Una serie de desastres naturales ha diezmado el planeta. Apartada del resto del mundo, Inglaterra es ahora un lugar sombrío: casi no luce el sol, la comida escasea y un grupo de criminales vaga por los bosques en busca de presas fáciles. La población comienza a agitarse. Aprovechando estas circunstancias, un implacable revolucionario se levanta para derrocar el trono; acabar con la familia real será su primer objetivo. La princesa Eliza, de dieciséis años, conseguirá escapar a la horrible matanza que tendrá lugar en Buckingham Palace. Deseosa de terminar con el hombre que asesinó a su familia, la princesa se unirá a las fuerzas enemigas para vencerlas desde dentro. Eliza solo tiene una razón por la que vivir: la venganza, hasta que alguien le hace recordar la importancia de la esperanza y el amor.

Princess Eliza has just escaped an assassination attempt on her entire family. She joins a group of rebels trying to bring back the greatness of Great Britain (or something like that) and hides her identity to keep her safe. Joining them means getting the opportunity to kill the guy who ordered the hit on her mother ten years back and the one that just got her father killed. The entire premise of this first book is that she thinks she's the only one that escaped, therefore, the last princess of England.

Eliza wasn't winy or bratty which I liked. She didn't always make the smartest choices but she was a bit of a know-it-all, oddly enough I gave her a pass because as princess she would totally be raised that way. It wasn't in a mean way but it just happened. Her wannabe love interest was kind of bland though. One minute they were arguing and then she started feeling things for him even though he's obviously hiding something. I would totally spoil what he is but if I had to suffer through the laughable writing so will you.

Actually, I'll give you a hint: it happens so quickly the ending was the climax/ending. I will give this book one good point, I was so satisfied with the ending it could almost be a stand alone. Meaning, I won't be reading the next one. ( )

Started this and then came back to GR to see what others thought. Have not heard much, so I might put this one back on the shelf and pick another. Been on a awesome book reading streak right now.

Started this and then came back to GR to see what others thought. Have not heard much, so I might put this one back on the shelf and pick another. Been on a awesome book reading streak right now.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: A fast paced novel with a fun heroine and sweet young love. The plot was predictable, but overall this was a good read.

Opening Sentence: The day began as a beautiful and vivid dream.

The Review:

It is 2090 and the world is very different from today. A series of natural disasters ravaged the earth and now all that’s left is a polluted earth with desperate humans. There is very little food, most of the water has been contaminated, and no electronics work anymore. The people are desperate need of a strong leader and they hope to find that in the current King, but his throne is being threatened by a long time enemy of the crown. Cornelius Holister is raising an army with the intent of taking the throne for himself and he will stop at nothing to get it.

Princess Eliza Windsor is the youngest daughter to the King of England. Her mother was poisoned before her eyes when she was a young girl by the evil Cornelius Holister. He manages to kill the king and start a revolution. He also captures Princess Mary and Prince Jamie, Eliza’s brother and sister, but Eliza narrowly escapes capture and flees to the streets of London. She knows that she’s not going to survive long on her own. She makes a plan to join the enemy army, and try to save her brother and sister. Through this process she finds that she is stronger than she ever thought and if the people of England are going to survive they are going to need her help.

Eliza is a fun heroine. She is pretty helpless at first but she grows stronger and more determined as the story progresses. She gets her first taste of independence while training in the camp and it gives her a strength she didn’t know she possessed. You get to experience a lot of firsts with Eliza which made it easy to connect with her. She is smart, but a little bit naive. She has never really had any experience with boys so when she meets a sweet young soldier in the army it is hard for her to resist his charm. She is far too trusting at times, but it fit with her situation. Overall, I thought she was a very likeable character.

Wesley is the dashing young man that sweeps Eliza off her feet. He is very cute and sweet, but he didn’t really stick out to me. He was just like a lot of other boys in YA books, which made him a little boring. I still liked him, I just wanted him to make me swoon more when he came around. His relationship with Eliza was sweet, but a little rushed. I would have liked to have seen it develop more slowly, it would have made it more believable.

This was a good read for me. I liked the premise and the references to the current royal family were amusing. There was good action and it was fairly fast paced. The plot was very predictable, but it was still entertaining. This was the first novel that I read by Galaxy Craze and I really enjoyed her writing. It was engaging and flowed very well. There is a slight cliff hanger at the end and I am very excited to see where the story goes in the next book. I would recommend this to anyone that likes a light, clean dystopian book.

Notable Scene:

The terrified guests turned toward us. My father stood still, aiming a golden, pencil-thin gun at Cornelius. Without warning, he pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Cornelius’s vest making a pinging sound as it fell to the floor. I stared helplessly at the useless bullet, lying like a lost penny on the floor. Cornelius was un harmed, but in the moment of distraction my father ran to me. I felt for one last, brief moment the safety of my father’s arms. Then Cornelius Holister looked up, his eyes narrowed to angry slits.

“No!” I screamed as he pulled the trigger. The bullet entered through my father’s back and exited through his chest. He fell to the floor, his body going limp.

“Dad!” I cried, pressing me hand against his white tuxedo shirt.

“I-I’m so sorry,” he murmured, his voice trembling weakly. “You must run.” He reached for me, but his hand dropped lifelessly to his side as he looked upward and his body went still. In that moment, I knew that my father was gone.

FTC Advisory: Poppy/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of The Last Princess. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.