Princess Academy: Palace of Stone Review

After enjoying the first novel, I was surprised to find out that there were two more books making it a trilogy, so of course I had to get into it.

Taking place almost a year since the events of the Academy and Britta’s engagement to Prince Steffan, the girls of Mount Estkel finally get to go to the lowlands to accompany Britta as ladies-in-waiting for a year. As Miri had learned from school, there is so much more to the world than just the quarry and their lider-songs. Now, she’s heading out to the world and it is a lot more complicated too.

Miri is the only one aware of the possible dangers waiting for them in Asland. Katar, former bully, now Mount Eskel’s delegate had written ahead of time that there’s trouble brewing and she needs Miri’s help. Once they arrive, the girls are wowed by the gilt, the largeness and the knowledge of music, medicine, history and more that they had never encountered before. Miri is the only chosen to go to Queen’s Academy with the expectation to carry the nowledge and learning for everyone so she can return to Mount Eskell and teach the villagers so they could improve their lives for the better just as she had with trading ideas.

There she learns that Mount Eskell has no history books as they are still considered lower than those populating the other provinces. She also classes in art, mathmatics and ethics, which the latter has an important plot point here. For the danger that Katar had been murmering about was possible revolution and assassination. The commoners/”the shoeless” are revolting against the favoritism given to nobles and higher tributes leading to starvation and poverty. The rich get richer, and the poor get nothing but the people are planning to put a stop to it by assassinating Britta who represents yet another noble lady stealing the chances of the poor with her lie back during her time in the academy.

Miri quickly gets swept up with the revolutionaries, invited in by the cute Timon and to the cerebral Sisela’s salons where she learns more about the unfairness between the classes, and the equality the “blue-bands” (as they’re soon dubbed thanks to Miri, inspired by her sky-blue colors) hope to wrought through violence. Yep, peace is not an option here. They believe that the revolution can only be successful if all the royals and nobles are executed or else they’ll return with foreign help to execute all of them. Yes, it’s very French Revolution-Reign of Terror and I love it. It raises the stakes as Miri struggles to find a solution to what seems like an impossible problem, an ethical conundrum if you will as she worries about the threat of her family in Mount Eskell facing poverty and starvation again as well as Britta whom the revolutionaries want to kill as the inciting spark.

I can’t say more than that but Hale skillfully weaves these questions of ethics and revolution with Miri’s personal turmoil of whether or not she will stay in Asland once the year is up. In fact, a painting of a commoner girl staring at the moon echoes this thread, Miri interpreting it different depending on her feelings at the moment. Plus her additional romantic triangle manages to keep me guessing and doesn’t feel tedious as both boys touch certain parts of Miri’s personality and her ambitions for life.

Miri continues to be a worthwhile protagonist and other supporting characters like Peder, Britta and even the king and queen who initially seem like distant, oblivious royals turn out to be more three-dimensional than they seem and concern the question of legacy. And another bit of lore building that relates to the title which I can’t spoil.

I think I’ve said a lot about spoilers so I’ll wrap it up here by concluding that I admire how Hale matured this book to match the characters, upping the stakes, introducing new conflicts and created a more lived in world and characters to populate it. So I’m very excited to see read the sequel here. Oh, and once more the traditional songs, Queen Academy poems, and folklore play an important part in emphasizing and forshadowing important beats.

Overall, a wonderful sequel that elevates the world of Princess Academy with real world parallels to history and ethics that changes the game.