I wasn't even that surprised

I have to be honest...Carrie Fisher's The Princess Diarist was a bit of a letdown. When I saw that she'd come out with a book with excerpts from her diaries written during the making of Star Wars I was SO excited. The punny title, the front cover with that iconic hair, and the premise had me immediately adding it to my library hold list. It turns out that this is not a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat or makes you feel as if you've learned something monumental about the person who is writing the book. The book focuses on one subject and sticks to that ad nauseum throughout. And the worst thing was that it wasn't even that earth-shattering. For me, the best part was when Fisher talked about her relationship with the Star Wars franchise after so many years and how she's had to navigate the world of fandom. I always find that so interesting because for celebs it has to be like moving through an alien landscape. (Now that is a book I'd like to read.) Strangely enough, this experience hasn't deterred me from adding her other book, Wishful Drinking, to my TRL. Hopefully, that one will be on the blog in 2017. XD This one gets a 4/10.

I'd also like to add two things: 1. The next couple of reviews will be of picture books because that is what I am living right now. and 2. My end of year book list will also include books I've read in 2016 but haven't got around to reviewing on here yet (there's a fair few of those).

Thanks for visiting the blog and I hope you're having a super week!

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **

From the world that brought you Jabba the Hutt

Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray was basically an excuse to read another book from the world that created Jedi Knights, the Force, and Darth Vader. I watched and didn't especially like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and when I heard that there was a prequel to the film out there I felt compelled to read it. (It makes sense to me, okay?) The main protagonist is Senator Leia Organa and the majority of the story takes place in the Senate. This may have been why this book felt quite slow at times because it is very political and less action packed (exactly zero lightsabers made an appearance) than I had expected. Of course, this book could be viewed as a setup for the action that takes places in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THIS FILM. However, there are still unanswered questions that this book did not address such as what was the final straw that broke up Han and Leia. In this book they are still happily married albeit their dedication to their jobs is already putting a strain on their relationship. Han is still a wanderer at heart and Leia is a slave to her senatorial duty. There's a division in the New Republic which spells trouble for the government that the Rebels fought so hard to obtain. I did get a bit choked up at one point because THE INJUSTICE. (If you read the book you'll understand why that had to be capitalized.) The most frustrating part of this book were the cast of characters which were introduced and didn't materialize in the movie which logically should have been the continuation of this story. I'm wondering if there is something else in between these two and that's why I felt that something was missing. All in all, it was an entertaining although not entirely satisfactory book taking place in the universe (haha space joke) of Star Wars. 7/10

**If you're interested in buying this book or any books really, you can click here or here. The first will re-direct you to AbeBooks and the second will re-direct you to The Book Depository. These are great websites for purchasing books (AbeBooks carries inexpensive used and out-of-print books and The Book Depository ships free everywhere in the world). Full disclosure: I will receive a commission on all sales made by following either of these links. I wouldn't recommend a site that I didn't use and you are under no obligation to purchase anything. :-) **