I Am Princess X

Received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Cover image and summary from Goodreads:

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.

I hadn’t heard of this book before I received an ARC at the Ottawa blogger meet up. But one look at the cover and that awesome premise and I KNEW that I had to read this one. It looked and sounded too good to resist!

I loved this book. I would love to have a finished copy for my bookshelf, because the ARC didn’t have all of the comic panels that the finished copy has apparently. And while it’s not a full on graphic novel, it does incorporate the panels of the Princess X comic into the book, which I thought was awesome. I loved the art.

I loved that this story was a pretty tantalizing mystery, and that it came down to the friendship between May and Libby. I love stories that focus on friendship. There were definitely moments where I had to suspend my disbelief but that’s all very easily overlooked (for me) because I loved the story and the characters, and especially loved that May and Libby’s friendship is the basis for everything. I keep saying it – I LOVE STORIES ABOUT FRIENDSHIP and would love to read more of them!

Another plus for me was that this book was romance-free. Sorry if you’re hoping for some kissing scenes and stuff, but I was so happy that there wasn’t a romantic subplot distracting from the mystery.

Was this book perfect? No. And judging from some Goodreads reviews I’ve seen, it’s not for everyone. But I loved it, and when I thought for half a day that I’d lost it when I was so close to finishing it, I was in a total panic. I Am Princess X was such a pleasant surprise. I loved it and totally recommend it!