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seforana's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Physical abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Torture, Death of parent, Blood, Murder, War, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
edenlacoy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ORPHAN TO PRINCE! READ IT!!!
This book was incredibly intriguing and kept me engaged the entire time I read it! I could hardly put it down! The plot twist was unexpected and a wonderful addition to this already amazing work! Highly recommend!
This book was incredibly intriguing and kept me engaged the entire time I read it! I could hardly put it down! The plot twist was unexpected and a wonderful addition to this already amazing work! Highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Child abuse, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Torture
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Grief, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Despite all the things I chose above the content and way it is portraided would still have me recommending it for 10+.abbygdickerson's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, and Confinement
green_amaryllis's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Murder
cyerrappa's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
reclusivebookslug's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I enjoyed this way more than I expected. I only read it because my brother had a copy she no longer wanted and I thought it seemed interesting enough to keep for myself. I had been putting off reading it for some time because I knew it was part of a series I only had the first of, but recently I picked up the other two books at the library to put an end to my procrastination.
Reading this brought me back to my middle school-era reading style in the best way possible. When I always had a book on my person, tore through several a week, was always hungry for something new, and got so excited about a story I couldn't help but stay up all night to keep reading.
There's a big twist at the end that is really well executed. There's enough foreshadowing that as soon as the truth is revealed everything makes sense, but before it's revealed you can't be sure that your predictions will pan out. The narrator is lying about his true identity for most of the book, but it gives off the impression that he has also been lying to himself in order to pass off his facade more convincingly. And there's a bunch of details that he twists or omits that means that he's not exactly lying for a lot of it, he's just bending and withholding the whole truth. This was the most impressive part of the book for me and made reading so satisfying, exciting, and fulfilling.
Reading this brought me back to my middle school-era reading style in the best way possible. When I always had a book on my person, tore through several a week, was always hungry for something new, and got so excited about a story I couldn't help but stay up all night to keep reading.
There's a big twist at the end that is really well executed. There's enough foreshadowing that as soon as the truth is revealed everything makes sense, but before it's revealed you can't be sure that your predictions will pan out. The narrator is lying about his true identity for most of the book, but it gives off the impression that he has also been lying to himself in order to pass off his facade more convincingly. And there's a bunch of details that he twists or omits that means that he's not exactly lying for a lot of it, he's just bending and withholding the whole truth. This was the most impressive part of the book for me and made reading so satisfying, exciting, and fulfilling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Physical abuse
Moderate: Child death, Kidnapping, and Murder
A group is kids is kidnapped (bought from orphanages, but forcefully and without choice, so same thing really), one is murdered, and the rest are constantly threatened with murder. They beat the main character (a child) as punishment for noncompliance, which was detailed and somewhat graphic.cait's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
“A person can be educated and still be stupid, and a wise man can have no education at all.”
I think I'm losing my touch, man, because I did not see almost any of this coming. The only thing I was able to predict was the truth about the prince.
This is one of my sister's favorite series of all time. I have long been lectured about how good it is, how much she loves the characters, the way the angst and torture scenes make her feel alive (because, I guess she's a sadist or something). So, when my good friend offered me a copy for free, I accepted and then I didn't pick it up until eight months later.
The False Prince follows a group of orphan boys who are purchased from their orphanages to be taken to a mansion and trained to impersonate the missing prince in order to take over control of the kingdom. Failure means death. Success likely also means death. But the boys don't have any choice but to obey. They must learn to read like the prince, write like the prince, ride like the prince, fight like the prince, speak like the prince, walk like the prince, etc. And they only have a few weeks to do it, because there's a secret that no one yet knows: The entirety of the royal family is dead and the whole kingdom will fall if a new monarch is not placed before the truth is revealed.
I enjoyed this more abstractly than actively. I thought it was cleverly done and brilliantly executed, but there was also an element of distance that the author maintained between the reader and the characters that made it impossible for me to ever fully connect with any of them. It served a very important purpose, of course, but you don't realize that for a very long time, which makes it hard to understand why she won't let you close to them.
A pro or con of this author's writing style, depending on how you look at it, is the directness of her storytelling. Nielsen doesn't use flowery prose or create meandering paragraphs, she simply writes the story, which is a huge appeal to a lot of readers. It is not my preference, but I still see the appeal.
All in all, a very interesting story populated by intriguing characters and incredible twists, but I probably should have read it years ago when my sister told me to.
I think I'm losing my touch, man, because I did not see almost any of this coming. The only thing I was able to predict was the truth about the prince.
This is one of my sister's favorite series of all time. I have long been lectured about how good it is, how much she loves the characters, the way the angst and torture scenes make her feel alive (because, I guess she's a sadist or something). So, when my good friend offered me a copy for free, I accepted and then I didn't pick it up until eight months later.
The False Prince follows a group of orphan boys who are purchased from their orphanages to be taken to a mansion and trained to impersonate the missing prince in order to take over control of the kingdom. Failure means death. Success likely also means death. But the boys don't have any choice but to obey. They must learn to read like the prince, write like the prince, ride like the prince, fight like the prince, speak like the prince, walk like the prince, etc. And they only have a few weeks to do it, because there's a secret that no one yet knows: The entirety of the royal family is dead and the whole kingdom will fall if a new monarch is not placed before the truth is revealed.
I enjoyed this more abstractly than actively. I thought it was cleverly done and brilliantly executed, but there was also an element of distance that the author maintained between the reader and the characters that made it impossible for me to ever fully connect with any of them. It served a very important purpose, of course, but you don't realize that for a very long time, which makes it hard to understand why she won't let you close to them.
A pro or con of this author's writing style, depending on how you look at it, is the directness of her storytelling. Nielsen doesn't use flowery prose or create meandering paragraphs, she simply writes the story, which is a huge appeal to a lot of readers. It is not my preference, but I still see the appeal.
All in all, a very interesting story populated by intriguing characters and incredible twists, but I probably should have read it years ago when my sister told me to.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child abuse, and Death of parent
cheybrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Child death
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