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A review by dinipandareads
Sold to the Demon Prince by Lauren Crowne
3.0
I've been in a bit of a fickle reading mood lately but I decided to pick up a paranormal romance since those had been good to me before; sadly, this one was just okay and didn't totally work for me.
I enjoyed the lite world-building and surprising STEM aspect of the story. In this alternate world where humans coexist with the supernatural including werewolves, demons and the fae, the latter have been enslaved and their blood used to make a potent drug called DUST. I liked this switch because they're usually the most powerful creatures in supernatural stories, so this was an interesting twist. The demons in this world are known for their smarts and riches and the demon prince in particular is known for his technological innovations. It didn't get too techy or scientific but enough detail was included to show a bit more authenticity. There was also a decent enough plot but a lot still hinged on the characters who, unfortunately, felt flat to me.
Our MCs are Vera and Leo. Vera is a 'not-like-other-faeries' fae as she doesn't have wings and doesn't have a problem with speaking up against her captors. I liked her feistiness and attitude but I also found her obliviousness and naivete a bit grating at times, especially her inability to see through the creep, Henry, and her insistence about certain things she clearly doesn't know much about. Her character also doesn't undergo any particular growth or change and despite her being "not like the others" she honestly doesn't really do much. On the other hand, while Leo had more of an interesting dynamic, it was marginal and he was either fully focused on his research or acting weird about his obsession with Vera. I felt there was a lot more tell than show in this book, which leads me to the romance, and how it was unclear to me whether they actually had strong feelings for each other or whether it was Vera's blood fuelling the attraction. I'm sad that I didn't feel their chemistry at all because I thought there was potential for a good angsty romance. I was also initially worried that there'd be a love triangle but thankfully, the author spared us from having to endure that!
I enjoyed the lite world-building and surprising STEM aspect of the story. In this alternate world where humans coexist with the supernatural including werewolves, demons and the fae, the latter have been enslaved and their blood used to make a potent drug called DUST. I liked this switch because they're usually the most powerful creatures in supernatural stories, so this was an interesting twist. The demons in this world are known for their smarts and riches and the demon prince in particular is known for his technological innovations. It didn't get too techy or scientific but enough detail was included to show a bit more authenticity. There was also a decent enough plot but a lot still hinged on the characters who, unfortunately, felt flat to me.
Our MCs are Vera and Leo. Vera is a 'not-like-other-faeries' fae as she doesn't have wings and doesn't have a problem with speaking up against her captors. I liked her feistiness and attitude but I also found her obliviousness and naivete a bit grating at times, especially her inability to see through the creep, Henry, and her insistence about certain things she clearly doesn't know much about. Her character also doesn't undergo any particular growth or change and despite her being "not like the others" she honestly doesn't really do much. On the other hand, while Leo had more of an interesting dynamic, it was marginal and he was either fully focused on his research or acting weird about his obsession with Vera. I felt there was a lot more tell than show in this book, which leads me to the romance, and how it was unclear to me whether they actually had strong feelings for each other or whether it was Vera's blood fuelling the attraction. I'm sad that I didn't feel their chemistry at all because I thought there was potential for a good angsty romance. I was also initially worried that there'd be a love triangle but thankfully, the author spared us from having to endure that!