When I heard that Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray was coming out, I knew I needed to get it. Princess Leia has always been a favorite of mine, so the chance to get to know more about her before A New Hope was exciting for me.
But I’m sure there are some of you out there who aren’t as gung-ho to read it. So I want to share with you my 5 reasons why you should read this book. I’ll keep it as spoiler free as possible because I don’t want to give anything big away!
1. Glimpse into Leia’s childhood
Although Leia was born under unfortunate circumstances, losing her mother to death and her father to the dark side, she really lucked out in the parent department. We get a glimpse into what it was like growing up with Bail and Breha Organa as parents because all we saw was baby Leia being passed along to them at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
Being able to learn more about the great upbringing that Leia had is worth reading because it helps us learn more about the woman we’ve grown to love and admire.
2. We get to “see” Alderaan
One of my favorite parts of this book, but also one of the more bittersweet parts, is the description of Alderaan through Leia’s eyes. And not only do we hear the description of Alderaan through Leia’s eyes, we learn about how beautiful everyone else feels Alderaan is and that the people of Alderaan love their planet and would do anything for it. It makes the destruction of the planet that much for impactful when you watch A New Hope again.
3. Amilyn Holdo
When I said that “seeing” Alderaan through Leia’s eyes was one of my favorite things about the book, my other favorite thing was getting to know a young Amilyn Holdo. I know I wasn’t alone in saying “who is that?” when she came on screen in The Last Jedi. Well thankfully in this book we get to know more about this mysterious and colorful woman and even why she was willing to sacrifice herself for the rebels.
4. See more of the beginning of the rebellion
We get to see the rebellion in the TV series Rebels but with Leia: Princess of Alderaan taking place before the series, we get to see it in even earlier stages. It’s pretty interesting to learn more about their operations, the relationships of the main leaders of the rebellion, and different bases they used. There’s even a cameo of a certain salty, red-earthed planet to look out for which had me grinning the whole time.
5. Learn more about the Galactic Empire
I have to admit, while I’m not an Empire gal, I did like seeing a little bit more about the way people lived with the Empire leading them. There’s not really any surprises, but it definitely helps to understand a bit more why there was a rebellion in the first place.
Have I piqued your interest? I hope you’ll give this book a shot! I’m positive you’ll love it and that it’ll become a favorite for you like it’s become a favorite of mine!
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