Book Review | The Shadow Prince

Title: The Shadow Prince (Into The Dark, #1)
Author: Bree Despain
Publication: March 11th, 2014
Publisher: Egmont
Source: ARC from Andye over at Reading Teen (Thanks, giiirl!)

Rating: 3.5 out 5 stars


Synopsis: 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 High - a haven for children of 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 themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds. 

Review: As a fan of mythology, I was really looking forward to this book. While I did enjoy it for the most part, I was a tad disappointed by it. The little disappointment I had could come from the high expectations that I had going into this book. 

I've read Bree Despain's other series a few years ago and I remember devouring it. I was thinking I would fall right into the same thing with this book, but I was completely wrong. I felt that there were points of this book that seemed to drag on and on. To be frank, I even skimmed a few pages. To give you an idea, the two main characters don't even meet until 100 pages in. The action doesn't actually start to happen until the last 150 or so pages. And this book is just over 500 pages. That's a lot of pages filled with getting to know the characters more so than the world. 

While I was interested in the characters, I was much more interested in the mythology of the story as well as the characters role in this mythological world (which as mentioned I didn't come to find out until the last 150 pages or so). This isn't a negative review, I really did enjoy the characters, they were interesting. Particularly, I loved the sass and feminist qualities that were within Daphne. Haden was quite naive and reading about him learning about pop culture and the way life is on Earth was quite endearing. One big plus, there is absolutely NO insta-love. NONE.

Now for the mythology, my favorite part. I loved the way that Bree Despain took her own spin on mythology. I loved all the references she placed in relating back to other mythological stories. I loved the fresh spins on the plot that I never saw coming. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the mythological aspects of it the most and I would have to say if you're a fan of mythology as well, I'd recommend this one to you. 


Have you read this one and if so, what did you think of it? What did you think of the mythology tie-ins? What are some good books with mythology in them that you've read lately?   




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