stang. How hard would it be to use them instead?
""And then Geonosis happened, and then -"
"And then you got married," Sabé said. She tried not to sound judgmental, but it was a challenge."
The Tusken Raider incident is brought up by Padmé to Sabé in an abrupt manner, and she says admirably that it's proof of Anakin's "strong sense of justice" - what? And here I thought Johnston was finally going to have them properly discuss the elephant in the room. Sabé is naturally shocked (finally someone is), but because she's still blinded by her jealousy (more on that in a bit) her reaction seems more petty than anything else. Afterwards, everyone acts like the situation's been dealt with and they never mention it again.
The ending of the book made me nothing short of angry. We all knew that Sabé and Padmé were going to part ways eventually, but here we find out that they sever their bond over ANAKIN. No, seriously, this strong, powerful female friendship is tossed aside because of a GUY. Wow. Bechtel test, anyone? This book barely passes it.
Sure Sabé says Anakin is only one of the reasons, but it's obvious that she's jealous of him. She even tries to make Padmé choose between them.
Also this:
"And now he was grown, a Jedi Knight, and connected to Padmé in ways that Sabé feared were deeper than he had admitted to. Maybe she was jealous. But she wasn’t wrong."
See?
Now, it's been a while since I picked up the Darth Vader 2020 comic run, but I specifically remember . This doesn't make much sense any more after what we learn in this book.
"You don't exactly have to be here either," Tonra reminded her. "We're both here because we left something undone and we want to try again."
While it was great to see Sabé finally embrace herself as a person and not just as the Queen's Shadow, it still felt like she had no personality outside of it. Freeing the slaves was Padmé's wish after all, not hers. Even after their relationship is broken down, she's doing Amidala's work for her.
Also, Sabé and Tonra's relationship is incredibly boring. Is it platonic? Is it romantic? Doesn't matter because Tonra is such a tool. We never even find out what his first name is! He's there to help Sabé on Tatooine and nothing else, and when she's away she doesn't seem to think much of him at all.
On the contrary, Padmé behaves and thinks more like a lovestruck schoolgirl than a newlywed senator; giggling over the 'thrill' of her little tryst - really?
""You told me once that when you gave your heart to someone, it would be a disaster," Sabé reminded her. "I should have known you weren't exaggerating.""
I feel like I should address some of the problematic aspects of this book, the Queen's Trilogy as a whole and its author. However I'm not sure I'm the right person to do that, so I instead advise anyone who might be interested to do their own research and decide for themselves whether this author is worth their support.
Finally, there are these interludes placed throughout the novel that are supposedly tributes to the women of Star Wars. I originally loved the idea of this, and the beginning chapter with Shmi Skywalker was great. But I'm still confused at the choice of their placements in the story. Why does the final book in Padmé's trilogy end with a chapter on Breha Organa? Also I originally thought there were only tributes to Prequel-era women, yet Leia is there? She was literally a newborn at the end of Episode 3. And where are the other handmaidens? Shouldn't they get tributes? Wasn't that a running theme in these books, to shine light on their importance in the franchise?
""My hands are yours," she said. "Please don't ask me for them again.""
2.5 stars.
_______________
Pre-review
Whyyy is this taking so long to come out I mean we finally get to see Anidala in a canon novel so please just give it to me
January 8, 2024
Star Wars : Queen’s Hope was written by bestselling author E.K. Johnston. This YA novel is published by Disney-Lucasfilm Press. Queen’s Hope is the final Padme book, in the YA series.
SUMMARY: Padme and Anakin are in love. They want to live a life of secrecy and risk by fulfilling their personal desires by committing themselves to each other in marriage. This is forbidden in the Jedi Order, but it’s a risk Anakin is willing to take. When they return to Coruscant the first true test of how they will maintain their relationship begins. Anakin is shipped out to fight in the Clone Wars and Padme goes on a secret mission behind Separatist lines.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: The Padme trilogy, is one the most bizarre trilogies we’ve had. One book was a retelling of The Phantom Menace through a different perspective. One book jumps back in time as Padme adjusts to being Queen, and finally we close out the trilogy with the start of the Clone Wars.
Padme is tired of serving others before herself. She does like being a servant of the people, but she also wants to fulfill her own desires. When facing death on Geonosis, she realized the love of Anakin Skywalker, is just what she needs. Padme touts that she handles aggressive negotiations. In this story, she has no fear, but she risks exposing so much, with her decision to go on a secret mission.
There is something that felt off with this story, and that would be the timeframe. Little things don’t balance well with timeline of the relationship status between Anakin and Padme. This book suggests they had a lot more time together than what we witnessed in Attack of the Clones. They knew so much about each other and how each other would react to specific things, it was strange.
I’ve always felt that Padme’s character is mistreated. I don’t believe an author has truly been able to tap into the character and give her an appropriate story that feels realistic or isn’t full of cringey fluff. I really don’t think anyone knows how to write the character of Padme. She’s a senator, not a secret agent… or is she? She is treated like an errand-girl, doing work that she shouldn’t be doing.
RATING: This book receives a D+. I really didn’t understand the point of telling this story.
SUMMARY: Padme and Anakin are in love. They want to live a life of secrecy and risk by fulfilling their personal desires by committing themselves to each other in marriage. This is forbidden in the Jedi Order, but it’s a risk Anakin is willing to take. When they return to Coruscant the first true test of how they will maintain their relationship begins. Anakin is shipped out to fight in the Clone Wars and Padme goes on a secret mission behind Separatist lines.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: The Padme trilogy, is one the most bizarre trilogies we’ve had. One book was a retelling of The Phantom Menace through a different perspective. One book jumps back in time as Padme adjusts to being Queen, and finally we close out the trilogy with the start of the Clone Wars.
Padme is tired of serving others before herself. She does like being a servant of the people, but she also wants to fulfill her own desires. When facing death on Geonosis, she realized the love of Anakin Skywalker, is just what she needs. Padme touts that she handles aggressive negotiations. In this story, she has no fear, but she risks exposing so much, with her decision to go on a secret mission.
There is something that felt off with this story, and that would be the timeframe. Little things don’t balance well with timeline of the relationship status between Anakin and Padme. This book suggests they had a lot more time together than what we witnessed in Attack of the Clones. They knew so much about each other and how each other would react to specific things, it was strange.
I’ve always felt that Padme’s character is mistreated. I don’t believe an author has truly been able to tap into the character and give her an appropriate story that feels realistic or isn’t full of cringey fluff. I really don’t think anyone knows how to write the character of Padme. She’s a senator, not a secret agent… or is she? She is treated like an errand-girl, doing work that she shouldn’t be doing.
RATING: This book receives a D+. I really didn’t understand the point of telling this story.
May 13, 2022
Should have been called, “Sabé’s Hope”.
March 27, 2022
EK Johnston is a great writer and no disrespect to her at all. I don’t know what constraints were put on this story and what scenes were edited out. The love she put into this book is very apparent and appreciated, so please don’t mistake my displeasure as disrespect.
I’m disappointed. Full review coming at Star Wars News Net soon but this character deserves more than another book filled with stitched together scenes and prequel shoutouts. There are some wonderful moments in this story, and Queen’s Shadow remains one of my favorites, but ultimately this novel feels more about the scattered people hovering around Padmé than Padmé herself. Anytime we get close to introspection or the emotional weight of Padmé’s new secret duality in her marriage to Anakin, the novel abruptly pulls back or shifts to another scene about a fleeting character, subplot, or verbose description.
I’m disappointed. Full review coming at Star Wars News Net soon but this character deserves more than another book filled with stitched together scenes and prequel shoutouts. There are some wonderful moments in this story, and Queen’s Shadow remains one of my favorites, but ultimately this novel feels more about the scattered people hovering around Padmé than Padmé herself. Anytime we get close to introspection or the emotional weight of Padmé’s new secret duality in her marriage to Anakin, the novel abruptly pulls back or shifts to another scene about a fleeting character, subplot, or verbose description.
June 30, 2022
I love Padme, but this book was nothing exciting. I didn't even get a really good sense of the plot. It's mostly just fluff.
January 20, 2025
I’m honestly so sad to be finished with this trilogy. It begins on the day of Padme and Anakin’s WEDDING and I honestly can’t believe the insight this book gives on their relationship and what Padme was thinking during the Clone Wars. I’m actually begging for a 4th book about Sabe!!!
May 21, 2022
Actual rating is a 3.5
Queen's Hope begins near the end of Attack of the Clones and stretches into the Clone Wars. One of my favorite things about the story was seeing how Padmé has changed since earlier books. She's distanced herself from her friends and staff in order to keep her relationship with Anakin a secret. Watching Padmé try to continue doing good in a galaxy at war made for a compelling character arc.
