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abbyyy03's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Very easy to read and plot twists may be obvious for some readers but they are also welcomed
personofro's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bluejaybooks's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a lot of fun, and I would have loved it if I’d read it a few years ago. The plot was my favorite part, and I loved the twist towards the end. However, I found the main character annoying at times, and would have liked more variety in the world building from what I’ve read before.
mothercrow's review against another edition
5.0
For a middle grade… this book was above and beyond what I was expecting. Great story. A Very satisfying ending, and a wonderfully clever male lead whose voice was written with such charm and character… you couldn’t help but love him. It was dark at times but acceptable for a middle grade reading level. Also.. glad I didn’t judge the book by its cover..
the_nerd_librarian's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
harleyrae's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book! I can't wait to continue on with this series!
rena219's review against another edition
3.0
This was alright. It was a fast read. I felt that Sage didn't struggle enough to get to where he wanted to be. All the "plot twists" that happened he predicted and already had a solution for which was kinda boring.
candicen423's review against another edition
I don’t even have words. Don’t even try. Just don’t.
leafblade's review against another edition
5.0
This was so good!!!!
Like, at the beginning I had a name problem because everyone was literally the same person to me, but once I got through that, oh god was this a good book.
The characters were amazing and so deep and human and real!!! I love political intrigue done well, and this book definitely has it. The boys are so young but their reaction to being picked to be the false Prince Jaron were so authentic, with Roden working extra hard and Tobias trying to kill Sage!!! I'm so glad the book didn't try to seel 14 year olds as full functioning adults, because they aren't!!! They sometimes think about their lost families, other times they struggle with manners because they were raised in orphanages, and other times they just want to ride the wildest mare because they're SO DAMN STUPID!!! BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE 14 YOU ARE PROBABLY STUPID!!! AND THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE YOU'RE STILL GROWING, EVEN IF YOU WENT THROUGH HARD TIMES IN YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!
And that plot twist tho don't even get me started on me because I didn't see it coming but it was the most intelligent thing for the author to do because yes we could've lived without that, but it made the story so much more interesting and it was completely believable!!!!
I loved this book and I think i will do something I hardly ever do: read the second book right after i finish the first one.
Like, at the beginning I had a name problem because everyone was literally the same person to me, but once I got through that, oh god was this a good book.
The characters were amazing and so deep and human and real!!! I love political intrigue done well, and this book definitely has it. The boys are so young but their reaction to being picked to be the false Prince Jaron were so authentic, with Roden working extra hard and Tobias trying to kill Sage!!! I'm so glad the book didn't try to seel 14 year olds as full functioning adults, because they aren't!!! They sometimes think about their lost families, other times they struggle with manners because they were raised in orphanages, and other times they just want to ride the wildest mare because they're SO DAMN STUPID!!! BECAUSE WHEN YOU ARE 14 YOU ARE PROBABLY STUPID!!! AND THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE YOU'RE STILL GROWING, EVEN IF YOU WENT THROUGH HARD TIMES IN YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!
And that plot twist tho don't even get me started on me because I didn't see it coming but it was the most intelligent thing for the author to do because yes we could've lived without that, but it made the story so much more interesting and it was completely believable!!!!
I loved this book and I think i will do something I hardly ever do: read the second book right after i finish the first one.
dilchh's review against another edition
4.0
First off, I seriously did not expect that this was going to be such a great read for me. When I first stumble upon this book, I thought to myself how boring this book must be, especially since the main character is a fourteen year old boy that is groomed to be the long lost prince of a country, yeah so unoriginal and boring. But, wait! See, how I almost always wrong every single time I thought I know too much about a book? Yeah, well, I was dead wrong about this book. The book is just amazing! It was quick paced and it really did keep me at the edge of my seat. I like the fact that this book just don’t wander around aimlessly trying to keep the suspense by stalling everything (most of the time, when author tries so hard to keep the suspense by stalling the events in the book, it always fail miserably). Reading this book is like cutting everything down to the very centre of things, you get what you’re promised when you first see the summary of the book; I liked that, because I really hate it when I’m lead to believe that a book is about one thing and then when I read it, it was about an entirely different thing.
