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sarakomo 's review for:
A Princess in Theory
by Alyssa Cole
2022: A fun romp that did not stick the landing.
This is another novel that I probably never would have picked up if not for this year's reading challenge. I'm glad I did for a couple of reasons: first, the characters in this book ACTUALLY paid attention to logistics. There were several times where I said out loud, "yes, thank you, that IS how that would have to happen" or "that's how I would react to this, too" and that was extremely refreshing. A lot of things get swept under the rug in fiction and especially in romance novels, and so I have to say, the practicality of this story was top notch. Such appropriate reactions!
Second, this book was actually a really good blend of plot and romance. There was a lot going on in Naledi's life! She was an extremely well rounded character who was smart and her backstory actually made sense in the context of the drama. Sure, Thabiso had a couple of moments that were veering on the line of "too" coincidental, but the story made SENSE and was actually plausible (never mind the fact that Thesolo is a made-up country). I felt like I was learning things about Black culture, and that the author really understood life in New York City.
Unfortunately, the final climax of the book (pun intended) just lost everything that was appealing about this story. Let's just say that I think a couple more logistics should have been paid attention to in regards to a steamy sex scene in a cave (?!) in the middle of a snowstorm (??!) Also, a final plot point is that Naledi is being (somewhat accidentally) poisoned. But she's literally a public health grad student!? And she didn't notice this before she ended up in the hospital? Suspicious. It almost felt like the author was running out of time on her deadline and just needed to very quickly wrap everything up. Still overall good tho!
This is another novel that I probably never would have picked up if not for this year's reading challenge. I'm glad I did for a couple of reasons: first, the characters in this book ACTUALLY paid attention to logistics. There were several times where I said out loud, "yes, thank you, that IS how that would have to happen" or "that's how I would react to this, too" and that was extremely refreshing. A lot of things get swept under the rug in fiction and especially in romance novels, and so I have to say, the practicality of this story was top notch. Such appropriate reactions!
Second, this book was actually a really good blend of plot and romance. There was a lot going on in Naledi's life! She was an extremely well rounded character who was smart and her backstory actually made sense in the context of the drama. Sure, Thabiso had a couple of moments that were veering on the line of "too" coincidental, but the story made SENSE and was actually plausible (never mind the fact that Thesolo is a made-up country). I felt like I was learning things about Black culture, and that the author really understood life in New York City.
Unfortunately, the final climax of the book (pun intended) just lost everything that was appealing about this story. Let's just say that I think a couple more logistics should have been paid attention to in regards to a steamy sex scene in a cave (?!) in the middle of a snowstorm (??!) Also, a final plot point is that Naledi is being (somewhat accidentally) poisoned. But she's literally a public health grad student!? And she didn't notice this before she ended up in the hospital? Suspicious. It almost felt like the author was running out of time on her deadline and just needed to very quickly wrap everything up. Still overall good tho!