The Women of Fantasy

OK - I finished this book two nights ago. Sometimes when a book keeps me up all night turning pages that means it is a great book - but sometimes, at least for me, it just means the book is too intense. This was the case with Princess at Sea. The term Princess, and the crown on the front of the book, are kind of misleading. Basically, Tess is technically a Princess, because she was adopted legally. But she doesn't really consider herself one. Getting past that though, there is the issue of the incredibly high drama in the book. In this story, unlike the first one, the 1st person narrative just doesn't seem to work for the intensity of the storyline. Tess undergoes alot of tortuous miserable experiences and for awhile I felt it would never end.

I also wonder what was going through the author's mind - because her character felt so guilty the entire book that it was kind of a heavy read. But to me, the reader, Tess's guilt wasn't necessary - actually kind of pointless. The other problem with this story was it had absolutely no tie in with the conclusion at the end of its prequel. I finished The Decoy Princess thinking the next book would start out a certain way, only to have no mention of that ending. This is a rather rude thing to do to a reader, in my opinion.

These complaints aside, Princess at Sea did have a satisfactory ending. I find myself looking forward to the next book - but hope the author will tie it in to this story - and also that our character will grow past some of these basic emotions she experienced on almost every page of the story. Surely the character Tess has a greater capacity for emotional intelligence and self-worth - that go beyond her magical skills. And I think this author has tremendous potential as well to give us more.

Overall a good read, despite its faults. I give it 2 1/2 out of 5.

Posted by Jen at Sunday, February 18, 2007