A review by myfictionalworld
To Charm a Dark Prince by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

To Charm a Dark Prince is a Dark fairy tale that follows Gwen who is transported from backwater Kansas to the magical realm of Avalon after her asshole cat, Merlin, caught the house on fire and created a portal. While in Avalon, Gwen is found by the ruler, Mordred, the Prince in Iron. Mordred is hated by everyone because he trapped his enemies in an Iron Crystal causing the magic in the Avalon to disappear. Gwen doesn’t see why everyone hates him, especially when he is very gentle with her. Wanting to go home, Gwen makes a deal with Merlin to seduce Mordred and break the crystal to free magic. But, there is a price when you betray Mordred’s trust.

My mood has been on a roller coaster with this story.  I love that there is representation of mental health in this story ( Gwen has anxiety and it comes with really bad panic attacks.) I have been diagnosed with depression & anxiety so it was pretty nice to have a character that has the same issues that I have. 

I also really love Mordred because he is a misunderstood villain. I honestly feel really bad for him. He can’t trust anyone. The people he loved the most, even considered them as family, betrayed him. I feel even more for him when he had to bring them back to life because they are really the only people he really knows. Something deep in my spirit feels like people honestly hate him for a reason and there’s something more that he’s not telling Gwen. I honestly thought that Mordred was actually pretty stupid to break his own crystal to prove a point. Sometimes I think that he maybe did this to get people to understand why he did it in the first place and get everyone to stop hating him. I believe that he is lonely.

As far as Gwen, she is very naive and way too trusting. I was screaming at her the whole story about how dumb she can be. She’s almost like a deer in headlights. Gwen is also pretty stupid to actually trust Merlin. He always disappears when she is in danger and never wants to protect her. She didn’t even notice the red flag when Merlin spazzed out on her about going back into the crystal. 

Overall, this story is pretty bizarre. There was a lot going on in the beginning of the story and towards the end, it just left me with a lot more questions than answers. I really want to know what is going to happen in the next few books of the series. Mordred fell in love with Gwen and I want to see if he is going to forgive her, kill her, torture her. I want to know who Merlin really is. I want to know how Mordred is going to create another Crystal. There is so much that I want to know.