A Princess in Theory
Ratings23
Average rating3.4
I DEVOURED this book. Though there was an element of mystery it was pretty easy to solve and that didn't take away anything from my enjoyment of this. Loved it!
Light and fun romance, with a smart black woman working in STEM research. I had to use my suspension of disbelief to accept the male character being a spoiled rich prince with a good heart (and not an asshole). It has that fairy tale feel to it when some things are too good to be true. But, hey, it's fantasy, and it made me smile.
I love Alyssa Cole's writing, every time I start before I know it I'm already 30% into the book. Her characters are fun and relatable the one in this series are usually dorks (at least the ladies are and I am here for it). This is what those cheesy Hallmark royal Christmas romances want to be minus the Christmas. And I just realized that I read the series in reverse order but with romances that doesn't matter as they can all standalone.
my thoughts and feelings still the same as n¡my review on the audiobook version. however... I have some “points” to highlight about the Brazilian version.
A tradução fez com que o livro perdesse um pouco do ritmo original do texto em português, porém várias das expressões e algumas piadas ficaram infinitamente melhor em nossa/minha lingua.
E algumas escolhas de palavras na emoção do momento que talvez eu trocaria. No geral, queria que era série ficasse extremamente popular e que mais pessoas se interessassem por romances contemporâneos e com personagens negras (e de todas as cores e todas as formas e tamanhos), que mostrassem que o normal é ser diferente.
review 01:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38644527-a-princess-in-theory
This starts off with complete disregard for “show, don't tell” principles and couldn't sustain my interest in the face of my tbr pile.
Too much time spent on the false identity thing and not nearly enough time spent in home country working politics and mysterious epidemic.
I really loved this one. Cole's dialogue and characters are so great! I loved ledi's passion and nerdiness.
This was a really satisfying, fun read that also packed in some Big Ideas about microaggressions in the workplace, the condescending paternalism of Western countries toward African nations, and whether or not there will ever be a cure for fuckboyitis.
Also, this book's emoji game was on point.
It's definitely full of popular, familiar tropes (Mistaken identity! Fish out of water! Snowed in & forced to huddle together for warmth! ETC) but with some twists that keep you reading. I tend not to pick up adult romance as a genre but this was very enjoyable and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a solid pick-me-up.
(also yes we read it for WBS but we're filing it under #BestBestsellers, don't worry!)
http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-96-a-princess-in-theory/
I liked the clever woman working in STEM and the New York setting rang true–but the African kingdom felt like a Disney set from Switzerland or something. I lived in West Africa for a few years and I couldn't suspend my disbelief for the whole fake-kingdom side to this story. Too bad–I would love to read more fiction set in Africa written by folks who know the setting!
I'm not a romance reader, and I read this for a book club I'm in. So not to denigrate a genre that is just clearly not for me, I'll acquiesce that this was alright. The end was Michael-Crichton-levels of rushed at the end, so much so that I wonder if someone forgot to update the plot draft into an actual collection of sentences and paragraphs.
If you want to read Black characters treated with respect and love, this was great for that. I found that really refreshing, especially after a lot of horror stories I've heard about romance in general. Note that this is my first real foray into romance, so who's to say.
Portia and Naledi's relationship seemed forced and awkward, and I was never really sold on what Portia was doing that rubbed Naledi the wrong way so bad. The whole thing about Portia's “alcohol issue” rubbed me the wrong way. I found Naledi a much more interesting POV than Thabiso. I found the last third of the book both absurdly slow and very fast. I liked the assistant character.
IDK. I had to force myself to pick the book up and finish it, but I would never have picked it up if not for a book club convo, and I will not ever pick up a romance book again until a book club requires me to do so. So... take that as you will.