I loved getting to see Anakin through both
Queen's Hope was a solid conclusion to Johnston's Padmé trilogy.
Queen's Hope begins near the end of Attack of the Clones and stretches into the Clone Wars. One of my favorite things about the story was seeing how Padmé has changed since earlier books. She's distanced herself from her friends and staff in order to keep her relationship with Anakin a secret. Watching Padmé try to continue doing good in a galaxy at war made for a compelling character arc.
I loved getting to see Anakin through both
Queen's Hope was a solid conclusion to Johnston's Padmé trilogy.
May 10, 2022
This was easily my least favourite of the trilogy and it’s sad because it’s the one I was most eager to read. I really struggled to finish it…
The 2nd book, set during TPM, worked the best as a YA novel because the characters were actually teens. In here, their friendship comes off as a pair of 24-25 year olds having high school-esque drama between them because one (Padme) is keeping a secret (her relationship/marriage) from the other (Sabe). Also, I can’t say I fully understand Sabe’s being upset that Padme didn’t “pick her” in the end. I still don’t quite understand the vibe I was supposed to get here - she clearly seems jealous of Anakin… so she’s upset that Padme didn’t pick her romantically? (Though there’s no indication ever that Padme was bi, so why would she?)
And if she meant Padme didn’t “pick her” in wanting to have the same kind of life as her that doesn’t make sense either because Padme is doing much bigger things in the galaxy… why would she give that up to stick with her friend who wants a totally different life…? It was an odd line that made me feel like I didn’t understand any of what their relationship was supposed to be.
On top of this confusion, EK Johnston has Sabe sub in for Padme who is now *Senator* Amidala and doesn’t have the benefit of the makeup to help her disguise herself. Keira Knightly looks enough like Natalie Portman in makeup, but I can’t see interchanging them and anyone being fooled (their real life heights aside, even). Worse than that - she spent time in Queen’s Peril explaining how the Padme had to learn to deepen her voice as Queen to sound more like Sabe - but Senator Amidala speaks in her normal tone of voice, so how is Sabe suddenly speaking in a high pitched (American-esque vs British) accent…?
One of the biggest issues with this book - all the Sabe stuff aside - it was just really boring. Nothing really happens and even when things do happen they are totally out of place (ie. one random scene of Obi-Wan and Anakin that had the scene that annoyed me most - a female clone?? It doesn’t annoy me that she included a female clone, it DOES annoy me that this completely negates the importance of Omega being a special case in The Bad Batch. You’d think a book published in 2021-22 would have been checked against other works at the time make sure it fits with the canon being set up simultaneously… Also, to be honest, it just felt like a very ham-fisted way to stick in the concepts of people being transgender and even non-binary with Sache’s assistant - another part that felt totally out of place. I read that the author wanted a transgender character in the second book, but didn’t feel knowledgeable enough to write that character and I still don’t know that she was ready for it here - especially because the character never returns and serves no purpose in the story or grand scheme of the canon - again, see: Omega. Maybe there’s a difference because Omega was born female versus the clone was assigned male and is female… but I have no idea because there’s no details or further story here!)
Lastly, why is it even called Queen’s Hope, aside from needing a matching title? Padme’s not a Queen anymore… it ends on Breha Organa who was actually a Queen, but these random inclusions of one-shots on other prominent Star Wars women didn’t fit into the flow either…
For a book that was meant to be about Padme (and her [former] Handmaidens?), cramming in lots of other people’s POVs didn’t make sense.
I was really disappointed with it on the whole.
1.5/5
The 2nd book, set during TPM, worked the best as a YA novel because the characters were actually teens. In here, their friendship comes off as a pair of 24-25 year olds having high school-esque drama between them because one (Padme) is keeping a secret (her relationship/marriage) from the other (Sabe). Also, I can’t say I fully understand Sabe’s being upset that Padme didn’t “pick her” in the end. I still don’t quite understand the vibe I was supposed to get here - she clearly seems jealous of Anakin… so she’s upset that Padme didn’t pick her romantically? (Though there’s no indication ever that Padme was bi, so why would she?)
And if she meant Padme didn’t “pick her” in wanting to have the same kind of life as her that doesn’t make sense either because Padme is doing much bigger things in the galaxy… why would she give that up to stick with her friend who wants a totally different life…? It was an odd line that made me feel like I didn’t understand any of what their relationship was supposed to be.
On top of this confusion, EK Johnston has Sabe sub in for Padme who is now *Senator* Amidala and doesn’t have the benefit of the makeup to help her disguise herself. Keira Knightly looks enough like Natalie Portman in makeup, but I can’t see interchanging them and anyone being fooled (their real life heights aside, even). Worse than that - she spent time in Queen’s Peril explaining how the Padme had to learn to deepen her voice as Queen to sound more like Sabe - but Senator Amidala speaks in her normal tone of voice, so how is Sabe suddenly speaking in a high pitched (American-esque vs British) accent…?
One of the biggest issues with this book - all the Sabe stuff aside - it was just really boring. Nothing really happens and even when things do happen they are totally out of place (ie. one random scene of Obi-Wan and Anakin that had the scene that annoyed me most - a female clone?? It doesn’t annoy me that she included a female clone, it DOES annoy me that this completely negates the importance of Omega being a special case in The Bad Batch. You’d think a book published in 2021-22 would have been checked against other works at the time make sure it fits with the canon being set up simultaneously… Also, to be honest, it just felt like a very ham-fisted way to stick in the concepts of people being transgender and even non-binary with Sache’s assistant - another part that felt totally out of place. I read that the author wanted a transgender character in the second book, but didn’t feel knowledgeable enough to write that character and I still don’t know that she was ready for it here - especially because the character never returns and serves no purpose in the story or grand scheme of the canon - again, see: Omega. Maybe there’s a difference because Omega was born female versus the clone was assigned male and is female… but I have no idea because there’s no details or further story here!)
Lastly, why is it even called Queen’s Hope, aside from needing a matching title? Padme’s not a Queen anymore… it ends on Breha Organa who was actually a Queen, but these random inclusions of one-shots on other prominent Star Wars women didn’t fit into the flow either…
For a book that was meant to be about Padme (and her [former] Handmaidens?), cramming in lots of other people’s POVs didn’t make sense.
I was really disappointed with it on the whole.
1.5/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2022
After the gift that was Queen's Shadow and Queen's Peril, the brilliant E.K. Johnston gives us Queen's Hope. I've talked about this before, but I think Johnston's strength in this series is twofold: smoothing out gaps in cannon and giving us incredibly vivid characterizations for the handmaidens.
This book is incredibly successful in what it is building to. Looking back at it, it's less a conclusion and more of a prelude to Padme's life in the Clone Wars show and Ep. III. I don't think folks going into this hoping for everything to feel like the last book in a trilogy will feel fulfillment. Instead, I think if folks go in thinking about this as setting the stage for what comes next in cannon, they might feel more fulfillment. If you wanna feel some Leia feels, this is for you.
The book ends on a hopeful note, despite all this. Again, I don't think folks going into this wanting joy will be happy. I don't think any book that takes up two characters recovering from capture and battle, and in the midst of a war, will be able to tactfully weave a story that leaves readers with joy. I think it did what it needed to to bridge Padmé between AOTC and ROTS. And I think in that, it was successful. We know where all the players are on the table, and most readers know where they're going after this.
I think this is masterful writing for what had to be traversed and I dearly hope Johnston gets to write more Sabé and handmaidens. Ultimately, I will see this as a love letter to the women of the prequels, and the mothers who had an influence an Leia, the beacon of hope herself, despite early deaths.
This book is incredibly successful in what it is building to. Looking back at it, it's less a conclusion and more of a prelude to Padme's life in the Clone Wars show and Ep. III. I don't think folks going into this hoping for everything to feel like the last book in a trilogy will feel fulfillment. Instead, I think if folks go in thinking about this as setting the stage for what comes next in cannon, they might feel more fulfillment. If you wanna feel some Leia feels, this is for you.
The book ends on a hopeful note, despite all this. Again, I don't think folks going into this wanting joy will be happy. I don't think any book that takes up two characters recovering from capture and battle, and in the midst of a war, will be able to tactfully weave a story that leaves readers with joy. I think it did what it needed to to bridge Padmé between AOTC and ROTS. And I think in that, it was successful. We know where all the players are on the table, and most readers know where they're going after this.
