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    The False Princess
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    The False Princess
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    The False Princess
    Audiobook10 hours

    The False Princess

    Written by Eilis O'Neal

    Narrated by Mandy Williams

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia has led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when she learns, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city, her best friend, Kiernan, and the only life she's ever known.

    Sent to live with her only surviving relative, Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. Then she discovers that long-suppressed, dangerous magic runs through her veins, and she realizes that she will never learn to be just a simple village girl. Sinda returns to the city to seek answers. Instead, she rediscovers the boy who refused to forsake her, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history forever.

    An intricately plotted and completely satisfying adventure, The False Princess is both an engaging tale in the tradition of great fantasy novels and a story never told before that will enchant-and surprise-its listeners.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 25, 2011
    ISBN9780307879547
    Author

    Eilis O'Neal

    Eilis O’Neal is the managing editor of the literary magazine Nimrod International Journal. She started writing at the age of three (though the story was only four sentences long). Her first name is pronounced "A-lish." She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with her husband, Matt, and two dogs, Nemo and Zuul. The False Princess is her first novel. You can visit her online at www.eilisoneal.com.

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    Reviews for The False Princess

    4/5

    239 ratings37 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this story of deception, intrigue, and magic. Sinda is a very likeable character, as is her friend Kiernan. The narrator, Mandy Williams, did an excellent job. The book was well-written and the conclusion was satisfying. I look forward to more from Eilis O'Neal.
    • 3/5
      Just never found the protagonist that engaging. Her voice a little too stilted, the coincidences throughout the story a little too neat.
    • 3/5
      This is more of a 3.5 star but ultimately it stays at 3. I really liked the premise and how it turned the fairytale princess story on it's head. The main character is strong and vulnerable and I like how she's contrasted with other women in the story. The fantasy world borrows from a lot of different sources so it makes the world a little generic and flat to me. But overall a solid girl read that didn't make me want to hurl things.
    • 5/5
      Great book! I loved the characters & the flow of the story.
    • 4/5
      Princess Nalia, heir to the throne of Thorvaldor learns just after her 16th birthday that she's a false princess, a stand-in for the true princess who was hidden away after birth to avoid the consequences of a prophesy. The real princess returns once the threat has passed, and Nalia, now Sinda, is sent away to live with an aunt who she never knew and a life of labor for which she is ill prepared. Sinda discovers she has previously undiscovered magical powers and returns to Thorvaldor to find someone to teach her how to use them. She discovers that the new princess isn't the true princess, and together with her friend, Duke's son Kiernan, struggles to restore the true princess to the throne.A great read, The False Princess includes so many of my favorite elements - strong heroine with helpful friends, intrigue, challenge, magic, kings, queens, castles with mysteries, and a love interest. Sinda is dealt an ego-shattering and emotional blow when she's basically turned out of her life, losing the only family, friends and life she never knew. It takes a while, but she rises above this loss and finds the strength within herself to right a terrible wrong despite the fact that she might lose everything. It reads as a single novel, but I was left hoping for more from Sinda, Kiernan and friends.
    • 4/5
      A quick and entertaining story - a girl raised as a princess is told she is merely a decoy for the real princess, raised in hiding. Sent from the palace to live with a resentful aunt, she obviously has a struggle to determine her true identity. The sweet romance didn't overwhelm the story.
    • 5/5
      I LOVED this book!!!!! I could not put it down. I was so ready to see what would happen on every page I read. I read it all in one day. A princess was living her life like a princess, when she got told she was not the real princess. The real princess came home the the castle. Or so they thought. The "real" princess took the false princesses spot and every one thought she was the real princess. Later on the false princess realized the "real" princess was also a false princess. Them both (including a young boy who is in love with the first false princess) go out to find the real princess and save the kingdom from evil.
    • 4/5
