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abookolive 's review for:
How to Find a Princess
by Alyssa Cole
I'm starting to think that - even though I am such a huge fan of Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series - that this new series isn't for me.
The basic premise of this book is that a woman who is the white knight for all of her loved ones gets a white knight of her own. There have been rumors since Makeda's childhood that she might be a lost descendent of the royal line of an island nation. The mere idea that they might have royal blood sent her mom on a spiral during Makeda's younger years, and now, as an adult, Makeda wants nothing to do with the whole princess thing.
That is until Beznaria, agent of the World Federation of Monarchies, is sent to the United States to track down possible living heirs to the throne of Ibarania and convinces Makeda to come to the island to answer the question once and for all - is Makeda a princess?
I think I had two major issues with this book. First of all, Makeda is supposed to be the type of person who has real trouble saying no to people. She does and does and does for people and doesn't consider herself or whether the people in her life really want that kind of doting before she does so. It's made clear in the opening section that it's a serious problem in her life: it's put her into debt, lost her relationships, and most recently, it cost her a job. So if this is such a deeply-seated issue, why does it cease to be a problem as soon as Beznaria shows up?
I know we're meant to believe that Makeda feels so strongly about this royalty issue that she has no trouble saying no to anything relating to it, but I find it completely unbelievable that taking a hard stance on one issue would have the kind of trickle-down effect that happens in the book. I was actually looking forward to seeing Makeda work through that issue - of only feeling worthy of love when she's doing things for other people - but that character development happens in a flash and it's not really mentioned again.
But the biggest thing that didn't work about this novel is that a good half of it (if not inching toward two thirds) takes place aboard a cargo ship. I remember seeing I was eighty percent done with the book and we were still on the damn boat. You can imagine what kind of rushed conclusion it was if we barely step foot in the oft-spoken-of Ibarania.
I think I would have happily taken the cargo ship section if we would have been done with it half way through the book and then moved onto the happenings of Ibarania for the back half. But to spend so much time in a confined space...let's just say I've had enough of feeling claustrophobic over this past year and I don't need to feel like I'm in lockdown in the fiction I read for the feel-good factor.
Makeda and Beznaria were cute together, don't get me wrong. I liked their chemistry. But I wish I could have spent more time with them on dry land, if only to know whether or not they stood a fighting chance as a couple.
The basic premise of this book is that a woman who is the white knight for all of her loved ones gets a white knight of her own. There have been rumors since Makeda's childhood that she might be a lost descendent of the royal line of an island nation. The mere idea that they might have royal blood sent her mom on a spiral during Makeda's younger years, and now, as an adult, Makeda wants nothing to do with the whole princess thing.
That is until Beznaria, agent of the World Federation of Monarchies, is sent to the United States to track down possible living heirs to the throne of Ibarania and convinces Makeda to come to the island to answer the question once and for all - is Makeda a princess?
I think I had two major issues with this book. First of all, Makeda is supposed to be the type of person who has real trouble saying no to people. She does and does and does for people and doesn't consider herself or whether the people in her life really want that kind of doting before she does so. It's made clear in the opening section that it's a serious problem in her life: it's put her into debt, lost her relationships, and most recently, it cost her a job. So if this is such a deeply-seated issue, why does it cease to be a problem as soon as Beznaria shows up?
I know we're meant to believe that Makeda feels so strongly about this royalty issue that she has no trouble saying no to anything relating to it, but I find it completely unbelievable that taking a hard stance on one issue would have the kind of trickle-down effect that happens in the book. I was actually looking forward to seeing Makeda work through that issue - of only feeling worthy of love when she's doing things for other people - but that character development happens in a flash and it's not really mentioned again.
But the biggest thing that didn't work about this novel is that a good half of it (if not inching toward two thirds) takes place aboard a cargo ship. I remember seeing I was eighty percent done with the book and we were still on the damn boat. You can imagine what kind of rushed conclusion it was if we barely step foot in the oft-spoken-of Ibarania.
I think I would have happily taken the cargo ship section if we would have been done with it half way through the book and then moved onto the happenings of Ibarania for the back half. But to spend so much time in a confined space...let's just say I've had enough of feeling claustrophobic over this past year and I don't need to feel like I'm in lockdown in the fiction I read for the feel-good factor.
Makeda and Beznaria were cute together, don't get me wrong. I liked their chemistry. But I wish I could have spent more time with them on dry land, if only to know whether or not they stood a fighting chance as a couple.