Thursday, June 16, 2016

Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay » Book Review

Hello Wonderful Readers!

Princess of Thorns was recommended to me by a dear IRL (In-Real-Life) friend and it turned out to be exactly the light, occasionally humorous, fantasy fare I needed at the time.

First off, I would like to inform you that this book is absolutely NOTHING like Game of Thrones or Grimm's fairy tales. It is not as convoluted, or as epic high fantasy, or as miserable as either of two aforementioned comparisons. If I had to compare it to something, I would say it's a semi-confusing mixture of Disney films targeted towards young teens.

Now, I personally don't find anything wrong with that. I just wouldn't want someone picking up the book thinking it's something that it's not. On one hand, we have Aurora. She is the daughter of Sleeping Beauty and fairy-blessed with strength, mercy, and cursed with the ability to suck the free will out of any boy she kisses. She is the token strong female character. I say token because I didn't feel like there was much depth to her. And I think it's because all I really knew of her was her backstory, her amusing back-and-forths with Niklaas, her impressive fighting abilities as a result of being fairy-blessed, and her love for her family. That may seem like more than enough, but there was something missing. She was definitely an enjoyable character, I just don't believe that she is a character strong in mind, body and spirit. There were moments where the author could have elevated her narrative from a run-of-the-mill fantasy story to something with more substance through Aurora's thoughts and actions, but sadly, Stacey Jay let those moments slide.

Aurora's traveling companion was Niklaas, the 11th son of an immortal King. His father was so worried about his sons trying to take his throne that he found a way to curse them upon their 18th birthday. Each boy would turn into a swan upon their majority. See what I mean about the amalgam of Disney and fairy tales? Oh, but it only gets better! Let's throw some Mulan into the mix! Niklaas thinks Aurora (Ror) is a young lad, and hilarity (for us readers) ensue.

I must admit, I'm a sucker for the 'girl-disguised-as-a-boy' trope. I find it absolutely enchanting, probably because for most of my childhood I actually wished to be a boy. It's wish-fulfillment at its weirdest. I can't think of many books out there that pull it off WELL, especially within the YA genre. But I will admit that it did seem plausible within this story, and hence enjoyable. The banter between Aurora and Niklaas was amusing, and did make me smile. I can imagine 13-yr-old me being absolutely enamored with their romance. I was always a sucker for good old-fashioned bickering. I blame that on Indian soap operas. It taught me that bickering = love, a woman who faints for any reason = pregnant, and real passion occurs when your bangles break or when someone is slapped.

When it comes to the setting of this fantasy, everything is dull and easily forgotten. We have fairies/Fey, ogres, witches, kings/queens, princes/princesses, etc. Everything felt plugged in as opposed to organically being part of the narrative. The focus of this fantasy definitely remains on our two lovebirds. I did enjoy their simmering romance, even when, Aurora and Niklaas veered into soap-opera territory many a time.

I did discover a few Indian soap opera clips for you guys to enjoy! We are dramatic people. #myindianchildhood


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPR7c7VGowo

15 comments:

  1. Glad this was what you needed when you needed it. ;)

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  2. "I blame that on Indian soap operas. It taught me that bickering = love, a woman who faints for any reason = pregnant, and real passion occurs when your bangles break or when someone is slapped."

    Dying.

    Side note: This whole time you told me you were reading "Princess of Thorns" I thought it was another book entirely! It was only when I started reading your review that I was like... "wait." I looked up the book that I was thinking of and it was POISON PRINCESS by Kresley Cole.

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  3. It sounds good, but I would probably enjoy it more if it was more Grimm and GoT, although Mulan sounds good!

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  4. That makes more sense! I looked up to see what you rated PoT, but couldn't find anything. I might read Poison Princess at some point. Since I *ahem* did go through a phase of reading her adult PNRs :P.

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  5. Give it a wide berth Lauren :P.

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  6. I actually laughed when I saw the Game of Thrones comparison in the summary. I don't remember if that was in there when I read the book several months ago, but this may be one of the most unwarranted uses of that comparison I have ever seen. The two books have practically nothing in common besides the fact they're both fantasy!

    I agree the worldbuilding was kind of hazy at times, but I also enjoyed the book in general.

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  7. I started this many moons ago, but didn't really get far ahead (other books happened. Lol). I just get so bored with retellings. Sighhhhh

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  8. This seems pretty interesting. I wonder if I'll like it. Maybe, just maybe.

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  9. Sometimes I do need a light read that isn't contemporary, and this worked perfectly for me in that way!

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  10. I suppose that's why they had a bunch of retellings in here? But I agree with you! I'm kind of over it too. Maybe it will go back to vampires this year? Lol, who knows!

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  11. I would always encourage giving it a try! Let me know if you do pick it up and your thoughts and opinions on it :)

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  12. I don't think this is one I am going to be trying. It seems okay, but it sounds nothing like what I was hoping/expecting it to be like. And I am someone who really digs world building and it seems like that wasn't given much focus here at all. But brilliant review nonetheless!

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  13. Thank you! I enjoyed it for what it was, but if you're looking for world-building, I would suggest looking elsewhere. Thank you for stopping by! :)

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  14. […] 4. Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay Full Review HERE […]

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