Monday, March 10, 2014

Palace of Spies

Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

...I want to take a moment and declare that you should not be dissuaded from reading any book based on the cover...but this cover makes it really hard to get past it and onto the proper book. Ooof. They could have done better.

Anyways.

I've read one or two books by Sarah Zettel, but it was forever ago so I don't find it very relevant. Essentially, this work was kind of fresh to me in terms of the author's writing.

Again, anyways.

An amazon summary to get onto the proper book aspect, "A warning to all young ladies of delicate breeding who wish to embark upon lives of adventure: Don't.


Sixteen-year-old Peggy is a well-bred orphan who is coerced into posing as a lady in waiting at the palace of King George I. Life is grand, until Peggy starts to suspect that the girl she's impersonating might have been murdered. Unless Peggy can discover the truth, she might be doomed to the same terrible fate. But in a court of shadows and intrigue, anyone could be a spy—perhaps even the handsome young artist with whom Peggy is falling in love . . .
History and mystery spark in this effervescent series debut." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The amazon summary did a pretty good job, bravo.

I think I've gotten a bit more fond of espionage books and all the delicate societal rules that are sometimes needed to work within polite society.

That being said, I think this book had a lot to work with, yet didn't use all of it's potential. I understand it is the first one in a series (especially with the way the ending kind of leaves off) so there should hopefully be more character growth and plot development to come. 

I really hope this author is nurtured; based on a quick poke around amazon and the quantity of books she has published, I think she's well on her way.

ANYWAYS.

I did like the main character, Peggy throughout the book as she was just enough of a feminist for me to root for, yet still a bit dopey when it comes to love that there was still room to grow.

Plus the arsenal of side characters surrounding her were enough to create intrigue but not enough to distract from the plot.

I do think there was too much mulling over of clues in her head and that she was not quite suspicious enough of the people at court to be a good spy, but I think she could become a good spy. I also wished she understood more about her employers before she went to court; it would have saved her many a headache in the long run.

The book was enjoyable if a bit tedious at times, but I did want to see more of Matthew as he seemed to be a more solid character than many at court. Also the princess was superb.

All in all, a good read. I'm curious to see what will come about in the second book.

Happy reading!

*If the formatting is a little weird, I had many problems with saving/publishing this post. Sorry! Hopefully the content still comes across!

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