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Good evening, everyone! Today we celebrate Thanksgiving with not just food, but a book review. And it's not just any book, but the latest from Cherie Priest: I am Princess X. Quite a departure from her Clockwork Century books, is it worth your time? Let's find out.
The story centers around childhood friends May and Libby growing up in Seattle (a recurring setting in Priest's novels since she lives there). One day, these two kids decide to create a comic book. It's crudely drawn (at first) but very imaginative. It stars Princess X, an ass-kicking young woman who defends her fantasy realm from all manner of evil. Libby draws it, and May contributes to the story. Anyway, all is going well until Libby and her mother have an horrific car crash. Her mother is killed, and Libby dies as well.
Or does she?
Three years pass. May manages to move on with her life following Libby's death and her parents' divorce. But, suddenly, she begins seeing strange drawings all over town of none other than Princess X. The character they created is now everywhere in the form of artwork and merchandise and, upon digging deeper, May discovers the story is still going in the form of a web comic. May enlists the help of hacker Trick to track down the source of this Princess X explosion. Once she starts reading the story, she discovers hidden clues and comes to the conclusion that Libby is still alive.
But if that's the case, how did she survive the car crash? Why has she remained in hiding? And just whose body was buried in her place? Perhaps the answer has something to do with the sinister Needle Man in the web comic. As May and Trick hunt down clues, they discover more and more parallels between the real world and Princess X. Maybe the story isn't a work of fiction after all. Maybe May can get to the bottom of it and discover her long lost friend's ultimate fate.
But someone is very intent on keeping them from finding the truth, and he'll kill anyone who gets in his way. Just who is the Needle Man, and what does he want?
I am Princess X is very different from Boneshaker and it's sequels. It's a very grounded story, but, like everything Cherie Priest does, it's exceptionally well-written. You can easily believe these girls are real people, and you'll want to follow their story to the very end. Priest proves she can write fantastically in whatever genre she chooses. It even has excellent comic book pages with beautiful artwork accompanying the story.
However, the book has one serious drawback, and it has nothing to do with Priest's writing. You see, the font is tiny for an ebook, and it strained my eyes to read it. You can zoom with the Kindle, but it zooms in too far and you have to scroll through the now-oversize text. Maybe the problem lies with the limitations of my first-generation Kindle, but I couldn't read this for more than a half hour. I'm guessing the paperback version is easier to read, so I would go with that if possible.
Anyway, the story itself is excellent and has good pacing. If you can get a version that won't hurt your eyes, I strongly recommend I am Princess X.
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