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The Silent Prince
Not yet published
Expected 20 Oct 26A Thousand Heartbeats meets A Fragile Enchantment, with the poetic romance of A River Enchanted, in this YA fantasy of a grieving princess forced into marriage with a mute prince who carries secrets of his own.
In a world where every crown conceals a wound, Elara Everwyn has known little beyond her father's coldness and the grief of losing her mother. Forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Cael Everhart of Riverath, she expects nothing from her new husband. Resentful and grieving, she struggles to adapt to a kingdom that demands she leave behind the only good memories she has left.
But Cael is not what she expected. Unable to speak, he communicates through his hands, writing, and the hidden poems he keeps to himself. As Elara grows closer to him and discovers his words, she begins to sense that there is far more beneath his silence than she understands.
When dangers begin gathering beyond the palace walls, Elara finds herself caught between old wounds, growing affection, and secrets that could change everything she thought she knew.
In a world where every crown conceals a wound, Elara Everwyn has known little beyond her father's coldness and the grief of losing her mother. Forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Cael Everhart of Riverath, she expects nothing from her new husband. Resentful and grieving, she struggles to adapt to a kingdom that demands she leave behind the only good memories she has left.
But Cael is not what she expected. Unable to speak, he communicates through his hands, writing, and the hidden poems he keeps to himself. As Elara grows closer to him and discovers his words, she begins to sense that there is far more beneath his silence than she understands.
When dangers begin gathering beyond the palace walls, Elara finds herself caught between old wounds, growing affection, and secrets that could change everything she thought she knew.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
379 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 20, 2026
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Review of advance copy received from Author
thank you so much to the author for sending me the e-arc in an exchange for an honest review.
this review is spoiler free!
postpone publishing and make the book go through several rounds of editing.
after seeing the authors marketing for this book on insta, I was excited to read it and immediately applied for the arc. it looked like a cute fantasy and an amazing palette cleanser. The only good thing about this book was the way the author marketed it. It was intriguing the fanart was wonderful, and fanart did draw me and multiple other readers to the book. But there were zero good aspects or aspects that I enjoyed while reading. I'm not trying to be rude to the author knowing that she's a teen author and that publishing and writing a book is hard, but honestly this story needs more editing. It felt like I was reading a horribly written first draft. Let's get into why I didn't enjoy this book.
1. the writing
the writing was awful. It didn't flow naturally and it was so forced. The author wanted to have a poetic prose so badly and it ended up not working out. Everything was over explained and the main character's thoughts bored me, I didn't find myself captivated by her at all. The writing was so hard to read and it often drew me out of the story. We also don't need everything to be over explained. The typos, grammatical errors and repeated phrases often drew me out of the story as well.
2. the characters
they were all one dimensional, boring and with zero depth. I'd like to talk about the king here because he was rude as hell for no reason. He was only rude and "cruel" only for the sake of the fmc so she can have a backstory. She gets into an arranged marriage with a prince and we have no idea why. Why does she get married to this man? What purpose does the marriage serve the country? We have no idea why he's cruel or what made him become this way. And in my opinion, this poor character writing. As for our main characters, the only thing I have to say is that they were boring and not intriguing which is why I don't have much to say about them.
3. chemistry
given that this was a romance book, there was no chemistry between the main characters at all. I do get that this is a slow burn, but there was even no build up or soft launch. It also felt like insta love rather than a slow burn. Elara immediately fell in love with him and forgot that she was whining about the marriage in the previous chapters. I also feel that the knight was just added for the sake of the princess x knight trope and for the love triangle.
4. the time setting
where are we? Are we in our world or are we in another world? What time period are we in? Why are we in supposedly the medieval era and we have water heaters and glass showers? Why is the vendor selling divine rivals? Yes, you heard me right. The vendors selling divine rivals, divine rivals which takes place in another world and written for our modern world? Divine rivals wasn't the only modern day book mentioned. Once upon a broken heart and howl's moving castle were mentioned as well? It was so confusing to me. Why would you even mention these books in a fantasy world?
with all this being said, I didn't enjoy this book at all. This is the authors debut and she is a teen author so I did keep that in mind and lowered my expectations but with them being low it didn't meet my expectations at all. I do wish the author great success on her writing journey given that she's a young author.
this review is spoiler free!
postpone publishing and make the book go through several rounds of editing.
after seeing the authors marketing for this book on insta, I was excited to read it and immediately applied for the arc. it looked like a cute fantasy and an amazing palette cleanser. The only good thing about this book was the way the author marketed it. It was intriguing the fanart was wonderful, and fanart did draw me and multiple other readers to the book. But there were zero good aspects or aspects that I enjoyed while reading. I'm not trying to be rude to the author knowing that she's a teen author and that publishing and writing a book is hard, but honestly this story needs more editing. It felt like I was reading a horribly written first draft. Let's get into why I didn't enjoy this book.
1. the writing
the writing was awful. It didn't flow naturally and it was so forced. The author wanted to have a poetic prose so badly and it ended up not working out. Everything was over explained and the main character's thoughts bored me, I didn't find myself captivated by her at all. The writing was so hard to read and it often drew me out of the story. We also don't need everything to be over explained. The typos, grammatical errors and repeated phrases often drew me out of the story as well.
2. the characters
they were all one dimensional, boring and with zero depth. I'd like to talk about the king here because he was rude as hell for no reason. He was only rude and "cruel" only for the sake of the fmc so she can have a backstory. She gets into an arranged marriage with a prince and we have no idea why. Why does she get married to this man? What purpose does the marriage serve the country? We have no idea why he's cruel or what made him become this way. And in my opinion, this poor character writing. As for our main characters, the only thing I have to say is that they were boring and not intriguing which is why I don't have much to say about them.
3. chemistry
given that this was a romance book, there was no chemistry between the main characters at all. I do get that this is a slow burn, but there was even no build up or soft launch. It also felt like insta love rather than a slow burn. Elara immediately fell in love with him and forgot that she was whining about the marriage in the previous chapters. I also feel that the knight was just added for the sake of the princess x knight trope and for the love triangle.
4. the time setting
where are we? Are we in our world or are we in another world? What time period are we in? Why are we in supposedly the medieval era and we have water heaters and glass showers? Why is the vendor selling divine rivals? Yes, you heard me right. The vendors selling divine rivals, divine rivals which takes place in another world and written for our modern world? Divine rivals wasn't the only modern day book mentioned. Once upon a broken heart and howl's moving castle were mentioned as well? It was so confusing to me. Why would you even mention these books in a fantasy world?
with all this being said, I didn't enjoy this book at all. This is the authors debut and she is a teen author so I did keep that in mind and lowered my expectations but with them being low it didn't meet my expectations at all. I do wish the author great success on her writing journey given that she's a young author.
Did Not Finish
August 11, 2026Before I begin, I want to say that I appreciate the ARC for an honest review.
I am going to be completely transparent - I couldn't finish this. I tried very hard to read the whole thing as I do with all books, but especially ARCs.
Let's get the positives out of the way - this is a debut author and it's a really big task to write and publish a book and more so from a seemingly young author. I can tell that she tried and if there wasn't AI, then there IS effort put in. I was originally hooked in by the author's presentation of the book, so clearly it does have an interesting concept!
Alright, I'm going to be blunt, this was hard to read, clearly from what I've already said. This book was in desperate need of an editor or someone to be honest and tell the author what was and wasn't working. I don't want to take too much time going into each and every thing, so I'll point form my problems as I wrote them while reading:
- when does this take place?? It's clearly a fantasy setting but it isn't as well?? There are showers and a heater but they use carts and horses... information is spread through word of mouth and paper nailed into wood. And WHY are we referencing books like Divine Rivals? Again, WHEN is this? Where??
- the king/father was just Evil Dad/King TM. There really was no reason why he was so evil other than *trauma for Elara* -- and speaking of, Elara blames the lack of anything growing in her kingdom on her father and sure he can import goods but like.. he can't control the rain...?
- there were so many inconsistencies, punctuation and clunky mistakes; the reading experience could have been greatly improved if it had been proofread/edited properly. What also would have helped was, respectfully, a thesaurus and someone to suggest if something actually makes sense
I think I've made my point.
I want to wrap this up by saying that while this was a miss, that doesn't mean that this very young author can't go back and redo this work or make something better another day!
I am going to be completely transparent - I couldn't finish this. I tried very hard to read the whole thing as I do with all books, but especially ARCs.
Let's get the positives out of the way - this is a debut author and it's a really big task to write and publish a book and more so from a seemingly young author. I can tell that she tried and if there wasn't AI, then there IS effort put in. I was originally hooked in by the author's presentation of the book, so clearly it does have an interesting concept!
