From the Publisher
Praise for The Princess Will Save You
“Fantasy and romance fans alike will gobble up this energetic story.”—School Library Journal
“A riveting series of adventures.”—Booklist
“A breakneck fantasy adventure with the most kick-ass heroine I’ve read in months. Swoony romance, sword fights, a great cast of characters and some clever parallels to a story about another princess who won’t be made a bride makes The Princess Will Save You a strong contender for my favorite novel of the year.”—Emily Hall Schroen, Main Street Books, St. Charles, Missouri
“Full of inconceivable wit, daring adventure, and cunning political machinations…It’s as if Sarah Henning looked into my soul that yearned for a book like The Princess Bride and said—as you wish. And yes, this is a kissing book.”—Ashley Poston, author of Heart of Iron
“The Princess Will Save You is everything we love about YA fantasy, complete with first love, sweeping adventure, and a fierce heroine who holds her own. There’s something for everyone in this book.”—Adrienne Young, New York Times bestselling author of The Sky in the Deep
“An action-packed adventure with a fierce heroine that is sure to enthrall! Sarah Henning has created a fantasy narrative that weaves together love and betrayal, pirates and swordplay. Sure to please anyone who grew up loving tales of princesses.”—Emily Lloyd-Jones, author of The Bone Houses
School Library Journal
05/01/2021
Gr 8 Up—Princess Amarande and her love Luca return from their adventures in The Princess Will Save You to face grander threats than pirates and kidnappers. Amarande's long-absent mother has returned and is determined to put Ama's illegitimate brother on the throne. Meanwhile, Luca must find an underground rebellion and earn their trust as the long-lost heir to the throne. Matters are further complicated by the machinations of Queen Ines, who intends to claim every country for her own, no matter who sits upon the throne. Unlikely alliances and betrayals wait around every corner as the young leaders work to reclaim their kingdoms. This fast-paced sequel doubles down on the strengths of the first book with nonstop action and increasingly deadly intrigue. There are some plot points and coincidences that require a little too much hand waving (like a tattoo that remains unchanged from infancy to adulthood and a continent that can seemingly be crossed on horseback in less than a day). The romance feels disappointingly thin as the protagonists are once again separate for most of the book, but this time they have other things to worry about. Ama's relationship with the charismatic and complicated Prince Taillefer, who is with her for much of the story, is more interesting and electric than her repeated intonations of "my love" when thinking of Luca. VERDICT A fast-paced installment in the Princess Bride–inspired series. Give to teens who love swordplay or want a less gruesome alternative to Game of Thrones.—Amy Diegelman, Chicago P.L.
Kirkus Reviews
2021-05-11
The Princess Bride meets Game of Thrones in this follow-up to 2020’s The Princess Will Save You.
Tucking in a red wedding to clue in the clueless and occasional summaries to help everyone else keep up, Henning picks up the action from the end of the last volumeand pushes her gender-swapped homage to William Goldman’s fantasy classic to a gore-splashed happy ending. Alas, fun as it may be to work through a tale rich in thinly disguised references (“My name is Ulara Vidal. You killed my mother”), panting romance, and so much royal back- and front-stabbing that readers will surely be moved to wonder, along with a secondary character, “what in the stars is wrong with you people?” the action seems incidental to ruminations, ramifications, and analyses, mostly about incidents from years past—with more than enough sudden, gap-filling flashbacks, lines like “the body fell with a moist thud,” and outright fudging (quicksand with tunnels underneath? Really?) to impart a distinct sense of authorial I’m-just-making-this-up-as-I-go. There’s also a certain disconnect in the agenda to end the oppressive, albeit peace-maintaining, patriarchy that drives the three bloody-minded queens and around which the story revolves. The cast presents as White except for the residents of one nation who are described as having burnished brown skin.
No dragons but plenty of fierce women hacking their ways to power and true love. (Fantasy. 14-18)
