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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical, January 25, 2011
This review is from: The False Princess (Hardcover)
Nalia has led a privileged life as princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, until her sixteenth birthday. Nalia is then told that she is not really the princess. She has simply been a stand-in for the real princess, living in hiding until she came of age. Now known as Sinda, the false princess is shipped back to an aunt that she doesn't know to live a poor, meager life. But Sinda has a latent talent for magic. When she returns to the city to study magic, Sinda reunites with her childhood friend and discovers an incredible secret that will affect the entire kingdom. Nalia/Sinda is a complicated girl, who faces adversity with strength and humility. She's easy to like, and though at first naïve, Sinda learns from her mistakes and always tries to do the right thing, even at the sake of her own safety. Her friendship-turned-romance with her childhood friend Keirnan is sweet and endearing. The story is completely engaging from the very beginning, and proves impossible to put down. Full of drama, magic, suspense, and romance, this is an impressive debut. Though marketed for young adults, fantasy fans of all ages should enjoy. O'Neal's vibrant characters are matched with a fast-paced adventure and intrigue that was over too soon.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
highly recommended, May 2, 2011
This review is from: The False Princess (Hardcover)
What if you found out were not a princess like you thought you were but instead you were practically a nobody? This is the story of Sinda (Princess Nalia first), she lives in a palace and has a life any girl would dream about but that suddenly changes when she finds out she isn't the princess but just her decoy. They traded Sinda with the real princess to keep the princess safe from the tale that said she would be killed before her 16th birthday. I almost cried when they kicked her out with only a few belongings and told her it was best to just sever the relationship fast so it would heal quicker. How could anybody do this I thought?! This story sounds familiar but it doesn't end like you would imagine! I decided to pick this book up to enjoy a simple and fun read and I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed this cute story! The False Princess is jammed packed with a unique plot, delightful characters, action/adventure, mystery and of course romance! The story line is unpredictable and unique and I was sucked in to the drama right from page one. I thought at times I could figure out how it was going to end but I never did. I loved the characters; Sinda was quirky, clumsy, and a bit dreary and she reminded me of a typical teenage girl. She was so full of anger at times that you just couldn't help but to relate to her, very realistic character. Kiernan was also wonderful, he was always sarcastic but I just loved that he made an effort to continue to encourage Sinda to be the best and not beat herself up. Some of the story was not as good as I would have hoped; like cheesy lines and not enough dialogue between the characters but this was still a great book. Very clean romance scenes that I would let my daughter read at any age. Very good story!
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great for a debut ..., February 16, 2011
... but I don't like ratimg books based on the author's experience. I either enjoyed a book or I didn't. In this case it's the golden middle. "The False Princess" wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it also wasn't the worst. The characters were likeable, the general idea of the novel not knew, but well used an the writing itself was good. My main problem was the huge amount of internal dialogue. I hate it when sentences go "And then months passed while I did mostly this, smetimes that and felt ...". Yadda yadda. You get the idea. And let me tell you, O'Neal filled pages and pages with this. Especially with the end coming I suddenly found myself skipping pages. The end seemed to drag a bit, the climax stretched out over several chapters, leaving me somewhat bored. All in all, worth reading, just don't let the 5-star reviews fool you. It's good but not perfect.
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