The Princess Trials: A Young Adult Dystopian Romance

This story starts very selection like with a dystopian twists. The classes assigned are eye opening in the way different people live. I wish there was a bit more romance happening, but the action keeps you reading!

I love to read! Normally, the books I read are really long and seem more "content- heavy". This description sounds weird only because this series of books were fast, action packed, and kept my attention. I enjoyed reading these books.

At the first few chapters I had high hopes for the plot, because I love hanger games and the selection and this book had both going for it, but throughout the middle it just felt like it was dragging until the end, I had to force myself to finish it.First of all, I had high hopes for the female lead, she came off strong and smart at first but then she kept making the wrong choices every time and does things before thinking so that was a let down, if it wasn’t the people around her and the plot armor she wouldn’t have made it at all. Also, I felt no chemistry between the main characters so that was a let down.The world building/setting is a dystopian world similar to hanger games but a bit lacking.It’s well written and wasn’t too cringey but the plot is boring, I might try the second book if I have time because I have some hopes that it might get better.

It is long but my daughter loves the hunger games feel

Couldn’t put it down! Turns and twists I didn’t expect at all! Going to read the second book right now!

I agree with quite a few of the negative comments. First, Zea is naive.. BUT she’s just turned 16! I’m just happy she wasn’t a compete blubbering idiot and actually fought for herself instead of waiting for someone to save her. Also, this book takes place over a very small time frame so I understand there is not a ton of character growth with her because there really hasn’t been much time to do so. I love to see her inner battle regarding what is right vs what she might need to do to save herself. Some might say it’s stupid that she didn’t kill so and so but I think it shows a great maturity in her to realize that lives are not just dispensable... that those people may still be redeemable. I just keep in mind that she is young and this is her first real taste of the battle to come. She’s smart for her age and I am excited to see her growth. Dear author please don’t turn her into a damsel in distress!!!? I beg you!!!Second, I will also agree that the first bit of the book was so darn slooooooowwww (but I also realize necessary to build the story and relationships), but man that last third was exciting! I’m so glad I took a little break and finished the rest today. And thank you for the bonus download of Ryce’s perspective... I’m very interested to see that plays out but I definitely don’t see what’s his deal with Zea. Seems a little extreme but we shall see where it goes.On the comment of Zea not having anyone to help her, it sucks that people are such jerks but it makes for some good drama towards the end. Firkin makes me mad though... just saying...I will also attest to some of the plot not totally making sense to me especially the chandelier incident and all that came after but I’m hoping there will be some more elaboration... it was explained-ish but still doesn’t make compete sense to me. But I know that it is something that will unfold more in the next book. Hopefully.I didn’t want to give this book a low rating because I don’t think it deserved it based on the things above because I know there are two more books in the series that will likely remedy a lot of these things. I’m excite to read the next two installments.

Definitely spot on with the description being a mix between the Selection and Hunger Games (I would also like to throw in there divergent.Although I would like to note that it is not as good as any of those books... that being said it is a lot to live up to. It is like a person on American idol auditioning with a Whitney Houston song, very hard to execute. Not bad although not many questions were answered. I think the world Castel created was interesting enough and unique in its own right.My problems:The names of literally all of the characters were TERRIBLE and many of them flowed together.... Sargent Silvers. The character descriptions were not very clear for instance upon introduction Sargent Silvers came across as a middle aged man ... the boom 20 yr old. But probably my biggest issues was that every female characters had one of 3 personas. whippy, catty or manly. Bertha was such a huge part of the book, but such a detestable character. Also why couldn't Zea keep a secret this lady almost told everyone she was a spy 29 times over. Also the author loves the phrase "snatched my gaze away" ... She used it probably 8+ times.The good parts of the book:I loved the unique world that it was set up in. Perfect amount of description given so that I could envision it. She also took the time to developed the prince and Zea's relationship. It wasn't wake up in love. It was a fondness that continued to grow. Plot was well thought out and enticed my interest. 4.5 stars

I enjoyed it. It thought it was going to be similar to the Selection. It did have some similarities but over it was different.

This book is a great fantasy read. I was hooked from the start and devoured every word. A great read, I really enjoyed it

It was interesting but not intriguing I have read a lot of books with the same story line so it got boring at some points. I got all the plot from the beginning there was not really a surprise in the story. It’s still a good book but I’m not sure I will finish the series right away.

Can’t say that I did or did not enjoy the book as half the time I didn’t understand what was going on. Will probably have to read again.Also the girl on fire joke made my day

This is a new genre for me and I have enjoyed reading this book very much. This is a thriller, of plots and betrayal, murder attempts and conflicts of conscience.

Poor, hard-working, quick-witted but perfect and beautiful, Cinderella-like downtrodden heroine with a crush on a rebel leader's son, manages to overcome every challenge and threat to her life with panache and aplomb, so that a handsome Prince falls in love with her on sight. Every other girl pales in comparison and is terribly jealous. When jealousy does fear it's head against her, a simple, but brilliant turn of phrase saves her bacon every time.Adventure, intrigue and murder follow, but it's ok she manages to save herself, or the Prince does... On to book 2 which will be more of the same - this is Cinderella after all.If you expect a surprise twist that she chooses the rebel guy... Sorry I don't see that happening, but who knows if book 2 might save itself?But, I think it highly unlikely given the trite, standard stuff so far!