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psinghjagpal3's review
4.0
I am 100% loving the retelling of the classic fairytales by C.J. Redwine. Not only those she put a surprising twist on the series, which allows for you to be hanging onto your seat, but she does it with a flair. Creating such intricate characters. This story is an amazing retelling of the Prince and the Pauper.
Meet Javan, the finest pupil at the academy, dedicating to his studies and never once having "fun" with his friends. This book-smart overachiever, gets the adventure of his life, when he has to use his wits to find out who betrayed him and how to make his way to the throne, to see his father, the king. But, thats hard to do when no one has seen Javan, for over 10 years, and there just happens to be a boy that resembles Javan and that boy has decided that he is the crown prince. But, of course no hero can complete these impossible tasks without the help of a friend.
Meet Sajda, a talented cool, steel, young woman, who has untapped hidden potential. Being a slave for all her life, she dreams of what, anybody else would want, freedom. Her rules are simple, keep her head down, show enough strength so the others cant bother her and please the Warden. But, Sajda is hiding a monster of her own, and it hums quietly against her skin. This heroine has to figure out who she can trust, and who she really is, monster or not?
When these two characters collide, it is beyond adorable and funny. I'm trying my best not to spoil secrets here, but if you want to be at the edge of your sheet, shocked and itching to turn the page, you should pick this up.
Meet Javan, the finest pupil at the academy, dedicating to his studies and never once having "fun" with his friends. This book-smart overachiever, gets the adventure of his life, when he has to use his wits to find out who betrayed him and how to make his way to the throne, to see his father, the king. But, thats hard to do when no one has seen Javan, for over 10 years, and there just happens to be a boy that resembles Javan and that boy has decided that he is the crown prince. But, of course no hero can complete these impossible tasks without the help of a friend.
Meet Sajda, a talented cool, steel, young woman, who has untapped hidden potential. Being a slave for all her life, she dreams of what, anybody else would want, freedom. Her rules are simple, keep her head down, show enough strength so the others cant bother her and please the Warden. But, Sajda is hiding a monster of her own, and it hums quietly against her skin. This heroine has to figure out who she can trust, and who she really is, monster or not?
When these two characters collide, it is beyond adorable and funny. I'm trying my best not to spoil secrets here, but if you want to be at the edge of your sheet, shocked and itching to turn the page, you should pick this up.
im211's review against another edition
4.0
This book had the sweetness of self-discovery and unexpected friendships I think that was the best part of the story although slow to start and had to wait for a good 35% for things to start getting interesting.
Thoughts
We don’t get much of glimpse of Aqram as we do of the places in the Ravenspire series (understandable given the nature of the story) I suppose I missed that since we mainly dealt with Java’s struggle.
Unexpectedly I enjoyed The tournaments scenes with various creatures and beasts brought in for the kill, that sort of provided the real excitement for the story; the anticipation, training, and finally the showdown.
The ending left much to be desired. What happened to his friends and school mate who were banished? I'm sure that was an important tangent of the story?
All in all, this was an atmospheric read where Wish granter felt lacking in having memorable characters relations this book makes up for it for having a promising one.
A short vague summary would be:-Naïve Nerdy MC, the true prince after being imprisoned instead of executed had to compete in bloody tournaments, using school skills to survive his stay. The false prince, on the other hand, doesn’t appreciate being a pawn and works towards being the sole player in the game.
Surrounding this Javan strives to do whatever it takes to gain an audience with the king and in turn avoid trouble at the prison which gets tougher when the false Prince followers have infiltrated the prison as well making it difficult for Javan to escape. We have Sajda who is the warden’s slave and is hardened living in Maqbara. Being allies with her may help him but things are never as easy as it seems.
Thoughts
Javan was a fairly likeable character with some wooden characteristic making him a typical ‘good prince’ which didn’t really add to his character simply distinguished him from the other prince. But I appreciated his growth throughout the story, the falls he took in the Maqbara dilemma seem all too dire to handle and his rises as he discovers his role.
Sajda, I felt she softened up too soon, I would’ve expected a few more interactions before she fell for the friendship and eventually plotting an escape. I admit I loved JAvan-Sajda interactions which went from clipped words to banter to sweet moments, this one stuck with me more than “The wish Granter “ relationship.
Rahim’s POV was short and that was adequate since his motives are pretty straight cut - Typical greed-revenge consumed villain- who wants his right no matter the cost. But honestly, I expected more of Rahim’s nefariousness to play out in the story than what we are given.
