How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (Throne Chronicles #1)

Description: Rory Thorne is a princess with thirteen fairy blessings, the most important of which is to see through flattery and platitudes. As the eldest daughter, she always imagined she'd inherit her father's throne and govern the interplanetary Thorne Consortium. Then her father is assassinated, her mother gives birth to a son, and Rory is betrothed to the prince of a distant world. When Rory arrives in her new home, she uncovers a treacherous plot to unseat her newly betrothed and usurp his throne. An unscrupulous minister has conspired to name himself Regent to the minor (and somewhat foolish) prince. With only her wits and a small team of allies, Rory must the Regent and rescue the prince.

Review: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse is an enthralling and highly entertaining read that combines elements of fantasy, science fiction, and fairy tales with a feminist lens. It is pitched as The Princess Bride meets Star Wars, which seems like a really odd combination but works beautifully. Despite these multiple elements it is very readable and easy to follow, especially if you do not get too hung up on genre labels.
  The story is shared by a historian and a mix of third person and omniscient point of views which highlight a character's internal monologue. A lot of the internal monologues provided me with lots of laugh out loud moments. The world building is solid while the narrator fills in the reader with necessary information without resorting to info dumping, which I greatly appreciated.
  Eason heavily borrows from the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, but subverts a lot of its themes and plot. When Rory was born she was given gifts and not cursed by a sleeping spell. She is bestowed gifts by the thirteen fairies, which either help or hurt her throughout her odyssey of 16 years in this story.  During this time, she gets all the best training possible from the Vizier of Thorne, Rupert, and her body maid/protector, Grit. I enjoyed watching Rory grow over the course of the adventure, putting to use and expanding upon her training. There are some suspenseful and hard times in this book, but the light moments and humor balances it out quite nicely.
  In addition to the main cast, the supporting characters also add to the story and to Rory's journey. I loved how the female characters held substantial roles unlike the traditional fairy tales. A lot of male characters where just okay and were in the shadow of female greatness.
  There are possible romances in the works or at least I am shipping some characters together because of their great chemistry such as Grit and Rupert and Jade, younger and sweet son of Regent Moss (the villain) and Rory. I would love to see this title on the Alex Award lists as it is a perfect YA/adult crossover.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some minor language in the book. Recommended for Grades 9 and up.

If you like this book try: Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, Lady Janies series by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows