Publisher’s Summary
Javan Najafai, crown prince of Akram, has spent the last ten years at an elite boarding school, far away from his kingdom. But his eagerly awaited return home is cut short when a mysterious impostor takes his place—and no one believes Javan is the true prince.
After barely escaping the impostor’s assassins, Javan is thrown into Maqbara, the kingdom’s most dangerous prison. The only way to gain an audience with the king—and reveal Javan’s identity—is to fight in Maqbara’s yearly tournament. But winning is much harder than acing competitions at school, and soon Javan finds himself beset not just by the terrifying creatures in the arena but also by a band of prisoners allied against him, and even by the warden herself.
The only person who can help him is Sajda, who has been enslaved by Maqbara’s warden since she was a child, and whose guarded demeanor and powerful right hook keep the prisoners in check. Working with Sajda might be the only way Javan can escape alive—but she has dangerous secrets.
Together, Javan and Sajda have to outwit the vicious warden, outfight deadly creatures, and outlast the murderous prisoners intent on killing Javan. If they fail, they’ll be trapped in Maqbara for good—and the secret Sajda’s been hiding will bury them both.
First Impression:
When I saw that this was a book in the Ravenspire series, I thought I was looking at a sequel. The first book in the series is The Shadow Queen, a dark fantasy reimagining of Snow White. I read that book a while back and couldn’t remember why it would have a sequel. It turns out that The Traitor Prince is a novel in the Ravenspire universe. I love these types of novels! I’ve said several times already that I don’t care for book series that are duologies or trilogies (or worse in the case of The Girl who Dared to Think) for the sake of stretching a story to make more money. Sometimes I just want to pick up a book and read it knowing that I will reach a satisfying ending. Not only is this a standalone novel, but it is also a reimagining of a fairy tale, The Prince and the Pauper. This is another of my favorite types of novels, so The Traitor Prince was a win from the beginning in my opinion.
Review:
We meet two of the main characters at the beginning of the novel as they are in different locales. Rahim, a young boy who has a very similar appearance to the crown prince of Akram, is in the process of planning a switcheroo while Javan, the real prince of Akram, is busy working his butt off in boarding school. Javan has not been home for ten years…apparently, because he was working so hard to fulfill his mother’s last request to make her proud. Obviously his appearance has changed over this time and so there are not many in the kingdom that will know the difference between Javan and a look-alike at a cursory glance. The idea is that Rahim, the imposter, will kill Javan and take his place on the throne once the king is out of the way. But, Javan just won’t die. It wouldn’t really be much of a book if he did right? So instead, he ends up in a prison doing very Gladiator-esqe things to try to get an audience with his father, the king. While he is there, he befriends and (surprise, surprise) falls in love with a girl with a dark secret.
Redwine does a great job of building the appropriate emotional connections with these characters. I mean, I can’t stand Rahim after the first few paragraphs. I kept thinking that there would be something about him that would allow me to sympathize with him, but nope, he’s just a horrible person. Javan and Sadja have a backstory that has enough depth to connect with emotionally and to want to see each of them succeed in their own right. I will say that I am not a fan of the insta-love that is so rampant in YA novels. This relationship did not jump to that level within a few days, but did feel like the emotional buildup to the declaration of love was lacking. I knew it was coming, but I didn’t feel it as it was happening.
The supporting characters in this novel served their purpose, but there was no real character development aside from Javan and Sadja. The book had enough action and suspense to lead to some late-night listening. At the climax of the book, you’re thinking “Okay here’s where we’re going to resolve this…Oh no!… Well, now how is he going to get out of this predicament…Oh, THAT’s how.” The conclusion was rather realistic…in as far as fantasy can be realistic, and satisfying. And no cliffhanger for a sequel!!
Overall Thoughts:
The Traitor Prince is definitely worth a listen, especially if you’re a YA fantasy fan. I won’t really call it a romance because that was a minor part of this story. Christian Barillas does a great job with narration. The voices are distinct enough to know who is talking, but not so extreme as to be distracting. While I was listening to this book I was doing a very simple knitting pattern that required no counting. I will say that there are times when you can zone out and times when you really need to pay attention. It’s a good time to work on a project where you can be on autopilot. While you’re at it, you should listen to The Shadow Queen. I plan to listen to the other novels in this series as well. As of now there are four.