Rating: Not for me
Similar to Book 2 in the Royal Academy Rebels series, I wasn’t really impressed with this one. There are more writing flaws, and the worst part is a sort of big hand wave through a war that apparently happened in some other books? If readers have read the other series by this author, they might not feel as disappointed as me. I would have liked the writer to do something better with that than to just gloss over it and say “then there was a big war for a long time and we just waited for it to end.”

The villain is predictable again, and the subversive characters are again forced and not really well done. I critique some of the issues in my review of Outlaws (Book 2) and Misfits (Book 1). Again, the main character says annoying things like, “Good goblin” and “Thank the fairies!”

The only thing I did like here (and thought was a bit more fresh than the other stale themes) was the idea that nobody is fully good or fully evil; we all have choices and we all make mistakes. The main character wrestles with not wanting to admit to some events because she doesn’t want to believe that she could be “evil.”

Overall, however, I think other books are a better use of time. My favorite story about a princess breaking traditional roles is Runaway Princess by Kate Coombs. Another (not perfect) princess series that I liked better than this one is The Wide Awake Princess Series by E.D. Baker.