Princess Academy (Princess Academy, #1)

by Shannon Hale

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Princess Academy is a cute book.

In picking this one up, I was excepting something akin to Tuesdays at the Castle or Ella Enchanted, and more or less that’s what I got. The story is relatively light and easy, with many predictable twists and turns. The predicability doesn’t reduce the enjoyability, but some of the twists were a bummer for me. I didn’t think the ending satisfied. In general, the story felt a little stiff.

As a protagonist, Miri is likable. There was nothing about her that really made her stand out as a protagonist and make her memorable. She was a sweet girl who cares for the people around her and is kind to everyone She has a thirst for knowledge and a deep desire for fairness. There are a couple minor characters who stood out a little – Katr and Britta – but for the most part the characters blended together.

Shannon Hale regains a lot of points from me in her world building. Where the princess aspect of the story went down a tired path and the characters blended together, Mount Eskel was incredibly well-written. The pieces of this world came to life easily and with more dimensions than I’m used to seeing in a middle grade fantasy. Eskel has everything from seasonal celebrations to its own economy. The world comes to life easily and generally, I’m impressed. There’s not a lot of flowery writing and the depth isn’t quite as immersive as YA or adult novels, but it’s still quite good.

The time in Princess Academy is spent split between the princess academy itself and Mount Eskel. Perhaps if the book had been on Eskel the entire time, it would have been more impressive as a whole. The pacing in the book was good, the writing was fine. There were moments of decent action, including hanging off a cliff! But for the most part, the story was tame.

At the end of the day, Princess Academy was just okay. It’s a decent fairytale-style novel for those who enjoy the genre, but it’s nothing enthralling or groundbreaking on its own. While Miri’s tale continues, I don’t think I’ll venture past Princess Academy. The glimpse was sweet and certainly something I would have enjoyed more when I was younger.