      Nalia has grown up in the palace, being trained in everything she will need to know as future ruler of Thorvaldor. Then, one day, she is called in to the throne room, where she is told that she is not the princess after all -- her father was a weaver, her real name is Sinda, and she was brought to the palace in place of the real princess because a prophecy indicated that there was some danger of assassination before her sixteenth birthday if the princess remained in the palace. Now that the danger is passed, Sinda is being sent to her only living relative, a dyer in a small town, with thanks for her service to the crown. Sinda is depressed, angry, and confused . . . until, with the help of a friend from her princess days, she discovers a plot against the royal family. What can she do about it in her reduced circumstances -- and will anybody believe her?This was an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to fans of fantasy and fairy-tale retellings. While this isn't a fairy-tale retelling in its own right, it has a lot of similarities to many I've read.
    • 4/5
      SUMMARY- "The False Princess," is a book about three girls who are all part of a plan to save the princess gone wrong. Taking place back in medieval times, this story takes you back to kings and queens and knights and wizards. The main character of this story is a girl named Sinda, taken as a baby to play the role of a princess. The oracle has foreseen blood and death for the Princess when she turns sixteen, and so with the help of Wizards, Sinda is made to look as the Princess, so as to protect the real princess until she is sixteen. When Sinda is told that now because it has been sixteen years, she must be sent to live with her aunt in a village, after being raised as a princess and being told that she is Nalia, heir to the royal throne. Now as a peasant, Sinda tries to fit in, but makes only one friend, a boy who later betrays her. Sinda begins to feel an odd feeling in her stomach as if something has been growing inside her, and when she realizes her only friend has betrayed her, she burns a bush on accident, and realizes the feeling is magic, and she has it! Sinda leaves her aunt and goes to the city to try and find a way to train her magic so that it will not get of control. In the city, Sinda finds out a secret. Sinda is not the only false princess, The wizard Marian is of royal blood, but her ancestors did not get the crown, and holding a long time grudge, had cast a spell over only child Orien, and made her to look like the princess, and has the whole kingdom, including Orien, thinking she is the real deal.Sinda goes on a quest to find the real Nalia, and uses her magic to correct the spell, and restore peace to the thrown. REVIEW- I really like this story and I wish Eilis O'Neal should make a sequel. I really like the placement in the medieval times. I especially enjoyed this book because instead of showing the happy princess, or the peasant who discovers she is a princess and lives happily ever after, we see the story of the girl who discovers she is a peasant and has been used by the crown to die in place of the real princess. We are shown the story of a girl discovering who she is after spending her whole life as another person. I would suggest "The False Princess" for people interested Medieval times and mysteries. I think "the False Princess" would be good for people interested in magic, and for those looking for a good long read. "The False Princess" is truly a magical book!
    • 3/5
      Just after she turns 16, Sinda learns that she was only a stand-in for the real princess. Returned to her aunt's village, she finds herself trying to adjust to a totally different life, until she discovers that she has the ability to perform magic. Sinda returns to the city hoping to find a teacher, and discovers a secret that could change the course of her homeland's history.
    • 5/5
      I had been wanting to read this book forever and was excited to finally get a chance to read it. This is Eilis O'Neal's debut book and she did a great job on it. This is a wonderful fantasy full of mystery, numerous plot twists, magic, and a touch of romance. Nalia has lead a sheltered and well-educated life as the Princess set to inherit the Throne of Thorvaldor. Nalia's world comes crashing down around her when on her sixteenth birthday she is told that she is not the princess, she is in fact a false princess raised in the real princess's place in order to save the real princess from a horrible prophecy. Nalia is told her name is actually Sinda and she is sent away from everything she has ever known and loved to live with an aunt in the country. Her best friend Kiernan tries to visit to console her, but Sinda is desolate. That is until she finds out that she has powerful magic and begins to unweave a number of mysteries surrounding the false princess and the magic that surrounds her.This is one of those very sweet princess type stories but kind of in reverse...the girl finds out she's not a princess instead of finding out she is one. I loved watching Sinda's journey from being a Princess to being a "no one" and then her struggle to figure out who she wanted to be. Sinda is smart girl