Alright, I'm going to be blunt, this was hard to read, clearly from what I've already said. This book was in desperate need of an editor or someone to be honest and tell the author what was and wasn't working. I don't want to take too much time going into each and every thing, so I'll point form my problems as I wrote them while reading:
- when does this take place?? It's clearly a fantasy setting but it isn't as well?? There are showers and a heater but they use carts and horses... information is spread through word of mouth and paper nailed into wood. And WHY are we referencing books like Divine Rivals? Again, WHEN is this? Where??
- the king/father was just Evil Dad/King TM. There really was no reason why he was so evil other than *trauma for Elara* -- and speaking of, Elara blames the lack of anything growing in her kingdom on her father and sure he can import goods but like.. he can't control the rain...?
- there were so many inconsistencies, punctuation and clunky mistakes; the reading experience could have been greatly improved if it had been proofread/edited properly. What also would have helped was, respectfully, a thesaurus and someone to suggest if something actually makes sense
I think I've made my point.
I want to wrap this up by saying that while this was a miss, that doesn't mean that this very young author can't go back and redo this work or make something better another day!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Firstly, thank you to the author for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I went into The Silent Prince genuinely excited because the premise sounded so intriguing. Unfortunately, this one just wasn't the right fit for me. I really think it’s a case of it’s not you, it’s me
For me, the biggest challenge was the writing style. It leaned very flowery and descriptive, and I often felt like scenes were overexplained. We really don’t need a description for every little thing. At times it got really exhausting to read. I found it difficult to fully immerse myself in the story or connect with the characters. I liked Elara I guess? My problem was that the characters felt so one dimensional.
As for the romance, I personally wanted more tension and chemistry. Look, there isn’t nothing wrong with a slow burn but these characters barely even communicated and when they did they were always interrupted or Cael had to leave suddenly. I felt ZERO chemistry between the FMC AND MMC and while yes there were very sweet moments between the characters, I never quite felt the emotional buildup that made me believe they were falling in love. I literally thought she had more chemistry with that solider. Also he supposedly met Elara when they were kids but he doesn’t remember her upon seeing her again and he was smitten with her the moment they meet. It just seems unrealistic for a child to think that way since they barely interacted.
That said, I also want to acknowledge that this author is young, and I genuinely think that's something to celebrate. Publishing a novel as a teenager is an amazing accomplishment, and it's clear there's passion and ambition behind this story. Every author grows with each book they write, and I have no doubt they'll continue to develop their voice and storytelling. In no way is this hate towards the author or the story I’m only sharing my perspective and my personal thoughts. I wish her all the best in her writing journey!
I went into The Silent Prince genuinely excited because the premise sounded so intriguing. Unfortunately, this one just wasn't the right fit for me. I really think it’s a case of it’s not you, it’s me
For me, the biggest challenge was the writing style. It leaned very flowery and descriptive, and I often felt like scenes were overexplained. We really don’t need a description for every little thing. At times it got really exhausting to read. I found it difficult to fully immerse myself in the story or connect with the characters. I liked Elara I guess? My problem was that the characters felt so one dimensional.
As for the romance, I personally wanted more tension and chemistry. Look, there isn’t nothing wrong with a slow burn but these characters barely even communicated and when they did they were always interrupted or Cael had to leave suddenly. I felt ZERO chemistry between the FMC AND MMC and while yes there were very sweet moments between the characters, I never quite felt the emotional buildup that made me believe they were falling in love. I literally thought she had more chemistry with that solider. Also he supposedly met Elara when they were kids but he doesn’t remember her upon seeing her again and he was smitten with her the moment they meet. It just seems unrealistic for a child to think that way since they barely interacted.
That said, I also want to acknowledge that this author is young, and I genuinely think that's something to celebrate. Publishing a novel as a teenager is an amazing accomplishment, and it's clear there's passion and ambition behind this story. Every author grows with each book they write, and I have no doubt they'll continue to develop their voice and storytelling. In no way is this hate towards the author or the story I’m only sharing my perspective and my personal thoughts. I wish her all the best in her writing journey!
August 11, 2026
- Review of Advanced Readers Copy -
First of all, thank you so much for the opportunity to be an ARC reader for this book.
I absolutely adored this story and the characters inside it, the pacing of this book is great.
The book is written by a teenager and it's great to see that there is zero spice in it at all, it's a lovely breath of fresh air.
