The False Prince (Jennifer A. Nielsen)

Title: The False Prince

Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen

Publisher: Scholastic

Length: 342 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Four orphans are taken off the streets, but only one can be made into the long-lost prince to fool a country and stop a civil war. One of the orphans, Sage, knows the plan is treason, and wants no part of it. But the only other option is death.

I kept my book summery short this time around, because sometimes, you only want a teaser, not the whole plot! Plus, the actual flap copy (inside cover description) from the book made me angry because it gave everything away! If you want to enjoy this book, just start reading.

Fortunately, there was still some mystery within the book, but I thought the reader might have benefited from a different viewpoint. With Sage as our narrator, we’re a little biased toward which orphan should be chosen to be the prince. But Sage doesn’t want to be the prince, and the reader is left with a bit of a dilemma, especially since Sage’s motives are unclear. Why doesn’t he want to be the prince? Why is he always sneaking around but doesn’t run away? I suppose this is part of the mystery though.

While this book could easily stand alone, of course it’s part of a trilogy (what isn’t in YA these days?). I would be willing to give the next book a shot, but I probably won’t be reading any more flap copy!

Abandon (Meg Cabot)

Title: Abandon

Author: Meg Cabot

Publisher: Point (Scholastic)

Length: 304 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Pierce’s life changes drastically after a near-death experience. She’s kicked out of her elite boarding school in Connecticut and moves to Florida. Even though her therapists say she’s crazy, Pierce can’t forget her trip to the Underworld, and John Hayden, the boy who didn’t want her to leave his realm of death, keeps popping up and causing trouble. Is John real, and does getting close to him mean having to return to the Underworld?

“The myth of Persephone…darkly reimagined.”

I adore Meg Cabot and the idea behind this book of retelling the myth. But the follow-through? Sort of left me like “YEAH…eh…what?” I’m feeling a little snarky today, so let me try to explain:

Things I liked:

The mystery aspect of this book. We’re plopped down in the now, but Pierce is struggling with all the “before” which is slowly revealed to the reader. This is what drove the plot- what in the world happened to this girl to make her so skittish? This, and Pierce figuring out John, our bad boy on a whole new level. I mean, he rules the Underworld and is punished my Furies. This equals hot (double entendre- get it?), and tugging on heart-strings. Meg always gets my vote on her relationship writing (hence the YEAH). These two things kept me reading,

Even though:

What happened in this book? The main part of the Persephone myth has already happened before the book begins. Pierce is just trying to figure it all out, and we’re along for the ride. This meant things were kind of all over the place. Also, Pierce is so confused (and thinks she might be crazy) so I didn’t know if I liked her or not. (Hence the eh…what?).

This is the first in a trilogy, but I’m not dying to read the rest. Maybe someday though- I won’t rule it out entirely. 

Shiver (Maggie Stiefvater)

Title: Shiver

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic

Length: 390 pages

Rating: 4/5

Grace has spent winter after winter watching the wolves in the woods bordering her backyard. One wolf with yellow eyes watches back. Sam is that wolf, but he’s a human in the summer months, never daring to speak to the girl he watches so diligently. Suddenly, the two are given a chance together. But as the weather turns cold, Sam struggles to remain human and Grace refuses to let go.

Everything about this book screams LIFE IS FRAGILE! Grace and Sam hold onto each other so tightly, never knowing when a burst of cold air might take it all away from them, the love which they never thought they could actually have. It’s heart-wrenching, and I loved that cold weather (something I myself hate) was the nemesis. Also getting in the way of their love was prejudice, misunderstanding, and dumb parents. There were no good parents in this book: oblivious parents, awful parents, parents with guns, but no good parents. The kids are on their own to fix things, to find a way to make the dream last.

I liked that his book made me see werewolves in a different (non-Twilight) light. I had the same period of adjustment the characters had in the book, them trying to understand werewolves as real, me trying to understand them as portrayed in this book rather than the ones in my imagination.

This book is told from both Grace and Sam’s perspective which strengthened the bond between them for the reader. However, as much as I loved them together, I wasn’t fully convinced. Maybe it’s because they became obsessed with each other before the book began, they had six years of knowing and accepting the connection, whereas I was only given a few pages. Still, the idea that the person you’re obsessed with is obsessed back is very tantalizing, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt and ended up loving the story.

This book is the perfect curl-up-under-a-blanket winter read- check it out!

Hold the phone. It’s part of a trilogy. Why am I not surprised? Despite my protests that this book would have been just fine on its own, I’m totally reading the other books.