Book Review: Mark of the Princess (The Kingdom Chronicles)

The feisty and determined fearie Princess Alannah is many things, but she never thought she would be the key to her people's destruction.

Kidnapped for a power she does not yet possess, Alannah finds herself in the clutches of the most malevolent sorserer of her time, Maligo. Alannah escapes her prison with help from the handsome and stalwart warrior fearie, Brennus.

Now she must cross mountains and forests fraught with rogue fearies, vicious Fea-hating trolls, dangerous shape-shifters, and more to reach the only ones that can help her control her incoming powers. The Elder Fearies.
With Brennus by her side, Alannah is determined to reach the Elder Fearies and save her people. Maligo is just determined she never makes it that far....

Mark Of The Princess
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 204 (ebook)
Part of Series: The Kingdom Chronicles #1
Purchased: For Review by the author
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Buy:  Amazon (US) || Amazon (UK)

REVIEW:

When I first saw the book, I knew I had to have it, or at least read it. I fall in love with the cover and I have to admit, I've never read a fea story before. So when I asked Boss, aka Yiota, she was kind enough to provide a copy for me.

Good things: The story flows. It has rich vocabulary, almost poetic but not difficult at all, it actually reminded me of all the synomys I was learning last year, most of which I've already forgot. The book was balanced. Kissing scenes are passionate, fighting scenes are anxious. The author doesn't stay long in scenes, they are small and with meaning. I liked that there were scenes with concern parents, they looked more real. And I liked all the characters. They weren't spoiled or selfish, even though most of them were royalty. Even the parents, who were supposed to be Kings and Queens were kind and natural.

Bad things: There weren't many bad things. Firstly, there is a love triangle. I think that it was meaningless and that it only adds another problem in Alannah's life. I guess it's understandable, since Alannah's character changes after her abduction comparing to the one she had before. My second problem was that there were not a clear view of the fearies. True, the author gives a very good picture of how the Five Kingdoms rule and what kind of powers each has and she's giving you a historical event at the end of the book that explains a lot, but untill this moment, I have no idea if the fearies' wings look like the ones of a butterfly, a dragon fly, or just a fly.

The end was surprising and it leaves you with many questions, some of which you had at the beggining of the book. I wasn't expecting of Brennus origin at all, and you don't learn much about Alannah's powers or Evyette's past. Actually, the end seemed like the end of an episode in a TV series, and all you have to do is keep patient untill the next week's episode, only here we have a book.

Bottom line, I liked it and enjoyed it. It was easy to read, I mean, I knew who the apprentice was long before it's been told in the book. But I recommend it to you. It loses half point, because of the love triangle, but you don't have to care too much, because there are other more important problems to care about in the book.