Reviews

Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon

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allivenger's review against another edition

5.0

I am absolutely feral for anything Ruby Dixon. So not only did this book hit all the right Ruby notes but it introduced an entirely different world for her readers. Candra is an amazing MFC and her tenacity and humor in a less than ideal situation were a perfect addition to this. Add in cinnamon roll Nameth and you have a match in Ruby heaven. It was so good!

ckd1's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

Candra is the broken princess, so she has always just enjoyed herself around court and loves all of the attention. She sister dies unexpectedly and now Candra must go to the goddess' tower for seven years with her enemy. She only catches glimpses of Nemeth at first but then circumstances push them together.
Candra and Nemeth figure out how to live and work together in the tower but everything on the outside is not as expected.
I did not figure out everything that was going on and the twist kept the story interesting. If you like the Aspect and Anchor series, you will like this one too.

nelliereadsalot's review against another edition

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3.0

Having only read Ruby's IPB series, I wasn't sure what to expect from a longer book that didn't include our favorite blue guys. What we get is an enemies to lovers situation between a feisty FMC who has to figure out what is important to her and a shadowy man with knees that bend backward (this is mentioned frequently). It still has a lot of what we expect from Ruby (read: monster smut), but also humor, plot, action, and a total simp of an MMC. I was definitely not expecting the twist at the end!

That being said, there were definitely parts that felt a bit longer than absolutely necessary. When I read the author note at the end and learned that it was originally released as a serial, they pacing made more sense, though. I was also left with some lingering questions that I didn't feel were totally answered. This also is not a quick read; don't expect it to go as quickly as an IPB read.

Overall, it was an interesting read set in a dynamic world (gods, court intrigue, curses, war).

Note: There were some slightly darker elements that might not be for everyone (scroll down for TWs).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book for an honest review.

TW: infant death, slavery, implied SA (not on page and not main characters)

cjessen501's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

jessmoguel's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Was longer than necessary, still loved it!

lizinthelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The premise of this book is absolutely delightful - a spoiled princess and a "demon" prince trapped in a tower together for seven years, clearly destined for an enemies to lovers adventure. The princess, flighty and shallow, grows and learns but also stays herself. The steamy parts are just marvelous (except if you don't know what knotting is, google first, NSFW). It reminds me of why I liked the first few Ice Planet Barbarians so much. The character development and plotting pacing in this novel are superior to Ice Planet. Dixon is growing as a rider and I look forward to so much more!

marie_thereadingotter's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I received this book from NetGalley for review

I went into this book with zero exceptions, I’ve heard of Ruby Dixion before. But I didn’t think to look up who that was before requesting this book. Ice Planet Barbarians, so this book is technically part of the omega-verse. Would’ve liked to know that before hand.

That being said, this book was fine. I did skim over the copious amount of smut scenes, since this type of “intimate” scene isn’t my cup of tea. But I liked the banter between the characters before they started having sex. It was amusing and realistic. But the sex scenes, as the book neared the end, often happened at such odd times in my opinion (Shortly after the FMC was almost SA’d for example). It just felt out of place.

The world-building was pretty weak at times. The magic was very glossed over, to the point where I’d prefer zero explanation over the flimsy descriptions that were given. The dynamic of being locked in a tower for years, didn’t make sense to me. They were given more supplies, during that time, but other than that, there are no windows and the door is bricked shut… It’s not very clear why exactly they had to be locked in complete darkness either. My suspension of disbelief was broken even more by the fact that they would’ve run out of air, even with the slight breeze under the door. It just didn’t make sense to me. Why couldn’t they have one of those windows that you can’t even stick your arm through. Or why they couldn’t have lights. I also didn’t understand why the country the FMC was from wasn’t a Matriarchal society, especially if the women born from their bloodline are supposed to be important. It was just another trope this book had that I’m tired of seeing. Sexism for the sake of sexism.

The characters were, meh. I didn’t care for any of them. There was an attempt to make them multi-dimensional, but it just came across as them being inconsistent. I also saw the twist to Candra’s “cursed blood” a mile away. Something else that bothered me throughout the book is the over use of the swear “dragon shite” It was the only swear used… and it got old fast.

Ultimately, the two main problems with this book are 1) it is way too long, and 2) there’s too many twists. The final 10% was just bonkers, where another 10+ twists happen in a very short span. The conclusion also came abruptly compared to the rest of the book, where things moved so fast they felt glossed over.

This book was both gratuitous in sex and violence, and also very silly.

Content Warnings