There are are few sentences and paragraphs that repeat, that I believe are an editing error, but it does not take away from the story at all, it was easy for me to over look as an ARC, hopefully it will get fixed up.
This is book 1 and the ending is a little bit of a cliff hanger and I am very excited to see where this story goes in the future, Cael and Elara are an adorable little couple and it's just a beautiful little story
First of all, thank you so much for the opportunity to be an ARC reader for this book.
I absolutely adored this story and the characters inside it, the pacing of this book is great.
The book is written by a teenager and it's great to see that there is zero spice in it at all, it's a lovely breath of fresh air.
There are are few sentences and paragraphs that repeat, that I believe are an editing error, but it does not take away from the story at all, it was easy for me to over look as an ARC, hopefully it will get fixed up.
This is book 1 and the ending is a little bit of a cliff hanger and I am very excited to see where this story goes in the future, Cael and Elara are an adorable little couple and it's just a beautiful little story
Review of advance copy
AMAZING, 10/10 I ACTUALLY GOT THE CHANCE TO READ THIS BOOK AND ITS ALL I EVER WANNA READ. READ THIS AS SOON AS U GET THE CHANCE!
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC review: The Silent Prince
100% clean!!
Elara's cruel father marries her off to a foreign kingdom to Cael Everheart, a mute prince. As Elara adjusts to her new home leaving everything she knew behind, a budding romance between her and Cael begins.
I loved this book! It was the sweetest book that felt like you were in a fairytale. The characters were complex, the writing was well paced, and the story had very powerful messages. Highly recommend to lovers of OUABH or any no spice readers!
100% clean!!
Elara's cruel father marries her off to a foreign kingdom to Cael Everheart, a mute prince. As Elara adjusts to her new home leaving everything she knew behind, a budding romance between her and Cael begins.
I loved this book! It was the sweetest book that felt like you were in a fairytale. The characters were complex, the writing was well paced, and the story had very powerful messages. Highly recommend to lovers of OUABH or any no spice readers!
August 16, 2026
I think it has a lot of potential. The premise was interesting but I think the execution needs another round of editing. There are a lot of spelling and grammar issues, repetition, and continuation errors. The mention of Divine Rivals and OUABH kind of took me out of the fantasy setting. I do think this could be a strong book. It was cute and cozy. I really like how the MMC is soft, kind and also mute. It’s different than most other stories. I just wish we got to know both of them a bit more as well. And I am curious enough to see how book 2 will go.
August 11, 2026
Thank you so much to the author who chose me to receive an ARC.
I found this book through Instagram reels one day with the most beautiful fan art with the caption talking about how a mute prince has been in love with this girl since the day they met as children but she doesn’t know that it’s him. I immediately was intrigued.
I absolutely loved how our MMC was a mute prince since I never read anything like this before. I loved how the author wrote the scenes with the FMC and the MMC interacting with one another. I really love how the book handled the romance. Their moments were so sweet and wholesome, and I’m so excited for their relationship to grow because we have a slow burn and the yearn in this book. I also loved how our FMC is a soft, feminine, sweet yet strong character. She kind of reminds me of Evangeline from Once Upon A Broken Heart, and I feel like I can relate to these characters. I also loved how our MMC was a wholesome character too. He was strong yet kind and loving. I also enjoyed how thoughtful he was to his kingdom (even though some don’t see that) and to his family as well as our FMC. He is mute, but the actions show how much he cares in the novel were so sweet.
In all honestly, I believe that this was a great debut novel with a wonderful story. I’m very excited to read the rest of the series and to see how the author grows as a writer! 💕
I found this book through Instagram reels one day with the most beautiful fan art with the caption talking about how a mute prince has been in love with this girl since the day they met as children but she doesn’t know that it’s him. I immediately was intrigued.
I absolutely loved how our MMC was a mute prince since I never read anything like this before. I loved how the author wrote the scenes with the FMC and the MMC interacting with one another. I really love how the book handled the romance. Their moments were so sweet and wholesome, and I’m so excited for their relationship to grow because we have a slow burn and the yearn in this book. I also loved how our FMC is a soft, feminine, sweet yet strong character. She kind of reminds me of Evangeline from Once Upon A Broken Heart, and I feel like I can relate to these characters. I also loved how our MMC was a wholesome character too. He was strong yet kind and loving. I also enjoyed how thoughtful he was to his kingdom (even though some don’t see that) and to his family as well as our FMC. He is mute, but the actions show how much he cares in the novel were so sweet.
