Princess
I first fell in love with Courtney Cole a couple years ago when I found Dante's Girl, the first book in her Paradise Diaries series. Princess immediately went on my to-read list, especially after I read author's notes describing it as edgier than your average YA. It took me years to get around to actually reading it, and in the end I only decided to because it was short and I wanted a quick read.To be perfectly honest, I was disappointed in Princess. I didn't expect it to be perfect, by any means, but the cheesiness was a little much for me, and the plot was simultaneously predictable and too complicated to make sense. Additionally, the "I'm going to have sex with my 'distant' cousin and fall madly in love" thing grossed me out a little bit.
As far as characters go, I like a little depth, and while I was actually somewhat impressed with Sydney's personality, I was not at all impressed by the other characters in the book....except for Tom. I loved Tom, actually. He should have had a bigger part.
All in all, this was not one of my favorite books, but it was also not a bad book. If you are looking for a quick contemporary read that is exciting and dramatic in a soap-opera sort of way, and you don't mind a bit of cheese, then Princess is the novel for you.
