False Princess

The False Princess by Eilis O’Neal. New York: Egmont, 2011. 319 pages.

      1. A succinct evaluative annotation. Plot: [Conflict] The problem is that Sinda grew up as a princess, was then told that she was a fill in because a prophecy was given that the real princess might die before her 16^th birthday and the royal family didn’t want that to happen. Then, Sinda was sent to her only living relative (her aunt) and found out that she had magic powers. Sinda then found out that the girl who was claimed to be the real princess was in fact a false princess as well and Sinda went to find the real princess. [Rising Action] Sinda then goes to find the real princess, learning about a royal wizard who was supposed to be part of the royal family and wanted the crown for her once again. [Climax] Sinda finds the real princess, while also discovering that the “fill in princess” was the wizards daughter, and Sinda had to use her magic to free all 3 claimed princesses from the mess that was created. [Falling Action] After Sinda fixes the problem, she realizes that she has nothing else to do, now that she was a poor girl with power that she was just starting to control. [Resolution] In the end, Sinda was able to help the real princess understand what a princess is supposed to do, and live with the boy she grew up with, and in love with, at the end of the book. Theme: The theme of this book is magic, royalty, and adventure. Tone: The tone of this book is a mixture of suspense and adventure. Sinda needs to find the real princess but it’s suspenseful because she finds out that a wizard is going to kill someone at the end of the book, making the mission very important but dangerous. Style: The authors writing style is a mixture between formal and casual. She writes formally when talking about the court, but when Sinda goes to the small town after being sent away from court, the writing becomes very casual. More descriptive paragraphs than dialogue are in this novel. Characterizations: The main character, Sinda, is an adventurous character, but she’s also very loyal. Even though her “parents” (the king and queen) lied to her, she wanted to find the real princess and right what was wrong. Readability: This is a very easy book to read – took less than 2 days for me and it’s very fast paced.

2. My reactions to the book. This was a very well written, fast past story. This would attract mostly female gender audience since it’s about a princess, which is a weakness because it’s a smaller audience, but one of the strengths about this book is the plot. This novel has a great story line and plot action. There are no loop holes and the author was really able to create a great story full of twists and turns to find the culprit who stole the real princess and how Sinda would be able to fix the problem at the end of the book. Not much can be said about the accuracy of the story since it’s about magic, but the way Sinda was brought up when she was a princess sounds very accurate when looking at real royalty.

3. Comment on the cover art. The cover art is a part of a girls face. While this is mysterious and intriguing, I feel that this cover set has been overused in many of the new books coming out, so it could be a hit or miss for attracting young girls’ attention.