and a gentle girl, but she has a little bit of fire in her and as she learns to kindle the fire and believe in herself she becomes a force to be reckoned with. Many of the side characters are fascinating too. Kiernan is a wonderful male lead; he has so many conflicting interests but is determined to remain a true friend to Sinda no matter what her situation. Kieran and Sinda have a romance based on a lifetime of support and love and it is a very sweet romance to read about.There is a lot of magic in this book as well and I enjoyed watching Sinda as she struggled to control her magic powers. The plot is paced very well and has plenty of twists and turns so you are constantly left trying to guess what will happen next and trying to put together the pieces of the mystery before Sinda does.This was on of those books that everytime I sat down I had a little trouble getting into it for the first few minutes, then once I got into the story I couldn't put it down. Overall I really enjoyed this story. It is full of wonderful characters, a sweet and subtle romance between the two main characters, magic, and a wonderful mystery. Fans of Brightly Woven, Tamora Pierce's Books, or Kristin Cashore's book should check this book out. I look forward to O'Neal's next book.
    • 4/5
      Here's proof that you're never too old for your mama to buy you a book! Author Eilis O'Neal lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I grew up, and my parents went to a book signing event there in January. Mom sent me the signed copy, and oh, what a wonderful, unconventional fairy tale this is. Quiet and studious Princess Nalia is heir to the throne of Thorvaldor. She's lived her entire life in the royal castle, with the finest of everything and an adventurous prankster of a best friend in earl-to-be Kieran. Just after she turns 16, her life is upended: she's finally told that since she was a few days old, she has been a stand-in for the true princess, for whom a prophecy stated she would die violently before her 16th birthday. Now that they are safely past that date, there is no need for the false princess since the real one can return, and Nalia becomes Sinda: orphaned and dumped on the doorstep of her one relative: a poor, workaholic aunt who has little use for her niece. Sinda discovers from her that her long-lost mother had magical abilities, and that she does too... though they are difficult for her to control and they scare her. She returns to the capital city to search for answers, gets a scribe's job as well as training by an oddball master wizard, and reconnects with Keiran. Something's up with the new Princess Nalia, though... and the twists and turns in the second half of this story are quite the wild ride! Excellent character-driven action and a fully imagined fairytale world setting. Gail Carson Levine has a potential heir to the YA fairy tale genre here. This is an amazing first novel, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Eilis O'Neal writes. 7th grade and up.
    • 4/5
      The False Princess is filled with murder, mystery, and magic. It was simply not what i was expecting. The story follows the false princess, Sinda, who finds out her whole life is a lie. She was just a target so that the real princess wouldn't be killed before her 16 birthday, as an oracle foretold. The ungrateful royals, send her to her true aunt. Sinda tries to come to terms, but has no skills for the outside world, or so she thinks. Magic runs through her viens and she discovers a plot for the throne, 16 years in the making.
    • 5/5
      When Princess Nalia finds out that's she's only a mere peasant girl named Sinda, a puppet playing a role to kept the real princess safe, she is uprooted from the life she's always known and sent far away so that the rightful princess can gain her throne. But while Sinda's away, she uncovers a secret that could shake Thorvaldor into a million pieces... but who will believe her?In my opinion, The False Princess was a great book. Though it started out a bit slow, once I reached around the middle, I just couldn't put it down. I eventually ended up reading it in just two sittings - it was great. The fantasy world is highly believable. I would recommend this book to anyone - especially if you love fantasy, mystery, and romance. :)
    • 3/5
      Imagine finding out that your entire sixteen years of existence is a lie. That your "family" is not truly yours. Better yet, you were just a decoy because it was prophesied that someone would kill the princess before her sixteenth birthday. What a slap in the face that would be to me! I couldn't imagine spending my entire life being pampered, loving these people who were my supposed parents, preparing to rule a kingdom and then being thrown out on my backend with little to my name, my REAL name. This is what Nalia, truly Sinda Azaway, has to deal with.Once she is escorted from the palace, she is sent to live with her distant aunt in a tiny town. Sinda may know a lot about being a princess and courtly matters but, when it comes to her Aunt's job of dyeing, she is truly hopeless. Anger roils inside of her, but she soon comes to realize that it is not only anger. There