The Padmé Trilogy

I enjoy the prequel films, more so now than I ever did when I was younger. Back then, I was in it for Obi and Ani; now, I'm in it for Padmé. It's crazy how time can change how you view things and who you claim as a favorite character.

Queen’s Peril - 5 Stars

Likes:

1. The way Padmé speaks.
2. Palpatine/Sidious's brief moments of secret evilness is nice to see.
3. The inclusion of the election for Naboo's queen.
4. Insight of everything that leads up to the start of the first prequel film.
5. Further insight of what's happening in Naboo during the first prequel film.
6. The queen-substitution tactic that plays a keyrole in the first prequel film plays a bigger role here.
7. The outfits of the handmaidens and Queen Amidala.
8. Seeing the rule of Queen Amidala for a bit (as little of it as we actually get to see, bummer).
9. How uncomfortable I was about a torture scene and how concerned I felt for the character.
10. Seeing what the Jedi and Skywalkers were up to before the first prequel film.

Dislikes:

1. Panaka's Nick Fury recruiting montage.
2. It still reads like fan-fiction, to me (and I would know; I still write fan-fiction, barely, and have spent a lifetime reading a lot of good and bad ones); there's just something about it, that I can't pinpoint, that makes it feel like it doesn't entirely fit inside the universe.
3. The writing is a bit mediocre, and that could be the cause for my previous dislike.
4. The first prequel film was rushed through but that's understandable since there's already a book or two out for that (it still makes this disjointed, though).
5. The lack of actual ruling going on in Naboo (or really, the lack of actually seeing it happening, other than a few glimpses here and there; it's mainly focused on Padmé and her handmaidens, not Naboo itself, so it's just brief summaries mostly).

Favorite Character(s): Padmé. Sabé/Tsabin. Rabé/Rabene.

Final Thoughts: Regardless of my issues with it, I greatly enjoyed my reading experience. I will always read this one first in the series, even though it was made second.

Queen’s Shadow - 4 Stars

Likes:

1. It begins with the end of Queen Amidala's reign and the beginning of her service as Senator.
2. The struggles throughout; no one can be perfect.
3. The outfits again.
4. The brief slavery related side plot.
5. The switcheroo tactic sort of returns.
6. The link to the prequel films.

Dislikes:

1. Far too slow-paced for my tastes.
2. A bit boring compared to the Queen reign stuff.
3. Clovis.
4. The dialogue tends to be weird; it doesn't fit, in my opinion.
5. The plot, what little of it there actually was, was basic, very easy to forget most of.

Favorite Character(s): Padmé. Sabé.

Final Thoughts: I didn’t enjoy this as much as Queen's Peril, but I still quite like it, despite the massive flaws.

Queen’s Hope - 2 Stars

Likes:

1. It begins with the very early days of the (mostly) secret marriage between Padmé and Anakin.
2. The interactions between Padmé and Anakin were cute enough, I suppose.

Dislikes:

1. We only get glimpses of Padmé and Anakin's relationship; I understand that they're busy people with vastly different lives but more should've been shown.
2. The interactions between Padmé and Anakin were out of character, to me, despite being cute.
3. The severe lack of Padmé compared to the previous books; everyone else's excerpts were very uninteresting, not to mention they were out of place.
4. The dialogue often made me cringe.
5. Too many repetitive lines of thought, specifically in a row.
6. The wedding scene wasn't in Padmé's point of view, and it didn't last very long; an entire chapter should've been dedicated to the wedding.
7. The brief scene with a transgender trooper shouldn't have existed because it feels extremely forced, and you only see the character once altogether.
8. The drama between Padmé and Sabé was very unnecessary but the author needed a reason for them to go their separate ways.
9. Very boring writing; it felt like a chore, trying to re-read this.

Favorite Character(s): No one because everyone felt too out of character for me. Probably why I feel like Padmé hardly exists here; she's not the same character I love.

Final Thoughts: This book remains a complete letdown. I'd been so excited for it. I hoped for additional insight to their relationship; I'm talking about Anakin and Padmé. I hoped for, maybe, a slight speedrun; starts at their wedding and gets to the third prequel film, which would mean we'd get some insight on her feelings about learning she'd gotten pregnant, and then the epilogue of everyone mourning her would've been a bittersweet but necessary ending (without spoken dialogue). It had the potential of being that but the author wanted all the side characters to shine the most. I will always try to re-read this when re-reading the trilogy, but I'll likely always end up skimming through it. My two star rating, instead of a one star, is basically out of generosity.