Review: The False Prince

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The False Prince is one of those books where the reader is in the dark for a long time and doesn't realize the significance of many details until they finally learn a piece of the puzzle that puts everything that came before in a different light. This kind of book is usually clever, and I do love the way everything shifts and clicks into place in that one moment.

But, I also struggle with this kind of book at first because without the smaller clues I don't get hooked right away, and find that it's harder to hold my interest. I like to put things together myself and be invested in the journey. Once I get the coveted piece of the puzzle, I marvel at the cleverness, but I also lose something in not being able to appreciate it before I get there and not being included in the process of putting it together.

So, this is one of those books. Very clever, but I had to persevere a for a while before I really felt interested. There were secrets all over the place, but I didn't have access to any of them. All I had to keep me involved was the training of the boys and their growing tensions and intrigues. Not that these parts weren't fun, but I also kept wondering what the point was.

Once I got the point, my rating went up to 4 stars. For those of you who enjoy big twists that shed new light on the whole story, I think you'll love this.

One more note - I thought this was Fantasy going in, but so far there's no magic about it. I'm wondering if it's actually Historical Fiction?


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