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blueshadow 's review for:
The Trouble with Kings
by Sherwood Smith
A lighthearted YA fantasy romance - Princess Flian keeps getting kidnapped for her fortune (not her amazing looks - she is rather ordinary in appearance).
The plot is a pretty simple linear plot... the characters sit around and wait until something happens, then react. However, there's still plenty of action to keep it interesting.
But the best part was the characters! Princess Flian is pretty ordinary. No special powers, she has to work hard for the skills she has, she still makes mistakes along the way. Sherwood Smith writes some of the best characters, always varied and realistic. Each major character and many minor characters had distinct personalities and very realistic, with an assortment of strengths and flaws. And a great villain, not monstrously evil and overwhelmingly powerful, but rather a normal person with understandable (if misguided) motivations. It was so much fun to spend time with these characters, I loved (nearly) all of them.
The other thing I loved was the way Princess Flian grew throughout the book. She was an ordinary person thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and she responded by learning new skills, practicing them, and trying new things. Very refreshing to read books that address the whole character rather than being filled with only a lot of action.
The plot is a pretty simple linear plot... the characters sit around and wait until something happens, then react. However, there's still plenty of action to keep it interesting.
But the best part was the characters! Princess Flian is pretty ordinary. No special powers, she has to work hard for the skills she has, she still makes mistakes along the way. Sherwood Smith writes some of the best characters, always varied and realistic. Each major character and many minor characters had distinct personalities and very realistic, with an assortment of strengths and flaws. And a great villain, not monstrously evil and overwhelmingly powerful, but rather a normal person with understandable (if misguided) motivations. It was so much fun to spend time with these characters, I loved (nearly) all of them.
The other thing I loved was the way Princess Flian grew throughout the book. She was an ordinary person thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and she responded by learning new skills, practicing them, and trying new things. Very refreshing to read books that address the whole character rather than being filled with only a lot of action.