The False Prince by Jennifer A. Neilsen Book Review

Title: The False Prince

Author: Jennifer A. Neilsen

Series: The Ascendance trilogy

Audience: Children’s 

Genre: Fantasy

   Summary:

  In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner’s motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword’s point—he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage’s rivals have their own agendas as well.

                                                                Three Point Five Stars

  My Review:                                                                  

  The False Prince was indeed a fascinating read. It was full of twists and turns, and it had me reading past lights out. *grins and looks fondly at handy flashlight* I found the story to be quite interesting! The plot was amazing. The moment I read the summary, I wanted to read it.

  Also, the setting was amazing! I love anything midevel really, and this took place in a midevel manor and I loved it. It was absolutely tops.  *grins*

  The ending was definitely my favorite part. (Well, that and page 96! *grins*) Everything seemed more clear, and a little less confusing at the end, then at the start.   

  So, why three point five stars, you ask? Let me explain. This story was told in first person, yet Sage held back on us. There were things we should have known at page twenty-one, that weren’t told to us till page two hundred and fifty-eight. In another situation, on page one hundred and thirty, Sage was fighting for an item we knew nothing about and it wasn’t explained why until the very end. I feel we should have been told why he was so persistent to have the item.

  Also, the start was a bit slow, and all the sudden, BOOM! Everything seemed to happen in a cluster. It confused me and I had to sit back and recollect everything that had just happened, and sort it out in my mind.

  Though The False Prince was full of interesting twists, they were predictable. I knew the big plot twist by page fifteen. There were only one or two that took me by surprise.

  Also, I greatly disliked Sage the first half. He was arrogant, self-absorbed, conceited and overly confident. Though it did kind of explain to a certain degree why he was so over confident, it still annoyed me. I’m hoping for some major character development in the next two books.

  Now, even though there were quite a few things I didn’t like, there were enough things I did like to keep me interested in the series. I am planning to read The Runaway King because I did like the ending of The False Prince, and am eager to see what happens.