I think this is masterful writing for what had to be traversed and I dearly hope Johnston gets to write more Sabé and handmaidens. Ultimately, I will see this as a love letter to the women of the prequels, and the mothers who had an influence an Leia, the beacon of hope herself, despite early deaths.
September 3, 2022
While there are some really good moments scattered through out, it took me forever to get through this book because it’s all over the place. The plot is paper-thin and is never really resolved; it poses many questions and answers almost none of them.
Like others have already said, Padmé is barely even in this book. Instead, the story decides to focus on the side characters that surround her. Like Saché, for example. I wish I could tell you anything about Saché, but I literally can’t think of a single defining trait that describes her except “the one that married another handmaiden”. I think she might have been a musician too? But that’s her whole character. I can’t tell you what her personality is like because the author forgot to give her one—and this is the 3rd book. This is my 4th EK Johnston book overall and I’ve noticed that most, if not all, of her characters are pretty indistinguishable from each other.
It’s a shame that this series is all fans of Padmé have, because half the time it feels like the author is just using her and Sabé as self-insert characters to criticize everything she hates about the franchise.
If you want Padmé stories, just read her POV chapters in Thrawn: Alliances. Feels more in line with what we got in the films and The Clone Wars tv show than this series.
Like others have already said, Padmé is barely even in this book. Instead, the story decides to focus on the side characters that surround her. Like Saché, for example. I wish I could tell you anything about Saché, but I literally can’t think of a single defining trait that describes her except “the one that married another handmaiden”. I think she might have been a musician too? But that’s her whole character. I can’t tell you what her personality is like because the author forgot to give her one—and this is the 3rd book. This is my 4th EK Johnston book overall and I’ve noticed that most, if not all, of her characters are pretty indistinguishable from each other.
It’s a shame that this series is all fans of Padmé have, because half the time it feels like the author is just using her and Sabé as self-insert characters to criticize everything she hates about the franchise.
If you want Padmé stories, just read her POV chapters in Thrawn: Alliances. Feels more in line with what we got in the films and The Clone Wars tv show than this series.
September 13, 2022
After enjoying the first two books of this unexpected Padmé Trilogy this one unfortunately left me a little cold, and not just because it felt like a long goodbye to a beloved character.
💔💔💔
After doing some minimal table setting the book sees our familiar characters reintroduced and then sent on different missions across the galaxy to think about, but not actually interact very much, with each other. While on the one hand I recognize this book, and series in general, is more about small movements of the soul than large scale galactic upheavals, the matters being addressed here (unfair treaties between Naboo and other worlds, Sabé having to stand in for Amidala in the Senate on short notice, etc.) seemed almost trivial and just a convenient backdrop for the story.
Definitely gets my vote for the most absolutely gorgeous covers of any Star Wars Canon book yet published, though!
This baby's got BACK (Cover).
💔💔💔
After doing some minimal table setting the book sees our familiar characters reintroduced and then sent on different missions across the galaxy to think about, but not actually interact very much, with each other. While on the one hand I recognize this book, and series in general, is more about small movements of the soul than large scale galactic upheavals, the matters being addressed here (unfair treaties between Naboo and other worlds, Sabé having to stand in for Amidala in the Senate on short notice, etc.) seemed almost trivial and just a convenient backdrop for the story.
Definitely gets my vote for the most absolutely gorgeous covers of any Star Wars Canon book yet published, though!
This baby's got BACK (Cover).
January 28, 2023
An entire book where nothing of much substance happens. Not with the plot, and really not with the characters either. Mostly this book serves merely to show why Sabe isn’t around in the movies, and it’s for the stupidest reason ever.
The plot is essentially Padme goes off on a pointless adventure while Sabe pretends to be her in the Senate. Sache also has chapters as she tries to work out some tension Naboo is having with another planet. Palpatine gets some time too just to highlight how evil he is in the strangest way possible and make him partially responsible for Sabe’s decisions later. There’s also very little involvement from Anakin except to drive a wedge between Sabe and Padme.
The random snippets that were done on some of the female characters between some chapters were pointless. What was the point when most of the characters brought up had no role in the story? There was no attempt to weave them into the narrative making it feel even more random. I mean I love these ladies but it felt so out of place. Wouldn’t highlighting the handmaidens have made more sense? Shmi, Beru, and Breha are great but they had very little to do with the story going on so it was just weird.
I’m going to be honest, I’ve been disappointed in this series in general. Padme is one of my favorite SW characters, and she’s been long overdue to get her chance for more focus outside of the movies and Clone Wars series. There’s always been a lot of potential for exploration of her character as a teenage queen with a group of handmaidens who were trained to support her, her transition into the galactic Senate, helping to build the Rebellion, and her doomed relationship with Anakin. There is so much that could have been done and explored, and they didn’t take the opportunities to go in depth. Mostly this series just skimmed along the surface and was underwhelming in general.
I get these books were written with a younger audience in mind, mostly because I suppose they figured that teen girls would want to read about teen girls even though Padme is in her mid-twenties by the time the series is over. Because they wrote these for younger readers, they kept the books short and low effort and in doing so I feel that they underestimated not only their audience but their intelligence. For how much time they’re covering, they easily could have done a trilogy on Padme’s time as Queen of Naboo alone and then covered more of her life in other books.
I don’t know that I can completely blame Johnston for all the problems I have with this series. I get that a lot of the writers for projects like these are given outlines and plots and they fill in the blanks so it’s hard to know how much blame to put on her and how much to put on DLF. There are some things I suspect I can blame her for, but it doesn’t really matter whether it was her or DLF that made certain choices, it’s disappointing either way.
The biggest problem for me is that I don’t get the feeling that Johnston is really a fan of Padme or that interested in her story. It’s noticeable the difference when I think about Claudia Gray’s Leia books where you could feel her love, understanding, and enthusiasm for the character in every line. I don’t get that same feeling here with Johnston and Padme, there’s a lot of places where her interpretation of the character feels off and I don’t agree with some of the choices that were made. I could be wrong, maybe she is a huge Padme fan, but I just don’t feel that there was as much love in this project as there was in the Leia books.
In general, I feel that the fans have done far better for Padme and her handmaidens than these books have. It’s disappointing, but not surprising. Not everything about this series was terrible, but there was a lot of lost opportunity and it feels like the author was often more interested in winning brownie points than focusing on the story. Padme and her handmaidens deserved a lot more than this series delivered and it’s a shame.
The plot is essentially Padme goes off on a pointless adventure while Sabe pretends to be her in the Senate. Sache also has chapters as she tries to work out some tension Naboo is having with another planet. Palpatine gets some time too just to highlight how evil he is in the strangest way possible and make him partially responsible for Sabe’s decisions later. There’s also very little involvement from Anakin except to drive a wedge between Sabe and Padme.
The random snippets that were done on some of the female characters between some chapters were pointless. What was the point when most of the characters brought up had no role in the story? There was no attempt to weave them into the narrative making it feel even more random. I mean I love these ladies but it felt so out of place. Wouldn’t highlighting the handmaidens have made more sense? Shmi, Beru, and Breha are great but they had very little to do with the story going on so it was just weird.
I’m going to be honest, I’ve been disappointed in this series in general. Padme is one of my favorite SW characters, and she’s been long overdue to get her chance for more focus outside of the movies and Clone Wars series. There’s always been a lot of potential for exploration of her character as a teenage queen with a group of handmaidens who were trained to support her, her transition into the galactic Senate, helping to build the Rebellion, and her doomed relationship with Anakin. There is so much that could have been done and explored, and they didn’t take the opportunities to go in depth. Mostly this series just skimmed along the surface and was underwhelming in general.
I get these books were written with a younger audience in mind, mostly because I suppose they figured that teen girls would want to read about teen girls even though Padme is in her mid-twenties by the time the series is over. Because they wrote these for younger readers, they kept the books short and low effort and in doing so I feel that they underestimated not only their audience but their intelligence. For how much time they’re covering, they easily could have done a trilogy on Padme’s time as Queen of Naboo alone and then covered more of her life in other books.
I don’t know that I can completely blame Johnston for all the problems I have with this series. I get that a lot of the writers for projects like these are given outlines and plots and they fill in the blanks so it’s hard to know how much blame to put on her and how much to put on DLF. There are some things I suspect I can blame her for, but it doesn’t really matter whether it was her or DLF that made certain choices, it’s disappointing either way.
The biggest problem for me is that I don’t get the feeling that Johnston is really a fan of Padme or that interested in her story. It’s noticeable the difference when I think about Claudia Gray’s Leia books where you could feel her love, understanding, and enthusiasm for the character in every line. I don’t get that same feeling here with Johnston and Padme, there’s a lot of places where her interpretation of the character feels off and I don’t agree with some of the choices that were made. I could be wrong, maybe she is a huge Padme fan, but I just don’t feel that there was as much love in this project as there was in the Leia books.
In general, I feel that the fans have done far better for Padme and her handmaidens than these books have. It’s disappointing, but not surprising. Not everything about this series was terrible, but there was a lot of lost opportunity and it feels like the author was often more interested in winning brownie points than focusing on the story. Padme and her handmaidens deserved a lot more than this series delivered and it’s a shame.
April 14, 2022
2.5...maybe rounded up to 3 because of my Padmé bias, although this novel featured the least Padmé despite being her series.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the purpose of this book. The first in the trilogy was showing Padmé's transition from queen to senator, while the second went back to show us how she became queen. I think this book ostensibly is here to wrap up the handmaidens' stories and show us how they moved on with their lives, but it doesn't feel fully-fleshed out. Instead it mostly plays out like watching characters going on random adventures. Not to mention we're muddled down with the occasional random chapter from Palpatine, Anakin or Yoda. Enough of that, they've got their own books this one is for the sapphic pining. gtfo with your male perspective - except the cameo by Dexter Jetster, that can stay.
Also, this series has really given Padmé's political abilities the spotlight and yet here, in arguably one of the most important times politically for the Star Wars senate, we get very little. Ironically, one of the handmaiden's POVs ends up being waaaay more focused on politicking than Padmé's ever is - instead, Padmé is off on some mission being Action Girl because...reasons.
On the positive, this gave Sabé a lot more to do and revisited a plotline that was only starting to be explored in book one. We get a decent amount of Anidala content - so shippers rejoice. I also liked the development/disintegration of Padmé and Sabé's relationship - it reminds me of that codependent, vaguely gay, intense friendship that every sapphic has in high school that eventually ends in a really dramatic way. Johnston really had her hand on the pulse of her core audience with that one. The scene of Padmé and Sabé having a slumber party and Padmé staring longingly at a sleeping Sabé is something that can be deeply personal, and if you understand hit me up with those Ao3 links.
It also made me realize that you know what - I really, really liked that first book so lemme go round that up to 5 stars. Book 2 can stay at it's 3.5 though for the weird pacing.
Oh, back to negatives I suppose. Take this with a grain of cis-pepctive, but there's a trans character in here that really felt kinda thrown in randomly. I'm all for having more rep (we have a lot of gay handmaidens and a nonbinary character as well and Padmé is bi because I said so) but we just get one little micro scene from Obi-Wan's POV where we're very briefly introduced to a clone that's transitioned gender. And just as quickly (after some gender validation from Anakin), she's gone. Gonna need a bit more than that.
Since this is likely the only Padmé content we're ever going to get, definitely worth reading this series overall if you're a simp like me.
Content warnings: slavery, Anakin POVs
Representation: two characters are in the lesbian handmaiden to lesbian marriage pipeline, the rest of the handmaidens and Padmé are in the closet, nonbinary side character, a blip on the radar of a trans side character
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the purpose of this book. The first in the trilogy was showing Padmé's transition from queen to senator, while the second went back to show us how she became queen. I think this book ostensibly is here to wrap up the handmaidens' stories and show us how they moved on with their lives, but it doesn't feel fully-fleshed out. Instead it mostly plays out like watching characters going on random adventures. Not to mention we're muddled down with the occasional random chapter from Palpatine, Anakin or Yoda. Enough of that, they've got their own books this one is for the sapphic pining. gtfo with your male perspective - except the cameo by Dexter Jetster, that can stay.
Also, this series has really given Padmé's political abilities the spotlight and yet here, in arguably one of the most important times politically for the Star Wars senate, we get very little. Ironically, one of the handmaiden's POVs ends up being waaaay more focused on politicking than Padmé's ever is - instead, Padmé is off on some mission being Action Girl because...reasons.
On the positive, this gave Sabé a lot more to do and revisited a plotline that was only starting to be explored in book one. We get a decent amount of Anidala content - so shippers rejoice. I also liked the development/disintegration of Padmé and Sabé's relationship - it reminds me of that codependent, vaguely gay, intense friendship that every sapphic has in high school that eventually ends in a really dramatic way. Johnston really had her hand on the pulse of her core audience with that one. The scene of Padmé and Sabé having a slumber party and Padmé staring longingly at a sleeping Sabé is something that can be deeply personal, and if you understand hit me up with those Ao3 links.
