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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Review: The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain

The Shadow Prince
(Into the Dark #1)
Publication Date: March 11, 2014
Hardcover, 512 pages, Egmont USA
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

 Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High—a haven for children of the rich and famous—Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.

Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High’s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father’s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn’t the only student in Olympus who doesn’t quite belong.

Haden and Daphne—destined for each other—know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers’ lives collide. But Daphne won’t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended—he’s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.

My Review

I really enjoyed Despain's The Dark Divine series, so I was excited to see how she'd go about writing a Greek mythology retelling instead of werewolves. And I have to say, she did a pretty good job. 

The story starts out from Haden's point of view, and let me tell you, this was awesome! His world, the Underrealm, was amazing and unique. I really wish we could have had more of him in his home environment. Haden's also extremely interesting. His hard demeanor had me sympathizing with him, but at times wanting to strangle him. He was just an all-around cool character.

Daphne's point of view wasn't my favorite, but there was nothing wrong with it. Daphne, unlike some other female protagonists, actually has a hobby. She sings. I'm normally not a huge fan of musical aspects in literature, probably because I can't physically hear it while reading, but I didn't mind so much with this story. Daphne also had real reactions. She didn't have an instant attraction to the creeper that is Haden. In fact, it took a lot for her to open up to him. 

This book is in dual point of view. Normally that would be a serious bummer for me, but I didn't get mixed up in this story at all. There were however, some minor instances of info dumping that I cringed at. And, I hate it when the high school teacher has the study material pertain to the actual storyline itself. It seems too coincidental. 

All in all, Bree created a unique world that I'm excited to read more about. I'm definitely going to pick up a physical copy of this ASAP and I'll be anxiously awaiting the sequel.

  
*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from Edelweiss. This in no way altered my opinion/review.  

2 comments:

  1. I just finished reading The Shadow Prince and enjoyed it. I enjoyed the dual point of view also in this one, and liked both Daphne and Haden's characters. I'm looking forward to reading more about this fascinating world and hopefully more of it's mythology background that relates to the Persephone and Hades myth. Great review :)

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