Search This Blog

2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (Hosted by Yours Truly)

My Progress:


30 / 30 books. 100% done!

2024 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama (1)
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (11)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut (2)
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (3)
- Georgia (4)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (3)
- Illinois (4)
- Indiana (4)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas (1)
- Kentucky (2)
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (4)
- Michigan (1)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri (1)
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada (2)
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (10)
- North Carolina (4)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (3)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (2)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (4)
- Utah (5)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia (1)
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (2)
- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:
- Argentina (1)
- Australia (6)
- Austria (1)
- Bolivia (1)
- Canada (4)
- China (2)
- England (27)
- France (2)
- Ghana (1)
- India (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (4)
- Italy (1)
- Poland (2)
- Russia (2)
- Scotland (4)
- The Netherlands (1)

My Progress:


51 / 51 states. 100% done!

2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 50 books. 104% done!

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


36 / 50 books. 72% done!

Booklist Queen's 2024 Reading Challenge

My Progress:


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

2024 52 Club Reading Challenge

My Progress:


51 / 52 books. 98% done!

2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge

My Progress:


37 / 40 books. 93% done!

2024 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge


18 / 40 books. 45% done!

2024 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge

My Progress:


25 / 25 cozies. 100% done!

2024 Medical Examiner's Mystery Reading Challenge

2024 Mystery Marathon Reading Challenge

My Progress


5 / 26.2 miles (4th lap). 19% done!

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

My Progress


51 / 100 books. 51% done!

2024 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge

My Progress:


99 / 109 books. 91% done!

Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge

My Progress


52 / 52 books. 100% done!

Disney Animated Movies Reading Challenge

My Progress


139 / 165 books. 84% done!

The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge

My Progress:


88 / 100 names. 88% done!

The Life Skills Reading Challenge

My Progress:


45 / 80 skills. 56% done!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The False Prince Is Getting Lots of Attention and It's Easy to See Why

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Sage isn't planning on living in an orphanage his whole life, but that doesn't mean he's willing to leave his home with just anybody.  Especially not a man like Bevin Conner.  A nobleman who claims to be on the king's errand, Conner obviously has ulterior motives for gathering up orphans.  And, no matter how much he's roughed up for it, 14-year-old Sage doesn't plan to stick around to see what those sinister plans might be.  He's going to escape—now.  
When Sage hears Conner's idea, though, he's intrigued.  With the country on the brink of civil war, the nobleman, who truly is one of the king's regents, has a crazy plan to reunite it.  He's searching for a boy who can pass for the king's long-lost son, a boy who can impersonate a prince well enough to fool even the most discerning royals.  A boy to rule, a boy to become the next king of Carthya.  The catch?  In order to live in the palace, to sleep in comfort, to dine on sumptuous feasts, to act the part of a spoiled royal, Sage must prove he can act the princely part better than the three other orphans Conner has nabbed.  If he loses the competition, he'll be killed.  As little as Sage likes the idea of playing prince, he likes the idea of dying even less.  So, he agrees to participate in Conner's deadly little contest.

As the competition heats up, Sage realizes he's involved in a game far more complicated than he ever realized.  He can trust no one.  One false move can mean instant death, or worse.  With his life on the line, Sage must figure out what Conner's really up to—before it's too late for them all. 

With lots of buzz in the blogosphere, a Cybil for best book in Middle Grade Fantasy & Science Fiction, and now a Whitney Award nomination (as well as lots of other honors), The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen has been getting a lot of attention lately.  It's easy to see why—the book's a fun, action-packed thriller guaranteed to pull young (and old) readers in and keep them riveted until its very last word.  It's predictable in a lot of ways and I wasn't thrilled with the "big reveal" as it felt like cheating on Nielsen's part.  Still, The False Prince has plenty of action, adventure and intrigue, which makes it a fast, exhilarating read sure to appeal to anyone who enjoys a good yarn.  And, really, who doesn't? 

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't really think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:  B

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  PG for scenes of peril

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of The False Prince from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.   

8 comments:

  1. So glad you finally got to read this one! I must have been completely oblivious, cause I don't think I guessed the end on this one. Sometimes I get it and sometimes I don't. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm like that, too, but on this one, I totally (okay, mostly) had it figured out. Unreliable narrators often kill stories for me, though -- and it bugged in this one, just not enough to really, really drive me crazy.

      Delete
  2. It reminded me a ton of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. I liked that one better but really enjoyed this one as well.

    Are you a Whitney judge again this year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I totally forgot about THE THIEF. They are similar books, aren't they? It's been awhile since I read THE THIEF, but I think I liked THE FALSE PRINCE better.

      And, yep, I'm doing the Whitney thing again. It's a lot of books to read (40) in a short amount of time (around 2 months), but I enjoy doing it.

      Delete
  3. I'm reading this one on my phone's Kindle app now -- and enjoying it a lot. it feels The Thief-ish to me, and we'll see if that pans out. And meanwhile, it's really fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I might have to read THE THIEF again because now I'm curious just HOW similar the two books are ...

      Delete
  4. You are just NOW reading this one? It's awesome, isn't it. I'll be reading the next one very very soon. Can't wait! And yes, Sage reminded me a lot of Gen too. It was weird the other day seeing these two authors sitting side by side at the signing and remembering that strong Gen/Sage impression!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! It took me forever to get to it. I had an inkling it would be a Whitney finalist, so I waited. And Scholastic's sending me the sequel, so it will be fun to see where the story goes.

      All your LTUE talk is making me seriously consider coming next year ...

      Delete

Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.

P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!

Blog Widget by LinkWithin


Reading

<i>Reading</i>
Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie

Listening

<i>Listening</i>
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth



Followin' with Bloglovin'

Follow

Followin' with Feedly

follow us in feedly



Grab my Button!


Blog Design by:


Blog Archive



2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Susan has read 0 books toward her goal of 200 books.
hide

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2022 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction