In the not-too-distant future, a princess dies. At least, that’s what the princess and her second husband want the world to believe. After faking their deaths to escape the princess’s dangerous and suffocating lifestyle, the two escape from Kepler Prime and settle on Earth. Now living under the names Myra and Jones, the princess and her true love have a simple life. Their daughter is studying for medical school. Their granddaughters get to ride horses. Jones is even selling a new wine named in Myra’s honor. But when one of Myra’s royal sons from her first marriage finds himself in trouble, she can’t help herself. With her daughter’s unknowing help, she mobilizes to save the granddaughter she’ll never meet. But in doing so, it seems she’s revealed herself to a few watchful eyes. Then, the deaths begin on both sides of her family. With the net closing in, Myra must use the resources she has available to figure out who’s committing these murders and why.
Overall, the concept of B. Kinde’s LEGACY OF A PRINCESS is intriguing. However, its thinly-veiled inspirations become distracting the further one reads. The princess—the People’s Princess—was originally named Dyanna. She befriends her daughter-in-law, a “princess of the people” much like herself, during a meeting Myra imagines many people would love to see. The narrative overall takes place when Earth is deep in an undefined pandemic. The story carries only the faintest sheen of futuristic sci-fi: a confusing choice, as it adds nothing to the story and does not mask the story’s inspiration. Nothing masks it: it is, unapologetically, an alternate-universe story based on conspiracy theories around the life and death of the late Princess of Wales, Diana Spencer.
The book itself is readable and presents an intriguing look at Myra as a mother and grandmother straddling a commitment to two lives. The newly-invented story beats are interesting, blossoming into an intergalactic conspiracy theory that spills into an upcoming second book. The mystery itself is intriguing, with tendrils reaching into all parts of Myra’s life. However, it’s overshadowed by the prevalence of the on-the-nose real-world inspirations. Regrettably, it turns a potentially enthralling tale of love and politics into an involuntary game of spot-the-reference. The worldbuilding exists as a sparsely-defined mirror of the present day, grounding the fable even deeper in its source rather than letting it soar and find its own direction. Kinde’s talent as a writer is undeniable, with the strongest and most compelling portions of the book being Myra’s fairy tales for her granddaughter. These sections make it clear that she can tell fantastic stories rooted in reality. LEGACY OF A PRINCESS could shine even brighter—and hopefully will—if she flies further from the source material in the second book.
In LEGACY OF A PRINCESS, B. Kinde weaves a sci-fi-tinged narrative of a princess in peril that, were its real-world inspirations not so thinly veiled, would be legitimately enchanting.
~Kara Dennison for IndieReader