We don’t get much of glimpse of Aqram as we do of the places in the Ravenspire series (understandable given the nature of the story) I suppose I missed that since we mainly dealt with Java’s struggle.
Unexpectedly I enjoyed The tournaments scenes with various creatures and beasts brought in for the kill, that sort of provided the real excitement for the story; the anticipation, training, and finally the showdown.
The ending left much to be desired. What happened to his friends and school mate who were banished? I'm sure that was an important tangent of the story?
All in all, this was an atmospheric read where Wish granter felt lacking in having memorable characters relations this book makes up for it for having a promising one.
briggamooz's review
4.0
An original retelling of the Prince and the Pauper, serving not only to further develop the world of Ravenspire, but also remind the reader that [a:C.J. Redwine|4864634|C.J. Redwine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1322069849p2/4864634.jpg] is not to be underestimated when it comes to killing off characters (even when used as decisive plot-points to urge our heroes into action, the choices she makes as an author are satisfying in an "oh no, not them!" sort of way).
perilous1's review
4.0
Originally reviewed for YA Books Central: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/22315-the-traitor-prince
An adventurous, accessible YA fantasy—with likely appeal for fans of An Ember In The Ashes.
Based loosely on an Arabic folktale called The False Prince, this stand-alone book centers on the kingdom of Akram—with interwoven references to the kingdoms and characters from The Shadow Queen and The Wish Granter. Redwine’s prose shows notable development in this 3rd installment of her retold fairytale series. The Traitor Prince offers three 3rd person POVs, and a primarily male POV for the first 4th of the book—which is a structural departure from the more evenly alternating POVs of her previous works. But like her previous books there is an underlying theme of redemption, and of broken people finding healing in unexpected places.
“Fear in. Courage out.”
Javan is an overachieving honor-bound prince, who’s dedication to his mother’s dying wish has made him a perpetual stick-in-the-mud at the boarding school he’s been attending for the last decade of his young life. He’s naive and idealistic to a fault—and so unprepared when the conniving of others results in the loss of his identity and freedom. Unfortunately for him, the learning curve in Maqbara prison is incredibly steep—and being a quick study isn’t enough to insure his survival in their gladiator-style arena. He’ll need to secure trustworthy friends and allies. A skill he -hadn’t- been focusing on in school…
Sajda is, hands down, my favorite of Redwine’s heroines thus far. She’s steely, fierce, crafty, competent, and intensely powerful. She’s also deeply wounded, lonely, and afraid of her own nature. An abused young woman who hasn’t known freedom since her own mother sold her into slavery when she was five years old. Though her POV doesn’t enter until around page 90, she ends up being the character who shows the greatest degree of growth and development.
For those who prefer a slow burn romance, the progression in this story is pleasingly gradual. And it starts from a dismally low place of aggravation-at-first-sight. The eventual chemistry is very much believable—both sparked and fueled by a mutual competitiveness and unfaltering respect. Survival takes reasonable precedence well above relational progression, but after a certain point, also drives the tension.
As for the worldbuilding, I would have liked to see a little more explanation concerning the Dark Elves and their apparent history of oppressing humanity. I also would have preferred to know more about The Warden’s relationship with the people of Akram. Her nature seems to be openly known, but we aren’t told how she came to reside outside of her own people or how common it is for this to occur. The audacious hypocrisy in her treatment and regard for Sajda was something I kept expecting someone to point out. (i.e. every time she referred to Sajda as a monster, I had the urge to laugh hysterically.)
“Power is neither good nor evil. … It's what people do with power that matters.”
There were actually four prominent villains in this book: The Warden, a prisoner named Hashim, Rahim (the imposter prince)… and the one who conceived of putting him in power (who I won’t name out of spoiler concerns.) But of these villains, we are only given Rahim’s perspective—which is cunningly determined, but single-minded. His motives seem too simplistic at times. Yes, he grew up in obscure poverty as the bastard son of a royal… but surly that wasn’t enough to make him turn evil. (Ari, from the previous Ravenspire book, actually came from a similar background. And she is, frankly, delightful.) Rahim doesn’t seem to consider the mother he left behind when he began his schemes—nor is he at all interested in any justice on her behalf—so perhaps her influence on him was negative. Readers simply aren’t provided with that depth of insight.