In all honestly, I believe that this was a great debut novel with a wonderful story. I’m very excited to read the rest of the series and to see how the author grows as a writer! 💕
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC review
This was quite literally one of the sweetest slow burn books I’ve read in a long time. The characters are all so unique and you can tell how much they grow throughout the book.
I absolutely adore the relationship Cael and Keara share, as well as how their father treats them. The author is also incredibly descriptive, making it easy to imagine this story as you read. The love triangle subplot adds the PERFECT amount of tension into this story. I cannot wait for everyone to be able to read this!!
This was quite literally one of the sweetest slow burn books I’ve read in a long time. The characters are all so unique and you can tell how much they grow throughout the book.
I absolutely adore the relationship Cael and Keara share, as well as how their father treats them. The author is also incredibly descriptive, making it easy to imagine this story as you read. The love triangle subplot adds the PERFECT amount of tension into this story. I cannot wait for everyone to be able to read this!!
August 20, 2026
I want to start by saying thank you to Ayesha for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
After taking some time to think about this book, and what I wanted to include in my review, I think that this book is honestly really impressive for a young author.
While I was intrigued by the premise and posts about The Silent Prince and enjoyed learning about the world and settings, I did feel like most scenes were over explained. There were a few pages in each chapter where there was no dialogue which slowed down my reading pace, but other than that I have to say that the writing style felt fresh and different.
I loved the wholesome scenes between the FMC and MMC, but do feel like the romance needed more to it, that there wasn’t as much chemistry between them as I would’ve liked.
Other than that, I’m so glad I was able to read about this world and the characters the author put so much work into from an advanced reader copy.
After taking some time to think about this book, and what I wanted to include in my review, I think that this book is honestly really impressive for a young author.
While I was intrigued by the premise and posts about The Silent Prince and enjoyed learning about the world and settings, I did feel like most scenes were over explained. There were a few pages in each chapter where there was no dialogue which slowed down my reading pace, but other than that I have to say that the writing style felt fresh and different.
I loved the wholesome scenes between the FMC and MMC, but do feel like the romance needed more to it, that there wasn’t as much chemistry between them as I would’ve liked.
Other than that, I’m so glad I was able to read about this world and the characters the author put so much work into from an advanced reader copy.
Did Not Finish
August 26, 2026Thank you so much to the author for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I am unfortunately dnf-ing this book ㅠㅠ
I was so excited to read The Silent Prince because all the marketing videos from Instagram and the premise sounded so interesting. Unfortunately, I felt like this book just dragged too much for me; I only made it 37% through. The prose read so poetically and flowery, which was lovely in the beginning but quickly felt like it was overexplaining things that did not need overexplaining. I was really confused about what time period the book was set in. There were some modern amenities like a shower but at other times it read like it was set in medieval times? Oh, and the mention of Divine Rivals gave me the major ick. That's on me, as I didn't even realise that was a thing I didn't like reading about (naming other published books in a book).
I really think this book could be amazing with some more rounds of editing. There were just too many inconsistancies for me to stick with it unfortunately.
I am unfortunately dnf-ing this book ㅠㅠ
I was so excited to read The Silent Prince because all the marketing videos from Instagram and the premise sounded so interesting. Unfortunately, I felt like this book just dragged too much for me; I only made it 37% through. The prose read so poetically and flowery, which was lovely in the beginning but quickly felt like it was overexplaining things that did not need overexplaining. I was really confused about what time period the book was set in. There were some modern amenities like a shower but at other times it read like it was set in medieval times? Oh, and the mention of Divine Rivals gave me the major ick. That's on me, as I didn't even realise that was a thing I didn't like reading about (naming other published books in a book).
I really think this book could be amazing with some more rounds of editing. There were just too many inconsistancies for me to stick with it unfortunately.
Did Not Finish
August 23, 2026I started reading the arc version, but already noticed a few mistakes. I have such high hopes for the book! However, the author did mention in her insta that she is majorly editing the book so I have decided to not finish the arc/book until the official one has been released! But I will read it!
Review of advance copy received from Author
I finally finished this book, and honestly, I’m so glad I got the chance to read it. I was given this as a beta-reader, and I’m grateful for that.
