The Opal Crown

The Opal Crown by Jenny Lundquist, 2014 Running Press Kids

     Elara has been betrothed to the prince of Kyrenica for a whole year; Elara discovers she is the identical twin to Wilha the crown princess of Galandra who has always worn a mask. Wilha is finally experiencing the freedom of wearing her own face. Elara has fallen in love with her sister's betrothed, and the twin princesses struggle to return to life as they once knew it.

    Meanwhile, in Galandra the country is deteriorating and when the king dies mysteriously the prince, their younger brother, reveals the princesses' deception. In a bid for the throne, Prince Andrei reveals both young women as traitors to Kyrencia's royal family, unraveling the lives they've built. Elara and Wilha are on the run for their lives both in Kyrencia and Galandra. 

     The alliances Wilha's marriage would build with their neighboring nation are strained. Galandra and Kyrencia at war would serve Andrei's purposes and solidify his reign, but Elara and Wilha have developed relationships with each other and political powers in both countries. 

     Deciding who will wear the Galandrian crown is not simply a matter of who was born first, but of which twin will choose to be her nation's savior. Secrets of their past come to light while they escape one situation after another. 

     Wilha struggles with confidence and living outside her sheltered and privileged childhood. Elara is challenged by her own fears and uncertainty about her past. Each young woman's history gives her some perspective on how to proceed in rapidly-changing times as civil and international war threaten to break out. 

     Life for the princesses is difficult as they leave the protection of Kyrencia and the royal family. The world has only believed Galandra to have one princess and the appearance of a second, especially one whose face no one outside the royal family has seen adds to the dissent surrounding the king's death and political turmoil. 

     Their story carries little of the princess-perfect "happily ever after" traditionally associated with a transition of royal power - life for Elara and Wilha is messy and complicated just as normal life is messy and complicated. Young adult readers will enjoy the elaborate world-building and political maneuvering which goes into resolving an attempted coup d'etat. The Opal Crown is a continuation of The Opal Mask completing the duology. 

Red Queen

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, 2015 HarperTeen

    For generations, the world has been divided into red and silver blooded -- the red-blooded are commoners and the silver-blooded have inexplicable powers. With those powers, the silvers have placed themselves at the top of Norta's society.
     Mare Barrow is a seventeen-year-old red who is trapped in the Silts, and it doesn't appear anything is going to change. The Stilts are the poorest of the poor and Mare is fortunate to find a job at the Silver Palace to help support her family after her older brothers are drafted into the long-waging war. In the course of her duties, Mare discovers she as an unexpected talent.
     When the silvers discover Mare's ability to control electricity they decide to pass off her ability as the discovery of a long-lost bloodline and missing princess. Mare is elevated and begins training her gift with the other teens while taking history and etiquette classes to keep up the illusion.
     The royal family keeps Mare close as they watch and try to figure out how a red could have powers like any other silver. The girl goes along with their deception, her cooperation ensured by the royal family's talents and threats. Mare's family is kept from the truth, but does reap some benefit: two of her three brothers are returned from the war effort, while the ruling family perpetuates the lie of her position.
      Norta faces war with the Marshlands and continues to draft young reds into the army. Less publicly the silvers are challenged by a rebel group called the Scarlet Guard. As the truth of their world becomes more clear to Mare the Scarlet Guard approaches her. The teen takes the opportunity to expand her background knowledge and possibly to create a plan for her future.
     The two princes, Cal and Maven, vie for the new princess's attention: Maven is, for political reasons, engaged to Mare while his older brother Cal is genuinely intrigued by the young woman despite his family's plans. The queen uses her mind-reading and -control to manipulate the court as she creates the life she wants for herself and her sons. Cal's uncle Julian acts as one of Mare's tutors and reveals to her that she is not the first red to exhibit powers.
     When the ambitious and antagonistic silver court turns topsy-turvy Mare faces the silver's prison and a battle royale where her newfound powers will do nothing to save her.
     What started as a fairytale for Mare Barrow turns into a battle for her life and for her country. Her romance with the young man - not her fiance causes tension as Mare tries to sort out the men in her life and her future. Readers who enjoyed The Hunger Games will find similarities in Red Queen, which is written for a similar, young adult audience.

