Who Made You a Princess? by Shelley Adina - MY REVIEW

“Rashid thought I was amazing just the way I was. Danyel thought I could be amazing with a little work.” (p. 99)

Shani Hanna finds herself in a position that many would find both desirable and enviable – she is the object of admiration of two very fine young men. One young man, Prince Rashid al Amir, is worth billions and possesses charm, intelligence and the financial freedom to do as he pleases as long as he lives. The other young man, Danyel Johnstone, is the friend of a friend and attends public school six hours away from Spencer Academy. However, Danyel is the richer of the two, because he knows Someone who holds each of their futures in the palm of His hand.

You know, the entire time I’ve been reading Shelly Adina’s series I’ve never really understood or appreciated the materialistic, rather self-centered behavior of the ultra-rich characters in her stories. Yet I know this class of people exists, because I attended college with some of them. I was a work-study, scholarship student and some of my fellow students had been stuffed away in boarding school since they were barely eleven years old. I know these children didn’t choose their family any more than I chose mine, but I always felt kind of sorry for the relationships that they were missing out on.

Shani Hanna is one such girl. Everything in the world is more important to her parents than she is – until she does something they never dreamed possible – she failed to go along with their plans. Shani is forced to deal with life issues far beyond her years, and she does most of this as a non-Christian. For her, God is a maybe factor in her life. Yet God has surrounded her with praying friends, and if I gained nothing else from this book, I understand I must never underestimate the power of prayer. God certainly answered the prayers of many as Shani faced one very difficult, and to me, unfathomable situation for a seventeen year old.

Of all of Shelly Adina’s All About Us series, Who Made You Princess is probably my least favorite. There is a lot of attitude from the teens in this story that simply would not fly in my house. I would jerk a knot in their tails. Yet, I must consider that almost all of them are severely lacking in the parent department. There was also some pseudo language that I didn’t appreciate. Despite these personal preferences, the story itself wasn’t bad, and the faithfulness of teen believers comes to the forefront. I think that is the most important detail of all.

So check out my reviews of some of Shelly’s other All About Us novels – It’s All About Us, and Be Strong and Curvaceous. Then read a bit more about Shani. Shelley Adina's novels are best suited for mature teens.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author Shelley Adina wrote her first teen novel when she was 13. It was rejected by the literary publisher to whom she sent it, but he did say she knew how to tell a story. That was enough to keep her going through the rest of her adolescence, a career, a move to another country, a B.A. in Literature, an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction, and countless manuscript pages.

Shelley is a world traveler and pop culture junkie with an incurable addiction to designer handbags. She writes books about fun and faith--with a side of glamour. Between books, Shelley loves traveling, playing the piano and Celtic harp, watching movies, and making period costumes.