First of all, I have to appreciate how descriptive this book is. I’ve always been someone who loves descriptive writing, both as a reader and a writer, so this was definitely one of my favorite aspects. The descriptions were incredibly vivid and detailed without making it difficult for me to imagine what was happening. I could genuinely picture the settings, characters, expressions, and scenes in my head as I was reading, which made the experience so immersive. Since this is a personal opinion, I know the amount of description can be subjective. Some readers prefer a faster, less descriptive style, but personally, I really enjoyed how detailed this book was.
I also really enjoyed the flow of the story. It kept me interested, and I never felt like I was struggling to get through the chapters. There was a nice balance between the plot, character moments, and descriptions, and I especially loved the chemistry between Cael and Elara. Their slow burn was definitely one of my favorite parts of the book. I loved watching their dynamic develop gradually rather than having everything happen instantly. Their interactions had so much potential, and I’m definitely excited to see where their relationship goes.
The characters were another strong point for me. Elara was particularly interesting to follow, and I found myself wanting to understand more about the people around her and what shaped them into who they are.
That actually brings me to the only things I felt could have been explored a little more. I would have loved to understand why Elara’s father is cruel on a deeper level. What made him this way? Was there something in his past that shaped his behavior, or has he always been like this? I think giving the reader a little more insight into his motivations would make his character even more compelling.
Similarly, I would have loved a little more depth regarding Queen Maereth’s cruelty as well. I’m really curious about whether she was always this way or if something happened that changed her. Exploring what lies behind her actions could add another layer to her character and make her even more intriguing.
But overall, I genuinely enjoyed this book. The descriptions, the atmosphere, the character dynamics, and especially the slow-burn chemistry between Cael and Elara made it a very enjoyable read.
And lastly, I’m genuinely so proud of the author. I’ve been waiting for this book for such a long time, so finally getting to read it felt really special. Seeing the story finally come together after waiting for it for so long made me incredibly happy. You should genuinely be proud of yourself because this is such a good book, and it’s clear how much effort, thought, and love went into it. ❤️🌸
Definitely recommend giving this one a read!
First of all, I have to appreciate how descriptive this book is. I’ve always been someone who loves descriptive writing, both as a reader and a writer, so this was definitely one of my favorite aspects. The descriptions were incredibly vivid and detailed without making it difficult for me to imagine what was happening. I could genuinely picture the settings, characters, expressions, and scenes in my head as I was reading, which made the experience so immersive. Since this is a personal opinion, I know the amount of description can be subjective. Some readers prefer a faster, less descriptive style, but personally, I really enjoyed how detailed this book was.
I also really enjoyed the flow of the story. It kept me interested, and I never felt like I was struggling to get through the chapters. There was a nice balance between the plot, character moments, and descriptions, and I especially loved the chemistry between Cael and Elara. Their slow burn was definitely one of my favorite parts of the book. I loved watching their dynamic develop gradually rather than having everything happen instantly. Their interactions had so much potential, and I’m definitely excited to see where their relationship goes.
The characters were another strong point for me. Elara was particularly interesting to follow, and I found myself wanting to understand more about the people around her and what shaped them into who they are.
That actually brings me to the only things I felt could have been explored a little more. I would have loved to understand why Elara’s father is cruel on a deeper level. What made him this way? Was there something in his past that shaped his behavior, or has he always been like this? I think giving the reader a little more insight into his motivations would make his character even more compelling.
Similarly, I would have loved a little more depth regarding Queen Maereth’s cruelty as well. I’m really curious about whether she was always this way or if something happened that changed her. Exploring what lies behind her actions could add another layer to her character and make her even more intriguing.
But overall, I genuinely enjoyed this book. The descriptions, the atmosphere, the character dynamics, and especially the slow-burn chemistry between Cael and Elara made it a very enjoyable read.
And lastly, I’m genuinely so proud of the author. I’ve been waiting for this book for such a long time, so finally getting to read it felt really special. Seeing the story finally come together after waiting for it for so long made me incredibly happy. You should genuinely be proud of yourself because this is such a good book, and it’s clear how much effort, thought, and love went into it. ❤️🌸
Definitely recommend giving this one a read!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This author and what she’s done in this debut novel is incredible. The Silent Prince is a young adult fantasy novel with a curious and hopeful FMC and a strong-willed mute MMC.
