The Archer at Dawn (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy, #2)

The Sun Mela is many things: a call for peace, a cause for celebration, and, above all, a deadly competition. For Kunal and Esha, finally working together as rebel spies, it provides the perfect guise to infiltrate King Vardaan’s vicious court.

Kunal will return to his role as dedicated Senap soldier, at the Sun Mela to provide extra security for the palace during the peace summit for the divided nations of Jansa and Dharka. Meanwhile, Esha will use her new role as adviser to Prince Harun to keep a pulse on shifting political parties and seek out allies for their rebel cause. A radical plan is underfoot to rescue Jansa’s long-lost Princess Reha—the key to the stolen throne.

But amid the Mela games and glittering festivities, much more dangerous forces lie in wait. With the rebel Blades’ entry into Vardaan’s court, a match has been lit, and long-held secrets will force Kunal and Esha to reconsider their loyalties—to their country and to each other. Getting into the palace was the easy task; coming out together will be a battle for their lives.

Many thanks to JeanBookNerd and Katherine Tegen Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review and for inclusion on this blog tour. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

I’m always a little hesitant going into book two of a series, because the book two slump of a trilogy is real and sometimes frustrating, and that was my biggest concern when I picked up this book. Honestly, I enjoyed The Tiger at Midnight, but I LOVED The Archer at Dawn. Why was I even worried? Look at me being all silly and ridiculous.

The Archer at Dawn is a fast-paced, heisty book, filled to the brim with strong women, secrets, and betrayal. If the lush, Indian-inspired setting doesn’t get you, the witty character banter will.

I don’t usually make these comparisons, but I guess Susan @ Novel Lives is rubbing off, because the best way I can think to describe this book is an Indian Six of Crows, because the main plot of this felt very heisty and complex and I was so here for it.

Also, the title for book three hasn’t been released yet, but I’m totally going to make a prediction here. I’m gunning for The Chariot at Dusk. You heard it here first. I mean, come on, that would be a kickass title, right? We’ll have to come back in several months to see how close I was, so you have something fun to look forward to.

This review may contain spoilers for The Tiger at Midnight.

I admit that I had a little trouble getting into The Tiger at Midnight because it felt a little slow, but that was so not a problem here. The Archer at Dawn starts with a bang, and once the action gets going, it just doesn’t let up.

I do believe the action in this book would be considered a heist, and this is a trope that I absolutely live for. The stakes are high, and there’s action and manipulation around every turn. In short: these are my people.

The big theme in this book is trust no one, because everyone has secrets. Even the people you thought you knew.

This becomes a problem over and over again, like it does. I mean, for some reason, people hate being lied to? Imagine that. There ends up being reveal after reveal in this book, to the point where it’s clear that there are so many sides to every story that things get twisted and no one actually knows the “truth” of any matter. I just adored the complexity this brought to the story!

And the motives! My gosh, the motives. Listen, everyone had pretty solid motives for what they were doing, even the people I wasn’t rooting for, which made it really freaking difficult to be mad at them. How dare they take my righteous anger away from me!

Somehow, despite all the dark themes of the book, this book is filled with a lot of hope and soul searching and just devastating realities and reveals that will crush readers. But … in a good way?

Because isn’t that what we live for, as readers, is having our feelings utterly decimated and torn to shreds? No? Am I doing this wrong?

I’m pretty good at guessing plot twists. Not bragging, just stating facts. I did guess a couple plot twists here, but I was also blindsided by a few others and just … phew. I had no more nails by the end of this book, because I’d chewed them all off. I’m not saying it’s all Teerdhala’s fault, because nail biting is a horrible habit, yet here we are: me about to head into work with nary a nail for peeling stickers/tape off books. Just a friendly warning to guard your fingernails, people.

I expected, going in, that there would be backstabbing and betrayal, given the first book, and I wasn’t disappointed. But I was pleasantly surprised by the character arcs and some of the big reveals.

There’s a saying I’m sure you’re familiar with: “There are two sides to every coin.” Well, forget coins. Two sides doesn’t cover it. The history in this world is so complex and convoluted, and it’s really starting to piece together in this book that not everything is quite as it seems.