is magic flowing through her veins and it's fighting to get out. Sinda just takes one blow after another. First, she's not really a princess. Second, she kind of sucks at being a commoner. Third, she's a wizard with little hope of ever controlling her magic.Sinda returns to the city of Vivaskari and becomes scribe to the wizard Philantha who in turn, teaches her how to use her magic. Philantha is a nutty hoot who no one really pays any attention to. Once back in the city, Sinda rekindles her "friendship" with her best friend, Keirnan. Friends is all they can be, right? Sinda is now a nobody and Keirnan, a boy with a title and money, could never be with her. Plus, who wants to fall in love with the handsome, funny, truly devoted best friend? Sinda also happens to uncover a terrifying secret that could change the fate of Thorvaldor and the TRUE princess forever! With the help of Keirnan, Sinda attempts to stop a coup and save the princess.The beginning was a bit slow-going for me. Once Sinda returned to Vivaskari, things started to pick up speed. Sinda was thrown many surprises throughout the story. It was difficult at time to predict what was going to happen. The characters weren't as three-dimensional as I would have liked. They felt like quick sketches to me, rough lines with no coloring. They didn't exactly pop for me. I did like Keirnan the most though, with Philantha taking second. I would have liked to have seen more of her. She was fun and cooky. There was a steady amount of action towards the end and a gradual build in the romance. Overall, The False Princess was a fun debut novel and a quick read.
    • 4/5
      This young adult novel generated a lot of buzz and it's easy to see why. The story is a familiar one: a young woman who, at 16, learns that she is not the princess she was raised as but a changeling brought in to subvert a prophecy. Sinda is thrust into a new life as a peasant, but she soon finds that even though she isn't a princess, she is still special. She has to try to learn where she fits in, which is not an easy task. It's rare for me to recommend this, but I think this is a book that could have a great sequel. That said, the book stands wonderfully on its own and should appeal to adults of all ages.
    • 4/5
      Nalia is 16 and a princess. Clumsy and somewhat scholarly, she is being raised to be queen someday. Although her parents are emotionally distant, she has had a good life. Then she learns that a prophecy when the princess was born led to an elaborate ruse; she is not the real princess, she is a weaver's daughter named Sinda. In an instant, her life is turned upside down. She is starting to put it back together and find a place she can be content, when she learns of a plot to put a usurper on the throne. There is no one she can trust but her childhood friend, Kiernan.Well-written, with an appealing heroine and some interesting twists.
    • 4/5
      The False Princess is a very solid, well-done book in the princess/magic genre. I can't say that it's the most inventive or ground-breaking YA fantasy, but if you have a soft spot for princess fantasy, it's worth a try.I appreciated that the heroine is allowed to make both good and bad decisions, and that ultimately she needs the help of her friends to save the day, even if she's the leader. It's nice when everything is balanced like that, instead of the hero doing all the saving, or the heroine too perfectly doing everything herself, unrealistically.The setting is a fairly generic pseudo-Medieval fantasyland, both in history/politics and geography. The magic elements are also standard, without anything much that makes them stand out amongst all the books I've read. On the one hand, this is a bit boring in light of the more creative or detailed books, but on the other, a more-or-less generic backdrop can't make the plot or characterisations seem more interesting than they really are, and O'Neal does just fine with both of those.Because the False Princess is unashamedly part of the princess/fantasy genre, many of the plot points were transparent to me, and I had most of the story figured out by the time O'Neal finished setting it all up - except for one part that snuck up on me halfway through. Nonetheless, I found it to be thoroughly enjoyable and a very good representative of its kind - much better than others I have read recently, though those others might be more imaginative in setting or characters. It can't be said that a standard, like this one, can't be good or worthwhile - especially if you're a fan of the genre, like me.
    • 3/5
