Posts
Princess Aurelia is next in line to rule the kingdom of Tyralt, but she would rather be one of the common folk, free to learn and roam and . . . not marry the next tyrannical prince that comes courting. Naturally, the king wants Aurelia to marry for political power. Aurelia wants to marry for love. And someone in the kingdom wants her . . . dead. Assigned to investigate and protect Aurelia is Robert, the son of the king’s former royal spy and one of Aurelia’s oldest friends. As Aurelia and Robert slowly uncover clues as to who is threatening her, their friendship turns to romance. With everything possible on the line—her life, her kingdom, her heart—Aurelia is forced to take matters into her own hands, no matter the cost.
Aurelia focuses on the mystery of the identity of the person behind the assassination attempts of Princess Aurelia of Tyralt. It is the search for this assassin that dictates the whole plot, one I found to unravel very unexpectedly. Personally however, it was not as satisfying as I thought.
Aurelia is a good book if you want extensive guess works on who might be the suspect within a few choice characters. Let me say that I personally enjoyed guessing and re-guessing and trying to play a detective to figure out who wants Aurelia dead. I also did not guess right - the culprit is so far beyond my guesses and I can only credit the author's talents for this. If you enjoy mystery, you'll love Aurelia.
It is also a good book if you want to read about the nasties behind royalties. It depicts a perfect combination of good royals and bad royals, greedy royals and giving royals. I enjoyed Tyralt's court life, the realistic and frequent discussions of politics in the royal household, and the strained relationship of the Queen and the Princess and other royals'. Set in a foreign world, the author really perfects royalties in Aurelia.
If you are looking for a romance novel however, you might as well forget it. Whilst it's a good book for mystery, it's not quite the same for romance. There was no focus on it at all, which is shame because I expected it to be the romantic sort of book. I would have liked more insight into Robert's and Aurelia's shared past. The romance I felt is mentioned only in passing; there was lack of development on the protagonists' relationship - it was such a let down because I held high hopes for the two of them! Of course, I believe the sequel, Exile, will deliver this in great detail.
What Aurelia lacks is a few important details. Firstly, I felt the characterisation was inadequate and fragments towards the end. Princess Aurelia begins as a strong character; however, as the plot deepens I felt disconnect to the Princess Aurelia I met in the first few pages. In fact, at the end her actions and reactions are uncharacteristic of the strong princess that she is. Robert is hardly developed; there was little insight to his personality past his protectiveness of Aurelia - he reminded me of a mechanical robot, thinking but without a definable personality. This is the same with the rest of the characters - even the most important ones I felt were not fully developed as to support the plot in a stronger way.
Secondly, there were several loose threads left at the end; several subplots that needed polishing. I was not satisfied with the ending because I felt the pieces were not neat enough to be pieced together perfectly. I hope the problem only lies with me and my expectations, so do check it out for yourself!
Three Stars.
Aurelia is a good book if you want extensive guess works on who might be the suspect within a few choice characters. Let me say that I personally enjoyed guessing and re-guessing and trying to play a detective to figure out who wants Aurelia dead. I also did not guess right - the culprit is so far beyond my guesses and I can only credit the author's talents for this. If you enjoy mystery, you'll love Aurelia.
It is also a good book if you want to read about the nasties behind royalties. It depicts a perfect combination of good royals and bad royals, greedy royals and giving royals. I enjoyed Tyralt's court life, the realistic and frequent discussions of politics in the royal household, and the strained relationship of the Queen and the Princess and other royals'. Set in a foreign world, the author really perfects royalties in Aurelia.
If you are looking for a romance novel however, you might as well forget it. Whilst it's a good book for mystery, it's not quite the same for romance. There was no focus on it at all, which is shame because I expected it to be the romantic sort of book. I would have liked more insight into Robert's and Aurelia's shared past. The romance I felt is mentioned only in passing; there was lack of development on the protagonists' relationship - it was such a let down because I held high hopes for the two of them! Of course, I believe the sequel, Exile, will deliver this in great detail.
What Aurelia lacks is a few important details. Firstly, I felt the characterisation was inadequate and fragments towards the end. Princess Aurelia begins as a strong character; however, as the plot deepens I felt disconnect to the Princess Aurelia I met in the first few pages. In fact, at the end her actions and reactions are uncharacteristic of the strong princess that she is. Robert is hardly developed; there was little insight to his personality past his protectiveness of Aurelia - he reminded me of a mechanical robot, thinking but without a definable personality. This is the same with the rest of the characters - even the most important ones I felt were not fully developed as to support the plot in a stronger way.
Secondly, there were several loose threads left at the end; several subplots that needed polishing. I was not satisfied with the ending because I felt the pieces were not neat enough to be pieced together perfectly. I hope the problem only lies with me and my expectations, so do check it out for yourself!
Three Stars.
3 comments:
I think I may just have to read this one. I love mysteries and yes I do love romance but i don't mind if it is missing in a book. I love "whodunit" type plots. Great review. Love that it was really balanced.
I wasn't particularly enthralled by the idea of this one before, but my interest has definitely been piqued by your review. I love the sound of the way the mystery is played out.
@Becky: You don't? Aww, I love my YA romances. Obviously, I haven't grown out of that yet, lol.
@Lauren: Yup, the mystery was good here. Hope you like it when you finally pick it up!
Post a Comment