Are you the real princess?

The False Princess

By: Eilis O'Neal

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.

Mercy (Mercy, #1) by Rebecca Lim

Genre: YA Fantasy

Mercy is a fallen angel – and she doesn’t know it. All she knows is that waking up inhabiting someone else’s body is an ordinary and frequent event for her. How many times has this happened? She’s lost count. But if you’re going to be stuck in someone else’s body, living someone else’s life for who knows how long, you may as well help them out. Right? At least that’s how Mercy views it.

           

            So when Mercy wakes up on a bus full of girls, she learns that for now she’s stuck in the body of Carmen, a gifted soprano, who is on her way to a high school choir concert in the small town of Paradise. Beyond this, she has no idea who she is, what she’s doing there, or where she’s going. The only thing she is sure of is her love for Luc, a man she only sees in her dreams, but has no way of finding.

           

            Arriving in Paradise, Mercy is met by the Daley’s, her host family during the trip. Two years ago, the Daley’s daughter Lauren was kidnapped from their home and never found. Though Mr. & Mrs. Daley have given up hope that Lauren is still alive, her twin brother Ryan insists she is and searches for her tirelessly. Seeing an opportunity to be of  use, Mercy offers Ryan her help in finding his sister before it’s too late.

            I received this book as an advanced reader’s copy from Net Galley to review. I really enjoyed Mercy’s strong and witty character. The premise of the book is intriguing, and there were only two aspects of the book that caused confusion for me:

           
A) There was no setting. I knew they were in a small town called Paradise, but I didn’t know what hemisphere they were in, let alone what country. Does this really affect the storyline though? Not so much. While I personally don’t like too much description, there were some instances where this lack of setting caused confusion.

           
 B) If it weren’t for the synopsis of the book, I never would have known Mercy was an angel, fallen or otherwise. At some point, there was mention that Mercy glowed in the dark, and in her true form was about seven feet tall and hovered off the ground. It wasn’t until the very, very end that you kind of get a grasp of what Mercy is.

           
            Nevertheless, this book was great. The mystery of the story kept me reading all the way through. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the second part to the trilogy, where I’m hoping some of the mystery will be explained.