      Plucky Princess* I read this ARC via Star Book Tours.* Their are some mild spoilers in the review and well the title of the book itself is a major spoilerThis book gets 3 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes because it started off rather slowly. As the book goes along though I found myself liking the main character a lot more than I did at the beginning of the book.You think the book is going to just be a light treasure hunt type of book but the main character soon receives quite the surprise. Nalia is not really Nalia at all, her real name is Sinda. She was raised in the palace as a false princess because of an ominous prophecy about the real princess being murdered.The story starts to pick up steam when she's stuck living with her aunt in the very tiny town of Treb. She finds out that she may know a lot about being a princess but when it comes to her aunt's job of dyeing, she's no good. At first Sinda's not very likable because she just kind of gives up when she's stuck in Treb.There are two love interests in the book but it's pretty easy to see who she'll end up with. There is some tension thrown in but once it resolves the reader will most likely have no doubts though Sinda herself is slow to come to this realization.I really loved the story when magic was brought into the picture. It's seems that Sinda's life is even more complicated because the magic she possesses happens at unexpected time. She finds a teacher in Philantha who many consider to be rather odd.Sinda slowly becomes more comfortable with who she is but then in another twist finds that there are many more mysteries to solve. Intrigue abounds and only Sinda may be able to stop someone intent on taking over her country.The mystery and who the bad guy really is will leave the reader wondering how the ending will be happily ever after. Overall a pretty great adventure that takes some interesting twists and turns.
    • 5/5
      Princess Nalia had it all...until the day she discovered she wasn't really a princess, but a commoner named Sinda. She had spent the first sixteen years of her life as a decoy princess because there was a prophecy that the true heir to the throne might die before her sixteenth birthday. Feeling betrayed, Sinda heads for the country to live with the aunt she never knew she had, leaving behind the family and only home she'd ever known. Once in the countryside, however, Sinda discovers that she has the gift of magic. If she doesn't learn to control it, the dangerous power coursing through her veins could kill her. Knowing this, she returns to the palace city and begins to study magic. She reunites with Keirnan, the mischievous Earl of Rithia's son and her best friend. They soon uncover a dangerous plot that could destroy everything Sinda holds dear.The False Princess is so hard to talk about without divulging spoilers. The plot is so intricate and complex. There are times you think you have a grasp on the story and where it's headed, but O'Neal throws in a plot twist and you're no longer sure how the book will end. There's danger, mystery, and intrigue lurking on every page. While the novel gets off to a slow start, it isn't long before readers will find themselves immersed in Sinda's plight. While she starts off as a weak character, by the end, she's become a strong heroine who has come into herself. I love books with strong female role-models. It's one reason Tamora Pierce has always been one of my favorite YA authors. O'Neal's writing style reminds me of Shannon Hale. In fact, one of Hale's novels, The Goose Girl, is very much a tale similar to this one, except in reverse: It is the princess' lady-in-waiting who usurps the role of princess and fools everyone. This book has something for everyone. It falls into both the historical fiction and fantasy categories. On top of that, it reads like a fairytale, despite the fact that it's an original work. There's plenty of romantic tension between Sinda and Keirnan to keep a reader's interest, not to mention an overlying mystery woven throughout the novel. I really like this book's dust jacket, too. I love the shades of purple, from the deep, royal color making up the wallpaper/curtain/(whatever it is) in the background to the more-subtle hues used for the cover model's make-up. I also love the story being told on the cover: Consider the fact that you can't see the model's face, but you CAN see the face of the girl on her locket. In my mind, the locket contains a portrait of the "true" princess while Sinda has once again disappeared in her shadow. It's a cover you won't think twice about until you've read the book.Overall, I enjoyed The False Princess and thought it was a strong debut novel. My copy will sit proudly next to my other "fairytale-inspired" novels, including those by Hale.
    • 5/5
      The False Princess is certainly a welcome addition to those of us who loved Ella Enchanted and stories reminiscent of fairy tales. Sinda narrates with an ease that I had no trouble with following, despite her talent of tripping over her feet and causing the fountain water to boil.After finishing Troubled Waters with a more-than-resilient heroine, it is interesting to note that while Sinda could hardly make a sustainable stew or run a household smoothly, she still was made of stubborn stuff - and once she found her new niche in the world, she probably would do well enough. After living a pampered life as a false princess, who could expect anything more without giving her a little more time?The False Princess was an unexpected delight with tangles that I found myself happily caught up in! Just when I thought things were settling down for Sinda, the story twisted once more and sent me racing for the next page. The ending left me breathless in a good way, though sad that it had to end at all. I certainly hope Ms. O'Neal has more in store for us in Thorvaldor!