Perhaps my favorite part about that is how it impacts the characters, who have to come to grips with the realization that everything they’ve based their lives on wasn’t quite true. Kunal went through this a lot in the first book, and that continues here, but it expands to all the characters, and I loved seeing their growth.

The found family in this is just … *chef’s kiss*

In case you haven’t noticed, found family is my trope, man. Okay, one of my tropes. My many, many tropes. Not the point.

Since all the characters have basically lost family members or are separated from their family, they’ve built up this support system, as you do. We got a brief glimpse of them in the first book, but here? They really shine. They actually take the spotlight, and I am so okay with this, because I loved them all. Even the newest addition, Alok, who was just … yes. I love him. I have the sinking feeling he’s going to devastate me, but you know what? I’m here for the ride, so that’s fine.

I absolutely love banter. It’s probably my biggest weakness (aside from a slightly skewed moral compass, strong characters, and general sarcasm, which this book also has). The interactions between the characters really did me in here, though, and I found that I couldn’t help but love them.

There are still a lot of mysteries about them, which is understandable given the line of work they’re in as spies and assassins, but this book does a wonderful job of peeling back the curtain, just a little, and showing the team working together. More than that, we get to learn about some of the side characters’ histories, and oof, it’s devastating. Even the characters I didn’t want to like, I had a hard time hating, given everything.

Remember how I said I’m tired of love triangles, especially in YA, and really didn’t need this one? I take it back. It’s gotten interesting now.

Listen, I am a super fickle bookwyrm whose mood shifts faster than the changing weather here (trust me – that’s impressive). I still stand by the idea that I want less love triangles, because for the most part, they do nothing except frustrate me and make me roll my eyes because UGH. But okay, I will admit that the love triangle that had me so exasperated in the first book took a really freaking interesting turn in this book, and I’m so on board again.

The thing about love triangles is that they often feel shoehorned in to add conflict, and the one in this book certainly does that … but in a way that feels much more genuine, more tied into the plot, and in a way that actually makes me stop and take notice because, gosh, emotions are complicated.

All I can say are secrets are bad for relationships. Who would’ve thought? And when your whole life is based on secrets and lies? Also bad for relationships. I know, totally just blowing you out of the water with all this wisdom, right? I loved the more realistic turn the romance took in this book, where Esha really has cause to doubt her own heart and figure out what she wants, which is easier said than done. That’s all I’ll say on that, because honestly, it was a slow turn for me throughout the book, and I think it’s one of those things that you just have to read and experience yourself.

About Swati Teerdhala

Swati Teerdhala is the author of The Tiger at Midnight series, which has appeared on both Barnes and Noble and Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Novels lists.

After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BS in finance and BA in history, she tumbled into the marketing side of the technology industry. She’s passionate about many things, including how the right ratio of curd-to-crust in a lemon tart. She currently lives in New York City.

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View the full tour schedule at JeanBookNerd.

✦ WEEK ONE ✦
MAY 25th MONDAY Wishful Endings INTERVIEW
MAY 26th TUESDAY BookHounds YA INTERVIEW
MAY 26th TUESDAY Kait Plus Books INTERVIEW
MAY 27th WEDNESDAY JeanBookNerd INTERVIEW 
MAY 28th THURSDAY Nay’s Pink Bookshelf REVIEW
MAY 28th THURSDAY Bookish Dream REVIEW 
MAY 29th FRIDAY J.R.’s Book Reviews REVIEW
MAY 29th FRIDAY Two Points of Interest REVIEW
 
✦ WEEK TWO ✦
JUNE 1st MONDAY A Dream Within A Dream REVIEW
JUNE 2nd TUESDAY Bookishaestha REVIEW 
JUNE 3rd WEDNESDAY Gwendalyn’s Books REVIEW 
JUNE 3rd WEDNESDAY Port Jericho REVIEW 
JUNE 4th THURSDAY Reading Adventures of a Book Dragon REVIEW
JUNE 4th THURSDAY The Bookwyrm’s Den REVIEW 
JUNE 5th FRIDAY Casia’s Corner REVIEW 
JUNE 5th FRIDAY FANFIADDICT REVIEW

✿ Open international
✿ Must be 13+ to enter
✿ 3 Winners will receive a copy of The Archer at Dawn by Swati Teerdhala.

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*