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A review by elle4352
Prince of Thorns & Nightmares by Linsey Miller
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Prince of Thorns & Nightmares is a YA, fantasy novel that attempts to add background to Prince Phillip and add new context to the events of Disney's "Sleeping Beauty"
Things you'll find:
*A selfish, careless, rude prince*
*Three new fairies*
*Why is the bodyguard even here?*
*The Disney Novel Curse (characters don't match their on-screen counterparts)*
*Sigh* THIS book. I read the prior installment to this series "Prince of Song and Sea" last January and, while I wasn't thrilled by it, it was an okay start to the Disney Prince series. I figured maybe the series would progress a little as more titles came along so I decided to try this second book about Prince Phillip.
This Prince Phillip is the worst type of man. He's selfish. He's snarky. He's self-deprecating. He's rude. He knows he has issues, and knows he needs to fix them for his own sake and the sake of everyone around him that he treats poorly, but refuses to take any accountability for what he does or do anything to rectify the internal conflict that's eating him alive, and instead chooses to sulk all the time and give up before he even begins. I understand writing flawed characters with the intention of making them more relatable or more endearing, HOWEVER in order for this to be effective, the reasons for your character being a jerk need to be airtight.Phillip is awful to be around because he has daddy issues and feels like it's unfair that he has to marry Aurora and be her knight in shining armor. The father/son conflict here never truly resolves in a healthy, constructive way on page. We're more or less told Phillip begins to stand up for himself, and then King Hubert just shrugs like "whelp okay then" and lets him do what he wants to do.
And when presented with a life or death decision for not only Aurora, but the ENTIRE KINGDOM and many lives, Phillip's initial response is "yeah well I want to have my last few days as a bachelor to myself and to do what I want so that's too bad"(paraphrase). There's no coming back after that, he's a terrible, selfish person!
Not to mention he's horrible to Briar Rose/Aurora in his dreams every night when they meet. He always instigates every argument with her, and seemingly because she's just inquisitive and sweet. An actual quote from the book is "If she hadn't mentioned it, he probably would've done it, but he disliked that she suggested it first". So you're just not going to do something because she suggested it and you don't like her? Childish. And we're supposed to forget all of the snarky, mean comments once we catch up in the storyline to the events in "Sleeping Beauty" and the author decides to use actual dialogue from the film so now Phillip's suddenly gone through all this character development (with no conflict or confrontation with his demons) and is decent? No.
Another direct quote:
"Only you would think people being interested in your life is like pressing a pillow over your face. You said practically the same thing to your father after the tournament before you threw your life away. You're so scared to love anyone and disappoint them like you do your father that you don't even love yourself, no matter how self-centered you pretend to be. It's cowardice."
This is an internal conflict that I think could've been dealt with in a way that poised Phillip to be a somewhat insecure, but dutiful and loyal son, who struggles with his identity and with the idea of forming independent thoughts and dreams for the future in the midst of having his life decided for him and playing out in front of him like a pre-written novel. Instead, we get a grown man throwing a tantrum for 250 out of the 432 pages, very reminiscent of real-life men who desperately need therapy, but refuse to go and help themselves because they think they know better and are content with treating everyone around them horribly.
I've never in my life wanted Maleficent to win and imprison him so badly.
Since Phillip is our protagonist, and he's terrible, the rest of the book really couldn't be redeemed. Like other reviewers mention, this book's modern language and banter doesn't fit the setting of a 14th-century fairytale nor the 1950s script. There was an attempt to give Briar Rose/Aurora some personality, but that personality seemed to be that of a 16-year-old on a Netflix sitcom so that was jarring. The new fairies were not horrible additions and Johanna the bodyguard was...present, but for what reason I couldn't tell you (except to make the reader wonder if Phillip is secretly in love with her because he cares WAY more about her and keeping her safe then he does at any point in this novel for Briar Rose/Aurora). King Hubert doesn't seem to care whether his only son and heir lives or dies, so long as he's a good knight at the end of it. This book is just not a great follow-up in this series.
Overall, this one isn't for the Disney girls and if it's not for the Disney girls, I'm not entirely sure who it's for. But reading about selfish men in Disney Prince bodies was not on my 2024 Book Bingo card.
Things you'll find:
*A selfish, careless, rude prince*
*Three new fairies*
*Why is the bodyguard even here?*
*The Disney Novel Curse (characters don't match their on-screen counterparts)*
*Sigh* THIS book. I read the prior installment to this series "Prince of Song and Sea" last January and, while I wasn't thrilled by it, it was an okay start to the Disney Prince series. I figured maybe the series would progress a little as more titles came along so I decided to try this second book about Prince Phillip.
This Prince Phillip is the worst type of man. He's selfish. He's snarky. He's self-deprecating. He's rude. He knows he has issues, and knows he needs to fix them for his own sake and the sake of everyone around him that he treats poorly, but refuses to take any accountability for what he does or do anything to rectify the internal conflict that's eating him alive, and instead chooses to sulk all the time and give up before he even begins. I understand writing flawed characters with the intention of making them more relatable or more endearing, HOWEVER in order for this to be effective, the reasons for your character being a jerk need to be airtight.
And when presented with a life or death decision for not only Aurora, but the ENTIRE KINGDOM and many lives, Phillip's initial response is "yeah well I want to have my last few days as a bachelor to myself and to do what I want so that's too bad"(paraphrase). There's no coming back after that, he's a terrible, selfish person!
Not to mention he's horrible to Briar Rose/Aurora in his dreams every night when they meet. He always instigates every argument with her, and seemingly because she's just inquisitive and sweet. An actual quote from the book is "If she hadn't mentioned it, he probably would've done it, but he disliked that she suggested it first". So you're just not going to do something because she suggested it and you don't like her? Childish. And we're supposed to forget all of the snarky, mean comments once we catch up in the storyline to the events in "Sleeping Beauty" and the author decides to use actual dialogue from the film so now Phillip's suddenly gone through all this character development (with no conflict or confrontation with his demons) and is decent? No.
Another direct quote:
"Only you would think people being interested in your life is like pressing a pillow over your face. You said practically the same thing to your father after the tournament before you threw your life away. You're so scared to love anyone and disappoint them like you do your father that you don't even love yourself, no matter how self-centered you pretend to be. It's cowardice."
This is an internal conflict that I think could've been dealt with in a way that poised Phillip to be a somewhat insecure, but dutiful and loyal son, who struggles with his identity and with the idea of forming independent thoughts and dreams for the future in the midst of having his life decided for him and playing out in front of him like a pre-written novel. Instead, we get a grown man throwing a tantrum for 250 out of the 432 pages, very reminiscent of real-life men who desperately need therapy, but refuse to go and help themselves because they think they know better and are content with treating everyone around them horribly.
I've never in my life wanted Maleficent to win and imprison him so badly.
Since Phillip is our protagonist, and he's terrible, the rest of the book really couldn't be redeemed. Like other reviewers mention, this book's modern language and banter doesn't fit the setting of a 14th-century fairytale nor the 1950s script. There was an attempt to give Briar Rose/Aurora some personality, but that personality seemed to be that of a 16-year-old on a Netflix sitcom so that was jarring. The new fairies were not horrible additions and Johanna the bodyguard was...present, but for what reason I couldn't tell you (except to make the reader wonder if Phillip is secretly in love with her because he cares WAY more about her and keeping her safe then he does at any point in this novel for Briar Rose/Aurora). King Hubert doesn't seem to care whether his only son and heir lives or dies, so long as he's a good knight at the end of it. This book is just not a great follow-up in this series.
Overall, this one isn't for the Disney girls and if it's not for the Disney girls, I'm not entirely sure who it's for. But reading about selfish men in Disney Prince bodies was not on my 2024 Book Bingo card.