What do you think?
Rate this book
Last Princess #1
The Last Princess
A series of natural disasters has decimated the earth. Cut off from the rest of the world, England is a dark place. The sun rarely shines, food is scarce, and groups of criminals roam the woods, searching for prey. The people are growing restless. When a ruthless revolutionary sets out to overthrow the crown, he makes the royal family his first target. Blood is shed in Buckingham Palace, and only sixteen-year old Princess Eliza manages to escape. Determined to kill the man who destroyed her family, Eliza joins the enemy forces in disguise. She has nothing left to live for but revenge, until she meets someone who helps her remember how to hope-and love-once more. Now she must risk everything to ensure that she does not become... The Last Princess.
295 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2012
101 people are currently reading
10390 people want to read
About the author
Galaxy Craze
7 books160 followersGalaxy Craze (born 1972 in London, England) is an actress and writer. She moved to the U.S. with her mother in 1980 and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. She appeared in a few independent films in the late 1990s, and wrote a novel, By the Shore, published in 1999. She is a 1993 graduate of Barnard College.
Craze told an interviewer that she "didn't say I wanted to be a writer, I just knew that's what I like to do." Another interviewer described her "beauty (as) a quiet, dreamy, and ethereal sort."
Craze told an interviewer that she "didn't say I wanted to be a writer, I just knew that's what I like to do." Another interviewer described her "beauty (as) a quiet, dreamy, and ethereal sort."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 689 reviews
couldn-t-finish
September 25, 2012
You know that moment, when you're reading a book, and an adorable little animal comes into the story, like a cat or dog?
You know, like this?
Awww, look at the little kitty!
And then, a couple pages later, the author is like;
And then you're like;
Yes indeed, my friends, The Last Princess is an example of those many many books where THE ANIMAL THAT IS RANDOMLY ADDED TO THE STORY JUST TO BE KILLED OFF.
And that is why I'm not finishing this story after two animals were unnecessarily killed off. (The first one was accepted reluctantly, but by the cat....I'm just pissed off now)
May 29, 2012
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
When you look at this book, you think of a dark, dreary, and dangerous dystopian set in a ruined London. And while it is a dystopian set in England and can be very dark at times, it's also so much more enjoyable and lighter than I expected!
You don't have to worry about being bored with this book — The Last Princess is fast-paced and engaging from beginning to end! But sometimes it's a little too fast that it skims over details and shies away from world-building, leaving so much room for plot holes and questions. (I mean, there are cannibals! Creepy-cool idea, right? But we never flesh out why there are cannibals or how London became as ruined as it was.)
On the other hand, the speed helps avoid the slow beginning that many dystopians tend to have! The story focuses more on the current monarchy and a dictator's revolution to take over it. It's surprisingly political, but in an interesting, cool, and not-boring way.
Eliza isn't your average princess — she's more like a princess-turned-soldier, forced to flee and join the revolutionist army as a spy to save her siblings. She may start out as your typical kindhearted and naive girl, but she matures and proves her bravery by the end. It's hard not to adore, admire, and ache for her with what Galaxy Craze puts her through!
I just wish that, like with world-building, we had more investment in the other characters. Cornelius had so much potential to be more than the one-dimensional villain he was (although he was still easy to hate, that's for sure!). And Wesley was a sweet, secretive, and intriguing love interest, but we never got to learn his secrets or motivations.
With a fascinating premise and a plot that races like your heart, The Last Princess is a unique and adventurous story that you'll probably finish in one sitting. It may not be a flawless book, but it sure is enjoyable to read! :)
BUY or BORROW?: If you're looking for a fast and absorbing novel, then this book is definitely worth picking up!
(Original review at Mimi Valentine's YA Review Blog)
When you look at this book, you think of a dark, dreary, and dangerous dystopian set in a ruined London. And while it is a dystopian set in England and can be very dark at times, it's also so much more enjoyable and lighter than I expected!
You don't have to worry about being bored with this book — The Last Princess is fast-paced and engaging from beginning to end! But sometimes it's a little too fast that it skims over details and shies away from world-building, leaving so much room for plot holes and questions. (I mean, there are cannibals! Creepy-cool idea, right? But we never flesh out why there are cannibals or how London became as ruined as it was.)
On the other hand, the speed helps avoid the slow beginning that many dystopians tend to have! The story focuses more on the current monarchy and a dictator's revolution to take over it. It's surprisingly political, but in an interesting, cool, and not-boring way.
Eliza isn't your average princess — she's more like a princess-turned-soldier, forced to flee and join the revolutionist army as a spy to save her siblings. She may start out as your typical kindhearted and naive girl, but she matures and proves her bravery by the end. It's hard not to adore, admire, and ache for her with what Galaxy Craze puts her through!
I just wish that, like with world-building, we had more investment in the other characters. Cornelius had so much potential to be more than the one-dimensional villain he was (although he was still easy to hate, that's for sure!). And Wesley was a sweet, secretive, and intriguing love interest, but we never got to learn his secrets or motivations.
With a fascinating premise and a plot that races like your heart, The Last Princess is a unique and adventurous story that you'll probably finish in one sitting. It may not be a flawless book, but it sure is enjoyable to read! :)
BUY or BORROW?: If you're looking for a fast and absorbing novel, then this book is definitely worth picking up!
(Original review at Mimi Valentine's YA Review Blog)
May 14, 2012
I guess with the glut of dystopian recently thanks to the success of that one, eventually one book would emerge crammed with every single common dystopian trope that's ever been thought of, in an action packed mess that defies almost all logic. Well, look no further than The Last Princess. Unexplained global catastrophe that destroys modern society? Check. Wandering cannibals and other post-apocalyptic dangers? Check. Some sort of power hungry villain whose motives are entirely unexplained? Check. I could go on, but … nah, not going to hold back on this review.
Seriously, there’s no logic to this book. So Eliza’s this British princess who survived some sort of calamity called the Seventeen Days, and now there’s some dude trying to off her family and claim the throne? Sure, except isn’t Britain a constitutional monarchy? So being king really means nothing, Cornelius Hollister probably has more power than Eliza’s father to begin with, private army and all that. And the Seventeen Days, I’ve read this book and I still don’t know what it is. Volcanic eruption? Tidal waves? As a princess, isn’t she privy to this kind of scientific information? Plus, even overlooking the absurd setup, prologue with Hollister poisoning Eliza’s mother the Queen just leaves me with more questions. Don’t these people know not to take food from random strangers? Isn’t there any security wherever they are? What’s the connection between Hollister and the royal family? Of course, none of these questions are answered, because this book eschews plot and story in favor of action, combat, and fighting.
So in order to shove as much ‘dystopianess’ into this book as possible, everything makes less and less sense as the book moves along. By the time Eliza rolls into one of Hollister’s training camps for his soldiers, hours after Hollister kills her father in an attack on the palace (she’s not recognized because her father hides every single picture of her from the public … sure), I’m not even sure how much more of this I can stand (turns out, a lot apparently, because I finished, not that book gets any better ... at least it's quick though). Of course she randomly fights some dude to the death and then goes hunting in the woods, because that’s a requisite element of any good dystopian (right?), where’s she’s saved by Sergeant Wesley, the love interest with a secret so easy to figure out I saw the rest of the predictable plot coming even before she left the first time to kill Hollister. The rest of the book is just her bouncing back and forth in a straightforward plot to get revenge; except the action itself is so convoluted I don’t see how she could possibly have won in the end. This book is like Frankenstein’s creation, a monster pieced together from spare parts given life by its creator, now out to destroy everything. Thanks a lot, Galaxy Craze, and I was starting to warm up to dystopians too.
Anyway, if you’re looking for something formulaic, by the books, a shadow of better books to tide you over until something actually well written comes along, this book might be it. But if you’re looking for plot, story, sometime that makes sense, stay away, far away.
Seriously, there’s no logic to this book. So Eliza’s this British princess who survived some sort of calamity called the Seventeen Days, and now there’s some dude trying to off her family and claim the throne? Sure, except isn’t Britain a constitutional monarchy? So being king really means nothing, Cornelius Hollister probably has more power than Eliza’s father to begin with, private army and all that. And the Seventeen Days, I’ve read this book and I still don’t know what it is. Volcanic eruption? Tidal waves? As a princess, isn’t she privy to this kind of scientific information? Plus, even overlooking the absurd setup, prologue with Hollister poisoning Eliza’s mother the Queen just leaves me with more questions. Don’t these people know not to take food from random strangers? Isn’t there any security wherever they are? What’s the connection between Hollister and the royal family? Of course, none of these questions are answered, because this book eschews plot and story in favor of action, combat, and fighting.
So in order to shove as much ‘dystopianess’ into this book as possible, everything makes less and less sense as the book moves along. By the time Eliza rolls into one of Hollister’s training camps for his soldiers, hours after Hollister kills her father in an attack on the palace (she’s not recognized because her father hides every single picture of her from the public … sure), I’m not even sure how much more of this I can stand (turns out, a lot apparently, because I finished, not that book gets any better ... at least it's quick though). Of course she randomly fights some dude to the death and then goes hunting in the woods, because that’s a requisite element of any good dystopian (right?), where’s she’s saved by Sergeant Wesley, the love interest with a secret so easy to figure out I saw the rest of the predictable plot coming even before she left the first time to kill Hollister. The rest of the book is just her bouncing back and forth in a straightforward plot to get revenge; except the action itself is so convoluted I don’t see how she could possibly have won in the end. This book is like Frankenstein’s creation, a monster pieced together from spare parts given life by its creator, now out to destroy everything. Thanks a lot, Galaxy Craze, and I was starting to warm up to dystopians too.
Anyway, if you’re looking for something formulaic, by the books, a shadow of better books to tide you over until something actually well written comes along, this book might be it. But if you’re looking for plot, story, sometime that makes sense, stay away, far away.
May 9, 2012
This is going to be crazily difficult to write because, as I have said before and will reiterate again, I dislike writing negative reviews. However, I cannot compromise my integrity so here’s the thing, I found it impossible to like The Last Princess and I will list the reasons in the next few paragraphs.
The holes in the logic made it very difficult for me to continue reading the novel without pausing to wonder about what was happening in the narrative. For instance, in the very beginning of the novel, Eliza is sitting and observing the soldiers which establishes the presence of armed and trained fighters whose primary job is the protection of the royal family. Yet, when Eliza discovers the note written by her six year old brother (mind you, the note is written by a six year old with extraordinary writing skills and does not at all read like a child who is running away from home in the state of mind that the brother is said to be in), she takes her horse and makes for the forest which is apparently where her brother has run away to.
