“Didn’t anyone tell you?… You can murder and scheme all you want, parade yourself naked in front of the whole of Phangloria, but girls like us never get the handsome prince”
Cordelia K Castel
This book is a lesser known cross of The Selection series in The Hunger Games series. Only the first book of the series is out so far and the second is set to come out in August.
Zea-Mays Calico lives in the Harvester region of Phangloria, the place where food is farmed and water is scarce. The guards that patrol the Harvester region have nothing better to do than take advantage of the power that they are given as guards and arrest falsely accused people. This is why she is a part of the red runners, a rebellion with the goal of destroying the monarchy. Zea-Mays must help gain access to the underground tunnels in the palace by being an insider in the princess trials; a set up to win the prince’s heart and become the next princess of Phangloria. However, the prince isn’t the only one that has to choose; the competition is broadcasted across Phangloria, but someone is out to get Zea-Mays because the broadcasts are repeatedly manipulated to make everyone turn against her. When the trials begin to have higher stakes and the trials turn into a fight to the death, Zea-Mays must discern the truth from the lies, and reality from the games.
Zea-Mays is depicted as a naive young girl that doesn’t seem to notice people’s real character when it truly matters, and her story requires her to grow up in the short time of the princess trials. This book shows how far people go for friendship- and whether that friendship is returned. This book shows how far people will go to attain the thing they truly desire, in this case, the power the crown gives them.
My criticism for this book is that some of the side characters are a little two dimensional, their stories are a little confusing to me in places. Initially, I thought that I wouldn’t like this book because it seemed too closely related to The Hunger Games or The Selection but I like Castel’s way of putting a spin on the stories and way of making it her own.
| Character | ★★★★☆ |
| Plot | ★★★★☆ |
| Ending | ★★★☆☆ |
| Storytelling | ★★★★☆ |
| Overall | 3.875 |
