A fresh start to a fresh series? “The Hidden Princess”, a YA-book with more maturity than I’ve expected

Von Franziska @bloodystrangerx

Hello there! I'm back again with some books I've read recently and it's up to you to decide which one is fitted best for you! The next post will be online

For the YA-Lovers, I've discovered "The Hidden Princess". The story of the oldest princess Amelie with a special ability which she considers more curse than blessing. She can lure men into doing nearly everything she asks them to, but her control is limited. To secure everyone safety (even her own) she was not exactly locked away but kind of (she lives with nuns). The King (her step-father with not so nice intensions towards her) sends her off on missions. Serving her country is literally all she can think about (and the problem that she has nearly no freedom at all). The kingdom borders with Draeden, the kingdom where magic (like hers) is forbidden - oh, I should probably mention that all the five kingdoms in this world forbade their citizens to cross borders (total isolation rocks...).
Well, she meets the Prince of Draeden (handsome and smart), gets captured by him (unfortunate circumstances) and then the "struggling with myself" and "Damn, I want to be finally free" starts (The good part!). But the story doesn't evolve as happy and glittery and girlish as you might think. If you're interested in a more eloquent Summary, you can read it on Goodreads.

Opinion
Okay, there were some cheesy moments (but please, who thought there wouldn't be some?) and yes, the Prince and the Princess fall in love (who would've guessed that?), but I really, really liked the story and the way they got to know each other. Who can say, they fell in love with a woman during capturing her? Yeah, right, there is something called the Stockholm-Syndrom but's a whole different story.
The style of writing is one of the main points I enjoyed this story so much. After a few pages you are so taken in by the events, the story and the characters, you can barely put the book away (once you've started).
Amelie (the Princess) is also a very intense character. She has dedicated her life to serving her country (more or less voluntarily) and is convinced she can't trust anyone (leave alone a handsome prince). Fortunately, the characters in this book are older than 16 (I'm very bad with my memory but if I recall correctly she is about 19-21?) and so the way of treating problems is more mature (thank goodness!).
All in all I would give it four stars out of five. Its a really good read and I am anticipating the sequel, but it's not compareable to "The Name of the Wind" (which is really hard to top.

Title: The Hidden Princess
Author: Cara Coe
Pages: 228
Released: June 2nd 2015
Rating: 4/5 ★ - very enjoyable!