Chemistry between the characters that interact with the FMC was one of the strongest aspects of this book. She’s curious and adaptable, learning as much as she can with what’s thrown at her. The MMC being mute and still being able to give him a voice and a compelling story was another inspiring component. He had never given up no matter what life threw at him, especially being in a position of power that relies heavily on speaking up for people who can’t. I think it was a powerful thing to be able to read their story and watch them grow together and find comfort in each other no matter their circumstances.
The characters have been well thought-out and it’s clear the author poured a lot of their heart and soul into them. I did want to see the same care for the world building and how we’re thrown into this story with castles and royal hierarchies. There were times I had noticed this princess without a dressing maid, putting herself together for the day after walking out of a glass-paned shower. Or when we traveled to the market on horseback and found a citizen selling Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. If this was the direction the story was heading, to be a more modernized world yet still pursuing this royal fantasy, I just wished to see more of the world we were reading.
There is so much diversity and growth in the characters. Even characters from neighboring kingdoms and villages with cultures and voices the princess gets to meet and learn about. It was written in very well and beautifully, tying into plot points for the FMC to remember its significance in the books to come. These are the voices and stories that need to be told and I believe Ayesha is a talented young author to tell them.
Chemistry between the characters that interact with the FMC was one of the strongest aspects of this book. She’s curious and adaptable, learning as much as she can with what’s thrown at her. The MMC being mute and still being able to give him a voice and a compelling story was another inspiring component. He had never given up no matter what life threw at him, especially being in a position of power that relies heavily on speaking up for people who can’t. I think it was a powerful thing to be able to read their story and watch them grow together and find comfort in each other no matter their circumstances.
The characters have been well thought-out and it’s clear the author poured a lot of their heart and soul into them. I did want to see the same care for the world building and how we’re thrown into this story with castles and royal hierarchies. There were times I had noticed this princess without a dressing maid, putting herself together for the day after walking out of a glass-paned shower. Or when we traveled to the market on horseback and found a citizen selling Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross. If this was the direction the story was heading, to be a more modernized world yet still pursuing this royal fantasy, I just wished to see more of the world we were reading.
There is so much diversity and growth in the characters. Even characters from neighboring kingdoms and villages with cultures and voices the princess gets to meet and learn about. It was written in very well and beautifully, tying into plot points for the FMC to remember its significance in the books to come. These are the voices and stories that need to be told and I believe Ayesha is a talented young author to tell them.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Btw everyone shaming her for her FIRST book is wrong. It's bullying. You didnt like it and it wasnt good for YOU, there are respectful ways to say that. There are criminals and actually horrible people for you to a reserve that attitude for. Imagine its you in your teenage years writing a book and having the courage to post it and then getting shamed for things you didn't even know. Please be mature when communicating online.
Before I say anything, I would like the thank the author, of course. It’s a privilege that I got to read this book and review it before it was released. Thank you and remeber reading is subjective so anything I might not like in a book is all someone else wants. This is also your first book and no one’s first time is perfect.
I’m not going to point out the grammatical mistakes as I know this is not the final draft.
I will be frank, I unfortunately didn't like the book, nor did I finish it. I don't leave reviews or read a lot of romance but this was so promising that I decided to go against that. Yes, I was disappointed but at the same time, upset at the lost potential.
The author's writing style was easy to read, easy to enjoy and I did. But the problem was the story. I read until chapter eleven and I really trying to continue reading because most good books pick up much later. Though the book was boring and very slow. The plot was rushed. And by plot I mean most important events. There were times where I questioned the age the book was set in quite a lot, though conversation, mentioning of items, unrealistic representation of religion. (I'm talking about the woman with the hijab who helped Elara with gardening) I am all for representation but I do not believe that there was no Islamaphobia back then. Sometimes the speech was just not easy to imagine and I couldn't think of actual people in that age thinking or speaking that way. The sentence structure was a little weak, too.
There have been a hundred other instances where I saw strong writing and good character display but in this book but that was not consistent. I LOVED that Elara is twenty, not fifteen and ‘mature for her age’,not sixteen or about to be eighteen.
Twenty, a nice round number.
The author was not scared to age her characters up. I'm really proud of her for that because If I had a penny for every time the female main lead was the ripe age of sixteen saving the world, you couldn't COUNT my Bugattis. The way Elara was not just another princess with a dead mother and abusive father was everything to me. Her father didn't hate her as I saw in the scene where she found out she was being married of. Her father faltered and for a brief moment, I saw grief in him. That was amazing writing. (If you are thinking of changing something in the book, I'm telling you no one doesn't enjoy angst and a complicated father-daughter relationship.
