The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning Series: Kingdoms of Sand and Sky #1
Published by Tor Teen on 2020-07-07
Length: 352 pages
Reviewing Hardcover from My Book Shelf
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2024 Backlist Reader Challenge, 2024 COYER Unwind
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When a princess’s commoner true love is kidnapped to coerce her into a political marriage, she doesn’t give in—she goes to rescue him.
When her warrior father, King Sendoa, mysteriously dies, Princess Amarande of Ardenia is given what would hardly be considered a choice: Marry a stranger at sixteen or lose control of her family’s crown.
But Amarande was raised to be a warrior—not a sacrifice.
In an attempt to force her choice, a neighboring kingdom kidnaps her true love, stable boy Luca. With her kingdom on the brink of civil war and no one to trust, she’ll need all her skill to save him, her future, and her kingdom.
The Princess Will Save You is a YA fantasy adventure inspired by The Princess Bride, in which a princess must rescue her stable boy true love, from the acclaimed author of Sea Witch, Sarah Henning.
“Always, Princess.” Be still my heart. The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning is the first book in a trilogy about a princess who is in love with her stableboy. Princess Amarande has spent her life training to rule her kingdom. From sword fighting to verbal sparring, Ama is ready to take the throne, but not in the way she receives it. The story opens on the death of her father, the King of the Itspi. His death is tragic and comes as a shock to the entire kingdom, but Ama is furious. Her father was healthy, and she suspects foul play. As her first act, she plans to find his murderer. But she never gets a first act. Instead she finds that in order to rule, she must either be a boy or marry, and Ama refuses to marry for anything less than love.
Ama is a fierce character and one that is not east to like….at first. She is cunning and swift with her actions. While she would say that she has no weakness, someone has already found it in her stableboy Luca. Luca is an orphan from the neighboring kingdom of Torrent raised in the king’s care. He was given the same education as Ama and is her equal in all ways but royalty. Luca and Ama train daily together, and while they’ve always been friends, for Ama it has become something more. Unfortunately for them, that “something more” is obvious and well-known to anyone with eyes. To force Ama’s hand in marriage, Luca is kidnapped and taken into the Torrent which sets off the events of the book. Ama is determined to save Luca and in the dead of the night sets out to find him.
This story moves at a breakneck pace. I loved the action and adventure of the story. Ama and Luca are separated for much of it, and thankfully we are given both their perspectives so we can see what is happening to them both. The dangers of the Torrent are conveyed through both their eyes as Ama chases down his trail. In addition to their POV, we also get to some of the other characters like Renard, a prince from a neighboring kingdom determined to wed Ama, and General Koldo, the leader of Ama’s army and regent until she marries. This adds so much to the story being able to see their motives and what is happening to the kingdom at large.
Overall, I really enjoyed The Princess Will Save You. I love Ama and Luca separately and cannot wait to see their relationship develop in the next book. The political intrigue and world-building is interesting. The different kingdoms of the Sand and Sky make an interesting background for their adventure. I have so many questions though after that ending 🤯 If you are a fan of fantasy, I highly recommend this one.
I wanted to make a quick note about this book being inspired by The Princess Bride. I’ve seen many reviews that have bashed the book for it’s lack of references since it is a retelling. This is NOT a straight retelling. There are many aspects that are inspired by the story, and they can easily be picked out, however Henning has made it her own.
About Sarah Henning
Sarah Henning is a recovering journalist who has worked for the Palm Beach Post, Kansas City Star and Associated Press, among others. When not writing, she runs ultramarathons, hits the playground with her two kids, and hangs out with her husband Justin, who doubles as her long-suffering IT department. Sarah lives in Lawrence, Kansas, hometown of Langston Hughes, William S. Burroughs, and a really good basketball team.
Sarah is the author of SEA WITCH, which was an Indies Introduce and Indie's Next selection. Its follow up, SEA WITCH RISING, is out now. Her first YA contemporary, about a down-spiraling softball player who is recruited to play quarterback on her ex-boyfriend's football team, comes out January 7th, 2020 and is called THROW LIKE A GIRL. Also scheduled for 2020 is the first book in her next fantasy duology--a feminist tale inspired by The Princess Bride--called THE PRINCESS WILL SAVE YOU, is out in summer.
I had an ARC of this to read. Still need to do that! I am one of those crazy people who has NEVER watched The Princess Bride. I recognize some lines from it from other people quoting, but haven’t seen it. Great review!
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