This story does include an enriching faith element—which is incredibly rare to find in mainstream YA. While Javan’s belief system isn’t explained in great detail, the significance and motivation it holds for him is portrayed with an unmistakable air of authenticity. It even has its own arc, as Javan must wrestle with his beliefs about justice and the nature of his god while he endures a grave injustice—his prayers seemingly going unanswered.
All told, an enjoyable read with a lot of heart.
An adventurous, accessible YA fantasy—with likely appeal for fans of An Ember In The Ashes.
Based loosely on an Arabic folktale called The False Prince, this stand-alone book centers on the kingdom of Akram—with interwoven references to the kingdoms and characters from The Shadow Queen and The Wish Granter. Redwine’s prose shows notable development in this 3rd installment of her retold fairytale series. The Traitor Prince offers three 3rd person POVs, and a primarily male POV for the first 4th of the book—which is a structural departure from the more evenly alternating POVs of her previous works. But like her previous books there is an underlying theme of redemption, and of broken people finding healing in unexpected places.
“Fear in. Courage out.”
Javan is an overachieving honor-bound prince, who’s dedication to his mother’s dying wish has made him a perpetual stick-in-the-mud at the boarding school he’s been attending for the last decade of his young life. He’s naive and idealistic to a fault—and so unprepared when the conniving of others results in the loss of his identity and freedom. Unfortunately for him, the learning curve in Maqbara prison is incredibly steep—and being a quick study isn’t enough to insure his survival in their gladiator-style arena. He’ll need to secure trustworthy friends and allies. A skill he -hadn’t- been focusing on in school…
Sajda is, hands down, my favorite of Redwine’s heroines thus far. She’s steely, fierce, crafty, competent, and intensely powerful. She’s also deeply wounded, lonely, and afraid of her own nature. An abused young woman who hasn’t known freedom since her own mother sold her into slavery when she was five years old. Though her POV doesn’t enter until around page 90, she ends up being the character who shows the greatest degree of growth and development.
For those who prefer a slow burn romance, the progression in this story is pleasingly gradual. And it starts from a dismally low place of aggravation-at-first-sight. The eventual chemistry is very much believable—both sparked and fueled by a mutual competitiveness and unfaltering respect. Survival takes reasonable precedence well above relational progression, but after a certain point, also drives the tension.
As for the worldbuilding, I would have liked to see a little more explanation concerning the Dark Elves and their apparent history of oppressing humanity. I also would have preferred to know more about The Warden’s relationship with the people of Akram. Her nature seems to be openly known, but we aren’t told how she came to reside outside of her own people or how common it is for this to occur. The audacious hypocrisy in her treatment and regard for Sajda was something I kept expecting someone to point out. (i.e. every time she referred to Sajda as a monster, I had the urge to laugh hysterically.)
“Power is neither good nor evil. … It's what people do with power that matters.”
There were actually four prominent villains in this book: The Warden, a prisoner named Hashim, Rahim (the imposter prince)… and the one who conceived of putting him in power (who I won’t name out of spoiler concerns.) But of these villains, we are only given Rahim’s perspective—which is cunningly determined, but single-minded. His motives seem too simplistic at times. Yes, he grew up in obscure poverty as the bastard son of a royal… but surly that wasn’t enough to make him turn evil. (Ari, from the previous Ravenspire book, actually came from a similar background. And she is, frankly, delightful.) Rahim doesn’t seem to consider the mother he left behind when he began his schemes—nor is he at all interested in any justice on her behalf—so perhaps her influence on him was negative. Readers simply aren’t provided with that depth of insight.
This story does include an enriching faith element—which is incredibly rare to find in mainstream YA. While Javan’s belief system isn’t explained in great detail, the significance and motivation it holds for him is portrayed with an unmistakable air of authenticity. It even has its own arc, as Javan must wrestle with his beliefs about justice and the nature of his god while he endures a grave injustice—his prayers seemingly going unanswered.
All told, an enjoyable read with a lot of heart.
literaryanna's review against another edition
4.0
Make sure you have a box of tissues handy! CJ Redwine strikes again with her fantastic story-telling and her amazing characters <3 I love love loved this book!
princessbilbo's review
4.0
Again, their writing style always leaves me wanting more, but this was such an enthralling story and I love an open-ended ending and independent female characters. Sometimes I got a little bored, but there was always some action to bring me back in.
amys_bookworld's review
4.0
The epilogue just made it that little bit better. I had so many thoughts and emotions while reading but I am terrible at writing reviews so I can't write it down very well.