By no means as vapid as the title suggests, but not as intricate in world-building as Inda. Great for young teens -- fans of Shannon Hale or Gail Carson Levine, or even Tamora Pierce. ( )

I didn't love this book as much as I do Crown Duel/Court Duel, but it was still quite enjoyable. The latter parts of the book seemed a little rushed (almost tacked on), but still, the book itself was a captivating, light read. ( )

Not fantastic- Again her political intrigues are a bit hazy, but good fun characters and nice fluff reading. ( )

Interesting - I like Rhis, though she's a little too determined not to be what she's expected to be. The scene with the Perfect Princess when she accuses Rhis of being Princess Perfect (for her ability to appear calm and possessed through everything, among other things) is the most amusing part - having been in Rhis's head throughout, we know how far she feels from being calm and in control! The party never quite gets dull, because the story focuses on people and their relationships. The secret was - well, not a good idea, though it's a standard fairy tale one (and romances). The quest is...rather silly; the aim of avoiding war is good but the idea that only the princesses can manage the task is...well, it fits the "grownups can't do it right" notion (another fairy tale notion). And of course they succeed, through a great deal of luck and magically (sometimes literally) having exactly what's needed to get in/escape/defeat the current opponent... I liked the letters at the end, and the way the party did everything it was supposed to and then some. And it makes me want to read the bit in Wren again where the legend (as opposed to what actually happened) of this story is told to Wren - how Rhis affected Wren's entire world and restructured things. Enjoyable, possibly rereadable but not for a while. ( )

I’ve been meaning to read this for ages. Sixteen year old Rhis is one of many princesses invited to attend festivities held in honour of a crown prince. My first impression -- of a nice-but-unremarkable story with an irritating audiobook narrator -- quickly changed. I got used to the narrator’s voice. I really appreciate Smith’s portrayal of social interactions and of group dynamics from the perspective of someone who is trying to understand why others are competing for attention. And once the plot took off, I was hooked. There’s a very Sherwood-Smith-ish twist that I didn’t anticipate, and I enjoyed that a lot.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. I agree that sixteen is generally too young for seriously committing to a relationship (and being a princess in a fantasy doesn’t change that), but I didn’t completely agree with the decisions made by an adult in response to that and I devoted quite a bit of time to brainstorming solutions I’d have found more satisfactory. But this is a minor quibble, because it didn’t actually change how much I liked the rest of the story. ( )