Princess of Dawn by Megan Gilbert

"I hope to be the queen you always wanted me to be."

Bookseller blurb: Galdinia Elderwin, the nineteen-year-old Princess of Crysterra, has lived in the safety of her father’s shadow her whole life. When the king unexpectedly dies, Galdinia is left with the task of becoming queen, but she is missing the key to her ascension to the throne: her gift of elemental power from the Gods. After the king’s death, the capital of Crysterra observes the Week of Mourning, which is full of ceremonies and celebrations in honour of the late king, and on the Seventh Day of Mourning, Princess Galdinia is set to be coronated as queen. In the span of one week, Galdinia must navigate the throes of training for a gift she has not yet been given, gain the respect of the capital’s Syndicate—who still view her as a child—and overcome the heartache of past forbidden love as she is presented with five powerful and charming suitors who could help legitimise her claim to the throne. All the while, she is wary of her enemies on the horizon—her loathsome uncle and aunt, and the exiled Valah Pyrin—who all believe they have a claim to the throne and would do anything to take it from the young princess. Galdinia struggles to deal with the rising pressure and anxieties of becoming queen on her own merit, doing right by the citizens of Crysterra, and having faith in the Gods, and more importantly, herself.

Let's begin with the dedication:

To every woman that has ever been told she isn't enough. You are more than enough. Don't let a broken system stop you from wearing your crown; use you crown to fix the system.

Here are the parts of this story that I enjoyed/appreciated:

• the story pace - this is helped by the story structure where we follow the seven days of events following the death of the King Bartemus.
• the small reveals that made me very suspicious of Bentley such as when he gives her the hair clip and it feels cold and also the scene at the ball when we learn his parents have not attended and Draec Wrynn (father of suitor Evarius) questions Bentley's credentials. (page 197) - from this scene onward I became very suspicious of this smooth operator.
• the hints of political intrigue between the different parts of the realm and even in her own staff.
• does the monarch really hold power or will he/she in fact be a puppet of the Syndicate?
• the strong character descriptions of the contenders for the crown.
• the inclusion of a map.
• the story tension as I desperately waited for Galdinia to be granted her gift - water weaver, fire flourisher or wind wielder. 
• the heroism of the final battle scenes - a princess not afraid to really fight (like a phoenix).
• descriptions of the table setting on day six and the food prepared by Miss Giles.
• I like the inventive names of the five suitors - Kaedric Novus; Lord Evarius Wrynn; Dillian Othid; Kell Ly; and Lord Bentley.
• I also liked the descriptions of the three objects (page 116) during her training sessions.
• Galdinia grows in confidence - especially when she finally confronts Valah.

Questions for Megan

• Did you consider including the royal crest - the Elderwin crest on your book cover?
• Why is this book called Princess of Dawn?
• Page 101 you use the word 'okay' - did you consider any other word choices - this word startled me. And the word 'marsupial' on page 341 also surprised me.

This book has terrific character descriptions - the bold words imply so much:

Draven (brother of the King); "He looked much like his brother - olive skin, dark hair and eyes - but his features were far harsher. As the years of animosity wore on him, his face became somehow sharper."

Edana (wife of Draven): "Locks of her dark brown hair had fallen from her usually pristine bun; she was too distracted to notice her hair's disobedience."

Drystan Allard (first love of Galdinia): "The front pieces of his otherwise neatly tamed mop of chestnut brown hair fell in his eyes as he came to a halt before his friends. The sunlight radiated off his onyx armour, somehow making him glow more brilliantly than he already did in Galdinia's eyes ... At the sight of his kind eyes and gentle smile, Galdinia could feel the warmth of summer ... "

Valah (banished daughter of the former ruler and contender for the crown): "Valah had silently approached Galdinia from behind before speaking, her voice hissing her final word."

I really appreciated the way Megan Gilbert tried to break the usual princess/fairy tale tropes. I love that the Princess is a very skilled archer. You need to know the quote below will be overturned - thank goodness.

"And now at nineteen, Galdinia was slapped in the face with the rude awakening that queen could have their husbands chosen for them. And what was worse: she might not be able to be queen without a king."

"Although Galdinia didn't revel in violence, she was fascinated by the strategy of armies ..."

I have been following Megan Gilbert and her progress with her debut book for a year. I am in awe of her energy and promotion (Facebook; Instagram). She also ran a preorder campaign on Pozible! Scroll down to see her supporter offers and also her book publishing budget. Megan has thanked her supporters at the back of the book.  Her book is self-published and print on demand and is also available from Amazon as an e-book. I actually read the e-book and the print book. With an e-book I like to mark passages I want to re-visit or quote on my blog and Megan had a special price offer for her e-book for less than $4. This book is also available from some local Australian booksellers. Megan also made some merchandise to go with her book - a banner for bookfairs and bookmarks with a QR code.

In the interests of disclosure, I need to say the author of this book is the daughter of a friend and she kindly gifted this book for me last Christmas. The story really held my attention and I read it over the course of one day (343 pages). 

I work in the library at Westmead Children's Hospital and I did wonder about adding this book to our collection. The recommended age for this book is 15+ but I think it might better suit a slightly older reader. The main character is aged 19. For myself I did find the references to heavy drinking a little confronting (I was reading as a reviewer of Middle Grade and some YA titles) and there is an indirect and very minor reference to suicide (page 277). The official content warnings are: anxiety and panic attacks, battles and hand-to-hand combat, blood, death, including that of family members, misogyny, and murder.

Megan Gilbert offers her readers lots of extras on her beautifully designed web page - pronunciation guide, playlist, and a media package. She has held a few in-person events with book readings and interviews, and she even offered an annotated version of her book as part of a competition. This book is the first in a planned trilogy but I am happy to say enough is resolved at the end of the first installment so readers can rest easy and wait until later in the year for Book two. Fingers crossed her true love is rescued and by book three I'm sure there will be that all important 'they all lived happily ever after.'