The Last Princess

The Last Princess (Last Princess, 1) by Galaxy Craze, May 1, 2012. 295 pages. Published by Little, Brown Books. Source: Publisher for review.

A series of natural disasters has decimated the earth. Cut off from the rest of the world, England is a dark place. The sun rarely shines, food is scarce, and groups of criminals roam the woods, searching for prey. The people are growing restless.

When a ruthless revolutionary sets out to overthrow the crown, he makes the royal family his first target. Blood is shed in Buckingham Palace, and only sixteen-year-old Princess Eliza manages to escape.

Determined to kill the man who destroyed her family, Eliza joins the enemy forces in disguise. She has nothing left to live for but revenge, until she meets someone who helps her remember how to hope—and to love—once more. Now she must risk everything to ensure that she not become... The Last Princess.

First Sentence:

The day began as a beautiful and vivid dream. 

So, The Last Princess is another book that I read and did not have time to review before I moved. Better late then never...right?

Sometimes I pick up a book without even seeing what its about-yes, the cover draws me in. While The Last Princess' cover is what drew me into wanting to read it, I ended up staying because I really enjoyed the story and writing of Galaxy Craze.

Here I am sitting writing my review of The Last Princess months later, and as I reflect back on what I read I realized that the leader of the revolutionaries reminds me of Amon from Legend of Korra. Hear me out, he wants to be rid of the royals; Amon wants to rid the world of benders, and they both hide their identity. O_O
   Okay, back on topic and away from the mind bending similarity between the two. What I enjoyed while reading this book is that the main character, Eliza, is not exempt from the danger and peril that has besieged England and that she is forced to join the ranks of the enemy to get close enough for some answers, and maybe even a little revenge. I enjoyed reading about Eliza, because while she could have disappeared to the country to seek temporary shelter she instead decided to head into the thick of things and not hide.

Even months later, I still remember the end and how things were left unfinished. At the time when I finished reading it I thought it to be a standalone, so, I was appropriately upset that things were not finished and with how it ended. Only now I realize that it was just leaving an opening for the sequel, which I must read because I need to know if Eliza will ever defeat the villain and whether or not she'll get a little happy ending.

It has been quite some time since I first read The Last Princess, but what I do remember liking best about the book was that when Eliza was hurt, and nearly died, it was because of something believable tetanus/lockjaw from ripping her back open on some rusty metal. In books, especially fantasy ones, characters nearly die or die of something not exactly common, but the fact that she nearly lost her life over something typical was definitely interesting. Add in the fact that her condition worsened from the lack of availability of medicine.

While I really, really enjoyed The Last Princess there is one thing that I did not like about it when I read it. At points it almost felt like it was more of a historical fiction read because at times it almost seemed that it was not written in the present, like it was supposed to be. Even the timeline felt a little off at times the writing and fascinating story more than make up for the minor annoyance.

Final Verdict: The Last Princess danger. lies, and and one angry princess out for vengeance.

The Last Princess earns 5 out of 5 pineapples.