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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first time I read The False Prince I was not a very critical reader, so after I reread it I now feel like I can actually perceive what was happening in the story.
I really enjoyed the camaraderie between Sage, Roden, and Tobias. Their personal character developments altered throughout the entire book, which caused both subtle and huge impacts on their relationships. From the time Latamer was murdered in the beginning until Sage's/Jaron's last interactions with Roden and Tobias in the book, there is a sense of unpredictability in their relationships. Each of their emotions and ambitions, affected by risk, have such interesting effects on their decisions and behaviors, for example, Roden's siding with Cregan at the end, and Tobias's willingness to let Sage win Conner over.
I am so glad that Tobias was humbled in the end. He started off as a snooty orphan, but became wiser throughout the the book. I can see how some people would think his loyalty to Sage/Jaron in the end might be seen as cliché or with evil intentions, but I see it more as a genuine and intelligent realization of power and loyalty.
When a first read The False Prince a few years ago, I hadn't known that there were two more books in the series. I like how Jennifer A. Nielsen didn't spend the entire novel world-building. In some series, the first installment can be exhausting because there is an overload on world-building and not enough of a story. I did not find that with this book; I found rather that Jennifer A. Nielsen did a fantastic job of writing with smooth flow and pace, and that the world-building part of the story came pleasantly natural. I also liked how The False Prince, at the ending, left things with both a resounding closure and resounding hope for the future. There is no cliff-hanger, but there is hope, possibility, and enough future content (with the war and everything surrounding it) for a future novel.
I am someone who can not usually predict the endings of stories. Thus, when I first read The False Prince a few years ago, I was surprised and enthralled and joyous at the end. I know some people saw the ending as predictable, but for me personally, I thought the ending was meticulously thought out, and it was SO SATISFYING. It felt like everything was tied up and there were no plot holes.
Speaking of plot holes, I very much enjoyed the use of foreshadowing. The imitator's gold, the personality traits, and even the occupations of Sage's/Jaron's parents were intricately and purposely placed in the story, so that the reader would feel convinced and start to piece together the mystery. Maybe a factor of my liking the book so much was the fact that I am not good at predicting the endings, but I think anyone who loves a good royalty story is bound to enjoy this one, whether they are good at predicting endings or not.
While some people see The False Prince as predictable, I find it a very fun(ny), fast-paced, unputdownable, unpredictable story that fit intensity, raw emotion, and humor all on every single page.
I really enjoyed the camaraderie between Sage, Roden, and Tobias. Their personal character developments altered throughout the entire book, which caused both subtle and huge impacts on their relationships. From the time Latamer was murdered in the beginning until Sage's/Jaron's last interactions with Roden and Tobias in the book, there is a sense of unpredictability in their relationships. Each of their emotions and ambitions, affected by risk, have such interesting effects on their decisions and behaviors, for example, Roden's siding with Cregan at the end, and Tobias's willingness to let Sage win Conner over.
I am so glad that Tobias was humbled in the end. He started off as a snooty orphan, but became wiser throughout the the book. I can see how some people would think his loyalty to Sage/Jaron in the end might be seen as cliché or with evil intentions, but I see it more as a genuine and intelligent realization of power and loyalty.
When a first read The False Prince a few years ago, I hadn't known that there were two more books in the series. I like how Jennifer A. Nielsen didn't spend the entire novel world-building. In some series, the first installment can be exhausting because there is an overload on world-building and not enough of a story. I did not find that with this book; I found rather that Jennifer A. Nielsen did a fantastic job of writing with smooth flow and pace, and that the world-building part of the story came pleasantly natural. I also liked how The False Prince, at the ending, left things with both a resounding closure and resounding hope for the future. There is no cliff-hanger, but there is hope, possibility, and enough future content (with the war and everything surrounding it) for a future novel.
I am someone who can not usually predict the endings of stories. Thus, when I first read The False Prince a few years ago, I was surprised and enthralled and joyous at the end. I know some people saw the ending as predictable, but for me personally, I thought the ending was meticulously thought out, and it was SO SATISFYING. It felt like everything was tied up and there were no plot holes.
