The Opal Crown

Gr 6–10—The unresolved events at the end of The Princess in the Opal Mask (Running Pr., 2013) involving intrigue in a royal court smoothly segue into this equally gripping sequel. Identical twin princesses Wilha and Elara, who were separated at birth because of an ancient family prophecy, were reunited in the previous installment of this duology that riffs off Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper and Alexandre Dumas's The Man in the Iron Mask. Now, a year later, Elara has continued to pretend to be Princess Wilha and even begun to fall for Stefan, while her twin secretly lives in the village as an ordinary seamstress. After their father, the King of Galandria, dies and their younger brother Andrei assumes power, he reveals their deception and declares them traitors. As Andrei fails to win over his citizens, Wilha dreams of ruling jointly with Elara, but Elara's hatred of Andrei makes her determined that she would make the better ruler. Narrated in alternating chapters by the sisters, the novel is full of surprising plot twists. Elara isn't always very sympathetic and Wilha can appear too passive, but Lundquist effectively portrays how they both grow and change for the better. Fans of Jennifer A. Nielsen's "Ascendance Trilogy" (Scholastic) should enjoy this.—Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton