Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters

Well the final book in the Princess Academy trilogy brings things full circle as the quiet, short girl who defied everyone’s expectations (including her own) to graduate princess academy and defeat bandits has been recruited by the king to teach his three young cousins to be proper princesses before Danland goes to war.

As you can tell by the end of that sentence that Miri is not doing this by choice. In fact, she had just been about to depart for her beloved Mount Eskel when she’s rudely called back to court to be the royal tutor or else the king will sell Mount Eskel’s quarry to greedy merchants that will surely kick all of them out of their home. And again, there’s the aformentioned war with the bordering kingdom of Stora that has invaded Eris and is threatening to invade unless King Bjorn offers them a royal bride.

While the first book was a wholesome rags to riches coming of age story and the second focused on revolutionary thought and ethics, this final story brings a magical mystery surrounding the royal bloodline.

Though the reader and Miri does not suspect it at first. Rather Hale smartly writes things close to her chest, delivering loose holes and clues for readers to pause of in the midst of Miri’s cultural confusion when she lands in Lesser Alva. You see unlike the rough yet cozy community of Mount Eskel and the lavish lowland of Asland, Lesser Alva is a swamp. An overbearing heat with marshy reeds the only thing between boot-sucking mud and having to deal with mosquitos, spiders, snakes and caimans. Yes, caimans that could in one snap.

Plus the royal prinesses are aything but as they are further isolated from the Lesser Alva community. Neighbors don’t come near and the girls have recieved no money or luxaries, spending their time hunting for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So Miri has quite some work to do if she’s going to convince these girls that the pursuit of learning poise, history and logic will be worthwhile in their isolated existance.

Once more Hale shines in creating distinct characters with the three sisters from guarded Astrid to knowledgable, empathetic Sus and sweet Felissa. All who come to admire and trust Miri in their own way and find specific strengths in Miri’s teachings while incorporating their own previous swamp skills to the mix. In fact, Miri also gets to flip the tables on a suspicious enemy by throwing back to her time outmanuvering the bandits two years ago.

There’s a lot of sly references and throwbacks to the first book that help make this full circle while showcasing how much Miri has grown. At first she tried to emulate the imposing Olanna but soon finds her own way to tutor based on her own experiences and finds room to improvise between doing her duty and helping the girls grow themselves without sacrificing their choices.

Plus lider-stone and quarry-speaking plays an important in revealing the royal mystery and explain why the cousins are so isolated from the rest of the kingdom.

I know there is more to say as the book changes from mystery to a suspenseful escape of battle strategems but this is a no spoiler review so I will keep quiet there. But there’s action that picks in the second half that speeds through the revelations with grand emotional beats that let each girl shine and shed more light on Danland politics and the view of women in power. It even completely changes how one views certain characters. Also Peder continues to prove himself as the sweetest betrothed this side of Danland.

I don’t have many nitpicks here as on a whole the series is well-done in building up on previous continuity and making each person’s development feel organic. It does feel like a calmer book compared to the ethics/revolutionary debate of the previous one but it still kept me at the edge of my seat. I do wonder why there was no Lord Gummonth who played a anatagonistic role in the last book that seemed to be taken up by the nameless chief delegate. I was thinking Hale could have just kept him in the anatagonistic role.

But those are minor things when Hale finishes up the story so nicely cretaing a new status quo and happy endings for all the characters.