The Secret Prince by Violet Haberdasher

This second book in the Knightley Academy series had everything that made the first book fun: knights-in-training, damsels in distress, backstabbing, and plotting.

Here is the summary from Goodreads:
Knightley Academy is back in session, and Henry Grim is confident that nothing else can prevent him from earning his knighthood. But Henry and his friends quickly discover that their professors have made some troubling changes to the curriculum -- an old classroom filled with forgotten weapons. It is the discovery of this classroom that prompts Henry and Valmont to become the unlikely leaders of a secret battle society. But disaster strikes as Henry, Adam and Frankie find themselves stuck as Partisan School servants. Yet something is rotten in Partisan Keep. And when Henry is discovered by a secret society of outlaws with a sinister purpose, he must come to terms with a great sacrifice that will take him away from everything he has ever known and wanted. The stakes get higher and tension mounts in the second installment of Violet Haberdasher's fresh, fast-paced, and always surprising Knightley Academy books.

I thought that the plot was interesting, and loved that Henry, Adam and Rohan were finally accepted by the other boys.  I liked that Henry and Adam again got themselves into trouble, but like the true scrappers they are, were able to get themselves out of it.

I did think that the death (yes, there was a death, but I'm not telling you who!) was slightly glossed over.  I don't need all the gory details, but they talked about it once beforehand, and then mentioned it a few times after, there wasn't any in between.  Because of this, I felt like the ending was a little rushed.

All in all, I thought it was a good book.  I'll be honest and say that I did like the first book in the series better, but that doesn't diminish the fact that, in its own right, this was a good book.

I was lucky enough to download this book via Simon & Schuster's GalleyGrab program.  The book is scheduled for publication June 28, 2011.

Cleopatra Confesses

Everyone thinks they know the story of Cleopatra, right?  Or at least the movie version that brought Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton together?

Cleopatra Confesses introduces us to a new Cleopatra, not the seductress, but the favored daughter who loved her country more than anything, and who was forced into a loveless marriage with not just one younger brother (as was custom), but when that one died, her other younger brother!

Here is the summary from Goodreads:
It is the first century B.C. Cleopatra, the third of the pharaoh's six children, is the one that her father has chosen to be the next queen of Egypt. But when King Ptolemy is forced into exile, Cleopatra is left alone to fend for herself in a palace rife with intrigue and murder. Smart, courageous, ambitious and sensuously beautiful, she possesses the charm to cause two of history's most famous leaders to fall in love with her. But as her cruel sisters plot to steal the throne, Cleopatra realizes there is only one person on whom she can rely--herself.

I really liked this book.  It was well written and researched, and I liked that it gave a different perspective than the seductress Cleopatra.  The Cleopatra portrayed in this book is one who is fiercely loyal to her country, a woman who is smart and sensitive but is often a pawn in her own life.


Cleopatra's story is narrated by Cleopatra and starts when she is roughly 10 and follows her through her father's rule, exile, the joint rule of her sisters, her father's return, becoming Queen, and her two great loves, Caesar and Marc Antony.  



The last chapter is so sad when she talks about Caesar's death and then Marc Antony's death and leading up to her own suicide by asp.  


Because it was interesting and well written, I gave it a 4 on goodreads.  




*I downloaded this book for free thanks to Simon & Schuster's GalleyGrab program.*

Wrapped

 Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury is the story of Agnes, a feisty Regency era debutante who unwittingly stumbles across a great mystery and ultimately uncovers a spy and helps her country.

The summary from Goodreads: 
Agnes Wilkins is standing in front of an Egyptian mummy, about to make the first cut into the wrappings, about to unlock ancient (and not-so-ancient) history.
Maybe you think this girl is wearing a pith helmet with antique dust swirling around her.
Maybe you think she is a young Egyptologist who has arrived in Cairo on camelback.
Maybe she would like to think that too. Agnes Wilkins dreams of adventures that reach beyond the garden walls, but reality for a seventeen-year-old debutante in 1815 London does not allow for camels—or dust, even. No, Agnes can only see a mummy when she is wearing a new silk gown and standing on the verdant lawns of Lord Showalter’s estate, with chaperones fussing about and strolling sitar players straining to create an exotic “atmosphere” for the first party of the season. An unwrapping.
This is the start of it all, Agnes’s debut season, the pretty girl parade that offers only ever-shrinking options: home, husband, and high society. It’s also the start of something else, because the mummy Agnes unwraps isn’t just a mummy. It’s a host for a secret that could unravel a new destiny—unleashing mystery, an international intrigue, and possibly a curse in the bargain.
Get wrapped up in the adventure . . . but keep your wits about you, dear Agnes.

I like a good historical fiction book.  I like the feeling of going back in time, and as dorky as it sounds, learning something about that time period.  I did feel that to really get a good grasp of this book, the reader needed to have some sort of understanding of Regency England, its society and morals. 


I really liked that Agnes was able to keep her plucky attitude and didn't have to follow the same path as many women of that time, of her station.  I appreciated that the author didn't push modern views on marriage and women on an era that felt totally different about those things, and on the other hand, she didn't create this feisty, lovable girl and then force her into a dull, loveless marriage.


I was able to guess the "bad guy" as soon as he was introduced, and was also able to guess that he would be a spy long before it was introduced as a possibility.  


All in all, if you like a light, fun, historical fiction, this book is probably for you.  There are elements of romance, but nothing sexual.  If I taught middle and high school, I wouldn't have any problem having this book on my shelves.  I gave this book a 4 out of 5 on goodreads.


I was able to download and review this book thanks to Simon & Schuster and their free GalleyGrab program.