Review Wednesday: The Princess Trials by Cordelia Castel

Title: The Princess Trials (The Princess Trials #1)

Author: Cordelia Castel
1st Date of Publication: May 2, 2020

ISBN:  9798642502532
# of Pages: 202

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Society

Age Rating: 13+

Buy it on Amazon

Book Description:
Thirty young women. A handsome prince. A battle to the death.

Water is scarce. Deserts have taken over the land. Nuclear war has devastated humanity. Humans live in walled super cities to keep out the irradiated. The land that was formerly known as America is divided into kingdoms ruled by royal elites.

Born into the lowest Echelon of the Kingdom of Phangloria, sixteen-year-old Zea Calico faces a life of hunger, thirst, and toil. The only way out of this drudgery is revolution, and Zea is desperate to help the cause.

When the palace calls for candidates to compete to marry Prince Kevon, Zea joins the Princess Trials to search the palace for weaknesses.

The trials should be a fairytale of sumptuous meals, ballgowns, and romance, but one misplaced word causes Zea to attract the Prince's attention. When Zea uncovers the man beneath Prince Kevon's public facade, she is at risk of falling in love and losing sight of her mission.

But the televised beauty pageant turns deadly, and Zea must fight for survival.

Setting: Phangloria
Point of View: 1st person- Zea Calico

Goodreads Rating: 3.43

My Rating: 3.25

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: This must be America still because she has red hair, but she's beautiful.
View on Title: After the trilogy has ended, it makes sense that the novellas that could follow would show how happy the start of America and Maxon's lives are together.

Pros:

• The concept of the novel/series is really interesting. It is basically a twist of The Selection and The Hunger Games. I thought the execution of this was done well enough.
• The characters in the novel were an interesting mix and was a perfect mix of The Hunger Games and The Selection
• Zea Calico reminds me more of a Katniss Everdeen as she is a rebel heart but her motivations are similar to America Singer. Zea is a bit on the naive side and is fueled by both anger and a desire for change.
• Ryce Wintergreen reminds me very much of Gale Hawthorne. He's a born leader and encourages Zea to fight for what she believes in. He does come off to be a little manipulative, and I wish there was more characterization on him.
• Prince Kevon doesn't remind me too much of the characters from The Hunger Games and The Selection. The closest association would be Prince Maxon simply because he seems to be taking this whole Princess Trials thing seriously as he tries to find his wife and future queen. I am looking forward to more of his characterization in the upcoming books.
• The cliff hanger makes me want to keep reading on despite some of the struggles of staying with the book in the middle of it.

Cons:

• This book felt a little bit difficult to stay focused on. It got lost mid-way through and struggled to get back into the story.
• Some of the plot was a little bit all over the place so it was sometimes hard to keep track of what is going on.

Critics' Reviews:

“This book was fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. I loved the story. I think the characters are well written and there is a good balance to the writing. I was really looking forward to reading the book and it did not disappoint." —Amazon Review

Cordelia K. Castel's Website:

http://www.cordeliakcastel.com

 

Other Recommendations:
The Jewel by Amy Ewing

The Selection by Kiera Cass
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Review Wednesday: Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass

*DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE SELECTION TRILOGY. THERE MAY BE SOME SPOILER. If you want to read this series, read my review about The Selection by clicking on the link: Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: Happily Ever After (The Selection #0.4, 0.5, 2.5, 3.1, 3.5, 5.1)

Author: Kiera Cass
1st Date of Publication: October 13, 2015

ISBN:  9780062414083
# of Pages: 387

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian Society

Age Rating: 13

Buy it on Amazon

Book Description:
Meet Prince Maxon before he fell in love with America, and a girl named Amberly before she became queen. See the Selection through the eyes of a guard who watched his first love drift away and a girl who fell for a boy who wasn't the prince.

This series companion is a must-have for any Selection fan, and includes:
The Prince
The Guard
The Queen
The Favorite

Setting: Illea (United States) in the future
Point of View: 1st person- America Singer

Goodreads Rating: 4.17

My Rating: 4.25

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: This must be America still because she has red hair, but she's beautiful.
View on Title: After the trilogy has ended, it makes sense that the novellas that could follow would show how happy the start of America and Maxon's lives are together.

