Title The Princess in the Opal Mask
Author Jenny Lundquist
Description from Amazon
Every Fairy-Tale Ending Has a Price. . . .
Orphaned as a child in the crumbling village of Tulan, Elara is determined to learn her true identity, even if it means wielding a dagger. Meanwhile, in Galandria’s royal capital, Princess Wilha stands out as someone to either worship or fear. Though no one knows why the king has always made her conceal her face–including Wilha herself.
When an assassination attempt threatens the peace of neighboring kingdoms, Elara and Wilha are brought face to face . . . with a chance at claiming new identities. However, with dark revelations now surfacing, both girls will need to decide if brighter futures are worth the binding risks.
Initial Thoughts
I bought this book years ago and it has been sitting on my shelf since then. I decided in January that I should pick it up and finally read it. According to the dust jacket description, it has several tropes that I normally like, royals, romance, fairy tale retellings, etc. All in all, I didn’t think I would dislike this book.
Cover Art
I really like the background colors on this cover. Watercolors with blue, green, and purple, you really can’t go wrong. I think the typography is pretty but not very practical. The script makes it difficult to read the title.
The mask is pretty, but it’s difficult to see. I would have liked to see something more prominent like what’s featured on the cover of Fawkes by Nadine Brandes.
Favorite Part
The writing style. I thought the alternating POVs between Wilha and Elara gave the story a much needed sense of completeness. Both girls had very different opinions and watching them work through the same situations made this book much more interesting.
Something I Wasn’t Crazy About
Character immaturity. I found that both Elara and Wilha were very selfish and immature at times. They often had to do the wrong thing first before they would turn around and do the right thing. I think if they had been a bit older, those types of problems wouldn’t have come up. I particularly didn’t like how Wilha treated James.
Series Value
This book has a sequel which I did read immediately after I read The Princess in the Opal Mask so I can’t say it has no series value. However, I can say that for the events of book two, the set up in book one went on far too long. This could easily have been a one-book stand alone that was just a bit longer.
Final Thoughts
This story had a good overall concept. The writing style was interesting and the world building and history were interesting. There was no magic (which is always a disappointment to me), but I somehow got over that. The romance was a little wishy-washy, but again, I powered through.
⭐⭐⭐
Recommendations for Further Reading
- The Opal Crown by Jenny Lundquist – this is the direct sequel to The Princess in the Opal Mask. Definitely a must read for fans of this story.
- Veiled Allurement by Elle Beaumont and Gilded Ashes by Rosamund Hodge – both of these are unique Cinderella retellings. Give these a try if you like the fairy tale aspect of The Princess in the Opal Crown.
- Everless and Evermore by Sara Holland – no spoilers here, but there are some **STRONG** parallels between the storylines here. Secrets, royals, romance, check these stories out if you liked the plot twists and relationships in The Princess in the Opal Mask.
Links
Books Over Everything 
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