The thing that sort of disappoint me the most was the setting building. It feels like the author just throw these names (like Carthya, Avenia, Bymar, Gelyn and what have you) and expects us to just know the difference and how significant is one to the other just by a map that was attached on the first page of the book. And then, it mentions about how Sage (the main character) speaks with an Avenian accent instead of the Carthyan (I don’t know if this was the correct demonym or not, excuse me for that), and I’m left asking, ‘how does an Avenian accent sounds like?‘ For a fantasy story, and the first one in the series, I was kind of hoping the author would have given some time to explain a little bit about these countries; hopefully in the next books there will be more coverage about this (I’m crossing my fingers).
Now, when you read this book, you would have some favouritism on either of the three orphans that were groomed to be the long lost prince of Carthya. I, of course, was favouriting towards Sage as he was the narrator of the story and it was easier to get into his heads compared to others. But as the story progress, I realise it was not because he was the narrator that I favour Sage more than the others (the others being Tobias and Roden), but because Sage was definitely a character to like. He was witty, smart, calculative, cunning, good with words; basically he’s everything that I would like in a main character. And throughout the book, you kind of felt that maybe Sage is the long lost prince of Carthya (named Jaron, but what king of a name is that?). I know that Sage is almost 100% is Prince Jaron, and at the back of my mind I would be so bummed if my guess was true. But, oh no, I didn’t!
I was not disappointed at all when my guess was proven right. Why? Although the revelation as who Jaron is really is and how he became Sage was a bit too convenient in the story, Jaron took the last part of the book by storm by doing these amazing acts and speech with his witty way. Totally my kind of a main character. Now, while we’re on the topic about how great Sage/Jaron is, I would like to point out that even from the very beginning, it was hard for me to see Sage as a fourteen year olds. He seems to be more wise and adult-like, be it in his choice of words or in his way of thinking. But, then again he was born a Prince, so maybe my fourteen year old self should not be compared to Sage/Jaron.
Bottom line is, yes this book was a bit predictable but what’s also great was that, just when you though you figured this book out, it surprises you with things you did not see coming at all; so all in all, not that predictable, hence why I still enjoy this book even after I already predict that Sage was definitely Prince Jaron halfway through the book.
The thing that sort of disappoint me the most was the setting building. It feels like the author just throw these names (like Carthya, Avenia, Bymar, Gelyn and what have you) and expects us to just know the difference and how significant is one to the other just by a map that was attached on the first page of the book. And then, it mentions about how Sage (the main character) speaks with an Avenian accent instead of the Carthyan (I don’t know if this was the correct demonym or not, excuse me for that), and I’m left asking, ‘how does an Avenian accent sounds like?‘ For a fantasy story, and the first one in the series, I was kind of hoping the author would have given some time to explain a little bit about these countries; hopefully in the next books there will be more coverage about this (I’m crossing my fingers).
Now, when you read this book, you would have some favouritism on either of the three orphans that were groomed to be the long lost prince of Carthya. I, of course, was favouriting towards Sage as he was the narrator of the story and it was easier to get into his heads compared to others. But as the story progress, I realise it was not because he was the narrator that I favour Sage more than the others (the others being Tobias and Roden), but because Sage was definitely a character to like. He was witty, smart, calculative, cunning, good with words; basically he’s everything that I would like in a main character. And throughout the book, you kind of felt that maybe Sage is the long lost prince of Carthya (named Jaron, but what king of a name is that?). I know that Sage is almost 100% is Prince Jaron, and at the back of my mind I would be so bummed if my guess was true. But, oh no, I didn’t!
I was not disappointed at all when my guess was proven right. Why? Although the revelation as who Jaron is really is and how he became Sage was a bit too convenient in the story, Jaron took the last part of the book by storm by doing these amazing acts and speech with his witty way. Totally my kind of a main character. Now, while we’re on the topic about how great Sage/Jaron is, I would like to point out that even from the very beginning, it was hard for me to see Sage as a fourteen year olds. He seems to be more wise and adult-like, be it in his choice of words or in his way of thinking. But, then again he was born a Prince, so maybe my fourteen year old self should not be compared to Sage/Jaron.
Bottom line is, yes this book was a bit predictable but what’s also great was that, just when you though you figured this book out, it surprises you with things you did not see coming at all; so all in all, not that predictable, hence why I still enjoy this book even after I already predict that Sage was definitely Prince Jaron halfway through the book.