Genre: Young Adult | Dystopian | Romance
Publication Date: August 13, 2021
Series: A Game of Crowns and Lies
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Audiobook: Yes
Received From: Borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
Once in a generation, the young women of the Unified Territories of Palias are given the opportunity of a lifetime:
The chance to become a princess.
It’s an honor Kaia Luvaryan has no interest in competing for. In the aftermath of the Great War, huge swaths of what was once the United States of America are uninhabitable. Every day is a struggle to survive.
But Kaia doesn’t want to leave her family or her best friend Finn behind—not even for a chance at winning Crown Prince Dominic’s hand in marriage. Life in her home territory of Hilora is hard, but at least it’s hers.
Her life. Her choice.
Until, suddenly, it’s not anymore.
Branded a criminal and sentenced to a punishment that amounts to death, Kaia is given only one way out.
Review
I can already guess what you're about to say, "Charity, how is this so different than the other books like The Hunger Games and The Selection?" It's not really; however, the charm is in its predictability, the differences in the characters, and some of the unique plot components.
It's a given that the protagonist is going to succeed because it's a series. Seriously, I have read many books similar to this one and have yet to run across one in which the protagonist fails miserably and returns home to live her life, and the remainder of the series is devoted to how her post-contest life is compared to life before the contest. Unpredictability isn't really the point, is it? It's how the protagonist succeeds; is she going to be manipulative, fake, backstabby, hateful, or kind. Is she going to use her physical strength, wit, ability to strategize, or a combination of all three? Is she in love with the boy back home, does she fall in love with the prince, or is she faced with a conundrum because she loves the boy back home and the prince?
Now that I've illustrated how the journey does matter, let's get to my review.
Kaia isn't a dumb girl, she's pretty resourceful. She does a couple of stupid things that land her in a bit of hot water, but she learns from them. From past experience with reading similar books, most of the protagonists keep making stupid mistakes and require rescuing, so it's refreshing to see that the author didn't fall back on that particular trope. The romance in this installment of the series is pretty low-key. I'm not complaining, I found it refreshing that the romance didn't overwhelm the plot.
The world-building isn't extravagant and the character-building is focused primarily on Kaia, which is what one would expect from a young adult, dystopian book focused on the protagonist overcoming great odds to win a contest. Even though the plot was a bit predictable, I was able to suspend disbelief for a few hours while I read this book. When the second book in the series is published, I'll read it.
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