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A review by reclusivebookslug
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
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.