Review: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Release Date: April 1st, 2012
Order / Goodreads / Author's Blog
THE FALSE PRINCE is the thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy filled with danger and deceit and hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.
In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.
As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.
An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.
One
of my favorite parts of reading is what a book completely captivates me and
hooks me from the beginning, and I was very pleased that I found all that and
more in Jennifer A. Nielsen’s The False Prince. Reading this book, I found
myself instantly sucked into the adventure, suspense, mystery and wit that is
The False Prince. Everything about this story charmed me; the characters take
on a life of their own, and are nicely fleshed out.
The
False Prince sets its focus on Sage, a young orphan boy that is as clever as he
is crafty. Sage is taken – more like sold – to a noble named Conner, who has
rounded up a few select orphans to train in the hopes of passing off one of
them as the lost prince Jaron; Jaron was reported to be lost at sea when his
ship was attack by pirates. Needless to say, Sage has zero interest in bending
to Conner’s will, and does everything he can to fail including nodding off
during lessons, ignoring the rules, mouthing off to others, stealing from
Conner, etc. However, what keeps Sage from coming off as just a rude, spiteful
boy is his humility and kindness. He cares for others and, thinking nothing of
stations, goes out of his way to protect a young serving girl.
As I
stated before, Sage has no interest in being Conner’s puppet and openly defies him
at every turn; however how Sage does this is actually quite clever and I found
myself laughing at Sage’s antics, while being amazed at his thought process. Having
secrets of his own, Sage goes to great lengths to keep himself a secret from
all those around him, including the reader. Nothing is really given away, and
even if you look for hints in Sage’s inner thoughts, than you will come back
with no more information than Sage is will to give away. Honestly, Sage is a
character that I hope most readers will be able to connect with; he has a
certain charm and wit that will draw readers to him but ultimately it will be
his kindness and self-sacrificing nature that will keep readers fighting at his
side.
The
story and Nielsen’s writing style is one of the best I have seen in recent
middle-grade fiction. I actually found myself shocked that this book was geared
toward middle grade readers, and this knowledge should in no way stop readers
from giving it a good solid read. There is a great deal of detail and attention
given to this book and I can honestly tell that Nielsen put a lot of love,
sweat and tears into crafting that best tale possible! Instantly, readers will
be able to vividly picture the streets of the city as Sage runs with a roast
tucked under his arm, escaping the violent wrath of a butcher’s knife or
picture Sage’s crafty smirk as he tricks Conner with a flick of his fingers.
Even
though the author focuses a lot of attention on Sage, she does give a lot of devotion
to fleshing out the secondary characters to their fullest. I found myself
impressed with how the author was able to make me feel compassion towards the
other characters. Each one had his or her own back-story and was not just
placed in the story to fill a desired hole. Characters that are just met briefly
are still given attention, and I found myself gasping as one character is
quickly taken out of the picture; even for just a few short chapters I was able
to form an attachment to a particular characters and found myself gasping at
the swiftness of their death. Each character is not forgotten and even those
that are taken out of the story are continually brought up and kept included in
the development of other characters.
Obviously,
Nielsen spent a lot of time researching and developing the history of the
different Kingdoms. The story has a rich history and each point is interwoven
into the plot easily. I guarantee that readers will not be able to put this
book down once they began the first page and continue on reading about Sage’s
journey. The chapters do not drag on and keep readers interest; in fact readers
will continue on to the next chapter without even realizing it – did it myself a
few times because truthfully I had to know what happened next!
Even
if you are not a fan of reading, I guarantee that you will quickly become lost
in Sage’s adventures and the pure fantasy that is The False Prince. My only
complaint is that I now have to wait for the second book in this planned
trilogy!
RATING
5 out of 5
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