Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by chrissie21
Queen's Peril by E.K. Johnston
4.0
Queen's Peril is a solid fun YA book that aligns with the Star Wars movie canon, following the time just after Padmé Amidala is elected as Queen, through to the end of The Phantom Menace. This story gives more background to the events of Episode 1 (admittedly convincing me to appreciate the film more than I have previously) and explores the relationship between Padmé and her handmaidens.
The aforementioned friendship between the young Queen and her handmaidens/skilled decoys is definitely one of the strongest parts of this story. I particularly loved seeing the development between Padmé and Sabé from work colleagues to best friends who would throw themselves into danger to save the other, it truly gives more meaning and understanding to the decoy plot featured in Episode 1.
The first part of the story features a lot of scenes where the female characters were able to act as teenage girls: partying, dealing with friendship issues and menstrual problems. This was so refreshing to see in the Star Wars universe where a lot of the female characters are (debatably) characterised as perfect action heroines. To see these girls having mundane problems and conversations truly humanised the characters, which I think is needed in more science fiction aimed at young girls.
Speaking of TPM, though this book lends insight and adds extra scenes to those portrayed in the first film I must admit that some of the weakest points of the story come from where the book and film crossover. Whereas the author could have given us more insight into Padmé's thoughts, feelings and the decision process behind her actions as seen in TPM, during the last third of the story she instead became a secondary character as any of her prexisting action scenes from the film were glossed over or briefly mentioned after the fact.
Where the author had creative freedom, such as the build-up to TPM or in any scenes set during the film which delved into the experiences of Saché & Yané or giving insight into the thoughts of my girl Sabé, the story really shone.
Overall, this story is a fun and easy read for Prequel fans of the Star Wars franchise, but be aware when going into this book that it *is* aimed at teenage girls (makes sense for a story about a group of teens) and very much reads as such.
The aforementioned friendship between the young Queen and her handmaidens/skilled decoys is definitely one of the strongest parts of this story. I particularly loved seeing the development between Padmé and Sabé from work colleagues to best friends who would throw themselves into danger to save the other, it truly gives more meaning and understanding to the decoy plot featured in Episode 1.
The first part of the story features a lot of scenes where the female characters were able to act as teenage girls: partying, dealing with friendship issues and menstrual problems. This was so refreshing to see in the Star Wars universe where a lot of the female characters are (debatably) characterised as perfect action heroines. To see these girls having mundane problems and conversations truly humanised the characters, which I think is needed in more science fiction aimed at young girls.
Speaking of TPM, though this book lends insight and adds extra scenes to those portrayed in the first film I must admit that some of the weakest points of the story come from where the book and film crossover. Whereas the author could have given us more insight into Padmé's thoughts, feelings and the decision process behind her actions as seen in TPM, during the last third of the story she instead became a secondary character as any of her prexisting action scenes from the film were glossed over or briefly mentioned after the fact.
Where the author had creative freedom, such as the build-up to TPM or in any scenes set during the film which delved into the experiences of Saché & Yané or giving insight into the thoughts of my girl Sabé, the story really shone.
Overall, this story is a fun and easy read for Prequel fans of the Star Wars franchise, but be aware when going into this book that it *is* aimed at teenage girls (makes sense for a story about a group of teens) and very much reads as such.