Adrienne Tooley's third novel, The Third Daughter, is an enchanting YA fantasy in which a princess and an apothecary work together to save a cursed queen--and fall for each other in the process.
For 300 years the country of Velle awaited the reincarnation of the New Maiden, a third daughter of a third daughter destined to "take the throne... and heal the world." At four years old, firstborn Elodie was "cast aside for the prophesied Third Daughter" when the Queen gave birth to Brianne. Now 17, Elodie is strong yet cold, seen as a "colorless girl, as pale as the palace and just as impenetrable." The eldest sister fears that "bumbling, pitifully earnest" Brianne is unqualified to rule and will end up a pawn of Chaplain René, the power-hungry leader of Velle's church. Elodie, who decides she must incapacitate Brianne and take the throne for herself, purchases a sleeping draught from sorrowful Sabine, an apothecary whose tears are the secret ingredient in her family's potions. Sabine, though, accidentally gives Elodie an undiluted vial of tears, and the powerful magic puts Brianne "between life and death, in a state of preservation." When René uses Brianne's slumber as a pretense to seize power, Elodie convinces Sabine to help her awaken the prophesied Queen.
Tooley (Sofi and the Bone Song) weaves familiar fairy tales into a captivating dual point-of-view narrative. The tenuous alliance between royal Elodie and commoner Sabine blossoms into a riveting star-crossed romance as well as a story of two teenage girls embracing their emotions as a source of strength. --Alanna Felton, freelance reviewer