There are two issues I have with this:
Why does Eliza make no use of the soldiers to look for her brother who has run away in a time of great civil unrest? Why is SHE galloping after her brother?
The brother is sickly. How did he manage to cover that much distance by himself when he cannot move for long periods without medicine?
See the gaps in the logic? And there are more, a lot more that detracts from the reading experience. The oil has run out. Eliza talks about it once and again. But they are driving in Ashton Martins. After the “17 Days of Terror” when the world is remade and life changes drastically, someone presents the Queen with fruit and she takes it and eats it. Why? Would not the people allowed to present food to the royals be carefully vetted?
And it gets even more farfetched as the novel progresses. The King assures his daughter emphatically that no one will ever hurt them again but in the next instant, there is shattering glass and the king is dead, giving a surer lie to his words than…yeah. Oh, and the world is dying around them, yet the royals are having a feast. It is enough to make one agree with the rebels.
There is no characterization. All characters, Eliza included, seem very hollow stereotypes of other characters and I really am sorry to say this but the writing itself was not conducive to reading with choppy sentences and awkward segues that is just…painful.
Maybe it’s because I started this book with a lot of hope. I wanted to be blown away by the story. By the characters. By the writing. However, unfortunately, the book failed to deliver, at least to me. Whether you will have the same reaction as me depends on what you expect from a novel. I can’t, not in good conscience, recommend this to you and I’m sorry for it.
The holes in the logic made it very difficult for me to continue reading the novel without pausing to wonder about what was happening in the narrative. For instance, in the very beginning of the novel, Eliza is sitting and observing the soldiers which establishes the presence of armed and trained fighters whose primary job is the protection of the royal family. Yet, when Eliza discovers the note written by her six year old brother (mind you, the note is written by a six year old with extraordinary writing skills and does not at all read like a child who is running away from home in the state of mind that the brother is said to be in), she takes her horse and makes for the forest which is apparently where her brother has run away to.
There are two issues I have with this:
Why does Eliza make no use of the soldiers to look for her brother who has run away in a time of great civil unrest? Why is SHE galloping after her brother?
The brother is sickly. How did he manage to cover that much distance by himself when he cannot move for long periods without medicine?
See the gaps in the logic? And there are more, a lot more that detracts from the reading experience. The oil has run out. Eliza talks about it once and again. But they are driving in Ashton Martins. After the “17 Days of Terror” when the world is remade and life changes drastically, someone presents the Queen with fruit and she takes it and eats it. Why? Would not the people allowed to present food to the royals be carefully vetted?
And it gets even more farfetched as the novel progresses. The King assures his daughter emphatically that no one will ever hurt them again but in the next instant, there is shattering glass and the king is dead, giving a surer lie to his words than…yeah. Oh, and the world is dying around them, yet the royals are having a feast. It is enough to make one agree with the rebels.
There is no characterization. All characters, Eliza included, seem very hollow stereotypes of other characters and I really am sorry to say this but the writing itself was not conducive to reading with choppy sentences and awkward segues that is just…painful.
Maybe it’s because I started this book with a lot of hope. I wanted to be blown away by the story. By the characters. By the writing. However, unfortunately, the book failed to deliver, at least to me. Whether you will have the same reaction as me depends on what you expect from a novel. I can’t, not in good conscience, recommend this to you and I’m sorry for it.
February 25, 2016
Me ha sorprendido bastante.
Tiene el típico argumento de las películas de los domingos de sobremesa, con algún aspecto predecible, pero con un toque tétrico y tenebroso que le da originalidad.
Es la primera distopia cruda que leo, y aquí la autora no se ha cortado un pelo con las descripciones sobre las matanzas, y demás cosas trágicas. Cojea y mucho la parte romántica (Yo la habría quitado, porque no aporta nada).
Se lee de forma muy ágil y está narrado en capítulos cortos que te incitan a seguir leyendo.
Tiene el típico argumento de las películas de los domingos de sobremesa, con algún aspecto predecible, pero con un toque tétrico y tenebroso que le da originalidad.
Es la primera distopia cruda que leo, y aquí la autora no se ha cortado un pelo con las descripciones sobre las matanzas, y demás cosas trágicas. Cojea y mucho la parte romántica (Yo la habría quitado, porque no aporta nada).
Se lee de forma muy ágil y está narrado en capítulos cortos que te incitan a seguir leyendo.
June 12, 2012
Friends, my honest opinion of The Last Princess by Galaxy Craze is that it was a god awful book. On the upside, it is a super quick read — only taking a few hours to get through. However, this dystopian debut did not work for me despite how quickly I zoomed through it.
You can read the rest of my review here
You can read the rest of my review here
August 10, 2012
This review was first posted on http://rubysreads.com.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a total Anglophile. I mean, I’m not ready to start drinking my beer at room-temperature or anything, but a reference to Mother England on a dust-jacket always earns a second look from me. You could write a book about fluffy bunny zombies–which, let’s face it, is no one’s favorite genre–but if the backcover blurb mentions how the Fluffy Bunny Zombies invade the Houses of Parliament, I won’t immediately reject it. Shallow? Perhaps, but be honest–who here doesn’t have a back cover blurb weakness? Didn’t think so.
Almost everything about this book–from the moody cover to the blurb with the right keywords–made it seem that it would be a hit with me. (The author’s name being the exception.) Too bad I was entirely mistaken. The Last Princess is one of those books that you have to read alone so others won’t see the faces you make. Or maybe my WTF? face is particularly ugly. Either way, I can’t recommend this one, and here’s why.
The Last Princess hops from one horrible event to the next. I don’t mean that it has nonstop action–I mean, literally, no one has worse luck than Princess Eliza. She just goes from one bad situation to another. The result is eye-rolling. It makes sense that, as a princess, Eliza would have little real-world experience, but it doesn’t mean that she needs to lack intelligence as well. Also, the constant stream of life-threatening events did nothing to heighten the tension of the novel. It lessened it. Despite the fact that Eliza is placed in numerous life-threatening situations, I never once feared for her life. I don’t think my blood pressure spiked at all.
There’s also the pace of the novel. The Last Princess clocks in at 295 pages–but those are large-print, widely-spaced pages. A lot happens…but a lot also doesn’t. Namely, characterization, setting, emotional resonance and world-building. Because of this book, I’ve decided that England would be an awesome setting for a post-apocalyptic novel. I mean–think about it! It’s an island! Think of the complete isolation, the hardship that would result if it was disconnected from the rest of the world! INSTANT CONFLICT. It’s just that The Lost Princess didn’t have the juice to pull it off. Thus–interesting concept, poor execution.
Pacing aside, the thing that killed this novel for me was the one-dimensional characters. They were wooden. Again, full of potential, but poorly realized. Part of the problem is the length. I don’t know if I’ve actually said this before, but The Lost Princess should have been longer. It needed more substance. I don’t know if more words would’ve have entirely fixed the problem, but I don’t think it would have hurt, either.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a total Anglophile. I mean, I’m not ready to start drinking my beer at room-temperature or anything, but a reference to Mother England on a dust-jacket always earns a second look from me. You could write a book about fluffy bunny zombies–which, let’s face it, is no one’s favorite genre–but if the backcover blurb mentions how the Fluffy Bunny Zombies invade the Houses of Parliament, I won’t immediately reject it. Shallow? Perhaps, but be honest–who here doesn’t have a back cover blurb weakness? Didn’t think so.
Almost everything about this book–from the moody cover to the blurb with the right keywords–made it seem that it would be a hit with me. (The author’s name being the exception.) Too bad I was entirely mistaken. The Last Princess is one of those books that you have to read alone so others won’t see the faces you make. Or maybe my WTF? face is particularly ugly. Either way, I can’t recommend this one, and here’s why.
The Last Princess hops from one horrible event to the next. I don’t mean that it has nonstop action–I mean, literally, no one has worse luck than Princess Eliza. She just goes from one bad situation to another. The result is eye-rolling. It makes sense that, as a princess, Eliza would have little real-world experience, but it doesn’t mean that she needs to lack intelligence as well. Also, the constant stream of life-threatening events did nothing to heighten the tension of the novel. It lessened it. Despite the fact that Eliza is placed in numerous life-threatening situations, I never once feared for her life. I don’t think my blood pressure spiked at all.
There’s also the pace of the novel. The Last Princess clocks in at 295 pages–but those are large-print, widely-spaced pages. A lot happens…but a lot also doesn’t. Namely, characterization, setting, emotional resonance and world-building. Because of this book, I’ve decided that England would be an awesome setting for a post-apocalyptic novel. I mean–think about it! It’s an island! Think of the complete isolation, the hardship that would result if it was disconnected from the rest of the world! INSTANT CONFLICT. It’s just that The Lost Princess didn’t have the juice to pull it off. Thus–interesting concept, poor execution.
Pacing aside, the thing that killed this novel for me was the one-dimensional characters. They were wooden. Again, full of potential, but poorly realized. Part of the problem is the length. I don’t know if I’ve actually said this before, but The Lost Princess should have been longer. It needed more substance. I don’t know if more words would’ve have entirely fixed the problem, but I don’t think it would have hurt, either.
May 11, 2012
2.5 stars - I love just about all dystopian, so this book didn't need a lot to please me. I liked the story, and it was fast-paced and full of action. BUT I felt the book was really rushed, and because of that, I felt it lacked in so much.
I felt everything happened TOO quickly, and the book just skimmed over a scene before jumping to the next. First of all, I didn't get a good idea of what the setting, and the basic description was so vague that I had a hard time determining what the characters looked like or even how old they were.
The book jumped from scene to scene so quickly and just brushed the surface of what's happening so I didn't really connect with the characters or sympathize with them much. And the transitions were really terrible like you come to a screech halt that it was kind of disorienting.
And then, there were just parts that I just didn't get why they were even in the story. Like the whole concept of the Seventeen Days. Was that just thrown in there for the sake of calling the book dystopian? So afterwards, you have cannibalists. Okay, but they didn't really play a part in the book at all except just to throw in an extra scary factor as Eliza runs around the country. In a way, I felt if the book had left out the Seventeen Days and the cannibalists, it wouldn't have made a huge difference in the book at all.
Overall, it's not a bad read, and I liked it. I just wish the book took a few steps back to slow down and focus a little more on the story development.
I felt everything happened TOO quickly, and the book just skimmed over a scene before jumping to the next. First of all, I didn't get a good idea of what the setting, and the basic description was so vague that I had a hard time determining what the characters looked like or even how old they were.
The book jumped from scene to scene so quickly and just brushed the surface of what's happening so I didn't really connect with the characters or sympathize with them much. And the transitions were really terrible like you come to a screech halt that it was kind of disorienting.
And then, there were just parts that I just didn't get why they were even in the story. Like the whole concept of the Seventeen Days. Was that just thrown in there for the sake of calling the book dystopian? So afterwards, you have cannibalists. Okay, but they didn't really play a part in the book at all except just to throw in an extra scary factor as Eliza runs around the country. In a way, I felt if the book had left out the Seventeen Days and the cannibalists, it wouldn't have made a huge difference in the book at all.
Overall, it's not a bad read, and I liked it. I just wish the book took a few steps back to slow down and focus a little more on the story development.
December 5, 2014
4 Stars
THE LAST PRINCESS was a brilliant, and spellbinding adventure, that had murder, chaos, and destruction, all twisted around layers of hope, survival, and determination!! It was beautifully done, with addicting characters, and world building that kept me entertained for hours!!
THE LAST PRINCESS was a highly entertaining story, with compelling characters, addicting world that was filled with dangerous situations, tragic events, a deadly dictator, and a forced army that was willing to do their dictators evil bidding's. I LOVED IT!!! BUT, as much as I loved it, I also had some issues with it. Manly that some of the events that unfolded were unrealistic and preposterous. But because of my love for this book, I overlooked them on mostly every occasion!
THE PLOT...
The world is full of destruction and ruins after Seventeen straight days of disasters brought a Country to it's knees. Only the lucky survived—the ones that were sheltered during the Seventeen days, the ones who are determined to survive. Now, six years later, England is still trying to pick up the pieces of those fateful days their world changed forever. England still remains in ruins, cut off from the rest of the world, unknown of what lies beyond their borders...
REWIND SIX YEARS:
After the Seventeen days of natural disasters, they royal family and their court rises from their underground sanctuary to find their Country in an uproar. Chaos, destruction and murder fill the streets of England. Hunger and lack of security remain instilled in the peoples hearts. And their are some who feel their are others better suited to wear the crown and rule all of England. Then, on a routine picnic with her youngest princess, the queen is assassinated—poisoned with child in her belly, forced to leave her sickly prince behind in a world where medicine and health care is a struggle, even for the royal family.
FAST FORWARD SIX YEARS:
After six years, the King of England still fights to regain control of his kingdom and subjects. With a kingdom on it's knees, and war on the horizon, and he's wife's murderer still free to wreck havoc and murder who he pleases, the king feels it's best to keep his two daughters and sickly son in a distant location, secluded from the outside world—shielded from the hard truths of what really lies outside of their save haven.
But then all of the king's fears come true, as their is a new leader, Cornelius Hollister, the same man that murdered the queen, trying to rise up and take over England. His army, The New Guard, is gearing up for war, determined to kill off the remaining Royal line, and become crowned as the new King of England. He is terrorizing the already broken people that remain from the Seventeen days, raiding houses and forcing them with force to join his army and fight for him, or be forced to work in the Death Camps where they will be forced to dig their own graves. And then there are the roamers, the ones that roam the Country, hiding from the New Guard while killing what they can, either human or animal, whatever they can find to fill their bellies.
When all seems like it couldn't get worse, the same day both the princesses and the young prince come back to England to join the Roses Ball, The New Guard storms the caste and the King of England is murdered by Cornelius Hollister in front of his daughters and loyal subjects. Then while trying to escape, the eldest daughter Mary, now the queen of England, and the young prince Jamie are captured and taken by The New Guard to await their horrific fates. But the youngest daughter, princess Eliza barley manages to escape the same fate as her siblings. And now, she is England's last hope of survival...
Now, Princess Eliza is the last free Royal standing, and she plans to fight until her death. She plots to free her sister and brother from the clutches of her parents murderer, and make him suffer for all the pain he inflicted upon her and her family, but also their Country. But as adrenaline fades, and clarity sinks in, she realizes that she is only one person verses Hollister's thousands. How could she possible fight them odds and take down the man who has conquered England with an iron fist? All she has is limited weaponry and fighting skill, and her wits, but how far would that really take her before she is killed and her Country left in the hands of a sadistic killer?? But their is one thing that she has that Hollister doesn't: A pure hatred and determination to destroy the man that has taken everything she loves from her. The Last Princess will rise, and take back what was taken from her, or die trying...
That is when Eliza decides the best way to take down the man that's taken everything from her is to infiltrate his army, and work from the inside out. But how could she possible go against thousands? Then she meets Wesley, the same guard who let her escape the night her kingdom was overthrown, and they join forces. Now Eliza isn't as alone as she thought, and she is ready to play Hollister's game, and willing to do anything in order to save the people and kingdom she loves, even if she has to die for it...
Doesn't that sound like such a great book?? It was. But like I mentioned above, as much as I enjoyed THE LAST PRINCESS, it had it's flaws. On one hand, I REALLY enjoyed it, but on the other, it had many aspects that were unbelievable, and hard to swallow. But since I really enjoyed the actual story and the plot and characters, I was able to look past them almost every time they would arise, and see through to the actual meaning. So overall, I HIGHLY enjoyed THE LAST PRINCESS, and would definitely recommend it if you enjoy apocalyptic/dystopian type books, with a shattered kingdom on it's knees in the break of war!! I can't WAIT for the next book, INVASION to release in 2015!!!
THE LAST PRINCESS was a brilliant, and spellbinding adventure, that had murder, chaos, and destruction, all twisted around layers of hope, survival, and determination!! It was beautifully done, with addicting characters, and world building that kept me entertained for hours!!
THE LAST PRINCESS was a highly entertaining story, with compelling characters, addicting world that was filled with dangerous situations, tragic events, a deadly dictator, and a forced army that was willing to do their dictators evil bidding's. I LOVED IT!!! BUT, as much as I loved it, I also had some issues with it. Manly that some of the events that unfolded were unrealistic and preposterous. But because of my love for this book, I overlooked them on mostly every occasion!
THE PLOT...
The world is full of destruction and ruins after Seventeen straight days of disasters brought a Country to it's knees. Only the lucky survived—the ones that were sheltered during the Seventeen days, the ones who are determined to survive. Now, six years later, England is still trying to pick up the pieces of those fateful days their world changed forever. England still remains in ruins, cut off from the rest of the world, unknown of what lies beyond their borders...
REWIND SIX YEARS:
After the Seventeen days of natural disasters, they royal family and their court rises from their underground sanctuary to find their Country in an uproar. Chaos, destruction and murder fill the streets of England. Hunger and lack of security remain instilled in the peoples hearts. And their are some who feel their are others better suited to wear the crown and rule all of England. Then, on a routine picnic with her youngest princess, the queen is assassinated—poisoned with child in her belly, forced to leave her sickly prince behind in a world where medicine and health care is a struggle, even for the royal family.
FAST FORWARD SIX YEARS:
After six years, the King of England still fights to regain control of his kingdom and subjects. With a kingdom on it's knees, and war on the horizon, and he's wife's murderer still free to wreck havoc and murder who he pleases, the king feels it's best to keep his two daughters and sickly son in a distant location, secluded from the outside world—shielded from the hard truths of what really lies outside of their save haven.
But then all of the king's fears come true, as their is a new leader, Cornelius Hollister, the same man that murdered the queen, trying to rise up and take over England. His army, The New Guard, is gearing up for war, determined to kill off the remaining Royal line, and become crowned as the new King of England. He is terrorizing the already broken people that remain from the Seventeen days, raiding houses and forcing them with force to join his army and fight for him, or be forced to work in the Death Camps where they will be forced to dig their own graves. And then there are the roamers, the ones that roam the Country, hiding from the New Guard while killing what they can, either human or animal, whatever they can find to fill their bellies.
When all seems like it couldn't get worse, the same day both the princesses and the young prince come back to England to join the Roses Ball, The New Guard storms the caste and the King of England is murdered by Cornelius Hollister in front of his daughters and loyal subjects. Then while trying to escape, the eldest daughter Mary, now the queen of England, and the young prince Jamie are captured and taken by The New Guard to await their horrific fates. But the youngest daughter, princess Eliza barley manages to escape the same fate as her siblings. And now, she is England's last hope of survival...
Now, Princess Eliza is the last free Royal standing, and she plans to fight until her death. She plots to free her sister and brother from the clutches of her parents murderer, and make him suffer for all the pain he inflicted upon her and her family, but also their Country. But as adrenaline fades, and clarity sinks in, she realizes that she is only one person verses Hollister's thousands. How could she possible fight them odds and take down the man who has conquered England with an iron fist? All she has is limited weaponry and fighting skill, and her wits, but how far would that really take her before she is killed and her Country left in the hands of a sadistic killer?? But their is one thing that she has that Hollister doesn't: A pure hatred and determination to destroy the man that has taken everything she loves from her. The Last Princess will rise, and take back what was taken from her, or die trying...
That is when Eliza decides the best way to take down the man that's taken everything from her is to infiltrate his army, and work from the inside out. But how could she possible go against thousands? Then she meets Wesley, the same guard who let her escape the night her kingdom was overthrown, and they join forces. Now Eliza isn't as alone as she thought, and she is ready to play Hollister's game, and willing to do anything in order to save the people and kingdom she loves, even if she has to die for it...
Doesn't that sound like such a great book?? It was. But like I mentioned above, as much as I enjoyed THE LAST PRINCESS, it had it's flaws. On one hand, I REALLY enjoyed it, but on the other, it had many aspects that were unbelievable, and hard to swallow. But since I really enjoyed the actual story and the plot and characters, I was able to look past them almost every time they would arise, and see through to the actual meaning. So overall, I HIGHLY enjoyed THE LAST PRINCESS, and would definitely recommend it if you enjoy apocalyptic/dystopian type books, with a shattered kingdom on it's knees in the break of war!! I can't WAIT for the next book, INVASION to release in 2015!!!
July 6, 2015
See this review and more on my blog, Lilybloombooks
The Last Princess caught my eye while browsing audio books to borrow from the library and kept going back to it. It's relatively short, but since I am all for short audio books, I went ahead and downloaded.
The Last Princess had a lot going for it - and a lot to offer. It has a dystopian setting, rebels, war, royalty, strong family bonds and a romance. Not to mention just how bloody gruesome it was.
Eliza really made this book for me. She has a lot of growth throughout the book due to the trials she overcame. She comes off week at first, at least that was my interpretation, but what she does to avenge her family and right back IS admirable. My heart broke for her on many occasions - especially at the one part when she wanted to just give up.. :(
The romance in the book was a small/large part. I say this because it there wasn't a LOT of it - but their feelings for each other drove them both a lot towards the end and made the ending so much sweeter. It developed relatively fast - but given the setting and peril surrounding them.. I get it.
Now as much as I loved the dark, intense tone of the book - it's not flawless. I didn't realize until the end just how much time this book spans out from beginning to end. I think the confusion came because there aren't many "breaks" in the audio. I had to "rewind" a few times and re listen because the flow from scene to scene was not smooth at all, rather blending together. It created a lot of confusion for me - and I was so frustrated at times.
AND. The fast pace and action scenes were great - loved them - but I do wish there was a time or two we could have slowed down just a little. This didn't really bother me much - just something I wanted to add.
The ending! Not a cliff hanger, per se, but it sure as heck left me wanting more. There is so much more to this world to explore - and I can't wait. I recommend to everyone looking for darker dystopian, with death, non stop action and brave characters worth rooting for.
The Last Princess caught my eye while browsing audio books to borrow from the library and kept going back to it. It's relatively short, but since I am all for short audio books, I went ahead and downloaded.
The Last Princess had a lot going for it - and a lot to offer. It has a dystopian setting, rebels, war, royalty, strong family bonds and a romance. Not to mention just how bloody gruesome it was.
Eliza really made this book for me. She has a lot of growth throughout the book due to the trials she overcame. She comes off week at first, at least that was my interpretation, but what she does to avenge her family and right back IS admirable. My heart broke for her on many occasions - especially at the one part when she wanted to just give up.. :(
The romance in the book was a small/large part. I say this because it there wasn't a LOT of it - but their feelings for each other drove them both a lot towards the end and made the ending so much sweeter. It developed relatively fast - but given the setting and peril surrounding them.. I get it.
Now as much as I loved the dark, intense tone of the book - it's not flawless. I didn't realize until the end just how much time this book spans out from beginning to end. I think the confusion came because there aren't many "breaks" in the audio. I had to "rewind" a few times and re listen because the flow from scene to scene was not smooth at all, rather blending together. It created a lot of confusion for me - and I was so frustrated at times.
AND. The fast pace and action scenes were great - loved them - but I do wish there was a time or two we could have slowed down just a little. This didn't really bother me much - just something I wanted to add.
The ending! Not a cliff hanger, per se, but it sure as heck left me wanting more. There is so much more to this world to explore - and I can't wait. I recommend to everyone looking for darker dystopian, with death, non stop action and brave characters worth rooting for.
April 5, 2016
A finished copy was provided by the publisher for review.
Wonderful start to this series! I’m saying series because I’m not sure of it’s a trilogy. Holy!! Ever since Eliza’s parents are murdered by Hollister, and her two siblings are kidnapped, her life changes in a blink of an eye. She seeks revenge on the man who committed her family to such despair and I only wished she had more training so she could be a soldier. First, she’s in deep with the enemy camp, and manages to find some humanity with Wesley, the good-looking blonde haired, green eyed soldier. I love how Wesley was the only one who helped her. Who truly wanted to overthrow the New Guard and find peace at last.
Great world building! I love how Eliza flips between memories of the past and how different it was for the present. The world is wrecked and chaos ensued, yet Eliza does everything she can to find her brother and sister and that is quite remarkable. When Eliza was down, and her will was breaking, all I could do was cheer her on and make sure she survived. Yes, I’m definitely a fan of Eliza’s character. Eliza and Wesley are such wonderful characters, and I’m so glad that Galaxy Craze helped introduce us to their world.
The sequel better come out quickly, because I am definitely going to gobble up the next book. For fans of the dystopian genre, be sure to pick this one up. Romance, action, adventure, survival, heartaches, and even betrayal, where can you go wrong? You can’t!
Wonderful start to this series! I’m saying series because I’m not sure of it’s a trilogy. Holy!! Ever since Eliza’s parents are murdered by Hollister, and her two siblings are kidnapped, her life changes in a blink of an eye. She seeks revenge on the man who committed her family to such despair and I only wished she had more training so she could be a soldier. First, she’s in deep with the enemy camp, and manages to find some humanity with Wesley, the good-looking blonde haired, green eyed soldier. I love how Wesley was the only one who helped her. Who truly wanted to overthrow the New Guard and find peace at last.
Great world building! I love how Eliza flips between memories of the past and how different it was for the present. The world is wrecked and chaos ensued, yet Eliza does everything she can to find her brother and sister and that is quite remarkable. When Eliza was down, and her will was breaking, all I could do was cheer her on and make sure she survived. Yes, I’m definitely a fan of Eliza’s character. Eliza and Wesley are such wonderful characters, and I’m so glad that Galaxy Craze helped introduce us to their world.
The sequel better come out quickly, because I am definitely going to gobble up the next book. For fans of the dystopian genre, be sure to pick this one up. Romance, action, adventure, survival, heartaches, and even betrayal, where can you go wrong? You can’t!
July 28, 2017
The Last Princess is a really cool concept. There was so much potential for this to turn into something haunting and amazing. The main problem was that it didn’t go deep enough. On the one hand, the plot wasn’t bad. It was fast moving and had a decent structure. On the other hand, I don’t think we ever really get to know any of the characters really well. In the end I felt like both the plot and the characters were only skimming the surface of their potential.
Essentially the plot is that the world was consumed by 17 days of natural disasters and everything is post-apocalyptic and awful. In England, the royal family is trying to keep order and prevent a war with Cornelius Hollister. Hollister is trying to over throw the monarchy and become the king. The thing is, Hollister is super evil and like murders kids and stuff. We follow Eliza Windsor (the last princess) on her quest to rescue her siblings and stop Hollister. This is very much a plot based story rather than a character based story. This is probably why I was having a disconnected experience with it. I wanted to get attached to Eliza and root for her. I wanted to feel empathy towards her but I just couldn’t connect to her. I think this was because Eliza didn’t seem to feel things all that deeply either. Like I mentioned before, we’re only really skimming the surface of her character development. I did like that she was capable in a fight and not wandering around like a ditz and needing to be rescued. She’s very action oriented and I just wish I was able to get to know her better.
The Last Princess is a remarkably quick read. It’s a full length novel but it feels really fast paced and I ended up finishing the whole thing over the course of a few hours spread over a couple days. A fast pace for a book with a lot of action is really essential to making the action compelling. So I did appreciate how quick moving the story was. There was a really strong foundation for the story building and the excellent structure shows. The thing is, when there is TOO much emphasis put on fast pacing it causes a lot of the finer details to be completely glossed over. For example, I read in the blurb that there were supposed to be roaming bands of cannibals in this but in reality there weren’t nearly enough of them to need it mentioned in the blurb. I hoped we could take a minute to explore those people and how they came to be but no such luck. I would have loved to have taken a minute every now and again to really dig deep into something. Instead the story just kept moving at the same pace so it was a little like being in a car on the freeway and driving past something cool but not being able to get a good look because you’re going too fast.
The potential was here for something really meaty. But we just didn’t go deep enough into the world building or the plot. I mean… the story - as is - wasn’t bad. It’s a decent book but had the potential to be amazing. It’s unfortunate that there wasn’t that something extra to put it over the top. I will say that I thought the ending was pretty good. The last couple of chapters really got me in the feels and had me getting teary. So even with the skimming and the fast pace, the conclusion was very satisfying. I heard there was a sequel to this but I feel the story is complete for me and I don’t see myself continuing on.
Essentially the plot is that the world was consumed by 17 days of natural disasters and everything is post-apocalyptic and awful. In England, the royal family is trying to keep order and prevent a war with Cornelius Hollister. Hollister is trying to over throw the monarchy and become the king. The thing is, Hollister is super evil and like murders kids and stuff. We follow Eliza Windsor (the last princess) on her quest to rescue her siblings and stop Hollister. This is very much a plot based story rather than a character based story. This is probably why I was having a disconnected experience with it. I wanted to get attached to Eliza and root for her. I wanted to feel empathy towards her but I just couldn’t connect to her. I think this was because Eliza didn’t seem to feel things all that deeply either. Like I mentioned before, we’re only really skimming the surface of her character development. I did like that she was capable in a fight and not wandering around like a ditz and needing to be rescued. She’s very action oriented and I just wish I was able to get to know her better.
The Last Princess is a remarkably quick read. It’s a full length novel but it feels really fast paced and I ended up finishing the whole thing over the course of a few hours spread over a couple days. A fast pace for a book with a lot of action is really essential to making the action compelling. So I did appreciate how quick moving the story was. There was a really strong foundation for the story building and the excellent structure shows. The thing is, when there is TOO much emphasis put on fast pacing it causes a lot of the finer details to be completely glossed over. For example, I read in the blurb that there were supposed to be roaming bands of cannibals in this but in reality there weren’t nearly enough of them to need it mentioned in the blurb. I hoped we could take a minute to explore those people and how they came to be but no such luck. I would have loved to have taken a minute every now and again to really dig deep into something. Instead the story just kept moving at the same pace so it was a little like being in a car on the freeway and driving past something cool but not being able to get a good look because you’re going too fast.
The potential was here for something really meaty. But we just didn’t go deep enough into the world building or the plot. I mean… the story - as is - wasn’t bad. It’s a decent book but had the potential to be amazing. It’s unfortunate that there wasn’t that something extra to put it over the top. I will say that I thought the ending was pretty good. The last couple of chapters really got me in the feels and had me getting teary. So even with the skimming and the fast pace, the conclusion was very satisfying. I heard there was a sequel to this but I feel the story is complete for me and I don’t see myself continuing on.
