Book Review: The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal
Release Date: January 25, 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pages: 319
Received: Library
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Page

Summary

From Goodreads:

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court.  But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection.  Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.

Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks.  But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

A dazzling first novel, The False Princess is an engrossing fantasy full of mystery, action, and romance.

Review

We're on the road to nowhere

The story starts off quickly enough with Sinda having the news of her non-princess status broken to her in the very first chapter. This is good. 

What wasn't so good was the 100 page digression that happened next. As if that weren't frustrating enough, this is a digression of suck. I don't mean to say that it wasn't well written, because it was (the whole book is), but rather that this period in Sinda's life sucks. 

And you guys know me, right? I like happy sparkly things, not dreary sucky things.

Sinda takes about 100 pages to wallow in the facts that she's useless when it comes to non-royal tasks, she has no friends in the village, and even her aunt doesn't like her all that much. Oh, and she learns she's a pushover who does nothing but meekly sit back and take whatever life throws at her without making a peep. Yay.

Sure, this is an important lesson and is the impetus for the whole rest of the book. But Sinda learning this lesson is the sole point of the 100 page Detour to Sucksville and I can't help but pout over the fact that this section was so long and dreary and all for just that tiny, little lesson. 

The gigantic chapters didn't help make this section go by any faster, either.   

Oh there you are, Good Book!

If you're like me and the word "impatient" is an understatement when describing you, then please try to push through that beginning. Because after all the Blah, Blah, Blah of the first part, there's actually a really awesome story here. 

After Sinda's disastrous time with her aunt, she decides to go back to the village by the castle and see if she can get accepted into the college of wizards. This is when the story gets better. 

I loved every single character introduced from this point on, particularly Sinda's eccentric tutor (a lady wizard! We hardly ever see lady wizards!), Kiernan (love interest, we do meet him earlier), and Orianne (princess that replaces Sinda). 

They each had such sweet personalities, though I wish they were a little deeper than they were. Orianne and the lady wizard were such intriguing characters, yet I feel like I only scratched the surface of getting to know them. 

The romance was also of the type I prefer. No, there wasn't any hate turned love, but it was a slow burn. There's no insta-love, broody stranger, or love triangles in sight! It's just a sweet, slow realization between two people who have been friends all their life. Kiernan's loyalty and devotion to Sinda was the kind of sweetness that makes me want to clasp my hands to my chest, sigh, and let out a big AAAWWW.

The plot made me happy

Usually it's the characters that keep me reading, and while I did like these characters, what really kept me hooked in the story was the mystery. Most of this latter part of the book is spent with Sinda and Kiernan as they search for all of the clues to piece together a plot that is over a decade in the making. 

Eilis O'Neal wove such a fantastic story with all sorts of twists and turns. Do you like courtly intrigue? Vengeance? Prophecies? Dastardly plots? Murder? Oh boy, then are you in for a treat!

What's even better is that I didn't ever feel like I had read this story before. Everything was so fresh and original while still comfortably slipping into the beloved and familiar world of YA fantasy. 

But wait, it gets better: NO CLIFFHANGER! Not only that, but there isn't even a sequel. Just this wonderful standalone story that wraps up perfectly and left me totally satisfied. (But if there was a sequel, I would totally read it.)

What I wish happened

If the 100 page detour in the beginning was completely cut out and those pages were instead used to flesh out the characters just a little more, then I would have Special Shelf-ed this book.

Looking at what the book actually is though, the characters were just a little too undeveloped and, well, you can see how hung up I am over that slow start. I also wasn't 100% in love with Sinda. She was a little too weak and filled with low self-confidence for my tastes, even after she learned her lessons.

This is a debut though, so I have no doubt things will only improve from here for Eilis O'Neal. I will most definitely be keeping an eye out for whatever she publishes next and I really hope it's another fantasy--the genre could use more authors like her. 

Explanation of rating system: Star Rating Key 

Do you have any questions about The False Princess that I haven't addressed? 
Feel free to ask in the comments!

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