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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Totally enjoyed this feminist take on princessness. And it was wholesome too. I get so tired of YA author's feeling like the f-word is a must.
SOOOOO slow at the beginning, but it finally FINALLY picked up at the end.
This was recommended to me by cousins Rebekah and Maddy. I enjoyed the storyline very much (especially the random subtle references to many different fairytales). My only quibble was that sometimes the language was more complicated than it needed to be. As though the author were trying too hard to be fancy. But I liked the whole concept of princess locked in a tower discovering a whole secret room and the ability to walk through walls. And the fact that she learned that her belligerence toward the queen had much larger ramifications than she originally thought and she managed to recognize this problem and grow up enough to address it head-on and overcome the problem. The romance storyline strained my suspension of disbelief just a bit (she HATES him with a vengeance until the very end?). Still, I'd recommend it.
Loved this book, the twists, the turns and shifts I was captivated!
Throughly enjoyed this book! Nothing like a selfish young girl needing to grow up fast in a creative turn on an old fairytale story. The style of writing can be ponderous, but once I got the hang of it, quite an engaging challenge.
Ben, or Benevolence, is a young girl whose life changes tragically when her mother is killed and her father disappears. Ben is the only heir to the throne now.
Ben is moved to the palace and forced into 'queen' training by the queen regent. Waiting desperately for her father to come home, she rebels in any way she can.
Then Ben is trapped behind enemy lines and forced to see herself and her behavior from another point of view. Will it wake her up to do her duty and save her kingdom?
Ben is moved to the palace and forced into 'queen' training by the queen regent. Waiting desperately for her father to come home, she rebels in any way she can.
Then Ben is trapped behind enemy lines and forced to see herself and her behavior from another point of view. Will it wake her up to do her duty and save her kingdom?
It's a very cute story, one I would recomend to anyone who wants a light read.
Starts slow, finishes compelling and surprising.
This book was a quick read and kept my interest but had some problems.
I did like Ben as a character for the most part, especially as she grew more mature. My favorite character was Queen Sophia.
However, there were some problematic things in the book when it came to relationships, and the love story was pretty much a joke to me. I hated the love interest and he never did anything to redeem himself from some of the terrible actions he took when we first met him (or even show remorse for it), and I wasn’t sure when exactly Ben fell in love with him. One minute she hated him (even if she was empathetic towards some of his situation) and the next they were in love. I didn't get it.
Overall, I don’t know that this book was really worth reading, for me.
I did like Ben as a character for the most part, especially as she grew more mature. My favorite character was Queen Sophia.
However, there were some problematic things in the book when it came to relationships, and the love story was pretty much a joke to me. I hated the love interest and he never did anything to redeem himself from some of the terrible actions he took when we first met him (or even show remorse for it), and I wasn’t sure when exactly Ben fell in love with him. One minute she hated him (even if she was empathetic towards some of his situation) and the next they were in love. I didn't get it.
Overall, I don’t know that this book was really worth reading, for me.
This was an unfortunately written disappointment of a book. I wanted to love a book that had a non-thin main character: and a princess to boot! But this was slow, dragging, written almost entirely as a "tell you" rather than a "show you" description-filled book.
There were many elements I wanted to enjoy (learning magic in a secret wizard's room, drudging away as a captive, working healing magics with herbs, learning the ropes as a head of royal house) but the very slow and bad writing killed it for me.
Some of the most promising parts the author waved away as inconsequential or yadda-yadda'ed them so we don't really get to read about Ben's trials learning to fly or the mistakes she makes as she first takes over running household duties. It felt sloppy and (of course) had the obligatory bit about how the princess loses weight and feels more confident. The author does remind us Ben is still by no means Willowy and encouraged her fellow folks to look upon a person's qualities before their appearance but by this point I was so bored with the book I was skimming just to get to the end.
There were many elements I wanted to enjoy (learning magic in a secret wizard's room, drudging away as a captive, working healing magics with herbs, learning the ropes as a head of royal house) but the very slow and bad writing killed it for me.
Some of the most promising parts the author waved away as inconsequential or yadda-yadda'ed them so we don't really get to read about Ben's trials learning to fly or the mistakes she makes as she first takes over running household duties. It felt sloppy and (of course) had the obligatory bit about how the princess loses weight and feels more confident. The author does remind us Ben is still by no means Willowy and encouraged her fellow folks to look upon a person's qualities before their appearance but by this point I was so bored with the book I was skimming just to get to the end.