August 31, 2017
Another audio done. This one was pretty good, and even though I tuned out a few little things, it all made sense in the end. I found it a little unbelievable how But so good of Wesley to I find it so hard to believe that And I got a little lost as to who Owen was, but he wasn't that important XD I don't have access to the second book, but I think it ended well enough, with the only slight twist at the end being
January 14, 2019
Llegue a este libro por su portada, lo admito. La sipnosis me dio un empujón para darle una oportunidad y finalmente me decidí a leerlo. Nos encontramos con una novela distopica ubicada en el año 2090. Tras una gran crisis, el pais esta totalmente devastado, y la nueva guardia se dispone a derrocar a la monarquía, al considerarles los culpables de la tragica situación que vive la población. Este libro se enfoca en la lucha y el enfrentamiento entre ambos lados, o al menos lo intenta porque la verdad es que es un libro muy plano y surrealista, donde los acontecimientos se precipitan constantemente. Claramente le falta desarrollo, tanto a la historia como a los personajes. Creo que la autora tenia una buena idea pero ha sido muy mal explotada. Sin embargo, al ser una novela tan corta no me ha resultado nada pesada de leer aunque no pude evitar poner los ojos en blanco en determinadas situaciones que no habia ni quien se las creyese....
September 2, 2015
What a mess.
I never had high hopes for this but I did have some hopes...
But no.
I do love my dystopians, but come on, what even was this?!
Published in 2012 and obviously riding on the dystopia-craze (uhh, unintended pun, the irony!), this features LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE dystopia-trait.
(Okay, let's be fair, there wasn't a lovetriangle and also no underground chase going on, but hey...)
I never used to be someone to complain about a few plot holes or a bit of illogical stuff going on, but this was seriously too much, could NOT stretch my belief this far.
There were so many stupid mistakes that made me groan a few times whilst reading.
Should have noticed in the freaking prologue, when the Queen accepts fruit from a stranger and just proceeds to eat it - thus being killed... #foodpoisoning...where were the servants to examine it or the tasters?!
All in all, this was extremely rushed, we gain barely no insight whatsoever on the political backgrounds and motives and time spans (which would've been interesting in some instances).
As a reader, I was left confused and not invested.
Eliza was an okay MC, likeable but not characterized enough for me to really care.
The "romance" was hilarious.
Basically, this was a fast read with zero investment and cares given from my behalf.
At least the writing wasn't awkward but very readable and there was some action going on (foreseeable, but action nonetheless).
Please let there still be some original dystopian novels out there, though..ughh..
Don't want to give up on one of my favourite genres yet.
I never had high hopes for this but I did have some hopes...
But no.
I do love my dystopians, but come on, what even was this?!
Published in 2012 and obviously riding on the dystopia-craze (uhh, unintended pun, the irony!), this features LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE dystopia-trait.
(Okay, let's be fair, there wasn't a lovetriangle and also no underground chase going on, but hey...)
I never used to be someone to complain about a few plot holes or a bit of illogical stuff going on, but this was seriously too much, could NOT stretch my belief this far.
There were so many stupid mistakes that made me groan a few times whilst reading.
Should have noticed in the freaking prologue, when the Queen accepts fruit from a stranger and just proceeds to eat it - thus being killed... #foodpoisoning...where were the servants to examine it or the tasters?!
All in all, this was extremely rushed, we gain barely no insight whatsoever on the political backgrounds and motives and time spans (which would've been interesting in some instances).
As a reader, I was left confused and not invested.
Eliza was an okay MC, likeable but not characterized enough for me to really care.
The "romance" was hilarious.
Basically, this was a fast read with zero investment and cares given from my behalf.
At least the writing wasn't awkward but very readable and there was some action going on (foreseeable, but action nonetheless).
Please let there still be some original dystopian novels out there, though..ughh..
Don't want to give up on one of my favourite genres yet.
August 7, 2012
Wow. Just wow.
The Last Princess is - as you can most like infer from the title - the Last Princess...of England. Yep, years on from Diana and our very own Princess Kate, the royal family are stuck in a similar situation to the Romanovs and Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis. The people want change, and they believe that the easiest way to do that is to go psycho, burn down villages, kill puppies and also kill off the royal family one by one.
And this is the story of the Last Princess, who takes the Fate of her country and her family into her own hands and goes after the man behind it all - the man who killed her parents and who is responsible for turning the tables of history, simply to gratify his own lust for power.
The Last Princess is - as you can most like infer from the title - the Last Princess...of England. Yep, years on from Diana and our very own Princess Kate, the royal family are stuck in a similar situation to the Romanovs and Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis. The people want change, and they believe that the easiest way to do that is to go psycho, burn down villages, kill puppies and also kill off the royal family one by one.
And this is the story of the Last Princess, who takes the Fate of her country and her family into her own hands and goes after the man behind it all - the man who killed her parents and who is responsible for turning the tables of history, simply to gratify his own lust for power.
December 5, 2014
Me gusto mucho la idea del libro, creo que es una historia muy buena aunque me hubiese gustao que profundizará un poco mas en cada personaje principal ya que pasa todo muy rapido :D. pero lo recomiendo bastante para aquellos que les gustan los mundos distopicos.
February 12, 2012
This is just a fun read! I really enjoyed it, and I also loved the freaky futuristic London!
May 9, 2012
This was a really good book! Review to come....
October 9, 2013
Omigosh! This book is so great!!
April 2, 2016
I thought she was the only one who survived. Suddenly she’s in Scotland. Has a dog, best friend, father, brother and sister. why were they ever in Scotland, when they're from London?
-ash falls from the sky. Everything is gray. The moon is gray. come on! how would that ever happen?
What exactly lasted 17 days?
-‘since most wild animals were dead, they hunted humans. You could tell a Roamer camp by the sickly sweet smell of roasting human flesh.’
-“ppl didn’t always eat ppl.” That sounded ridiculous!
-dad dies. Dog dies. Why keep them alive just to kill them?!
-I can’t take anyone seriously with the name Cornelius Hollister.
-you gave your locket away?!
-can you really carve into someone with a fork? When she first said she saw 4 scratches, I thought it was big, all the way down her back. Not tiny fork tracks. Mistake on the author’s part.
It makes no sense that Portia, a commander, would hang out with the recruits.
Why would the girls fight each other? They’re on the same side, and you’re hurting your fellow soldiers. It makes zero sense. It’s like an evil slumber party in there.
Death Camps reminds me of the Nazis.
“they take the prisoners they captured in the night raids &pair them up with the soldiers of the New Guard. Then we fight to the death. It’s practice for battle.”
Oh boy. Let’s join the gory, grim bandwagon.
Why fight to the death? Why kill people you could use on your side?
Her first night there she’s forced to fight & this poor guy was in support of Britain. Then this sadistic captain forces her hand to kill him.
&if this is a futuristic book, why are they fighting with swords, which are historical weapons.
-the brother/sister commander duo reminded me of Allegiance by Cayla Kluver. It was ridiculous in there for such young ppl to be commanders. &it’s ridiculous in here, too. More believe in here, though, because their dad is trying to be the new king, so they’ll also be in positions of power.
‘”and anyway, what are you doing with my new recruit?”’ she turned toward me &raised her bow in a single, fluid motion so the next thing I knew. She was aiming directly at the center of my forehead.’
Not really feeling this story yet, or where it’s going. But it was nice how Wesley offered her the pigeon he killed, so she wouldn’t go back empty-handed. I knew from the beginning she’d run into him in the woods and that he’d kill supper for her.
“or did Wesley do it for you?” how would she know that? I mean, the signs were there. But she fought that guy &proved her skill at fighting. So she could have killed the pigeon.
&leaving the two dead foxes--another twisted moment of this book--on her bed is just too much. It’s sickening. &I find that psychotic behavior (killing things with pleasure, reveling in death, carving a fork down someone’s back & leaving dead foxes on someone’s bed to be unrealistic in female characters. Sure, there’s always the Big Berta types, the tough girls who go around bullying others just because of their size. But I find this behavior would be more successful in male characters.
Here we go with the stereotypical, done a million times characters. Portia is the cruel ring leader, with Tub (what kind of name is that?!) as her sidekick.
“a little prezzy.” That sounded stupid. &Asking for a fox stole and jacket is so lame.
Shooting the cat. I really don’t like an author who has no problem killing people or animals off.
“idk what Sergeant Wesley sees in you. He’s slummed around with recruits before, but not like this.” oh, that’s real nice.
Here again, this act is more suited to boys. The girls grab her and cut her hair to the scalp. I just don’t see girls doing this kind of crap, no matter how twisted they are.
Idk what kind of author let’s this crap happen to their characters. &I absolutely hate with a passion when authors cut (ruin) their characters hair. In here, it wasn’t even cutting. They sheared her like she was a freakin alpaca.
Not to mention, they didn’t just do that, they branded her like a cow. And not just anywhere, but on her face. wow, this author really cares about her characters. &speaking of, how did using a coat hanger make the print of a sword &sevil?
“You’re not the only person here with something to hide, Eliza.” Ah, he knows it’s her! I mean I was sure he did, but he’d been calling her Polly like he believed it was her.
“I looked in your eyes, and…I just couldn’t do it.” I was hoping for a better explanation.
“eyes were bloodred &filled with rage.”
Horse named Caligula.
“Chemex plants.” “Death Clouds.” Um, care to explain?
I knew from the beginning--literally as soon as she saw Portia and described her with green eyes, high cheekbones, that she was Wesley’s sister.
‘balling his hands into such tight fists that when he opened them, his palms were dotted with blood.’ That does not happen. I just balled my hand into a fist as tight as I could, and I have one nail that’s in need of cutting, and all I left were nail dents in my hand. Not even anywhere near a hint of blood. Stop with the dramatics, authors.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for his sister? She thought their mom left them, and didn’t wanna take care of her, so she goes and kills her rabbits. &now she’s a freaking psycho. I don’t feel sorry for her at all. you could have just told her the truth &avoided all of that. &how can you still love your dad after that?
Obviously he’s had to keep the pretense that he didn’t know she was the princess. But once you said her real name, you should treat her like a princess. He’s talking to her like he would anyone. &she isn’t acting like a princess.
Finally it’s mentioned that they’re on opposite sides of the war, and she tells him she’s going after Hollister. He says “please just promise me you won’t sneak off on some suicidal mission.” She studies him. then all of a sudden covers her face with her hands, saying “just stop. I don’t--” and he says “you are beautiful.” What the freak led to that? They were talking of her going after Hollister! Then they kiss. Which I just wasn’t feeling at all.
“come with me?” yeah, a well-bred princess asks a guy to come to bed with her.
‘I hoped, despite all odds, that I could come back here someday with Wesley.’ You don’t even know him!
‘glimpses of our night together flashed through my mind: the feel of his lips, the warmth of his arms around me, the low sound of his voice.’ You made it sound like they slept together.
‘they gave the hope that love still existed in this dark world, that it would exist even after I was gone.’ I hate when authors throw out the world love way too freaking soon.
She describes a poster of a girl. &a few lines later it turns out to be her. You didn’t immediately recognize yourself? You should have started out saying it’s a picture of you.
They put rats, fur and all, in the freaking soup. That was a point in the book where I realized I just wasn’t enjoying this. it’s too gory &disgusting &depressing.
Also, the storyline, or lackof, is generic, and run of the mill. Her family’s dead, she vows to get vengeance on the man who killed them. It has no real plot.
Wow, I should have guessed Hollister was Wesley’s dad.
‘I had kissed Wesley. I had trusted him. I might have even, in some deep part of me, felt that I loved him.’
Hollister killed his wife when she found out the truth about him. what truth? That he’s a psycho wanting to get rid of the royal family&crown himself? Spell it out for us!
It’s hard to picture some things in this book. Like her crawling through a trapdoor that suddenly led to a rooftop. &then the drawbridge her finding a hole, which turned into a tunnel that led out to the city. It’s just really ridiculous.
The soldiers marching around the tower reminded me of the Wizard of Oz, for some reason.
Oh boy. The horses eyes have turned regular brown, instead of red. Just because something’s evil, doesn’t mean it has red eyes for goodness sakes. Actually no wonder this reminds me of Wizard of Oz, because some things are so childish and generic.
‘metal nails drilled into his gums instead of teeth.’ I just roll my eyes at how gory this book is. It’s just ridiculous.
There are huge questions and plot holes here. At first I was like ok, there was this war thing that lasted 17 days, and now all the wildlife is gone. ok, makes sense. But then ppl eating snakes, pigeons, rats, and all these gross animals, and humans and pets just isn’t adding up. Where did the animals go? Why are all the wildlife gone? what happened in the 17 days that killed them? Why aren’t humans producing their own food? Where are grocery stores? Author needs to describe the 17 days more, and what exactly happened.
Here again, I just don’t understand why Hollister is killing people who could potentially work for him, or serve him. if you want to be King, you’re going to need people to serve you, run your castle, etc. It’s like he plans on killing everyone. &yeah, he’s killing the rebels. But he hasn’t even given ppl an opportunity to join his side, or pretend to be on his side just so they aren’t harmed. Who’s going to support you if you’re going around killing everyone?
&it also makes no sense for ppl in the New Guard to be fighting or hurting each other. Here again, this book makes no sense.
There’s really no good quotes in here. The ones I did add were just mediocre, but that’s the best of the book. It always says a lot to me when a book doesn’t have good quotes. i.e. the book isn’t good.
-‘I had yet to tell her about Wesley--those memories were still too painful. I wondered if I ever would.’
-obviously we knew Wesley would be sending medicine to Eliza while she was in Scotland.
-why would princesses be handing out hors d’oeuvres and wine at a party? yeah, they were playing hostess, but you wouldn’t be passing out food&drink!
-they go across the drawbridge &get trapped inside the castle. Which I thought was inside. But all of a sudden it starts raining.
Polly and Caligula were wounded. Boy this author sure doesn’t want to save anyone!
This just isn’t written well. She’s on her horse. All of a sudden Cornelius is there. He takes her sword and she’s suddenly on the ground, with his sword at her throat.
-the only reason Mary and Jamie have been kept alive, is a plot device so Eliza can save them. Because it makes no sense that Hollister hasn’t killed them already. He wants the royal family dead. He could have killed them that night at the castle when they were captured.
-obviously Wesley has been getting medicine &taking care of Mary and Jamie.
-towards the end of the book, the guard says Elizabeth. &im like who the heck is Elizabeth. We were never told Eliza was a nickname.
Just now says her sister is 18. We never knew how old Eliza was either.
-‘he started to untie my wrists but I shoved him away, nodding mutely at Mary and Jamie. He needed to save them first.’ So it sounded like Wesley hadn’t untied your hands.
‘I ran to my brother, lifting him in my arms to loosen the noose around his neck.’ Then all of a sudden your hands are free.
-this book is incredibly frustrating. She’s about to save Mary, but suddenly Sergeant freaking Fax comes there &tries to kill her. Then a crow makes him fall off the platform. And of course he takes her with him. idk how he does it, we didn’t know how close to the edge of the platform they were.
She finally gets up the freaking stairs again, only to see Mary has been shot by an arrow.
Oh geez. Jamie runs and tosses Wesley his sevil. Let’s further along the ridiculousness.
Can’t believe they let Portia and Fax just get away. Well we can look forward to them showing up in the next book and wreaking havoc where Hollister left off. Oh goody!
Book ended off on a happy note--Mary alive and became the Queen. Caligula is alive &well. Polly is alive and well.
And then the poison berries come by a child that sounds like a mini me of Hollister. Oh. Boy.
Not to mention, if everyone has been eating extremely poorly &the world seems to be devoid of food, how all of a sudden are their crops being planted? So Hollister gets captured, and all of a sudden the world turns green again?
What is going on in the rest of the world, anyway? are things the same? or is it only in London that the destruction happened?
Idk if I can continue on with this series. I don’t like gory books, authors who have no problem killing off ppl or animals. (animals are worse if you ask me). Not to mention all the many plot holes that just doesn’t hold any weight. If this plot could stand, it would fall over, for being so flimsy and transparent.
It was a very generic idea--family is killed &you go seeking vengeance. As for the world in this book, I just don’t like it. the 17 days were never explained to my satisfaction. Fireballs are literally hitting the earth. And we don’t know why.
& I do not, under any circumstances, like insta-love. I can’t comprehend why authors shove love at us in the FIRST BOOK in a series. Let’s all slowww down, and let it unfold naturally, in a believable way.
The font at the beginning of each chapter, for the first sentence at the top of the page, was hard to read and too small.
Couldn’t really connect with the main character. She didn’t have enough of a personality or anything to really connect with. The author kept mentioning over and over how her and Polly (or her sister Mary?) would jump off the cliffs in Scotland and go swimming, and I kept thinking, do you seriously not have any other memories you can create?
Polly and Mary and Jamie, Polly’s family, and the 2 old women who’s poor cat was shot were ok characters, as well as Wesley, but no one had enough depth. And I don’t really care for anyone.
Basically, I just wasn’t a fan of this book. &it was a fail for me.
To me, it’s a combination of a bunch of other books. It’s not unique enough. idl the word the author created.
-ash falls from the sky. Everything is gray. The moon is gray. come on! how would that ever happen?
What exactly lasted 17 days?
-‘since most wild animals were dead, they hunted humans. You could tell a Roamer camp by the sickly sweet smell of roasting human flesh.’
-“ppl didn’t always eat ppl.” That sounded ridiculous!
-dad dies. Dog dies. Why keep them alive just to kill them?!
-I can’t take anyone seriously with the name Cornelius Hollister.
-you gave your locket away?!
-can you really carve into someone with a fork? When she first said she saw 4 scratches, I thought it was big, all the way down her back. Not tiny fork tracks. Mistake on the author’s part.
It makes no sense that Portia, a commander, would hang out with the recruits.
Why would the girls fight each other? They’re on the same side, and you’re hurting your fellow soldiers. It makes zero sense. It’s like an evil slumber party in there.
Death Camps reminds me of the Nazis.
“they take the prisoners they captured in the night raids &pair them up with the soldiers of the New Guard. Then we fight to the death. It’s practice for battle.”
Oh boy. Let’s join the gory, grim bandwagon.
Why fight to the death? Why kill people you could use on your side?
Her first night there she’s forced to fight & this poor guy was in support of Britain. Then this sadistic captain forces her hand to kill him.
&if this is a futuristic book, why are they fighting with swords, which are historical weapons.
-the brother/sister commander duo reminded me of Allegiance by Cayla Kluver. It was ridiculous in there for such young ppl to be commanders. &it’s ridiculous in here, too. More believe in here, though, because their dad is trying to be the new king, so they’ll also be in positions of power.
‘”and anyway, what are you doing with my new recruit?”’ she turned toward me &raised her bow in a single, fluid motion so the next thing I knew. She was aiming directly at the center of my forehead.’
Not really feeling this story yet, or where it’s going. But it was nice how Wesley offered her the pigeon he killed, so she wouldn’t go back empty-handed. I knew from the beginning she’d run into him in the woods and that he’d kill supper for her.
“or did Wesley do it for you?” how would she know that? I mean, the signs were there. But she fought that guy &proved her skill at fighting. So she could have killed the pigeon.
&leaving the two dead foxes--another twisted moment of this book--on her bed is just too much. It’s sickening. &I find that psychotic behavior (killing things with pleasure, reveling in death, carving a fork down someone’s back & leaving dead foxes on someone’s bed to be unrealistic in female characters. Sure, there’s always the Big Berta types, the tough girls who go around bullying others just because of their size. But I find this behavior would be more successful in male characters.
Here we go with the stereotypical, done a million times characters. Portia is the cruel ring leader, with Tub (what kind of name is that?!) as her sidekick.
“a little prezzy.” That sounded stupid. &Asking for a fox stole and jacket is so lame.
Shooting the cat. I really don’t like an author who has no problem killing people or animals off.
“idk what Sergeant Wesley sees in you. He’s slummed around with recruits before, but not like this.” oh, that’s real nice.
Here again, this act is more suited to boys. The girls grab her and cut her hair to the scalp. I just don’t see girls doing this kind of crap, no matter how twisted they are.
Idk what kind of author let’s this crap happen to their characters. &I absolutely hate with a passion when authors cut (ruin) their characters hair. In here, it wasn’t even cutting. They sheared her like she was a freakin alpaca.
Not to mention, they didn’t just do that, they branded her like a cow. And not just anywhere, but on her face. wow, this author really cares about her characters. &speaking of, how did using a coat hanger make the print of a sword &sevil?
“You’re not the only person here with something to hide, Eliza.” Ah, he knows it’s her! I mean I was sure he did, but he’d been calling her Polly like he believed it was her.
“I looked in your eyes, and…I just couldn’t do it.” I was hoping for a better explanation.
