I loved the President's Daughter series back in the 80's (this link has a rundown of the plots, the preceding books will be updated and re-released later this year), and was flabbergasted that it was being brought back with a fourth book. I don't know how this publishing miracle came about, but it gives me hope for other series I love.
I started the book yesterday and was up until four a.m. finishing this one, and it's 700 pages long. (Yup, that's speed-reading for you.) I could not go to sleep until it was over, period.
Before I begin, let me just say that if you haven't read the books that precede this one (this is also a sequel to the Friends novels), you will be able to follow what's gone on before very easily, even though this is a sequel. Yes, I am going to spoil major plot details of the preceding books, since they are currently out of print and you can't read them without some scrounging about at this moment in time. (Well, also you can figure the details out from the Amazon blurbs/back cover of this book.)
Previous plot rundown for you: Meg Powers is the oldest child of the President of the United States...Katharine Vaughn Powers. So far during the Powers administration, the President's been wounded via gunshot and her daughter got kidnapped by terrorists. Meg got mindfucked up the wazoo by her kidnapper, who also destroyed her left knee and then left her handcuffed in a mine shaft to die. In order to escape, Meg had to smash her hand to bits with a rock. (I will never be able to reread Long Live The Queen. I just can't do it. The hand scene finishes me off. But let me assure readers that the book I am currently reviewing is not that brutal.)
And indeed, when we see Meg months later, she's not doing well. Her family isn't either, as her dad is still mad as hell at her mom for not negotiating with terrorists. She's in agonizing pain and just trying to get through the day taking two classes at George Washington U, and otherwise hides away in her room, not eating. Even Meg can see that this is a pretty bad situation, and decides to suck it up and attend her original college choice, Williams, for the spring semester. And she already thought it was going to be bad going as the President's daughter...now she's the permanently handicapped President's daughter with a "death watch" of media following her around. Naturally, she's not in the best of moods to meet new people.
This is Meg's journey back, hitting potholes, standing up for herself, wrangling the press, dating, making friendships, dealing with constant medical shit, and trying to cope with her fear. She also has an interesting relationship with her dorm adviser, Susan (more about her here), who's also got an ugly past that reporters are interested in.
The handling of Jack, the fellow Meg dates, is very interesting. He really walks a fine line between "womanizing charmer that everyone warns you about" and "decent guy underneath" and "18-year-old guy who has NO idea how to handle a girl with a complicated life situation and can't figure out if he wants to bail or not." It's a surprise to me that Meg dates him (and sticks with him), but I enjoyed watching his development as a person.
I love how Meg still manages to be quite snarky, and how much of a born political wonk she is (there's a scene with her poli sci prof that's amusing, and also mentions where she took her second steps as a baby!), and how she relates to her fellow students... eventually. Even injured, she kicks ass.
Five stars. I can't recommend this enough. Even if you don't like "teenage" novels. Even if you have to read the previous books first. Even if you don't want to read about someone who was brutalized. It's worth it.
I agree 100%. So nice to hear someone else say they can't recommend it enough!
Posted by: Angie | June 03, 2008 at 11:11 AM