It was fun and fast.
Enjoyable. But nothing earthshaking.
At least her parents loved her.

VERDICT: Give it a twirl! *twinkle* ( )

{First of 2 Decoy Princess duology. YA, fantasy} (2005)

Tess, the princess and heir to the throne of Costenopolie, is excited that she is finally about to be betrothed at the late age of twenty. She is the subject of a prophecy of conquest which means the royal families of the surrounding countries regard her with either wariness or avarice and which has seen her grow up as the target of many assassination attempts. Although she knows she will be marrying out of duty to her kingdom she hopes the man she will marry is at least intelligent and somewhat good looking. Initially pleased to discover that handsome Prince Garrett seems to fulfil these parameters, she’s then shocked to discover that she is not the real princess but a decoy for the assassins.

And then we, the readers, slowly discover that there is a story behind this story. Unpeeling the layers of it had me hooked.

There is a hint of romance running through the book. Though she’s stolen chaste kisses from the sons of nobles, Tess has been sheltered as a princess; though she takes a look if a male character removes his shirt, this is YA and nothing more salacious happens.

I felt that the real princess seemed to adapt to her role surprisingly quickly - but, as the story is narrated in the first person, maybe that was Tess’s perception of her. It was interesting to see the ‘chosen farmboy’ trope from the other side of the table and observe Tess’s take on the princess as well as the princess’s feelings about Tess.

I already have the next one lined up from the library.

4 stars ( )

The Decoy Princess by Dawn Cook was a lively, fun fantasy read with a strong female lead and an interesting, layered plot that revolves around both a royal coup and a mysterious game being played by secretive players who see everyone as pieces to be moved or sacrificed as needed.

Princess Contessa has been raised as a proper princess with lessons in decorum, diplomacy, and politics as well as fashion and shopping. She was also trained in how to protect herself by Chancellor Kravenlow and carries various easily hidden weapons including knives and venom-laced darts. But her world comes crashing down when, on eve of her betrothal, she is told that she actually isn’t the real princess, but a decoy raised in public so that the proper heir could be raised safely in secret. Before she can come to terms with this revelation, her betrothed, the evil, power-hungry Prince Garrett, kills the king and queen, tries to hold Tess a prisoner and sends out a force to kill the proper princess. His plan is to marry Tess and control the kingdom. The pampered princess now finds herself on the run, being hunted by Garrett’s strange Captain of the Guard, Jeck.

I really enjoyed The Decoy Princess, it drew me in with it’s many twists and turns. The moral ambiguity of several characters keeps the reader guessing and makes the story unpredictable. Romance was kept to the minimum and nothing was as it seemed which makes me eager to pick up the sequel. ( )

This is the first book in Cook’s Princess duology. Dawn Cook also writes as Kim Harrison. I enjoyed this fun fantasy adventure novel. The book is very YA in tone and is mostly about the heroine figuring out who she is (both in an actual and more philosophical sense).

I listened to this on audiobook and it was decently done. It wasn’t my favorite audiobook because I didn’t like the voice the narrator used for Tess and found it distracting. I never really got used to it. I would recommend reading this on in paperback rather than listening to it.

Tess has been raised as the crown princess of Costenopolie for her whole life (at least as much of her life as she can remember). However when a neighboring kingdom makes a bid for the throne through marriage Tess finds out she’s just a decoy.

This leaves Tess reeling. She is fleeing for her life and desperate to do what she can to help her people and kingdom...except they aren’t really her people or her kingdom now...so where does that leave her? Tess is an interesting heroine; she has mad ninja-like skills from her training but is also strangely naive because of her sheltered upbringing in the castle. This gets her into trouble more than once.

I really enjoyed our heroine and her struggles with her own identity and purpose in life. They were easy to relate to and fun to read about. There is a lot of action and adventures in this book as well. There is some romance but it is fairly light and not a huge part of the story.

Overall I enjoyed this YA fantasy adventure and plan on reading the second book in the series. Tess is a fun heroine and entertaining. I would recommend to those who enjoy YA fantasy adventure “princess” stories. ( )

Good premise—a girl thinks she’s a princess and is raised to defend herself and govern, but it turns out she’s the decoy to protect the real princess. When the king and queen are killed, she flees/seeks revenge and discovers that she has the opportunity to be part of a larger game, including magical powers. I just didn’t feel it—the characters seemed oddly flat, despite the appeal of the premise. ( )