Speaking of plot holes, I very much enjoyed the use of foreshadowing. The imitator's gold, the personality traits, and even the occupations of Sage's/Jaron's parents were intricately and purposely placed in the story, so that the reader would feel convinced and start to piece together the mystery. Maybe a factor of my liking the book so much was the fact that I am not good at predicting the endings, but I think anyone who loves a good royalty story is bound to enjoy this one, whether they are good at predicting endings or not.
While some people see The False Prince as predictable, I find it a very fun(ny), fast-paced, unputdownable, unpredictable story that fit intensity, raw emotion, and humor all on every single page.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
This was very witty and cute for maybe a 12-15 year old boy as the target audience. I'm a little outside of the chosen demographic so the plot twists were predictable and this was very much so a boy book. But still, this novel was funny and a quick read.
This was such a fun read! It felt a little like Anastasia meets the Selection and it was such a fun ride. The plot twist at the end was a little obvious to me, but that did not lessen my enjoyment at all.
Court intrigue, double-crosses, secrets-- an exciting read. I look forward to sharing this book with kids and reading the next two books.
3.5 stars
I saw this book being compared to The Queen's Thief Series. Truthfully, it is totally different. Sage is not similar to Gen. At all. In fact, I refuse to acknowledge anyone saying they have similar personalities. Both of them are smart and is very good at manipulating the situation into something that could benefit them, that's true. But that's where the similarities end. Because Sage is insufferable while Gen is witty and charming.
I don't know whether Sage was being purposely difficult because of the circumstances he was in or what but I did not want to root for his character. I somehow predicted where this book was going because one of my favourite tropes in fantasy is 'someone unimportant suddenly revealing that they are, in fact, important'. I usually enjoyed when the revelation happen despite having predicted it but because Sage is not particularly likable, it's hard to witness his rise to power lol
I saw this book being compared to The Queen's Thief Series. Truthfully, it is totally different. Sage is not similar to Gen. At all. In fact, I refuse to acknowledge anyone saying they have similar personalities. Both of them are smart and is very good at manipulating the situation into something that could benefit them, that's true. But that's where the similarities end. Because Sage is insufferable while Gen is witty and charming.
I don't know whether Sage was being purposely difficult because of the circumstances he was in or what but I did not want to root for his character. I somehow predicted where this book was going because one of my favourite tropes in fantasy is 'someone unimportant suddenly revealing that they are, in fact, important'. I usually enjoyed when the revelation happen despite having predicted it but because Sage is not particularly likable, it's hard to witness his rise to power lol
I have some mixed feelings about this book. Major, major spoilers ahead, be forewarned.
Was it an interesting story? Yes. Was it pretty predictable? Also yes. And yet, despite it being predictable, because of the way it was written, there was technically no hints, no little details, that helped build the story up to the "big reveal". And considering that our narrator is Jaron, there should have been hints. Some might argue that this is just sign that he was "deep" into playing the character of Sage, but I personally feel that it was just a combination of poor writing and an intense desire to keep the "big plot twist" as hidden as possible. Other, smaller twists were much better handled: like the sword, the false gold, and little things like that.
I could go on about how much the Sage facade was annoying and almost made me put down this book permanently, and I could talk about the annoying side arc of Imogen being rescued but not Errol and the other servants, and probably a bunch of other little things that kinda bothered me with this book, but I think those are the biggest ones. I definitely had moments that I really enjoyed this book, otherwise it wouldn't be getting 3 stars, but I felt like the over all story could have been polished and revised to be a better, more finely tuned beast.
Was it an interesting story? Yes. Was it pretty predictable? Also yes. And yet, despite it being predictable, because of the way it was written, there was technically no hints, no little details, that helped build the story up to the "big reveal". And considering that our narrator is Jaron, there should have been hints. Some might argue that this is just sign that he was "deep" into playing the character of Sage, but I personally feel that it was just a combination of poor writing and an intense desire to keep the "big plot twist" as hidden as possible. Other, smaller twists were much better handled: like the sword, the false gold, and little things like that.
I could go on about how much the Sage facade was annoying and almost made me put down this book permanently, and I could talk about the annoying side arc of Imogen being rescued but not Errol and the other servants, and probably a bunch of other little things that kinda bothered me with this book, but I think those are the biggest ones. I definitely had moments that I really enjoyed this book, otherwise it wouldn't be getting 3 stars, but I felt like the over all story could have been polished and revised to be a better, more finely tuned beast.
My daughter's favorite - great read, secret identities, intrigue, royalty...