Review: Palace of Spies

Palace of Spies (Palace of Spies #1)

by Sarah Zette

Published November 5th 2013 

by HMH Books for Young Readers

ARC from Netgalley
Goodreads |  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | TBD

Summary from Goodreads:
A warning to all young ladies of delicate breeding who wish to embark upon lives of adventure: Don't.

Sixteen-year-old Peggy is a well-bred orphan who is coerced into posing as a lady in waiting at the palace of King George I. Life is grand, until Peggy starts to suspect that the girl she's impersonating might have been murdered. Unless Peggy can discover the truth, she might be doomed to the same terrible fate. But in a court of shadows and intrigue, anyone could be a spy—perhaps even the handsome young artist with whom Peggy is falling in love...

Thoughts:
I was expecting a funny, quirky historical romance with a dash of mystery and intrigue thrown in and I did get those at the beginning. But honestly, halfway through when Peggy is already in the palace of King George, it gets rather tedious to read what's going on, who's who and what's what.

Peggy is quite a delightful character but she seemed to always changing her mind. And the supposedly love triangle just didn't cut it for me. In truth, I think this book is much more about court politics than finding out who killed the previous lady in waiting whom our dear Peggy is currently impersonating.

Not as fun as a Julia Quinn's novel or as intriguing as R.L. LaFevers; His Fair Assassin series - Palace of Spies might be a good introduction to historical fiction for teens looking for a light mystery.

Verdict: 3 stars.
In my Books in a series Reading Challenge