Life in the Palace (Book 1 - The Palace Saga)

Chloe Diaz's perfect older sister, Stacy had done the unthinkable when she hopped on the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle and rode off into the sunset. Her parents were furious, and so Chloe became the repository of all her parents' displaced hopes and dreams. It is becoming truly exhausting, so as soon as she's able, Chloe leaves for college several months early.

Once she's enrolled in summer school, Chloe's life begins to change in ways she never expected. She's more than happy to leave the super heroic, save the world missions to her new study partner, Tal - who claims that as one of 'The People', she was sent from 'The Palace' to maintain the cosmic balance between good and evil. Chloe assumes that this is code for "I'm a pamphlet distributing, incense burning, religious weirdo."

Chloe was certain of three things in her life: first of all, boys who looked as gorgeously suave as Seth Wilks never even looked at her twice; second, they sure as heck never claimed she was their soul mate (as appealing as that particular thought might be); and third, there would never come a time in Chloe's life when she would have to choose between following her heart towards her own happiness, and following a much different path towards her destiny. Chloe was wrong; the time for her decision has come...

Now the future of the world is in her hands, but what if the price is too great to pay? Chloe learns that, in the Palace, destiny is not enough...

I must say that I enjoyed reading this book very much. This was a very intriguing and unusual premise; slightly darker and grittier than most readers might expect when they think of religious-themed fantasy, but I found the characters sympathetic and well-developed, the story was well-written and kept my attention engaged through to the end. I certainly want to read the next book in this series - 'To Call Your Name'. I give 'Life in the Palace' by Catherine Green an A!

Well, since Jeanne reviewed twice, I will too. It's a good, entertaining read. Ideal for those of us that are into romantic fantasy, alternative universes etc.. If you don't like moral messages, are anti-religious or anti-spiritual you might not agree with some of the philosophy... but probably not enough for it to be a bad read... Also the ending leaves you wanting more. Which is unsurprising given that there is 'book 1' in the title.

This story didn't need "to fight evil" when clearly the palace inhabitants/believers do more damage than the evil they supposedly fight against, lol... Thats a major flaw of the storyline and seems more a story about how peoples lives get messed up by cults.

I loved this world that Catherine Green created. I happily lost myself in the life & deep love between Chloe & Seth as well as the other people in their daily lives.
The story is told mainly from Chloe's view, though it isn't the only one. I loved the attention to detail, the fleshing out of the world around them, the obvious growth of all the characters... Even the heartbreaking choices made at the end.
Book two I cannot wait to read!

Interesting concept but deeply flawed. "Only thing evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing"!

This book introduces you to a whole host of characters that you want to meet in real life. Set in college in Canada, Chloe finds love in the rather dishy Seth and a whole parallel existence, the palace, through friends which she originally assumed were crazed religious weirdos. The action keeps you reading, while the budding love between Seth and Chloe makes you breathless. A great read, life in the palace will take you on an exciting journey to where life is not what it seems to be.

Great book!

I loved the idea. The characters are believable, interesting and entertaining. Lots of funny quips that made me laugh out loud.

A very easy read that is also thought-provoking. Highly recommended.