Pros:

• There isn't too much to say about this because these are separate novellas from the original series.
• All I have to say is that I love how you can get a view of several characters that we all love dearly. If you're Team Aspen or Team Maxon, this may sway you to be in the middle because I know I was Team Maxon when I read the original trilogy but now I am in the middle because Aspen's motivations are very valid and you can see his change a little more clearly. 

Cons:

• I felt both satisfied and unsatisfied because I definitely wanted to read more about each of these characters.

Critics' Reviews:

“Reality TV meets dystopian fairy tale in Kiera Cass's delightful debut. Charming, captivating, and filled with just the right amount of swoon!" —Kiersten White, Author of Paranormalcy

Kiera Cass's Website:

http://www.kieracass.com/

 

Other Recommendations:
The Jewel by Amy Ewing

Eve by Anna Carey
Matched by Alley Condie

Review Wednesday: The Orchid Sister by Anne D. LeClaire

Title: The Orchid Sister
Author: Anne D. LeClaire

1st Date of Publication: May 7, 2019

ISBN: 9781503903272
# of Pages: 302

Genre: Adult Contemporary

Age Rating: 17+ (Language, Violence, and Some Sexual Content)

Buy on Amazon

Book Description:
The people you love are taken from you. That’s what Maddie DiMarco learned when she survived the plane crash that killed her parents. Fifteen years later, the scars remain. And the ones no can see are hardest to heal. Since the accident, Maddie’s avoided the unpredictable and uncaring outside world, including any relationships—except for the one with her devoted older sister, Kat, who has always been there for her.

When Maddie meets handsome pilot Jack Moroni, she finally begins to let down her guard. But just as quickly, her hope and trust are once again shattered when a plane crash forces her to revisit her traumatic past. Maddie turns to her sister for comfort and guidance, only to realize that Kat is missing.

But Kat hasn’t vanished without a trace. An investigative journalist, she’s left behind a subtle trail of clues leading to the mysterious, myth-shrouded Yucatán coast of Mexico. To follow it, Maddie must confront her deepest fears—of flying, of intimacy, and of loss. She hopes that in doing so, she will find her sister. And if she’s lucky, she may also find herself along the way.

Setting: Yucatán, Mexico (Some traveling occurs in this novel, but
Point of View: 3rd Person - 5 Different Characters (Mostly from Maddie and Kat DiMarco's)

Goodreads Rating: 3.27

My Rating: 2.50

Part of the Book that Caught My Attention: Both

View on the Cover: I really like flowers and the black background really 
View on Title: Who is she? What does she do that she doesn't regret? Is it something people normally would regret?

Pros:

• I really liked the mystery portion of this book. It was really the only thing keeping me from marking it as a Did Not Finish read. That is why I gave it a generous 2.50 rating.

Cons:

• I really struggled with this book. I did not feel very engaged, and it was hard for me to focus on the story in general.
• I found the main character, Maddie, a bit annoying. I understand that she’s gone through a lot of trauma but it was hard to read through her chapters. The other main character, Kat, is not much better since she didn’t seem the brightest bulb in the bunch. I felt that all the characters were pretty flat.
• It was tough to get into especially will all five characters’ different points of view, which was not very well executed and also unnecessary. I think the only two characters that needed their own points of view are Maddie and Kat. The other three took away from the novel instead of adding to it.
• Some of the issues that happened I actually felt pretty disturbed and thought it was extremely unnecessary.

Critics' Reviews:

"The Orchid Sister is a look at how we endure loss and the worst that life throws at us. Do we wither or do we thrive?…The climactic scene of The Orchid Sister, drenched in symbolism, offers a satisfying close to the gripping story.” —The Cape Cod Chronicle

Anne D. LeClaire's Website:

http://anneleclaire.com/

 

Other Recommendations:
Dreamland by Sarah Dessen
The Last Look by Lauren Eckhardt
Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen