A Princess in Theory. Alyssa Cole. 2018. Avon Books. 373 pages. [Source: Public Library.]
A Princess in Theory is a book I couldn’t ignore. I saw frequently in passing, but not at times when I was adding to my TBR pile. Finally, seeing it on the Goodreads lists for best romance book of 2018 made me stop and check it out. Surely, there was some hype I was missing. I thought this was a cute story, but it didn’t draw me in. In fact, it took me 3 separate checkouts over 4 months to finish. I was pretty shocked by this, because the reason I was interested in reading it was due to how much fanfare I’d seen about it. I was disappointed that I was immediately sucked into the story.
That being said, A Princess in Theory, is an enjoyable, if not predictable fairy tale. I mean, it has to be, if I went through the trouble of checking it out thrice. I was entertained by the somewhat awkward courtship between Naledi and Thabiso, and genuinely was interested in seeing how their story could be resolved. Naledi is a hard working graduate student whose nuisance du jour is the never-ending emails she gets on behalf of the Kingdom of Thesolo. She is, apparently, betrothed to Prince Thabiso of the African nation, although her parents fled the nation decades prior. What she writes off as a determined scam is genuine, and the prince is ready to find his wife … in New York. Thabiso does arrive in New York, but a weird twist of fate presents him to Naledi instead as Jamal, a terrible fellow waiter. The two eventually cross paths and begin to connect more with one another, which brings the tension of the story — how will “Jamal” reveal his true identity to Naledi and at what cost?
I really liked the idea of who the main heroine is — Naledi is strong-willed, self-sufficient, and ambitious. She’s had some hard knocks — being orphaned as a kid — but she is resilient. She didn’t read to me as helpless, or irreparably broken like I’ve seen in other books. Does she have baggage, yes, but she isn’t crushed by it. It does, however stunt her approach to relationships and that becomes apparent in how she engages with Thabiso. At times, she comes across as emotionally underdeveloped, though she has a logical approach to romance. What I liked most about her, however, is that she is true to herself by the end of the book. She has a sharp wit and has standards of respect, which plays out in interesting ways once she meets the other royals in Thesolo.
For his part, Thabiso is more of stock love interest. He wasn’t remarkable to me, though he did come across are level-headed and forward-thinking specifically as it related to his home country’s future. He was charming, and caring, but this is also balanced the fact that he is somewhat manipulative. Like Naledi, he has a moral compass that is rooted in respect, and I loved seeing that play out with Naledi and his parents.
I found the most compelling part of this story to be when Naledi finally gets to visit her motherland, Thesolo. There are vibrant descriptions of the small nation; it immediately brings to mind Marvel’s Wakanda. Thesolo defies stereotypes about Africa and is instead a thriving nation with technological advances that set it apart from some of its beleaguered neighbors. The story takes a turn once the setting changes, and I felt that it was more interesting. Naledi is able to put her education in infectious disease to work in order to understand the mysterious disease that is plaguing the Thesolo.
Overall, A Princess in Theory is worth reading. I appreciate it most for presenting a black woman thriving in a STEM field in addition to presenting a more modern depiction of Africa that is aligned to reality. Although it is predictable and a bit slow-moving, it is a heartwarming story that I enjoyed reading.
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