The False Princessby Eilis O'Neal
Published: January 2011
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Genre: Action, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, YA
Paperback: 336 pages
Rating: 5
Description from the amazon:
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.
velvet sighting:
Her voice lost its velvet, going tight as a bowstring.
- page 255, chapter 19
My two-bits:
In-a-word(s): triangle
Loved this story of magic and search for truth. Kept me guessing until the end and includes a sweet light romance.
* ARC review copy courtesy of Egmont
* part of Fantasy Reading challenge
