Review: Rise of the Vicious Princess by C.J. Redwine

Figuring out my feelings for this book will not be easy. As there were parts that I loved. But there were also parts that were a bit boring and a little meh for me. With a heavy heart, I give it three stars. Simply because I was a bit too exhausted when I finished reading this book. And yet I'm truly dying to start book two next.

Which is why my thoughts for this book are complicated. There was much that I enjoyed reading about. But there were several things that I were not too happy about. And yet there was not a single thing that I hated. Well, maybe the unhappy ending, ha. But I am certain that will be fixed. So yes. No hate for this story.

But I also did not fully love it. I wanted to. I did love the main girl, Charis. She was every kind of adorable and fierce and cruel yet too soft to actually be so. So yes. I loved this girl a whole lot. And I did love Tal as well. Though I kind of wish there had been more of their growing romance. More of why they fell for each other. I got that they did. And I very much shipped them. Yet it felt a little weird at times too. Especially with how this book ends. I get that Charis is angry. And possibly hurt. But I do feel like she is overreacting just a tiny bit, and oh, I am hoping this will not be a huge issue in book two. I do not like reading about characters actually hating each other. Hmph. But still. I get why she is angry. But I want Tal to be able to make up for it. Fingers crossed for that.

Anyway. My review is already starting to get messy. Oops. Back to the beginning of this story. I shall not write too much about the plot, only a little. This tells the story of Charis. She is the princess of Calera, with her mother ruling as the queen. Oh. I loved the small parts we saw of her father, the king. He had no say in the kingdom at all. And he was dying. But he had such love for Charis and I very much adored that. He seemed kind and sweet and I loved their very few moments together. I do wish we had seen more of him.

Back to the plot. The kingdom of Calera is in the middle of a war. And they are losing. Charis is trying her very best to figure out how they may win this war, along with her mother. This book begins with the queen being stabbed at a party they are having. With an assassin being in Charis's bathroom. The queen does not die. But now they have to work even harder to figure out how to win the war, how to keep their people safe. They are trading with other kingdoms across the sea, while they are able to. Doing their best to live.

This book is very much about Charis and the war. And that grew to be a bit too boring for me. It took me so many days to read this book. Okay, I have been unwell. But I have also been bored. There were too many meetings in this book. And too many weeks passing with nothing happening. Too many pages with barely anything going on at all. That was a little too much for me right now, to be honest. But then when things did happen, oh. Those moments were all kinds of wonderful and exciting and oh so thrilling as well.

I loved learning more about what was attacking their ships. I loved when Charis was attacked. As it was exciting. And something was finally happening. I did find this book to be a bit too long and a bit too boring. And yet I really enjoyed it too. As I really loved reading about Charis. Getting to know her more. How she worked when she was grieving. How she tried her best to help her people. How she loved her father. How she just wanted to find a person to love her, but how this was not to be for her. But how she wanted it so.

But oh, how I grew tired of reading about the council members, haha. Especially that boy who thought he would end up being king. He was such a nasty person. Ugh. And one of her guards, Rueben. I did not like him at all. Shudders. Yet he seemed at tiny bit better at the end of the book. Hmm. Still. I did not like him. Then there was the bodyguard that Charis had to get after she was almost murdered the first time. A boy who worked for her father. Tal. And I did love this boy a whole bunch. But he was a bit too much at times.

And yet. Sigh. I loved their growing friendship. How he helped her deal with things. But then he spent a few weeks hurting her, staying away mentally, and oh, I did not like that one bit. Hmph. I got his feelings, but still. That was so rude of him. Hmph. But then they got even closer. And while I did want a bit more of it, more story, less feelings, I still loved it so much. He was meant to protect her. Ended up falling for her. And she did the same. Though she knows she cannot be with him. So this is a bit of a doomed romance.

One of the things that I disliked a little about this book was how obvious things were, and yet Charis did not seem to get it. First, Tal's secret that's revealed at the end of the book. There were hints everywhere. Okay, I guess I may be cheating, considering I peeked at the ending of this book back when it came out, haha. So I knew the secret. But still. There were many hints. And then about what was sinking the ships. Found that to be obvious too. And there were many traitors, I think, not just the one she found at the end.

And oh, I really wish there had been more of her two friends, Holland and Nalani. As they both seemed so awesome. I loved Holland's humor. He was funny. And they both seemed to care for Charis. But they were not mentioned much. Despite it seeming like she spent every day with them. No mention that they saw the pain she was in for weeks. So yes. I was a little disappointed in that. Charis was also supposed to be a ruthless princess, but she was honestly all kinds of soft. I cannot say I'm too disappointed in that.

But I was, I admit, a bit disappointed in the queen. She was supposed to be this cold and icy badass. Yet I feel we barely got to see her be this. Yes, there was a murder ordered in the beginning of the book. That hurt my heart so badly and it hurt Charis so much too. It was the rudest. And then a murder at the end of the book. Which showed the queen to be cold. But I felt like she was way softer that she was supposed to be. And she barely did anything. Besides being stabbed in the beginning, ha. Still. Was curious about her.

I have suddenly written way too much about this book. Yet not nearly enough either. I am just feeling so many things at the moment. I'm still going with a three star. But this was a four star for much of the book. But there was simply a bit too much boring and too little happening. I wish it had been faster, had more exciting things going on. But still. I really liked this book. I can't wait to read the final book. I'm so nervous about it. And yet I think it's going to end up being all kinds of awesome. I hope. I am so excited for it too.

Rise of the Vicious Princess was such a wonderful story. I did not fully love it, but oh, how I truly enjoyed reading it. Parts of it were so fun and evil and I very much liked it. I loved reading about the sea monsters and wish they had arrived sooner. I also really liked the writing. It was written so well. And I simply adored Charis, despite her annoying me at times. This book was a great read and I'm glad that I finally gave it a chance. Though C.J. is still the rudest, always killing everyone off, haha. And I adore her so. Do read this.

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