Review: Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay

Summary:

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

Publication Date: December 9, 2014

Princess of Thorns is unlike any fairytale retelling I have ever read before—mostly because the novel has very few of the same elements of the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty. Although the book didn’t make me feel like I was reading a new spin on Sleeping Beauty, I did enjoy the plot and the high fantasy elements.

The characters took a little while for me to like, but they did grow on me enough that I found myself hoping both Aurora and the cursed Prince Niklass would find their happy endings. Probably my favorite part of the entire book was their romance. They had respect for each other and a solid friendship that evolved. Their dialogue was a lot of fun too. The romance was slow building, especially since Niklass believed Aurora to be a boy for a good part of the story.

I thought the character development was well done and I really enjoyed the author’s ethereal writing style. My one complaint would be that there wasn’t enough world building. I never felt myself transported along with Aurora. The author had a lot of stuff to work with and I would have liked to know more about the fairies, ogres, curses, etc.

Although this is a standalone, I wouldn’t mind reading more about the amazing world the author crafted. I actually think a prequel about Aurora’s mother would be a fantastic read. The author has several other novels released and I look forward to checking them all out.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel for review!