It also made me realize that you know what - I really, really liked that first book so lemme go round that up to 5 stars. Book 2 can stay at it's 3.5 though for the weird pacing.
Oh, back to negatives I suppose. Take this with a grain of cis-pepctive, but there's a trans character in here that really felt kinda thrown in randomly. I'm all for having more rep (we have a lot of gay handmaidens and a nonbinary character as well and Padmé is bi because I said so) but we just get one little micro scene from Obi-Wan's POV where we're very briefly introduced to a clone that's transitioned gender. And just as quickly (after some gender validation from Anakin), she's gone. Gonna need a bit more than that.
Since this is likely the only Padmé content we're ever going to get, definitely worth reading this series overall if you're a simp like me.
Content warnings: slavery, Anakin POVs
Representation: two characters are in the lesbian handmaiden to lesbian marriage pipeline, the rest of the handmaidens and Padmé are in the closet, nonbinary side character, a blip on the radar of a trans side character
May 1, 2022
For a world created in a Galaxy far far away, Star Wars has always felt small in its inclusion of diverse people and experiences.
In this book, as throughout the entire trilogy E.K. Johnston makes it a point to continuesly expand the Star Wars universe with beautiful and diverse characters.
Beyond the representation in this book, we also have a story that shows us the strengths and weaknesses of endless hope. Padmé is a character that lacks no hope, and works her hardest to bring it to the darkest corners of the galaxy. She sees the good in everyone, and loves with her entire heart. That is what makes Padmé wonderful, it is also what blinds her.
Throughout the story we continue to get glimpses of how dark Anakin truly is. He loves Padmé but his twisted sense of justice and willingness to react with violence are also at display. Padmé best friend Sabé brings to light these issues.
Padmés willingness to love unconditionally blinds her to the real dangers of Anakin Skywalker, even when her best friends bring attention to them.
I really enjoyed this book. As with all books in this trilogy, it isnt about the action, but an exploration to the unique character that is Padmé and the political machinations of Palpatine. Just a beautiful story that completly displays Padmés complexity and grandeur.
TW: Toxic relationship, war, violence, manipulation.
In this book, as throughout the entire trilogy E.K. Johnston makes it a point to continuesly expand the Star Wars universe with beautiful and diverse characters.
Beyond the representation in this book, we also have a story that shows us the strengths and weaknesses of endless hope. Padmé is a character that lacks no hope, and works her hardest to bring it to the darkest corners of the galaxy. She sees the good in everyone, and loves with her entire heart. That is what makes Padmé wonderful, it is also what blinds her.
Throughout the story we continue to get glimpses of how dark Anakin truly is. He loves Padmé but his twisted sense of justice and willingness to react with violence are also at display. Padmé best friend Sabé brings to light these issues.
Padmés willingness to love unconditionally blinds her to the real dangers of Anakin Skywalker, even when her best friends bring attention to them.
I really enjoyed this book. As with all books in this trilogy, it isnt about the action, but an exploration to the unique character that is Padmé and the political machinations of Palpatine. Just a beautiful story that completly displays Padmés complexity and grandeur.
TW: Toxic relationship, war, violence, manipulation.
May 21, 2023
This book literally sucks so much. I really enjoyed the first two in this series. But this book is just FULL of obvious attempts to fit in LGBTQA+ content (including a trans clone). Not only that, but there is almost no plot in this book. None of the characters have any real depth. Well known characters like Anakin act totally out of character. There is not one good thing about this book.
April 9, 2022
this book was torn between the author's opinions on the franchise and politics on the one hand and constraints placed by established canon and the Disney overlords only allowing minimal representation for the sake of brownie points.
April 24, 2022
I really enjoyed this book! It was a highly anticapited read for me so I was a little dissapoitned we didn't get too see more battles but overall it was full of policatics and love and it was a great star wars novel!
June 16, 2022
Desperately disappointing. As one of the few people who loved TPM back in 1999 (I was a kid!), I'd been waiting 20 years for a book series like this. Unfortunately, the characters and relationships are all so shallow and the focus is far too broad for there to be any impact.
June 28, 2022
Lame woke propaganda wrapped in a Star Wars cover.
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