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A review by onetrooluff
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
4.0
This is a solid 4, maybe a 4.5.
Miri is a small 14-year-old in a mountain town full of quarry workers. She feels useless because of her size and her father's pronouncement that Miri is never to work in the quarry. One day the chief delegate of Danland (of which Mount Eskel is a territory) arrives to declare that the prince of Danland's bride-to-be will be chosen from among the girls of Mount Eskel, and all the girls of eligible age must attend a princess academy to make sure they learn the skills required for, well, princessing.
As the girls unwillingly adapt themselves to life at the academy and vie for the title of "academy princess," they examine within themselves the desire (or lack of desire) to be a princess, to leave the mountain, and to marry a prince none of them has ever met. Miri in particular is conflicted in wanting to stay in the village (particularly in her feelings for her childhood friend, Peder) and to see the world. Amidst her studies, however, she discovers a talent she didn't know she had, one that in the end, might be needed to save all the girls.
The third of Shannon Hale's books I've read, Princess Academy was probably the most entertaining and the most fluid read. I liked the characters, and it seemed as though SH had sort of come into her own as far as her writing style is concerned. The story flowed well and I didn't have any difficulty keeping at it right through the end, unlike my moments of difficulty in her previous books (even though I enjoyed them both).
Miri is a small 14-year-old in a mountain town full of quarry workers. She feels useless because of her size and her father's pronouncement that Miri is never to work in the quarry. One day the chief delegate of Danland (of which Mount Eskel is a territory) arrives to declare that the prince of Danland's bride-to-be will be chosen from among the girls of Mount Eskel, and all the girls of eligible age must attend a princess academy to make sure they learn the skills required for, well, princessing.
As the girls unwillingly adapt themselves to life at the academy and vie for the title of "academy princess," they examine within themselves the desire (or lack of desire) to be a princess, to leave the mountain, and to marry a prince none of them has ever met. Miri in particular is conflicted in wanting to stay in the village (particularly in her feelings for her childhood friend, Peder) and to see the world. Amidst her studies, however, she discovers a talent she didn't know she had, one that in the end, might be needed to save all the girls.
The third of Shannon Hale's books I've read, Princess Academy was probably the most entertaining and the most fluid read. I liked the characters, and it seemed as though SH had sort of come into her own as far as her writing style is concerned. The story flowed well and I didn't have any difficulty keeping at it right through the end, unlike my moments of difficulty in her previous books (even though I enjoyed them both).