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A review by noolna
The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain
2.0
Actual Rating: 1.5 stars
Haden Lord is the most whiney and insufferable leading protagonist I have ever encountered. Daphne Raines is just as insufferable, but thankfully not as whiney—though she does have her moments, but Haden out does her. The Shadow Prince suffers from weak characters with very little character development and a plot with so much potential but unfortunately falls incredibly short.
As you all know, I’m a complete sucker for Greek mythology, which is why I got drawn into The Shadow Prince to begin with. One of my favourite stories is that of Hades and Persephone, so obviously I am all about this life. However, I was sold a dream and it will remain a dream because this was not what I was expecting.
The world building I felt was non-existent. Honestly, using a Greek myth and combining it with the modern world does not mean you are allowed to be lazy with the world that you are creating. Also, a lot of the world building is done through Haden’s whiney info-dumps, which does nothing for the world that Despain is trying to create. In these moments, there is no life given to the world created and Haden becomes unbearable. I also don’t like that there isn’t a real explanation given to what a boon is, like what? :|
Bree Despain’s writing is medicore, and just enough to keep the story flowing and keeping you interested. I honestly only held on until the end because I will suffer through horrible, horrible things if only to get any kind of Greek mythology fantasy book. When I say horrible, horrible things I mean all of the dreaded YA clichés, you will find in this book. I did a lot of eye-rolling because, seriously, you’re just bombarded with them.
Haden Lord is such an awful character, he is seriously sooooooooooo bad. He is so incredibly whiney, and I often found myself frustrated with him. I made so many notes in my iBooks about his whining and telling him to stfu, because seriously … so annoying. Daphne does have her moments, but Haden’s definitely out did hers. My main beef with Haden is that he would always have a spiel about proving his father wrong, about bringing honour back to his name, etc. etc. and then LITERALLY five seconds later he is all, oh woe is me, I am ashamed of who I am, etc. etc. I mean … what? No. Stop. You are useless.
Daphne was as expected of a Mary-Sue. For the majority of the book, though, I was concerned about how UNCONCERNED she was about not having her cell phone. What teenaged girl does not freak out about that shit?
Despite the low rating and how much I ragged on Haden, I am interested to see where Despain takes the rest of the series. Therefore, I am most likely going to read the next book in this series.
Haden Lord is the most whiney and insufferable leading protagonist I have ever encountered. Daphne Raines is just as insufferable, but thankfully not as whiney—though she does have her moments, but Haden out does her. The Shadow Prince suffers from weak characters with very little character development and a plot with so much potential but unfortunately falls incredibly short.
As you all know, I’m a complete sucker for Greek mythology, which is why I got drawn into The Shadow Prince to begin with. One of my favourite stories is that of Hades and Persephone, so obviously I am all about this life. However, I was sold a dream and it will remain a dream because this was not what I was expecting.
The world building I felt was non-existent. Honestly, using a Greek myth and combining it with the modern world does not mean you are allowed to be lazy with the world that you are creating. Also, a lot of the world building is done through Haden’s whiney info-dumps, which does nothing for the world that Despain is trying to create. In these moments, there is no life given to the world created and Haden becomes unbearable. I also don’t like that there isn’t a real explanation given to what a boon is, like what? :|
Bree Despain’s writing is medicore, and just enough to keep the story flowing and keeping you interested. I honestly only held on until the end because I will suffer through horrible, horrible things if only to get any kind of Greek mythology fantasy book. When I say horrible, horrible things I mean all of the dreaded YA clichés, you will find in this book. I did a lot of eye-rolling because, seriously, you’re just bombarded with them.
Haden Lord is such an awful character, he is seriously sooooooooooo bad. He is so incredibly whiney, and I often found myself frustrated with him. I made so many notes in my iBooks about his whining and telling him to stfu, because seriously … so annoying. Daphne does have her moments, but Haden’s definitely out did hers. My main beef with Haden is that he would always have a spiel about proving his father wrong, about bringing honour back to his name, etc. etc. and then LITERALLY five seconds later he is all, oh woe is me, I am ashamed of who I am, etc. etc. I mean … what? No. Stop. You are useless.
Daphne was as expected of a Mary-Sue. For the majority of the book, though, I was concerned about how UNCONCERNED she was about not having her cell phone. What teenaged girl does not freak out about that shit?
Despite the low rating and how much I ragged on Haden, I am interested to see where Despain takes the rest of the series. Therefore, I am most likely going to read the next book in this series.