Author: Bree Despain
Format Acquired: eARC
Publication Date: March 11, 2014
Publishing House: Egmont USA
ISBN: 9781606842478
Source of Copy: Edelweiss
Summary:
Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills Hugh - a haven for the rich and famous - Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.
Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High's prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father's mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn't the only student in Olympus who doesn't quite belong.
Haden and Daphne - destined for each other - know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers' lives collide. But Daphne won't be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended - he's fallen in love. Now to save themeselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
Review:
All her life, Daphne Raines was safely ensconced by her overprotective mother, so when her estranged rockstar father rolls into her tiny Utah town, she jumps at the opportunity to expand her horizons.
Haden Lord is the chosen one sent to Earth to restore the chaos in his world. Others before him have failed, but Haden is determined to find the right girl who can save them, if only to show his father up. When he meets Daphne Raines however, his determination wavers. Because if it turns out that Daphne can't save them, she'll be lost to him forever.
I almost always end up confusing this book with Kate Evangelista's Til Death (which I reviewed here). They're quite similar in a lot of ways, except Evangelista's novel carried more snark and interesting bits as opposed to this one. The Shadow Prince is by no means a thin book, so I found The Shadow Prince to be an exceptionally loooooooong novel (500+ pages aside), if only because I didn't care for any of the characters, nor did I care for the plot, ditto the romance which played a hugely annoying part. Haden is all skulk and gloom so it's not really surprising that Daphne just wants to stay away from him and his inopportune knack of showing up at the wrong places at the wrong times. Daphne is just plain forgettable. Is it also weird that I didn't particularly like the mythological names of the setting? It just felt a bit cheesy and overdone to me, as it kept on reminding me that yo, this is a mythology-inspired book, in case you forgot.
I sloughed through The Shadow Prince to see if it would get better, and it did... marginally. The ending was a bit better than I expected, but as I've just confirmed, mythology-inspired books just aren't for me, and The Shadow Prince did not dissuade me from this.
"So why bother reading this in the first place?!" you might argue. Well, I was really curious, and I wanted to know if this was the book that could nudge me into the way of mythology.
If you're not much into mythology (like me, as it turns out), then you won't bother with this one. But if you're into mythology... I wouldn't say I'd recommend it either. The Shadow Prince carried far too many sulky teenagers and ho-hum scenes than I'd like in my books.
Source of Copy: Edelweiss
Summary:
Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills Hugh - a haven for the rich and famous - Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.
Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High's prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father's mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn't the only student in Olympus who doesn't quite belong.
Haden and Daphne - destined for each other - know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers' lives collide. But Daphne won't be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended - he's fallen in love. Now to save themeselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
Review:
All her life, Daphne Raines was safely ensconced by her overprotective mother, so when her estranged rockstar father rolls into her tiny Utah town, she jumps at the opportunity to expand her horizons.
Haden Lord is the chosen one sent to Earth to restore the chaos in his world. Others before him have failed, but Haden is determined to find the right girl who can save them, if only to show his father up. When he meets Daphne Raines however, his determination wavers. Because if it turns out that Daphne can't save them, she'll be lost to him forever.
I almost always end up confusing this book with Kate Evangelista's Til Death (which I reviewed here). They're quite similar in a lot of ways, except Evangelista's novel carried more snark and interesting bits as opposed to this one. The Shadow Prince is by no means a thin book, so I found The Shadow Prince to be an exceptionally loooooooong novel (500+ pages aside), if only because I didn't care for any of the characters, nor did I care for the plot, ditto the romance which played a hugely annoying part. Haden is all skulk and gloom so it's not really surprising that Daphne just wants to stay away from him and his inopportune knack of showing up at the wrong places at the wrong times. Daphne is just plain forgettable. Is it also weird that I didn't particularly like the mythological names of the setting? It just felt a bit cheesy and overdone to me, as it kept on reminding me that yo, this is a mythology-inspired book, in case you forgot.
I sloughed through The Shadow Prince to see if it would get better, and it did... marginally. The ending was a bit better than I expected, but as I've just confirmed, mythology-inspired books just aren't for me, and The Shadow Prince did not dissuade me from this.
"So why bother reading this in the first place?!" you might argue. Well, I was really curious, and I wanted to know if this was the book that could nudge me into the way of mythology.
If you're not much into mythology (like me, as it turns out), then you won't bother with this one. But if you're into mythology... I wouldn't say I'd recommend it either. The Shadow Prince carried far too many sulky teenagers and ho-hum scenes than I'd like in my books.
Rating:
Oh, Michelle. *hugs* I'm sorry you didn't like this one. Yes, I'm into mythology but I'm discouraged to take on this book now. Thanks for the great honest review, girl.
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