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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
As someone who NEVER expects to read a five star book again between now and her death, The False Prince was a beautiful dream.
A FANTASTIC AIMED-AT-MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS BOOK that I will love to read again in the near future. FANTASTIC FANTASTIC
Okay okay I have to calm down enough to give a brief synopsis of the book.
Sage, is an orphan- reckless, impetuous, and independent. He hates authority and undermines it every chance he gets. A man named Conner, one of the regents for the recently deceased Carthya royal family, is looking for an orphan boy to pretend to be Jaron, the long lost prince who everyone has given up for dead.
Conner is set on being the power behind the puppet king he seeks to set up. Sage is just one of the four potential boys that Conner chooses from orphanages.
The False Prince goes through these boy's lives as Conner chooses the boy best fit to be king. The penalty for failure is death, as the boys learn early on. They have to attend sword fighting lessons, diplomacy class, dance lessons, horseback riding class, everything necessary to make an orphan boy turn into a prince in two weeks.
The competition between the boys is fierce and it feels like it can turn at any minute. In fact, in some way, this would be like a game show with contestants fighting each other for money if not for the very simple fact that Ms. Nielsen has found a wonderful voice for Sage.
Sage pretty much makes this book. It's told in first person, and he's definitely a unique voice. While most of the time I would have expected, due to conventions, for Sage to react in a certain way, he is completely off the chart. He's snarky and intelligent, and a thief to boot. I can't remember the number of times Sage made me laugh outloud with his responses. He's definitely not the noble hero, nor is he the anti-hero. Sage is the sarcastic, heart-of-gold, rapscallion, selfish, combination of a real human being.
This in turn made all the other characters, who depended on Sage as a character foil, equally hard to predict. It was hard to tell if Conner was a good man or a bad man. There is very little black and white in this book all while still maintaining a sense of justice.
Sounds like a book of contradictions, but it honestly makes for a better, much more interesting read. You didn't know who was going to be chosen to be the "false prince" until the very very end.
Then the twist at the book. I guess just by telling you there is a twist is giving away a lot of the book, but I found it rather entertaining. There is something so endearing about thief princes, I'm not sure why.
Good plot, good characters, made me laugh quite a few times, and a satisfying ending. NEED NO MORE.
A FANTASTIC AIMED-AT-MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS BOOK that I will love to read again in the near future. FANTASTIC FANTASTIC
Okay okay I have to calm down enough to give a brief synopsis of the book.
Sage, is an orphan- reckless, impetuous, and independent. He hates authority and undermines it every chance he gets. A man named Conner, one of the regents for the recently deceased Carthya royal family, is looking for an orphan boy to pretend to be Jaron, the long lost prince who everyone has given up for dead.
Conner is set on being the power behind the puppet king he seeks to set up. Sage is just one of the four potential boys that Conner chooses from orphanages.
The False Prince goes through these boy's lives as Conner chooses the boy best fit to be king. The penalty for failure is death, as the boys learn early on. They have to attend sword fighting lessons, diplomacy class, dance lessons, horseback riding class, everything necessary to make an orphan boy turn into a prince in two weeks.
The competition between the boys is fierce and it feels like it can turn at any minute. In fact, in some way, this would be like a game show with contestants fighting each other for money if not for the very simple fact that Ms. Nielsen has found a wonderful voice for Sage.
Sage pretty much makes this book. It's told in first person, and he's definitely a unique voice. While most of the time I would have expected, due to conventions, for Sage to react in a certain way, he is completely off the chart. He's snarky and intelligent, and a thief to boot. I can't remember the number of times Sage made me laugh outloud with his responses. He's definitely not the noble hero, nor is he the anti-hero. Sage is the sarcastic, heart-of-gold, rapscallion, selfish, combination of a real human being.
This in turn made all the other characters, who depended on Sage as a character foil, equally hard to predict. It was hard to tell if Conner was a good man or a bad man. There is very little black and white in this book all while still maintaining a sense of justice.
Sounds like a book of contradictions, but it honestly makes for a better, much more interesting read. You didn't know who was going to be chosen to be the "false prince" until the very very end.
Then the twist at the book. I guess just by telling you there is a twist is giving away a lot of the book, but I found it rather entertaining. There is something so endearing about thief princes, I'm not sure why.
Good plot, good characters, made me laugh quite a few times, and a satisfying ending. NEED NO MORE.
My son asked me to read this and I enjoyed it! Going to read The runaway Prince next
Awesome!! I thought it started out slow, but it became a great adventure. Love Sage and can't wait to see where he ends up!
A fun read with a quickly moving plot. There are quite a few characters that make you actually pull for them -- and a few you'll hate.
It is a quick read and a good start to a series. I'll read the rest and see what happens.
It is a quick read and a good start to a series. I'll read the rest and see what happens.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This should not have been in the YA section, it's elementary to middle grade fiction for sure
The main characters are incredibly one dimensional apart from the protag, who is complex enough to be keeping secrets from himself but also somehow incredibly perfect in everything he does
I don't like the idea of the protag actively lying to the reader, but it's an interesting concept ig
The main characters are incredibly one dimensional apart from the protag, who is complex enough to be keeping secrets from himself but also somehow incredibly perfect in everything he does
I don't like the idea of the protag actively lying to the reader, but it's an interesting concept ig
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes