Aurelia By Anne Osterlund Review #39

Author: Anne Osterlund
Publisher: Speak
Pages: 256
Rating:
An impressive debut, equal parts commercial appeal and literary prowess. Princess Aurelia is next in line to rule the kingdom of Tyralt, but she would rather be one of the common folk, free to learn and roam and . . . not marry the next tyrannical prince that comes courting. Naturally, the king wants Aurelia to marry for political power. Aurelia wants to marry for love. And someone in the kingdom wants her . . . dead. Assigned to investigate and protect Aurelia is Robert, the son of the king’s former royal spy and one of Aurelia’s oldest friends. As Aurelia and Robert slowly uncover clues as to who is threatening her, their friendship turns to romance. With everything possible on the line—her life, her kingdom, her heart—Aurelia is forced to take matters into her own hands, no matter the cost.

Aurelia Lauzon certainly gives a new term to "Princess" with her strong, stubborn and opinionated ways. She will have readers cheering for her as she is a strong, independent female heroine. She's definitely a good role model for young female women of today. Her story takes us through her life as she is desperate to be Queen to help her people, but still at the same time doesn't want to be married off to someone she doesn't love. Underneath all this, someone is trying to assassinate Princess Aurelia. Aurelia's old classmate/friend Robert comes to figure out, unbeknownst to the princess, who is behind the assassination plot. The cover and the book's bio immediately got me hooked and I wanted to read it. I was not really disappointed with this book, because I enjoyed it and was able to finish it in less then 2 days. The most amazing part of this (other then the wonderfully crafted world of Tyralt & it's people) is the POV. The story is told in both Robert's and Aurelia's point of view. What was so thrilling about this aspect, to me, was that it was really well done. You could immediately tell the difference between both characters. I believe if names were not mention in the POV and it was only "I", I could easily figure out who was narrating it (between Robert & Aurelia). You really got to know Robert & Aurelia well throughout the story and I liked that.
What I thought made the story fall was that there was not much action to it, which made it drag in places. At times the story could be kind of slow and you would have to put it down for a few minutes. Another thing was, I admit that the antagonist was really well kept hidden. When you figured out who it is, you're certainly surprised for you didn't see it coming. The problem with the antagonist, I had, was you didn't see that person often in the story. They played a huge part, but they were left out of the story quite a bit. Again, in another persons point of view this could be good because you don't really see the plot twists. The last thing I had trouble with is the romance, it was a bit rushed. But I think it still undeveloped and I think in the sequel, will get to see it prolong more.
So Aurelia was an amazing story that really caught my interest, but had a few things that could of been more developed. The plot twists will definitely catch you off guard!
Yours Truly,