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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Makes me sad in retrospect considering the way Padmé’s story truly ends and how she did not deserve the ending she got.
Wished there was more on the other handmaidens but I believe the other books will expand on them..
Wished there was more on the other handmaidens but I believe the other books will expand on them..
3.5 stars
“there would always be another planet that needed help, and she’d be damned if she would let anyone stop her.”
i have thoroughly enjoyed the padmé books, more than i thought i would. while the pace was quite slow as there wasn’t really any action, there was plenty of drama in the dialogue and politics, which is one of my favourite parts of star wars. this book filled in the gap between queen and senator amidala perfectly and i know i’m going to miss the characters.
i really loved all the handmaidens and their relationship in the first book, so missed that in this one, but sabé was great! i would really love to know what happens to her after that epilogue, and i wonder if she appears in other star wars novels...
i felt like these books really captured padmé’s personality
that we don’t really see in the prequel films, and i’ve grown extremely attached to her courage and morality
“there would always be another planet that needed help, and she’d be damned if she would let anyone stop her.”
i have thoroughly enjoyed the padmé books, more than i thought i would. while the pace was quite slow as there wasn’t really any action, there was plenty of drama in the dialogue and politics, which is one of my favourite parts of star wars. this book filled in the gap between queen and senator amidala perfectly and i know i’m going to miss the characters.
i really loved all the handmaidens and their relationship in the first book, so missed that in this one, but sabé was great! i would really love to know what happens to her after that epilogue, and i wonder if she appears in other star wars novels...
i felt like these books really captured padmé’s personality
that we don’t really see in the prequel films, and i’ve grown extremely attached to her courage and morality
Re-read May 6, 2024
I decided to read this again in honor of May the Fourth and the movie's twenty-fifth anniversary. My opinion is pretty much the same: I love the political stuff, but I want more from the characters.
I still haven't caught up in all the Star Wars content, but I'm glad you don't need to in order to follow the story. It's decent enough, though I wish there was more to it.
Original review March 22, 2019
First, some background. I'm one of those rare people who likes the prequels. I even re-watched them recently and they're still enjoyable to me. And probably the best part was Queen Amidala. She meant so much to me; she was a fourteen-year-old girl who had the responsibilities of an entire planet on her shoulders, and she handled everything with such grace and wisdom. So when I heard there was to be a book about her, you can imagine my hype.
The main reason I'm not rating this as highly as I would like is because of the lacking emotions in this book. I enjoy the politics and reading how Padme navigates her way through the senate. I enjoy her as a character and pretty much every time she does anything is engaging. But I feel like the emotion was severely lacking. An example of this is right at the beginning when the new queen asks for Padme to be a senator. She doesn't even have a few moments alone to consider what each choice would mean for her as a person before she agrees.
I also feel like if this book was going to focus on Sabe, it should've... you know, focused on her a bit more. Her side mission to Tatooine was over so quickly I wondered why the author even bothered including it and by the end nothing's resolved on that issue anyway. There seemed to be a lot of co-dependence going on (which is kind of understandable) but again, not as much emotion as I would've liked. It's almost like the author crammed the ideas of two books into one, where Padme going from queen to senator would've been enough on its own.
Now, having not watched the Clone Wars show, there are probably names and events mentioned here I'm not getting. I didn't necessarily need that context to get a feel for the characters, though it does make me wonder if some of them were included just because of the show. Remember when Star Wars novels weren't so reliant on extended canon? Anyway, that's what I feel especially about the climax. It was out of nowhere and didn't feel like it served a purpose, so maybe it has some reference to the show? Or the author was just stuck on an ending so she went with "random space battle".
I did like the building-of-bridges like when Padme and Senator Organa teamed up, and she met the queen. Forging a relationship between them at least gives some sense as to why they were the ones to adopt one of her children. I also like the conspiracy theory hinted about Padme's death. I prefer that solution rather than the ridiculous "she died of a broken heart". Let her death be because she was bad-ass and rattling too many cages, please.
Overall, it was enjoyable. There were some weak parts to be sure, and I would've liked the focus to be completely on Padme with more emotion in the text, but I liked it. I admit it isn't what I wanted to have in a Padme novel, but my expectations for it were probably too high to reach anyway. Maybe someone write an adult novel for her next?
I decided to read this again in honor of May the Fourth and the movie's twenty-fifth anniversary. My opinion is pretty much the same: I love the political stuff, but I want more from the characters.
I still haven't caught up in all the Star Wars content, but I'm glad you don't need to in order to follow the story. It's decent enough, though I wish there was more to it.
Original review March 22, 2019
First, some background. I'm one of those rare people who likes the prequels. I even re-watched them recently and they're still enjoyable to me. And probably the best part was Queen Amidala. She meant so much to me; she was a fourteen-year-old girl who had the responsibilities of an entire planet on her shoulders, and she handled everything with such grace and wisdom. So when I heard there was to be a book about her, you can imagine my hype.
The main reason I'm not rating this as highly as I would like is because of the lacking emotions in this book. I enjoy the politics and reading how Padme navigates her way through the senate. I enjoy her as a character and pretty much every time she does anything is engaging. But I feel like the emotion was severely lacking. An example of this is right at the beginning when the new queen asks for Padme to be a senator. She doesn't even have a few moments alone to consider what each choice would mean for her as a person before she agrees.
I also feel like if this book was going to focus on Sabe, it should've... you know, focused on her a bit more. Her side mission to Tatooine was over so quickly I wondered why the author even bothered including it and by the end nothing's resolved on that issue anyway. There seemed to be a lot of co-dependence going on (which is kind of understandable) but again, not as much emotion as I would've liked. It's almost like the author crammed the ideas of two books into one, where Padme going from queen to senator would've been enough on its own.
Now, having not watched the Clone Wars show, there are probably names and events mentioned here I'm not getting. I didn't necessarily need that context to get a feel for the characters, though it does make me wonder if some of them were included just because of the show. Remember when Star Wars novels weren't so reliant on extended canon? Anyway, that's what I feel especially about the climax. It was out of nowhere and didn't feel like it served a purpose, so maybe it has some reference to the show? Or the author was just stuck on an ending so she went with "random space battle".
I did like the building-of-bridges like when Padme and Senator Organa teamed up, and she met the queen. Forging a relationship between them at least gives some sense as to why they were the ones to adopt one of her children. I also like the conspiracy theory hinted about Padme's death. I prefer that solution rather than the ridiculous "she died of a broken heart". Let her death be because she was bad-ass and rattling too many cages, please.
Overall, it was enjoyable. There were some weak parts to be sure, and I would've liked the focus to be completely on Padme with more emotion in the text, but I liked it. I admit it isn't what I wanted to have in a Padme novel, but my expectations for it were probably too high to reach anyway. Maybe someone write an adult novel for her next?
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No