I Am Princess X

By: Cherie Priest, Kali Ciesemier

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

Best friends, big fans, a mysterious webcomic, and a long-lost girl collide in this riveting novel, perfect for fans of both Cory Doctorow and Sarah Dessen, & illustrated throughout with comics.

Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure.

Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.

Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window. Princess X? When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon---her best friend, Libby, who lives.

©2015 © 2015 by Cherie Priest (P)2015 Scholastic Inc.

Amazing

I loved the book it's amazing I even want to read it again I comprehended so well it's fun existing and scary. I did not like the fact it said a couple things wrong. Other then that it was awesome!

The story

I loved it!!! It was a great story!!! So Good!!! I want to read another story like that it was awesome!!!!!

Gorgeous

Gripping, hilarious and sad. It cannot be skipped. You will love this story. I could not turn it off.

Loved it except...

A nice light escape if a story; a little trope-y, a little predictable, but enjoyable all the same.
I found it difficult to get through the narration on the manga/graphic novel portions of the story. It is very clear the narrator is unfamiliar with the style, as she read the Princess X comics as though performing for a 20's radio serial. If the whole novel had been read in such a manner, I might have ended up missing out on a nice read.
As it is, the rest of her narration was good! Her voice for Meg is actually stuck in my head like a catchy tune, and I'm having a tough time of not speaking like her out loud. I'm on the fence in her choice of speech for Jack's voice, but how DO you portray "cocky genius"?
Well worth a listen.

Fun story, but audio may not be the best medium

Went looking for another Cherie Priest book set in the real world and was excited to find this one is set in Seattle, a city I know pretty well. Priest gives us an excellent tour of the city and had me thinking I had actually seen signs of Princess X in my own adventures around town. I wish this book had gotten more notice locally, especially from the local comic con and rather significant comic book scene. It would be fun to do this as a book club selection with Girl Scouts or some similar group. It's a wonderful YA book for mid-adolescent age but also fun to read as an adult.

That said, this book is probably best experienced in visual form, as the story shifts from novel to graphic novel. The narration is fine with the novel characters but the comic book characters are overacted and irritating. The narrator just doesn't have the vocal range for those parts of the book, which are almost painful to listen to. Casting a separate narrator for those voices may have been a better choice.

Even with the sometimes irritating narration, I was sad when the story ended. I really love these characters! I hope Cherie Priest writes more of these sorts of fantasy thrillers set in real places; she's got an amazing sense of place.