Book Review: Princess Kandake

Review by Tara

A terrific YA book. I was drawn to this at first because it's about a Nubian warrior queen. It's historical, an exotic setting, an incredibly tough chick. Being a YA, it's simple in its telling, but not overly juvenile, and it's full of morals and thoughts.

It's the story of young girl coming to terms and age with many things. She doesn't want to be queen. She wants to be a warrior and at first she rebels against being a queen. It doesn't sit well with her, but then fate shows her she is meant for the position and through an adventure, she comes to terms with it and embraces her new path.

Nubia lets women be what they want to be. It doesn't discriminate against either sex. This was fantastic and I love how Kandake ends up sitting down with another group of people and she not only learns to use words over the sword when the situation calls for it, but also shows them women are just as good/strong/equal to men.

Besides her inner turmoil, the conflict is a series of attacks against their trade caravan. Who is the group? A misunderstanding leads to an adventure...there's a moral there. "Get the whole story before you act." Kandake has to save her brother, prevent a war, fight, think on her feet, and stand up for women.

There's horses, escapes, bows and arrows, and just a small touch of romance as Kandake develops feelings for a fellow warrior. The ending wasn't overly pit-pat either. One conflict is resolved, but another looms on the horizon, and I also found myself wondering...if a story in the future for us regarding Kandake's sister. I sense a lot of things coming. Book two is also on my list. I highly recommend this one. Five stars. I received this from the author in exchange for an honest review.