Enchanting Review: The Princess and the Pauper

THE PRINCESS AND THE PAUPER

KATE BRIAN

Contemporary YA

Simon Pulse

ISBN# 978-1416953692

288 Pages

$8.99

Trade – Available now

Rating: 4 Enchantments

When Carina, Princess of Vineland ends up in Los Angeles on her goodwill tour, she’s anxious to ditch her bodyguards and chaperone for a night out. But everyone would miss a Princess and there’s no way she can sneak out to meet Ribbit, the lead singer of Toadmuffin who she’s met online. But fate seems to intervene when on a trip to her grandmother’s alma matter, Los Angeles’ Rosewood Academy, she and her best friend bump into Julia, who Ingrid is convinced could be Carina’s double—with the help of a mini makeover of course. The hitch is talking a reluctant Julia into making the temporary switch.

Julia Johnson is your normal teenager. A scholarship student at the prestigious Rosewood Academy she has a chance encounter with Carina and her best friend in the girls bathroom. But when Ingrid and Carina spring their idea on her, Julia is anything but interested. She looks nothing like Carina! But when they offer her enough cash that she and her mom won’t lose their apartment, Julia has a hard time saying no. Following a couple impromptu ‘Princess’ lessons, Julia’s thrust into the Princess’ life and into the arms of Carina’s supposed boyfriend, who was supposed to be duller than dirt.

Told in alternating chapters by both girls, THE PRINCESS AND THE PAUPER is a fun read. There are a few chapters in the beginning that slow things down a little, but the action picks back up once the girls make the switch. Carina finds out Ribbit may not be her Prince Charming after all, and Julia finds herself falling for a real Prince, the only hitch is he believes her to be Carina and there’s no way she could ever tell him different.

My favorite parts of the book were when the girls switched places. Julia stepped into the role of Princess of Vineland rather easily, while Carina struggled a little to step into the role of an ordinary teenage girl, especially at the club where she’s taken to meet Ribbit. But what ensues, especially with Carina is nothing short of highly entertaining. Some definite laugh out loud moments ensued.

Kate Brian is the author of the popular The Princess & the Pauper, The V Club (available in paperback as The Virginity Club), Lucky T, and Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys. She will always be sweet sixteen at heart.

Lisa

Enchanting Reviews

July 2008