Son of A Witch

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire, 2004 Regan Books

     A man is beaten and found by a group traveling the Vinkus mountains. The man is identified at the cloister he's brought to for medical treatment: he is Liir. Liir is the son of Elphaba the wicked, green, Witch of the West. While he doesn't share his mother's coloring, everyone knows who Liir is. The story jumps around in time telling Liir's story after the events of Wicked.
     After Elphaba's death, Liir returns to the Emerald City with Dorothy and her companions. Along the way he helps a princess of the Vinkus tribe, he locates Fiyero's daughter Nor, and gets permission from Glinda to visit the maximum-security prison Southstairs. He joins the Home Guard where he is employed for several years until he's deployed into Quadling Country where events lead to his desertion.
     After the Cloister, Liir and a Quadling girl, Candle, leave together. Liir heals from his wounds and acts the diplomat as Animals across Oz battle the Wizard's anti-Animal laws. The Birds are a threat to the intentional instability of Oz and have the ability to unite the nations so they ask Liir to represent them to the government. A grudging Liir accepts the new task.
     Candle takes the opportunity to reveal she's expecting his child when Liir returns to prepare for the journey to the Emerald City--he refuses to believe her even when she admits he was unconscious during the process. In the Emerald City, Liir finds another relationship with the Emperor's chief dragon master. The two young men destroy the dragons and steal back Elphaba's broom, fleeing again to the Cloister of Saint Glinda where Glinda herself is visiting.
     Liir's life is a series of beginnings and endings of relationships: he is adopted by Elphaba and abandoned when she dies; he is inducted into the Home Guard and deserts when their atrocities offend his sensibilities; he finds romantic love several times and loses it. The titular character is mired in self-doubt and his only real goal is to find his half-sister, Nor. Liir's storyline is in a nation fighting itself to maintain the separation between its people and as the son of the villain, he is uniquely placed to interact with all the factions of Oz. Son of a Witch is not appropriate for young readers with gratuitous violence both physical and sexual; readers who enjoyed Wicked will enjoy this sequel.

The Lucky Ones

The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen, 2012 HarperTeen

     As the heat rises in the city those who can escape to the cooler temperatures outside the city do. The Gray family estate experiences Gatsby-esque parties as bootlegger alcohol runs free.
    Letty Larkspur is getting a taste of fame as her hard work pays off. But when fame takes a  questionable relationship with a married Hollywood star Letty is opened up to a target for the hopefuls coming to the city. The starlet has dreams of Hollywood but her naivete leads to her Hollywood mentor betraying her trust and Letty discovered it by the man's wife.
     Astrid has returned from her honeymoon with the love of her life only to discover he hasn't been showing her his commitment to the business. When Charlie begins to keep Astrid under guard for fear a rival operation may use her as leverage, Astrid is stifled. One of her younger guards is sympathetic and listens to her, Victor becomes Astrid's escape. Victor is one of Charlie's most trusted men and the two keep their budding relationship secret for both their sakes. Charlie is possessive of his new wife,
     Astrid is trapped by the decisions she's made, but Cordelia and her famous boyfriend face complications. The daredevil is mulatto and to maintain his position his history cannot be made public and the normal stages of a relationship risk exposing Max's secret past. Cordelia loves her pilot but the risk of losing not only his good name and position, but also his main source of protecting his family. Can their love withstand his private life and her public persona?
     When Carlie's fears come to pass, but extend beyond simply impacting Astrid but also his sister and her best friend. Tensions run high at the end of the summer concluding the Jazz Age. The girls' paths have separated but in this violent conclusion to the Lucky Ones Trilogy the three meet again.

The Valiant

The Valiant by Lesley Livingston, 2017 Razorbill

     When seventeen-year-old Fallon was ten her brave older sister was a member of their father's royal war band. Sorcha went into battle to save her king and bring her father home to care for her young sister. Fallon and her father have mourned her fallen sister in different ways: Fallon has become a fierce warrior while her father has searched for a way to keep her from his eldest daughter's fate. 

     The night of the tribal gathering, Fallon's father betrays her not once, but twice. The princess leaves behind the trappings of her station and tries to flee. In the midst of her escape Fallon is captured by slave traders and though she despises the captivity, the hope that she will escape to wreak vengeance drives Fallon. 

     As a slave Fallon meets a fierce warrior girl from the far north and the two become grudging friends. When their fighting skills are put on display in Rome Fallon and her Viking companion are bought to be female gladiators by no less than Julius Caesar's personal ludis. 

     The Lady Achilleas is a hard, but fair, mistress. Fallon discovers her new home's profession of sisterhood mirrors true sisterhood in not just the camaraderie, but also the vicious rivalries. At her swearing ceremony Fallon discovers her new mistress isn't so much the stranger she thought, but the sister she thought long-dead. Sorcha as Lady Achilleas tries to drill into her reluctant little sister that in Rome one must fight for what she wants in the Roman way. 

     The new world of gladiatrix is similar to her practice at home, but the duplicity and depravity are new for the slave princess. Someone is intent on bringing Fallon, and through her Sorscha and Caesar, down from the pedestal of power they hold over the plebeian population. Sometimes the games played with swords are the least dangerous intrigues in the world of female gladiators. Despite the constant danger, Fallon finds a new home and family. 

     Livingston's story looks at a curiosity of history: female gladiators were long thought to be outliers and are only recently being rediscovered and their reach studied. Fallon is a transplant from the frontier who must learn to live in a new and treacherous world while sorting out old beliefs and alliances. Her desire to make a name and place for herself wars with her relationships. Like many young women, Fallon is faced with the choice to roll with the punches (sometimes literally) or get knocked down. Either way, she always gets back to her feet to continue fighting.