“eyes were bloodred &filled with rage.”
Horse named Caligula.
“Chemex plants.” “Death Clouds.” Um, care to explain?
I knew from the beginning--literally as soon as she saw Portia and described her with green eyes, high cheekbones, that she was Wesley’s sister.
‘balling his hands into such tight fists that when he opened them, his palms were dotted with blood.’ That does not happen. I just balled my hand into a fist as tight as I could, and I have one nail that’s in need of cutting, and all I left were nail dents in my hand. Not even anywhere near a hint of blood. Stop with the dramatics, authors.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for his sister? She thought their mom left them, and didn’t wanna take care of her, so she goes and kills her rabbits. &now she’s a freaking psycho. I don’t feel sorry for her at all. you could have just told her the truth &avoided all of that. &how can you still love your dad after that?
Obviously he’s had to keep the pretense that he didn’t know she was the princess. But once you said her real name, you should treat her like a princess. He’s talking to her like he would anyone. &she isn’t acting like a princess.
Finally it’s mentioned that they’re on opposite sides of the war, and she tells him she’s going after Hollister. He says “please just promise me you won’t sneak off on some suicidal mission.” She studies him. then all of a sudden covers her face with her hands, saying “just stop. I don’t--” and he says “you are beautiful.” What the freak led to that? They were talking of her going after Hollister! Then they kiss. Which I just wasn’t feeling at all.
“come with me?” yeah, a well-bred princess asks a guy to come to bed with her.
‘I hoped, despite all odds, that I could come back here someday with Wesley.’ You don’t even know him!
‘glimpses of our night together flashed through my mind: the feel of his lips, the warmth of his arms around me, the low sound of his voice.’ You made it sound like they slept together.
‘they gave the hope that love still existed in this dark world, that it would exist even after I was gone.’ I hate when authors throw out the world love way too freaking soon.
She describes a poster of a girl. &a few lines later it turns out to be her. You didn’t immediately recognize yourself? You should have started out saying it’s a picture of you.
They put rats, fur and all, in the freaking soup. That was a point in the book where I realized I just wasn’t enjoying this. it’s too gory &disgusting &depressing.
Also, the storyline, or lackof, is generic, and run of the mill. Her family’s dead, she vows to get vengeance on the man who killed them. It has no real plot.
Wow, I should have guessed Hollister was Wesley’s dad.
‘I had kissed Wesley. I had trusted him. I might have even, in some deep part of me, felt that I loved him.’
Hollister killed his wife when she found out the truth about him. what truth? That he’s a psycho wanting to get rid of the royal family&crown himself? Spell it out for us!
It’s hard to picture some things in this book. Like her crawling through a trapdoor that suddenly led to a rooftop. &then the drawbridge her finding a hole, which turned into a tunnel that led out to the city. It’s just really ridiculous.
The soldiers marching around the tower reminded me of the Wizard of Oz, for some reason.
Oh boy. The horses eyes have turned regular brown, instead of red. Just because something’s evil, doesn’t mean it has red eyes for goodness sakes. Actually no wonder this reminds me of Wizard of Oz, because some things are so childish and generic.
‘metal nails drilled into his gums instead of teeth.’ I just roll my eyes at how gory this book is. It’s just ridiculous.
There are huge questions and plot holes here. At first I was like ok, there was this war thing that lasted 17 days, and now all the wildlife is gone. ok, makes sense. But then ppl eating snakes, pigeons, rats, and all these gross animals, and humans and pets just isn’t adding up. Where did the animals go? Why are all the wildlife gone? what happened in the 17 days that killed them? Why aren’t humans producing their own food? Where are grocery stores? Author needs to describe the 17 days more, and what exactly happened.
Here again, I just don’t understand why Hollister is killing people who could potentially work for him, or serve him. if you want to be King, you’re going to need people to serve you, run your castle, etc. It’s like he plans on killing everyone. &yeah, he’s killing the rebels. But he hasn’t even given ppl an opportunity to join his side, or pretend to be on his side just so they aren’t harmed. Who’s going to support you if you’re going around killing everyone?
&it also makes no sense for ppl in the New Guard to be fighting or hurting each other. Here again, this book makes no sense.
There’s really no good quotes in here. The ones I did add were just mediocre, but that’s the best of the book. It always says a lot to me when a book doesn’t have good quotes. i.e. the book isn’t good.
-‘I had yet to tell her about Wesley--those memories were still too painful. I wondered if I ever would.’
-obviously we knew Wesley would be sending medicine to Eliza while she was in Scotland.
-why would princesses be handing out hors d’oeuvres and wine at a party? yeah, they were playing hostess, but you wouldn’t be passing out food&drink!
-they go across the drawbridge &get trapped inside the castle. Which I thought was inside. But all of a sudden it starts raining.
Polly and Caligula were wounded. Boy this author sure doesn’t want to save anyone!
This just isn’t written well. She’s on her horse. All of a sudden Cornelius is there. He takes her sword and she’s suddenly on the ground, with his sword at her throat.
-the only reason Mary and Jamie have been kept alive, is a plot device so Eliza can save them. Because it makes no sense that Hollister hasn’t killed them already. He wants the royal family dead. He could have killed them that night at the castle when they were captured.
-obviously Wesley has been getting medicine &taking care of Mary and Jamie.
-towards the end of the book, the guard says Elizabeth. &im like who the heck is Elizabeth. We were never told Eliza was a nickname.
Just now says her sister is 18. We never knew how old Eliza was either.
-‘he started to untie my wrists but I shoved him away, nodding mutely at Mary and Jamie. He needed to save them first.’ So it sounded like Wesley hadn’t untied your hands.
‘I ran to my brother, lifting him in my arms to loosen the noose around his neck.’ Then all of a sudden your hands are free.
-this book is incredibly frustrating. She’s about to save Mary, but suddenly Sergeant freaking Fax comes there &tries to kill her. Then a crow makes him fall off the platform. And of course he takes her with him. idk how he does it, we didn’t know how close to the edge of the platform they were.
She finally gets up the freaking stairs again, only to see Mary has been shot by an arrow.
Oh geez. Jamie runs and tosses Wesley his sevil. Let’s further along the ridiculousness.
Can’t believe they let Portia and Fax just get away. Well we can look forward to them showing up in the next book and wreaking havoc where Hollister left off. Oh goody!
Book ended off on a happy note--Mary alive and became the Queen. Caligula is alive &well. Polly is alive and well.
And then the poison berries come by a child that sounds like a mini me of Hollister. Oh. Boy.
Not to mention, if everyone has been eating extremely poorly &the world seems to be devoid of food, how all of a sudden are their crops being planted? So Hollister gets captured, and all of a sudden the world turns green again?
What is going on in the rest of the world, anyway? are things the same? or is it only in London that the destruction happened?
Idk if I can continue on with this series. I don’t like gory books, authors who have no problem killing off ppl or animals. (animals are worse if you ask me). Not to mention all the many plot holes that just doesn’t hold any weight. If this plot could stand, it would fall over, for being so flimsy and transparent.
It was a very generic idea--family is killed &you go seeking vengeance. As for the world in this book, I just don’t like it. the 17 days were never explained to my satisfaction. Fireballs are literally hitting the earth. And we don’t know why.
& I do not, under any circumstances, like insta-love. I can’t comprehend why authors shove love at us in the FIRST BOOK in a series. Let’s all slowww down, and let it unfold naturally, in a believable way.
The font at the beginning of each chapter, for the first sentence at the top of the page, was hard to read and too small.
Couldn’t really connect with the main character. She didn’t have enough of a personality or anything to really connect with. The author kept mentioning over and over how her and Polly (or her sister Mary?) would jump off the cliffs in Scotland and go swimming, and I kept thinking, do you seriously not have any other memories you can create?
Polly and Mary and Jamie, Polly’s family, and the 2 old women who’s poor cat was shot were ok characters, as well as Wesley, but no one had enough depth. And I don’t really care for anyone.
Basically, I just wasn’t a fan of this book. &it was a fail for me.
To me, it’s a combination of a bunch of other books. It’s not unique enough. idl the word the author created.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2017
I liked the idea of this story but not the actual story. I liked the characters, and there's a lot of action, but everything happened too quickly and without much explanation. It was a quick read, though, and there's a mostly happy ending. I thought that the very end should have been different. There was no need to have a second book, in my opinion.
October 12, 2020
The ending rings hollow since the whole plot was rushed and the main character’s learned lesson felt so shoehorned at the last moment. Despite some of the plot twists that practically gave me proverbial whiplash, the story and character arcs were very predictable.
November 25, 2013
I’m tired of dystopian novels but it seems I went through a phase where I accumulated post-apocalyptic books like nobody’s business, and now I’m stuck with it and have to read them all. Luckily for me this turned out to be a surprisingly good book.
The Characters:
I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, because there wasn’t much opportunity to really get to know any of them, other than making the distinction of which characters fought on which side of the battle lines. The good guys were really good and the bad guys were caricatures of the evil villains we find in every other movie. But, I really liked Eliza and her siblings, Mary and Jamie. What I didn’t like is that it’s never explained why the bad guy has it in for the royals. Yes, he offered a flimsy excuse to Eliza of his motives, but once it is proven later in the story that that isn’t the real reason why Cornelius wants to be king, no other explanation was ever offered to satisfy my curiosity.
The Setting:
This is the first dystopian novel ever I’ve read which takes place in England and Scotland respectively. That is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much. For some reason this author managed to do something no other author whose dystopian novel I’ve read this far, managed to do. Craze made this English dystopian setting feel realistic and possible. For a welcome change the world didn’t end by some unexplainable virus, plague or war. Though the Seventeen Days natural disasters felt a little over the top, I rather appreciated this ending to the world, to the usual.
The Plot:
The reason I don’t give it a solid five-star rating is because of three reasons. First, before reading this book, throw all logic out of the window. If you, like me, are going to ask questions about elements and happenings in Eliza’s world, you’re not going to enjoy this post-apocalyptic novel. Don’t expect things to make logical sense. Secondly, the “twists” and “reveals” can be spotted a mile away. Well, I saw it coming a mile away. That predictability sort of dampened my enjoyment of this original tale just a tiny bit. Lastly, a lot of the scenes – especially the execution scene – felt a little rushed. I don’t know if there is a sequel in the works, but I for one would like to know what happened to Portia and her two sidekicks, and to Vashti. I’m definitely not on the series bandwagon, but I have to admit that because the story is rushed in so many places and some parts of it are mostly skimmed over, this would’ve actually worked better as, at the very least, a trilogy.
The Romance:
This is not a book I’d recommend to readers looking for swoony romance. I was more than happy to find that the romance in this story was so miniscule, it’s hardly worth mentioning. It was used more as a plot device to get Eliza out of sticky situations, than to move the plot along. Needless to say, I was overjoyed to read a book where the romance was pretty much non-existent (which just proves my point that a book can work very well with little to no romance in it).
Conclusion:
Compared to a multitude of dystopian novels, The Last Princess offers the reader something different. I’m always complaining that dystopian novels are all the same, but I was delighted to find that this quick read – which I finished in a couple of hours – had elements I haven’t come across in other dystopian novels. I highly recommend it to fans of the dystopian genre looking for something slightly different, and to those who like their heroine to kick butt and rise as the justly deserving victor after she has been put through hell.
The Characters:
I didn’t really connect with any of the characters, because there wasn’t much opportunity to really get to know any of them, other than making the distinction of which characters fought on which side of the battle lines. The good guys were really good and the bad guys were caricatures of the evil villains we find in every other movie. But, I really liked Eliza and her siblings, Mary and Jamie. What I didn’t like is that it’s never explained why the bad guy has it in for the royals. Yes, he offered a flimsy excuse to Eliza of his motives, but once it is proven later in the story that that isn’t the real reason why Cornelius wants to be king, no other explanation was ever offered to satisfy my curiosity.
The Setting:
This is the first dystopian novel ever I’ve read which takes place in England and Scotland respectively. That is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much. For some reason this author managed to do something no other author whose dystopian novel I’ve read this far, managed to do. Craze made this English dystopian setting feel realistic and possible. For a welcome change the world didn’t end by some unexplainable virus, plague or war. Though the Seventeen Days natural disasters felt a little over the top, I rather appreciated this ending to the world, to the usual.
The Plot:
The reason I don’t give it a solid five-star rating is because of three reasons. First, before reading this book, throw all logic out of the window. If you, like me, are going to ask questions about elements and happenings in Eliza’s world, you’re not going to enjoy this post-apocalyptic novel. Don’t expect things to make logical sense. Secondly, the “twists” and “reveals” can be spotted a mile away. Well, I saw it coming a mile away. That predictability sort of dampened my enjoyment of this original tale just a tiny bit. Lastly, a lot of the scenes – especially the execution scene – felt a little rushed. I don’t know if there is a sequel in the works, but I for one would like to know what happened to Portia and her two sidekicks, and to Vashti. I’m definitely not on the series bandwagon, but I have to admit that because the story is rushed in so many places and some parts of it are mostly skimmed over, this would’ve actually worked better as, at the very least, a trilogy.
The Romance:
This is not a book I’d recommend to readers looking for swoony romance. I was more than happy to find that the romance in this story was so miniscule, it’s hardly worth mentioning. It was used more as a plot device to get Eliza out of sticky situations, than to move the plot along. Needless to say, I was overjoyed to read a book where the romance was pretty much non-existent (which just proves my point that a book can work very well with little to no romance in it).
Conclusion:
Compared to a multitude of dystopian novels, The Last Princess offers the reader something different. I’m always complaining that dystopian novels are all the same, but I was delighted to find that this quick read – which I finished in a couple of hours – had elements I haven’t come across in other dystopian novels. I highly recommend it to fans of the dystopian genre looking for something slightly different, and to those who like their heroine to kick butt and rise as the justly deserving victor after she has been put through hell.
January 9, 2015
Comments: Is Anyone done with the heroes always sticking around now its time for heroines!! And this book blew my mind my heartbeat is up and down so crazily while reading this.
PLOT = Her kingdom has been destroyed and she watched her family gets killed in front of her, she only wants revenge but then she met someone that give her hope once again.
Characters = ELiza = she is the main character in this story and this girl is one of the best heroine I ever read, she is not strong at first but at the end she makes me proud because she fights for her kingdom. I love how she is caring for everyone and she doesn't back down, this girl whatever difficulties she faced she never backs down that is what I adore about her.
Mary = Eliza's elder sister, she is like my older sister she is very elegant and cares about her family which I love about her.
Jamie = THe family's little brother, he is the cute caring little brother eventhough he's sick. I love how he is always selfless.
Welsey = At first I don't like him because he is the other enemy and I love how he takes care of her, I have a love and hate with him but at the end I love their relationship.
Portia = I love bad girls but this girl is crazy, I sometimes hate her but I understand why she acts like that in the end.
Polly = I love her and Eliza's friendship it is what touched me soo much, I love how good it is! She is a great friend.
Writing + Cover= The writing is beautiful I can imagine the whole scene, I find alot of amazing quotes here. And this cover what can I say when I saw this I am speechless. The girl in the cover is gorgeous and the background of ENgland is beautiful. THis cover is breathtaking and this whole book is brillant!
PLOT = Her kingdom has been destroyed and she watched her family gets killed in front of her, she only wants revenge but then she met someone that give her hope once again.
Characters = ELiza = she is the main character in this story and this girl is one of the best heroine I ever read, she is not strong at first but at the end she makes me proud because she fights for her kingdom. I love how she is caring for everyone and she doesn't back down, this girl whatever difficulties she faced she never backs down that is what I adore about her.
Mary = Eliza's elder sister, she is like my older sister she is very elegant and cares about her family which I love about her.
Jamie = THe family's little brother, he is the cute caring little brother eventhough he's sick. I love how he is always selfless.
Welsey = At first I don't like him because he is the other enemy and I love how he takes care of her, I have a love and hate with him but at the end I love their relationship.
Portia = I love bad girls but this girl is crazy, I sometimes hate her but I understand why she acts like that in the end.
Polly = I love her and Eliza's friendship it is what touched me soo much, I love how good it is! She is a great friend.
Writing + Cover= The writing is beautiful I can imagine the whole scene, I find alot of amazing quotes here. And this cover what can I say when I saw this I am speechless. The girl in the cover is gorgeous and the background of ENgland is beautiful. THis cover is breathtaking and this whole book is brillant!
February 2, 2012
Galaxy Craze's new YA is set, like many YA these days, in a dystopian future. England is barren, food is short, the land is barren, oil has run out, and violence is imminent. But instead of focusing on some poor guttersnipe, Craze's protagonist is no one less than a princess, Princess Eliza Windsor. When the Tudor army, a faction of anti-royalists and discontents storm the palace, Eliza's father is killed and her siblings captured. Only Eliza manages to escape into the terrifying streets of London. Thus begins Eliza's mission to save her siblings and restore the crown. The shortages are glossed over, as is the general situation of the country, and, indeed, the world as a whole. Eliza's love interest falls into the story right on cue- and most readers will guess his larger importance in the overall plot. However, dystopian fans may find this an enjoyable read, especially as it features a complete story arc and doesn't leave readers hanging on the edge of a cliff.
December 8, 2015
I really enjoyed this really unique dystopian novel based on the British monarchy. It was action-packed, kept my attention, and even threw in a little romance. I was pulling for Eliza and really got caught up in her struggle. I appreciated the fact that the author did not conveniently allow our heroine to escape unscathed. It makes the story more real and believable. My only problem with the novel was the ending. But aside from the ending, I really enjoyed this novel and it was a quick read.
September 6, 2012
3.5 Stars.
This started off shocking and ended shockingly.
I felt sorry for Eliza from start to end. She lost so much and Wesley was the only stranger to show her any kindness.
I found it awesome who he was when it was all revealed and the only smile I managed was for poor little Jamie.
This book starts of very fast paced and it pretty much stays that way.
This book was quite sad and traumatic. There was never any happiness only in fond memories.
It's kinda put me on a downer but the ending was the best possible outcome you could have imagined.
I would have loved for everyone to have survived and come out unscathed and live happily ever after but the reality of the whole plot and situation was that that was never an option.
The ending left my mouth hanging open gaping.. It just never ends. The shock factor of this story is off the scale.
This started off shocking and ended shockingly.
I felt sorry for Eliza from start to end. She lost so much and Wesley was the only stranger to show her any kindness.
I found it awesome who he was when it was all revealed and the only smile I managed was for poor little Jamie.
This book starts of very fast paced and it pretty much stays that way.
This book was quite sad and traumatic. There was never any happiness only in fond memories.
It's kinda put me on a downer but the ending was the best possible outcome you could have imagined.
I would have loved for everyone to have survived and come out unscathed and live happily ever after but the reality of the whole plot and situation was that that was never an option.
The ending left my mouth hanging open gaping.. It just never ends. The shock factor of this story is off the scale.
September 2, 2016
Esta es una distopia como pocas, tanto en el buen sentido como en el malo. La idea general me parece bastante buena; la corona inglesa siendo perseguida por un dictador y los intentos fallidos de la princesa Eliza por salvar a su familia. La autora no se toco el corazón en sus descripciones sobre matanzas y crueldad. No son gráficas pero logran transmitir demasiado. Sobre todo las relacionadas con animales U.ù
La narración es fluida, los capítulos cortos narrados por Eliza te hacen querer seguir leyendo.
Uno de los principales fallos es que cerca del final todo avanza muy deprisa, además de la historia de amor típica en estas historias que a mi ver sale sobrando.
En resumen, es un libro entretenido con toques de misterio y destrucción en un futuro distopico donde la última princesa debe luchar con sus propias manos si quiere conservar ese título.
La narración es fluida, los capítulos cortos narrados por Eliza te hacen querer seguir leyendo.
Uno de los principales fallos es que cerca del final todo avanza muy deprisa, además de la historia de amor típica en estas historias que a mi ver sale sobrando.
En resumen, es un libro entretenido con toques de misterio y destrucción en un futuro distopico donde la última princesa debe luchar con sus propias manos si quiere conservar ese título.
December 10, 2018
There was a lot of one star and a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews on this book. I can really see both sides. It was a quick read, for the most part enjoyable. After reading and reviewing it in my head, things don't add up. (Possible spoilers ahead) One thing is why would she go straight into the army? She has to know C.H. would be protected. Another is what kind of relationship do she and Wesley have? They seem close, and share a few moments but its not a whole lot and he is briefly mentioned in the epilogue. And the epilogue.. I almost wish I hadn't read it. It did not answer any questions really, just created more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 689 reviews