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grav_ityI picked this book up because the girl on the cover was wearing a ruined dress and standing in front of what was clearly a post-apocalyptic version of London, England.
(This, for the record, is why I talk about "facing" books at the Book Cabal, and why I face the books of people I like: it means people see the picture and not the spine.)
It's not common for dystopias to be set outside of the United States, and so I was happy to see one set in England/Scotland. I was ecstatic to find out that protagonist is Eliza Windsor, second daughter of the KING OF ENGLAND, a bit because I often wish that Queen Victoria had been a superhero, but mostly because I adore kickass princesses.
The facts are these: at some point shortly before the prologue, there were The Seventeen Days, during which time the earth was wracked by terrible weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, mass extinctions, etc. Everything electronic stopped working, and no one was answering England's radio calls. As far as they know, England is all that survives.
In this mess we have Eliza Windsor, whose mother was assassinated right in front of her, whose father is king, whose sister will be queen, and whose poisoned brother was cut out of her dead mother. Her life is far from typical princess-style, but she is quite sheltered in many ways...though her realization of that is already making her uncomfortable about her privilege. Cornelius Hollister, the man who killed her mother wants to kill the whole royal family and make himself king. He has an army, some of whom are volunteers and some of whom are forced child soldiers, and he is cruel and ruthless.
This book was action packed and very plot driven, but I still had plenty of time to fall in love with Eliza and with her growth throughout the book. It absolutely broke my heart to watch her discover that her father, while he was a good king, was really not prepared to be a dystopic king. I loved her transition from REVENGE! to SAVE! to FIGHT! to SURVIVE! It was well plotted and very well executed, in terms of emotional development.
The only thing that was kind of weird was that you never found out what Hollister's motivations were (the problem with writing in first person is that if your villain doesn't monologue, you never find out why he's such a jerk.
There was the typical romance, but I was more interested with how England looked now: what resources were used, how people got water and moved around the country, etc. It wasn't terribly political, but it was political enough. Also, at one point they attack the Tower of London, and having once planned an attack of the Tower of London (for history class), I have a soft spot for it.
Thank goodness there's a second book, though! Hopefully my questions will get answered.
8.5/10 for being a pulse pounding adventure, for a kickass Windsor princess, and for being so very, very English. ;)
(This, for the record, is why I talk about "facing" books at the Book Cabal, and why I face the books of people I like: it means people see the picture and not the spine.)
It's not common for dystopias to be set outside of the United States, and so I was happy to see one set in England/Scotland. I was ecstatic to find out that protagonist is Eliza Windsor, second daughter of the KING OF ENGLAND, a bit because I often wish that Queen Victoria had been a superhero, but mostly because I adore kickass princesses.
The facts are these: at some point shortly before the prologue, there were The Seventeen Days, during which time the earth was wracked by terrible weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, mass extinctions, etc. Everything electronic stopped working, and no one was answering England's radio calls. As far as they know, England is all that survives.
In this mess we have Eliza Windsor, whose mother was assassinated right in front of her, whose father is king, whose sister will be queen, and whose poisoned brother was cut out of her dead mother. Her life is far from typical princess-style, but she is quite sheltered in many ways...though her realization of that is already making her uncomfortable about her privilege. Cornelius Hollister, the man who killed her mother wants to kill the whole royal family and make himself king. He has an army, some of whom are volunteers and some of whom are forced child soldiers, and he is cruel and ruthless.
This book was action packed and very plot driven, but I still had plenty of time to fall in love with Eliza and with her growth throughout the book. It absolutely broke my heart to watch her discover that her father, while he was a good king, was really not prepared to be a dystopic king. I loved her transition from REVENGE! to SAVE! to FIGHT! to SURVIVE! It was well plotted and very well executed, in terms of emotional development.
The only thing that was kind of weird was that you never found out what Hollister's motivations were (the problem with writing in first person is that if your villain doesn't monologue, you never find out why he's such a jerk.
There was the typical romance, but I was more interested with how England looked now: what resources were used, how people got water and moved around the country, etc. It wasn't terribly political, but it was political enough. Also, at one point they attack the Tower of London, and having once planned an attack of the Tower of London (for history class), I have a soft spot for it.
Thank goodness there's a second book, though! Hopefully my questions will get answered.
8.5/10 for being a pulse pounding adventure, for a kickass Windsor princess, and for being so very, very English. ;)