    • 5/5
      The False Princess has made it onto my teensy-tiny list of favorite books. When I started it, I wasn't sure what would happen. When I was nearly finished with it, I wasn't sure what would happen. Nothing was predictable at all. It's not one of those books with so many unpredictable turns, you just end up with a headache. No, this was perfectly planned and well-written, from start to finish. The False Princess is one debut you have to add to your list of books to read right away. The story begins with Nalia, Princess of Thorvaldor, being summoned to a hall to meet her parents - the king and queen. They rarely call her to that particular hall, so Nalia is confused and very uncertain of what awaits. She stands before the throne and listens in horror as her life is thrown away. Nalia - or Sinda Azaway - is not the princess. Small bits of her appearance was altered by magic to make her look like the real princess, who the king and queen have hidden away because of a prophecy that claimed she would be murdered in court. Cast away with nothing but the clothes on her back and a small sack of money, Sinda has to live with an aunt who doesn't even want her. She's angry, distraught, and unsure of what her life means anymore. As a princess, she knew what her life meant, now, there isn't any meaning. Soon, her anger means more than just anger. She has magic. Inside her, bubbling uncontrollably, wanting to spew out whenever she throws a fit. The magic can be useful to her in many ways, if only she knew how to use it. Fate takes Sinda back to the city (close to the palace), where she learns a terrifying secret. One only she and her best friend knows, one that could change the fate of Thorvaldor forever. The False Princess is full of suspense. The first fifty to sixty pages weren't as gripping as the rest of the book, but as you will see, it was worth it. I love the setting - the land of Thorvaldor, the characters - Sinda, her best friend Kiernan, and the others, and the length of the book - it was just right. It never dragged on and on, nor did it just end abruptly. If you're looking for a book that will send you off to a far away land and capture your heart, pick up The False Princess. Anyway, how can you not pick up a book with such a pretty cover? Another awesome perk for those of you participating in challenges - The False Princess qualifies for the Debut Author Challenge and the YA Historical Fiction Challenge!
    • 4/5
      I could not resist picking this one up after reading the synopsis. How much would it suck to go from being the pampered princess for 16 years to being sent off to live with a relative you never met before in a tiny town full of strangers. To top it off you find out you were put in place of the princess as a decoy because someone was supposed to try and kill the princess before she turned 16. Just ask Nalia, or as she finds out her real name is Sinda. She finds she has few skills that help her fit into a life with her aunt and she finds herself missing her best friend Kiernan even more than her life as a princess.You cannot help but feel sorry for Sinda when she finds out who she really is and that her "parents", the king and queen, so easily send her off and bring their real daughter home once the threat of murder is past. We follow Sinda's journey as she tries to master this magic that was long suppressed while she was living the life of the princess, she realizes what life is like for those outside of royal courts and she realizes that there is more going on than anyone realizes. There are times that despite what she's gone through I did find myself disliking her quite a bit because of the choices she chooses to make and yet I cannot totally blame her after all she's been through. What was great about this book was Sinda is forced to deal with the consequences of the choices she makes instead of everything magically turning up roses.You can see the romance coming between Sinda and Kiernan but it was nicely done and the romance does not over power the rest of the story. They work together to try and solve the mystery over who is trying to topple the queen, king and princess Nalia before it is too late. The villain was not too much of a mystery but there are a few twists that I did not see coming.
    • 5/5
      I thought it was fantastic! I cried when she cried, and all the characters were very likeable and relatable. At first she seemed weak but she pulled herself together and made things work. Really hoping there's a book 2.
    • 4/5
      This was an enjoyable read with a good mix of intrigue, romance, fantasy and drama. My only complaint would be that there were a few parts where the plot slowed, but thankfully it sped up again quite quickly. Overall, a good debut novel.
    • 5/5
      This YA fantasy is a really enjoyable book. I don’t remember how I heard about it (probably Tez Miller, who is my biggest source for new authors), but I am so glad my library had it and I could pick it up and read it. I’ll probably be buying at least one copy of this book for a gift, that’s how much I liked it.

