
The Princess Trials is set in a dystopian world and it is the first book in a 3 book series. The protagonist of the story is Zea Calico, a sixteen year old girl who was born into the lowest echelon in the walled in City of Phlangloria. The world outside (known as the barrens) has been taken over by deserts and Nuclear War has devastated humanity.
Growing up in the lowest echelon, Zea has gotten to a life full of hunger, thirst and work. The lowest echelon is the harvester region, which means that she has to do work all day. Because of this, Zea joined the Red runners who are a group of people who want to get rid of the echelon system and fight the Royals (the top echelon). The perfect opportunity comes up, the Princess Trials.
Zea thinks of the Princess Trials as just a beauty pageant, but she is soon proved wrong. The trials soon turn deadly as one of Zea’s fellow competitors gets killed. Zea starts to get friendly with Prince Kevin and starts to question whether she really wants to carry on with the mission.
The Princess Trial’s is a fantastic book by Cordelia K Castel which I would recommend to people over the age of 12.