ebookreview | Entries tagged with series: healer of kindgoms

A Prince So Cruel by Ingrid Seymour

Series:
Healer of Kingdoms #1

Genre:
Fantasy, Romance, First Person Point of View, the Fae, Contemporary, Urban Fantasy, Retellings, Adult, New Adult, Fairies, Fated Mates, Paranormal, Beauty and the Beast, Elves, Demons, Magic, Shifters, Forced Proximity, Romantasy, Duology and Trilogy, Slow Burn, Enemies to Lovers, Dark, Unseelie and Seelie, Autumn Reads

Publication Date:
December 1, 2022

Pages Numbers:
287

Read Date:
September 25th, 2023

Date Finished:
September 25th, 2023

Rating:
4/5

Blurb:

He needs my help, but he’ll be my downfall.

A prince by morning.
A cad by noon.
A beast by nightfall.

There is a curse on his blood, an ailment that, if revealed, could destroy his kingdom.

The only one who can help him is me, a human with average healing abilities. It’s what the Envoy told him, and her word is law.

I’m his only hope.

He sends his blue-blooded friends to kidnap me so I can join their quest to Mount Ruin, the only place where I can heal him.

The path is dangerous, and I don’t know the entire truth. The prince is hiding something from me. To make matters worse, he isn’t always proper. A Fae prince isn’t supposed to lust for a human, especially when she’s his prisoner. And a human girl isn’t supposed to burn for someone so out of her league.

The quest might kill me, but it’s my heart I’m worried about.

Review:

A lot of books seem to be shadowing the success of ACOTAR hoping to break out of that shadow to find their own success. While there have been many tries in the past, none have come as close to success.

Now I have not read ACOTAR yet (they are on my TBR and I am hoping to read it during next month) so I cannot offer a comparison between them. I have only seen and heard from reviews that this book is trying to gain its own success by means of taking things from the ACOTAR series.

And while I can see some points that have been brought up, I cannot let such things cloud my judgment. This would be unfair to both the author and any future readers who may enjoy the book for what it is.

Each book should be judged on its own merits, not on how closely it resembles another book. Authors are constantly inspired by other works and it is natural for elements to seep into their own writing. It is up to the author to put their own spin on it and make it unique to their story.

I do not have personal feelings or judgments, but it is important for readers to keep an open mind and not stereotype books based on their similarities. Similarities between books can be an opportunity for readers who like ACOTAR to find and enjoy a new book, or for authors to connect to readers who enjoyed ACOTAR. We should celebrate diverse voices and stories that capture our hearts and imaginations, regardless of their similarities or differences.

So, what are my opinions on this book?

I am on the fence with this particular book. While there is potential for the world and its characters to grow and improve, I just could not find a single connection to the cast. Dani is literally cornered in the first scene of the book, told that their boss needs her, and carts her off with them. When she arrives, none of them bother to tell her why she is there. I can understand why Dani would want to flee from this group. If they had been clear with her being there, I think the situation would have gone differently and things would have progressed much better than it had been since the beginning.

To not tell your hostage - would she be considered a hostage? - why she is there really does not endear yourself or your problem to the reader. It makes you and your situation less likable. Even any connection the reader wants to make with the male becomes difficult because the lack of transparency creates a feeling of deceit. Additionally, not revealing the reason for the character's captivity can lead to confusion and frustration for the reader, which can ultimately lead to disinterest in the story. It's important for the male lead to have a clear and understandable motivation in order for the reader to sympathize and engage with their journey.

There did not seem to be any world-building. If there was, it was minuscule at best and not very noticeable. Now this could be due that this series is connected to another series and I have not read it nor did I even know of it. So, the world-building to that series might be a bit more detailed than it is here. It could be possible that we could see more of the world-building in the next portions of the series which could give us a much bigger picture of this world.

Final Thought:

Overall, the ending of this book was not particularly notable. I think it would have been a bit more realistic if the communication had been there. I will be reading the second book in this series to see how the plot plays out.