Review: Rescuing the Prince

★★★☆☆

From Goodreads:
During the afternoon fantasy parade, a dragon swooped down and carried off my boyfriend. I am not making this up.

So begins Leah’s adventures that lead her to another world. At home in California, Leah’s boyfriend Gerry is her rock and motivation. Now, trapped in another world without him, she must find her own courage. During her quest, Leah impersonates a missing princess, learns magic, and meets new friends and allies, including the shy, handsome Tolliver. But in the end, does she have what it takes to defeat Gerry’s fearsome captor, the Dragon Rider?

Your boyfriend has just been kidnapped by a dragon. Even for an amusement park worker that is too much. Leah has been portraying Cinderella with her boyfriend being the prince charming for some time now. She has seen it all, from young dreamy-eyed children too tired parents looking to distract their children for just even a second. She worked in a fairytale. But as all fairy tales, this one has a twist, too. 
The concept of the unexpected made me curious in the first place. Where would the Leah go and what could she do to recover her boyfriend? Then add the other world to it with all its magical elements. Daring swordfights and cunning politicians.

The world building is gradual in the book, as the main character uncovers the other world the reader gets to uncover its wonders as well. There is no information overload at any point, which is relieving since the other world is complicated and full of new characters. What always draws me in is the politics in any book. If they are merged well with the main plotline the story gets more and more in-depth, giving it an entirely new drive and possibilities for subplots as well. I would've wanted to know more about the politics of the land throughout the book. It clearly was a huge part of the development of the plot but it still is a bit unclear to me which family hated the other and why.

The main character is one of the most relatable ones. Tossed in the middle of another world's problems, forced to either help her captors or be killed, she acts as any of us would in the situation. Her character could’ve been more in-depth, I would have wanted to know even more about her. What her passions were, how could she, at one point, just forget that she is forced to live in the other world and do her captor's bidding.

There were some interesting side characters that made the book. They were there to support the plot, to drive it forward, to help the main character to succeed. Their input to the book is something I enjoyed the most in the entire novel.

The plot twist in the end, though. That was a Wau-moment. I could not have seen that one coming. There was no way. And something in that scene transformed Leah's character's motivations and made her realise things that I had been rooting for the entire book for.