Princess of Souls
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating3.5
From Alexandra Christo, the author of To Kill a Kingdom, comes Princess of Souls, a Rapunzel-inspired YA fantasy romance about a teen witch groomed to steal souls for an immortal king and the reckless, rebellious boy to whom her fate is tied. For sixteen years, Selestra has been trapped in her tower on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as the King's Witch, who foretells deaths in the Festival of Predictions. Outrunning your fate earns a wish and the chance to steal the King’s immortality. But die and your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death. A soldier in the King's army, Nox is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but, driven by revenge, he is determined to steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra. Yet when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, their fates become entwined, and death seeks to take both their souls. Only by working together can they survive long enough to escape the dark fate and the immortal King that now hunts them.
Reviews with the most likes.
This book was never on my radar but when I got an advance copy, I was interested to see how it is. A Rapunzel retelling also sounded completely like my kind of story, so I was eager to explore that as well. Turns out, I should have tempered my expectations.
I am not saying it's a bad book. In fact, it is immensely readable, pretty fast paced too which means I breezed through this book very quickly. It's just that these days I am having a tough time appreciating young adult books for what they are without putting too many expectations on them. I was also disappointed that there's hardly any elements of the Rapunzel story which are explored here except Selestra having long hair and being confined to a tower before she is of age.
The world building is good enough, if a bit difficult to get the hang of. The action sequences are pretty cool, especially towards the end. The side characters are also very interesting, Irenya and Micah being very easy to love and quite fascinating. But the main characters Selestra and Nox didn't evoke the same feelings in me. And without that connection with the couple, it's hard to enjoy the yearning that comes with an enemies to lovers story. I definitely wish their characters were more fleshed out and had definitive arcs which made it easier to root for them.
Overall, this was an easy to read and tad bit predictable YA fantasy novel with some cool action and interesting world building. It probably just doesn't cater to my current expectations from fantasy novels.
3.5/5 stars
I read To Kill a Kingdom earlier this year and loved it. So, needless to say I was so excited for the release of this book!
Princess of souls is a Rapunzel inspired YA fantasy set in the same world as To Kill a Kingdom and I loved every minute of reading this! Highly recommend if you are looking for a unique and untraditional retelling of Rapunzel.
