Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Book Review: The Princess and The Prince by V.H. Stringer



“The King of Brookshire has died, leaving his seventeen-year-old daughter Maria in possession of the throne. Dark secrets lie buried in the most unlikely places. Loyalty is stretched to the breaking point. Lives are at stake. In this dramatic retelling of the classic Cinderella story, nothing is as it seems.”

So, this all started last summer when a dear friend of mine published a book. As a setting of one of my favorite classic fairytales, I knew I wanted to read it as soon as I could and accordingly, last summer it accompanied me on my road trip across the country. I’ve now read it a total of about three times! (And a quick note before we get properly started: I’m reviewing the first edition here, but Victoria is also planning a second edition with a few changes.) 

But now for my thoughts! *Warning: there will be spoilers in the following.*

The Princess and the Prince is about love and friendship, and it’s about friendship as the foundation of love. Exploring fear, uncertainty, and betrayal, it’s also full to the brim and running over with faithfulness and forgiveness. 

The narrative moves between the main characters, but the ending is never a foregone conclusion. Instead, with several surprising plot twists, the tension skillfully mounts to the riveting climax—a climax thoroughly and completely satisfying. Going through depths of heartache and loss, the story reaches finally to an earthshaking joy. 

Through it all, I keep returning to this quote midway through the book, pulling so much of it together:

“…She had been grateful. She had called it friendship. Was friendship a meaningless word? Had she lied? Had she called herself Charles’s friend flippantly? She had felt serious and deep and mature when she had said it. And now she saw that her thoughts had been empty. What exactly was Maria Hale’s definition of friendship? Cheerful conversation, comforting words, smiles, laughter, good memories? Where was the other side of reality in that picture?” 

The descriptions throughout are excellent. Here's another favorite quote:

“If he didn't leave the room soon, he would start a war. 

…Adam reached his bedroom, shut the door behind him and turned the key in the lock. His first thought was to find something to throw—something that would shatter satisfyingly against the mantel of his fireplace or the stone hearth.”

The texture there is delightful… I love it!

The prince and princess are both wonderful—perfect and perfectly flawed—while the romance between them is utterly beautiful—fresh, real and lovely. And the ending…the ending is superb, but any more on that score would be way too much of a spoiler!! ;)

In conclusion, full of uncertainty and change, a romance exploring the true meaning of friendship and forgiveness, a longer retelling of a fairytale (retaining still the shining mystery at its heart), The Princess and the Prince is an entire joy from beginning to end—I highly recommend it!

(It’s available here. Also be sure to check out Victoria’s blog at Hopewriter: Reading, Writing, Loving Stories.)


14 comments:

  1. This looks like such a lovely story! Is it on Amazon at all?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Natalie,
      Yes, it is! And no, it's not on Amazon at the moment....

      (Btw, this post came up rather suddenly -- but I've also just completed your book tag and I'm hoping to put it up tomorrow! ;))

      Delete
    2. Oh, okay, that's all right.
      Yay! I can't wait for tomorrow, then! :)

      Delete
  2. Ooo! It sounds pretty good, I'll be sure to check it out. Thanks! :)

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    Replies
    1. Kara,
      It is quite good and you're welcome! :)

      Delete
  3. Sounds like a lovely book - though I didn't read the entire review because I didn't want to spoil it! I'll have to check it out now. :)

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    Replies
    1. Sarah,
      Oh, good! I'm not sure how much you skipped, but I read over it again just now and I think you could probably actually read most of it except for the third paragraph up from the end (where I did spill a little bit about who gets together with who :)).

      Delete
    2. Heidi,
      I'll have to go back and read it then and find out what this is all (minus the part you advised me to skip) about. :)

      Delete
  4. Heidi, what do I even say to this?? I am so honored that you enjoyed (and reviewed!) my book!! You're so very encouraging and kind. Thank you a thousand times for supporting me in my writing! :) Love you, friend!

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    Replies
    1. Victoria,
      ;) I'm so glad you liked it -- and you're most welcome, my friend!! :)

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  5. Having just seen the new Cinderella twice in 8 days, I am totally primed for another retelling, and I see it's on sale right now, so... I just might buy it. I'll make myself wait until after lunch to be sure I really want it, though. It sounds awesome! And I love supporting new authors :-D

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    Replies
    1. Hamlette,
      It's definitely a great rendition of the story -- and she is planning a second edition with a few tweaks here and there (typo checks, etc.) so, if you like, you could always wait till that comes out, too. ;)

      And *laughing* I didn't think of my review coinciding with Cinderella coming out, but how fun! :)

      Delete
    2. Yes! Perfect idea -- I'll wait for the second edition :-) Because I did just buy something on Amazon yesterday...

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    3. Hamlette,
      I'll try and let you know when that second edition is available, too.

      (And....um....yes, I'm thinking in exclamation points at the moment! ;))

      Delete

I'd love to hear your thoughts and look forward to further confabulation. Please just be courteous to one and all. Oh, and I love thoughts on old posts, so comment away!

(Also of late -- what with time being finite, and Life Happening + managing multiple blogs and computer issues and all that -- I sometimes have to alternate between creating new content and replying to comments, but rest assured I'm thrilled to hear from each and every one of you and always hope to reply thoughtfully in full ASAP. <3)

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