I liked this novelization, but was really hoping for more. While the adventure was thrilling, the female characters fell a bit flat (as they did in the movie) and the relationship between Anakin and Padmé was only barely more fleshed out than in the movie. I felt like this was such a missed opportunity to really delve into parts of the story that the movie didn’t have time for, and I just felt like the novelization didn’t do that when it really mattered. There were a few more scenes added that fleshed out things that were only alluded to in the movie and gave them much greater context. This included a scene where

Cliegg Lars, his son, Owen, and other farmers attempted to rescue Shmi from the Tusken Raiders, but were unable to. It also included more scenes with Jango and Boba Fett that demonstrated their bond.

I really enjoyed those scenes, but found the love arc between Padmé and Anakin needed just as much work as the movie scenes did…

Overall, it was enjoyable and I would read the other prequel novelizations but the characters and relationships weren’t as compelling or developed as I’d hoped.