Description
Two sisters. One destined for the crown, one doomed to silence. Princess Astrid and Princess Vega are identical in every way – except one was born near perfect, the other “deficient”. Born mute. By age six, their fates are sealed. Vega will be the next queen. Astrid, the silent princess, will spend the rest of her days rotting away in a facility. It is a time when the planet has been ravaged by global warming. Famine and disease demand drastic measures to preserve resources that are already stretched paper thin. The only thing standing between Astrid and the facility, a mother’s love.
Laura Rose –
Cat Meyers has written a creative and entertaining coming-of-age fantasy set in a dystopic world. There were times when I just had to listen to the next chapter as I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. This book does end on a cliffhanger and I am looking forward to the next book in the trilogy. Shelley Reece’s narration is great, adding to the enjoyment of the tale. I requested this audiobook from Audiobooks Unleashed and have voluntarily left this review.
Norma Miles –
“Kiss me, kiss me.”
A tale of two sisters, twins, physically identical in all but one way: one of them was mute. In a future world ravaged by global warming, to preserve resources for the fit and healthy, deficiency laws required all children with disabilities to be sent, aged six, to special facilities to live out the remainder of their short lived with insufficient, inferior food, health care or education. Refusing to let this happen to one of her daughters, their mother, the queen, plans an escape but dies in the attempt, betrayed by one of the children. Astrid, however, is successfully removed and, after a brief hitch, spends the rest of the book growing into her teens in Never Mind.
A strange book, with lots of dialogue, simply written between conversation, a near future fantasy with plenty of low grade action. It is obviously aimed at younger readers, children and young teenagers, presumably, as it is full of character insecuities, instant juvenile crushes, emotional angst, jealousy, tears and wet, sloppy kisses especially as the book progresses beyond Astrid as a young child. There is also an element of super hero, special abilities imbued in both Astrid and her companions, though this is kept mostly in the background and earlier in the story was, for this reader, reminiscent of Raoul Dahl stories like Mathilda.
Narration, by Shelley Reece, was clear and well articulated, her voicings differentiated and her rather girlie timbre well suited for a children’s book. Not initially pleasing to this readers ear, her performing voice soon became more acceptable and was, overall, good.
My thanks to the rights holder and Audio books Unleased who, at my request, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy. Did I enjoy it? Personally, no, not really although some elements were intriguing. I am far too old to be anywhere near the target age group and for me it was too childishly written to transcend the age gap. Indeed, I fear that many young adults would find it unacceptably imature. But it could well be exciting ( and containing that ‘yuk’ factor ) for children under mid teen. With a little adjustment, it could make an interesting film, too. For this reason, rather than my own preferences, I’m awarding it a star rating of 4.