      I can’t go into too much detail about the plot without giving away spoilers, but I can discuss the basic beginning part. (It’s on the back cover to start with.) The main character starts the book thinking she is the princess and heir to the throne. Within the first few pages of the book, she finds out that she is NOT the princess, but instead a commoner who was taken from her family to be a stand-in for the princess. There was a prophecy which said the princess had a high chance of being murdered before her 16th birthday, and the real princess was hidden away for her own safety. Well. Now the princess (both real and fake) is over 16, and the fake-princess-commoner is sent off to live with an aunt she doesn’t know, and who thought she was dead.

      Now, I really enjoy fairy tale retellings, and at first glance this looked like it was a story similar to “Sleeping Beauty”, since the true princess was hidden to protect her from harm. However, while I could easily believe that it was inspired by the classic fairy tale, that’s where the similarity ends. Once our false princess arrives at her new home, the real fun begins.

      I believe this was a first novel for Ms. O’Neal, and I hope it’s not her last. I really enjoyed the read, and the writing style was good quality as well. In some respects (such as age of protagonist) this was a definite YA book, but it managed to cross over and be enjoyable for me (aka NOT a young adult) as well.
    • 4/5
      Despite the generic YA cover, this isn't paint-by-numbers fantasy. This book was clearly written out of a deep appreciation for and knowledge of fantasy tropes.

      Nalia is a princess whose only real joys are old documents, languages, and her one friend, Kiernan. She's shy and clumsy, but she hopes to grow up to rule her country well. Then her parents summon her to their throne room and reveal that she isn't a princess at all. 16 years ago they paid her father for her, so that the real princess could remain in hiding, safe from a prophecied death. Now that the prophecy has been avoided, the real Nalia can be brought to court, and the false Nalia--truly named Sinda--will of course have to leave. Her former parents give her a small sack of gold and send her to live with her aunt, a woman she's never met. Her aunt, a poor woman who works hard and likes being solitary, isn't cruel but is not particularly pleased to be saddled with her late brother's useless daughter. Sinda has courtly accomplishments, but was so divorced from the ordinary world that she has to learn how to dress herself.

      After miserable months at her aunt's, Sinda realizes that the uncomfortable feelings she's been having are her magic, long repressed by the court magicians' spell to make her resemble the princess. She returns to the city she grew up in and begins training her magic. She resumes her friendship with Kiernan and even strikes up a tenuous relationship with princess Nalia, who is having a hard time adjusting to life in the palace. But then, just when everything seems to be settling into a good new pattern, Sinda makes a terrifying discovery. The Princess Nalia isn't the real Princess Nalia, either. The real princess is still somewhere out there!

