Author: Tiffany Schmidt
Published: May 19th, 2015
Hardcover, 400 pages
4 Gold Stars
(summary from Goodread)
Penelope Landlow has grown up with the knowledge that almost anything can be bought or sold—including body parts. She’s the daughter of one of the three crime families that control the black market for organ transplants.
Penelope’s surrounded by all the suffocating privilege and protection her family can provide, but they can't protect her from the autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise so easily.
And in her family's line of work no one can be safe forever.
All Penelope has ever wanted is freedom and independence. But when she’s caught in the crossfire as rival families scramble for prominence, she learns that her wishes come with casualties, that betrayal hurts worse than bruises, that love is a risk worth taking . . . and maybe she’s not as fragile as everyone thinks.
Tiffany Schmidt has blown me away with each of her books before this one. The plot for this one is so different from her other books that I was a bit nervous going in and not sure what to expect, but I enjoyed every minute of this. Penelope Landlow is the daughter of one of the three crime families that buys and sells human organs. She has always been the weak one, born with a severe autoimmune disorder that causes her to bruise easily. They treat her like she will break and she wants so badly to be a part of the family in a real way. But when everything suddenly changes and her family is no longer there to support her, she is thrust into a world she knows nothing about and is running from those who harmed her family.
I didn't know going into this that it was a retelling of The Princess and the Pea, the princess being the one who bruises because of the pea hidden beneath a ton of mattresses. This gave me a whole other thing to enjoy about this book. Penelope's disease is unique to YA and it was very interesting to see how her family treated her differently because of her bruises. They thought her fragile, which perhaps she is physically, but I knew she would do great things even if her body would fail her. Once she had to start living on her own, she had no one to take care of her and I was hoping she would have taken better care of herself, especially because of her condition and it surprised me that nothing bad happened to her whilst out there.
There is some crazy intsa-love happening for anyone who isn't into that sort of thing. Penelope has loved her brother's friend, Garrett, for a very long time and they've finally begun to do something about it. The moments they share are sweet, he's careful with her but she eagerly just wants him to touch her. They have decided to run off together when suddenly everything changes and as she waits for him to come find her in the city, she ends up meeting someone else, Char, and quickly becomes infatuated with him. Before long the two of them have a relationship she's been dreaming of, one where she can be with a guy who doesn't treat her like a fragile butterfly. Once she meets Char, he becomes the most important thing in her life, which I don't really mind in a book but I know a lot of people want more than that. The two of them together was a sweet story and the twists and turns that came with it were well done and made for some good drama.
Even though this was unlike any of her other books, I still loved it. The concept was great and unique and the retelling stood on its own without needing to be The Princess and the Pea, but knowing it was made it that much better. I'm excited to see where Tiffany will take this story and what other twists she has up her sleeves. Definitely recommend for anyone looking for something different with a bit macabre, drama and some great romance.
“I know I’m going to fall in love a million times in my life. Maybe more than a million . . . but it will always be with you.”
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