Review: The Princess Spy by Melanie Dickerson

November 17, 2014

Title: The Princess Spy
Author: Melanie Dickerson
Publisher: Zondervan
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-0-310-73098-9
Publication Date: November 4th, 2014

Synopsis:
Margaretha has always been a romantic, and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to Hagenheim Castle, claiming to be an English lord who was attacked by Claybrook and left for dead. And only Margaretha—one of the few who speaks his language—understands the wild story.

Margaretha finds herself unable to pass Colin’s message along to her father, the duke, and convinces herself “Lord Colin” is just an addled stranger. Then Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well, and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—not only is she unable to keep anything secret, she’s sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. Though when Margaretha overhears Claybrook one day, she discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. It is up to her to save her father and Hagenheim itself from Claybrook’s wicked plot.
Review:
I'm always excited when Melanie Dickerson has a new book out. She has a fantastic ability to take such well known fairy-tales and change them into something new and unique, but still hold on to the foundation of the story.

The Princess Spy followed the same pattern and it brought a new twist to the Frog Prince. Plus, we finally got to know Margaretha better in this story. We were briefly introduced to her in the previous story in this series, but this book allowed her to shine. She is a girl who loves to talk and I loved how her mother didn't put her down about that. She turned what Margaretha's brother thought was annoying, into something good. Not only was Margaretha a talker, but she was eager to try things despite the dangers. She was very out going and also loved to help people and willing to protect those she loved. And she can weld a candlestick with the best of them.

Colin is the opposite of Margaretha. He doesn't talk much, but he is driven and shows it with action. When first introduced to him, it isn't under the best of circumstances. Then he out of his element after he gets back on his feet. He is in a foreign country, he doesn't know the language, and he has no money. He is forced to rely on the kindness of the people of the village. In this time, he is still pressing forward to accomplish his mission he set out for.

I thought Colin and Margaretha were fun together. Colin was series and Margaretha was able to balance them out with a little lightness between them with her chatter. We see characters from the previous books, and this book tied The Merchant's daughter into the others. I loved how that was done. Even though the other characters weren't in the spotlight, they still stayed to true to how you knew them previously and added a nice depth to the story. Margaretha's cousin Anne, definitely was the same as she was in the previous story...my goodness, that girl didn't have a clue.

This book started off with action and had it all the way through. I think this story had the most fighting yet with schemes and plans floating around. It kept the pages turning and it was a lot of fun to see where it would go.

Too Read
4 out of 5

About the Author:
Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer’s Apprentice, a Christy Award finalist and winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award for Best First Book. Melanie earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Alabama and has been a teacher and a missionary. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Huntsville, Alabama.





Thank you to BookLook Bloggers, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.


2 comments

  1. Looks like an interesting story. Never heard of this book before, but I love fairy tales :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elin, If you love fairy tales, I think this whole series you would enjoy. It's a fun twist to the classics. :-)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. Leave a word, leave a line, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Latest Instagrams

© The Shelf Life. Design by FCD.