      I really liked this book. Sinda has a unique and likeable voice; I immediately related to her and wanted the best for her. And I loved the twists on prophecies about princesses--the plot is so clever, without being overcomplicated. I liked that no one (save perhaps SPOILER) is downright bad, but that entrenched power structures and privilege do a lot of damage, not all of it intended.
    • 4/5
      Plot: This book has pretty much everything you would want to read about; romance, adventure, magic, fantasy, mystery, etc. There is a lot happening in the story-line, but it is not at all confusing and is really easy to follow along with. There were some parts that were easy to guess, but there were just as many that surprised me. I had a hard time putting this book down because of all the suspense. I needed to know what happened next! The magical aspect of the story seemed to be a bit detached at the beginning and just seemed to be an added detail that wasn't as important as everything else. However, once the story picked up, so did the magic. Sinda had a hard time with it at first and I admired the fact that she never gave up.Characters: Sinda is the first false Princess and I thought she was a great main character. When she finds out that the first 16 years of her life were a lie and is sent to live with her only surviving relative who she has never met before, she tries to make the best of a pretty bad situation. She does not complain as most people would if they were in the same situation. Instead, she tries her hardest to be the best dyer she can be and to help her aunt with anything she needs. She is not very good at it, but at least she tries. All of this makes her strong and less selfconsious. Kiernan, Sinda's best and only friend, is pretty amazing too. He is extremely loyal, kind and a bit of a prankster who really helps Sinda get out of her comfort zone. He sticks by Sinda's side even after it is revealed that she is not the real princess and it is obvious that he is in love with her from the beginning. Then there is Orianne and Mika. They were both very nice, but my favorite of the two would have to be Mika and her sarcastic personality.Cover: I tend to pick books based on their covers (which is a no-no, but I still do it anyways) and this one was no acception. I love the purple wallpaper background. I'm not quite sure which of the three girls it is on the cover, but I'm guessing it is Sinda wearing a locket with a picture of Nalia. It reminds me of the old Elle Enchanted cover.Overall Impression: For anyone that likes fantasy, magic, wizards, kings, queens and a whole bunch of other things, this is definitely the book for you. This is the first YA fantasy I've picked up in awhile because there aren't that many and I really liked it. I will definitely be looking for more and other books by Eilis O'Neal from now on.
    • 4/5
      Nalia, is the Princess of Thorvaldor--and as the Princess she has a privileged life, She's been tutored her whole life in history, languages, and everything else it takes to be a princess; she's fed gourmet foods every day, given beautiful dresses, lives in a castle, and everything else that one would expect comes with being a Princess and heir to the throne.

      But, just after her sixteenth birthday, while romping around the palace one morning with her best friend Kieran, Nalia is called to meet with her parents--something strange in and of itself. They inform her that she is not the real Princess. She is a false princess, brought as a baby to stand in for the real Princess who was sent away for her protection.

      Now that it is safe for the real Princess to return, Nalia--or Sinda, her real name, is sent away to live with her biological ant a dyer in a far away village. Sinda is never able to quite able to fit in with the people of the village--nor is she able to learn the tasks required of a dyer.

      And soon she's discovering she posses magic, something a part of that world, but not the royal family 'Nalia' believed herself a member.

      With magic sizzling inside her, an aunt who doesn't like her, a best friend she was forced to leave behind, a village where she doesn't belong, and a life that was a lie, Sinda will have to decide what to do next. Little does she know her choice could change the Thorvaldorian history, forever.


      The False Princess is such a great book. At first some of the names of places and characters threw me a little, but once I got used to them, I kind of like it. One of the things that worked well for me, was that except for really one part, it was harder to tell just when this book was set (date-wise). It was as if it was in a nameless time and place so I wasn't trying to connect it with actual dates and places while reading.

      Sinda was a very easy character to relate to and I loved seeing how she changed and developed throughout the story. She was a great main character and really led the story very well.

      I was a little weary at first about the way magic was going to be used but it was just a part of the story, it fit in seamlessly. If you like magic in your books at all, you should really try this one--and if you don't you should still read this!

      The plot of The False Princess had more twists than I went into it expecting it to be and I'm really glad that it did. It was a great mystery but there was still the romance and the intrigue and some action as well.

      I think if you liked reading Avi's Cripsin books, you'll like reading this book. This one is a tad more grown up, but I still think it's in the same vein as those books.

      Overall, I think you will like The False Princess if you like books with magic, if you like fantasy historical, if you like fantasy romance (it's not quite paranormal romance), or just a good book).

      9/10


      thank you very muchly to the publisher for a copy of this for review
    • 4/5
      Intrigue. Family vendettas. Babies switched at birth. A soap-opera type tale with a magical twist.