In chapter five of Elara's memories where her mother says:
“Yesterday, we read The Princess and the Knight. Perhaps tonight we should read The Princess and the Prince?”
Foreshadowing! It’s a guilty pleasure of mine when I read something in a book and I’m able to circle back to it later. I really enjoy remembering these details. This made the book enjoyable, wanting to see what happens, how this foreshadowing plays out.
The author has written Elara so very well. I remeber reading other books with gentle hearted female main characters and despising them page by page by how naive they were but Elara is heavy and realistic and beautifully portrayed.
Also when she is showering and she hears her father’s words echo in her head-
“You are a mere title.”
In most well written books, there is a single sentence someone said to the main character that haunts them the whole book or over the course of a series until they finally overcome it.
“ I am a woman, a princess, a queen, a daughter and more than a title.”
It’s what keeps the book interesting, what shows character development. It’s only a suggestion but adding this to your book would make it more interesting, in my opinion.
Considering I didn't finish the book, I should have given a lower rating or none at all. But I could not bring myself to do that. The beautifully haunting idea of the book is there, and I believe you can really improve it. Please keep in mind that no one's first first try goes well. I believe the author really had a beautiful story to convey but her words weren't strong enough to convey it properly. The author did very well with this book and I hope she continues writing and doesn't let anything stop her.
August 21, 2026
TLDR - first draft writing, forced elements, over description, terrible world building, no chemistry
I was excited when I received this as an ARC in exchange for my honest review but it did not hit the way it was supposed to. The saddest part is that the only good thing about this is the marketing. The art the author commissioned for her instagram was fire and so were the quotes shown. But those quotes did not hit the same at all in the book, if anything they felt forced.
This book read like a first draft at most. Everything was just so over explained, like the story was just being paused to explain something that did not need that much explaining which only slowed my reading experience in a negative way. A ton of grammatical errors and typos were in the book and I know that's normal for an ARC but there were just too many that it ruined my experience and I think I would've rated the book higher (2 stars maybe?) if it weren't for them so that's why I am including that in my review. There were also a ton of formatting issues and I say this with all due respect, but this book is in desperate need of an editor.
The romance felt bland. The characters barely had any dept. It felt like the king was just cruel to Elara so that she can have a traumatic back story because we never learn why he's cruel to her in the first place. As for the romance it self, there was barely any chemistry or tension. This was marketed as a slow burn, arranged marriage with yearning. But there was none of that. The best part of a slow burn is the rising tension that makes us feel the characters are about to fall in love, but no. There was zero of that. And at the same time it was so insta-love. Elara had been nagging and whining about being forced to marry Cael, but the moment she sees him she forgets all about her feelings. In my opinion, a lot felt force such as the knight added. It just felt like he was added for the sake of a love triangle and the famous princess x knight trope rather than giving any depth to the story or moving the plot on.
The world.....that was a disaster. The reference to books from our world felt so cringe. Because why are we mentioning Divine Rivals and Once Upon A Broken Heart? There was another book from our world referenced as well but I forgot the name. I'm genuinely wondering how that was gonna work? Is this a medieval world? Fantasy? Could've been our world for all I know. But again, that would not make sense either because they live in an absolute monarchy where horses are the main form of transport and yet they have high technologies like showers. There was a lot more but I'm just going to leave it at that because I fear this review is only getting longer.
As for the forced elements, yes I did feel some quotes were a little forced. Not sure if it's because I actually felt that way or because it didnt hit like the way it was marketed. The book also tries to be whimsical and poetic but it did not feel that way. If anything, it felt like a failed attempt.
I'm going to leave this review at that and I will not be reading the second book. This was very disappointing and I fear this book is way too overhyped. Save your money; this was not worth it. I know the publishing date for this book has been pushed from September 10th to October 20th, but unfortunately from what I've read, I don't think two months is enough to save this book. It needs at least six months of good editing, preferably professional.
I was excited when I received this as an ARC in exchange for my honest review but it did not hit the way it was supposed to. The saddest part is that the only good thing about this is the marketing. The art the author commissioned for her instagram was fire and so were the quotes shown. But those quotes did not hit the same at all in the book, if anything they felt forced.
This book read like a first draft at most. Everything was just so over explained, like the story was just being paused to explain something that did not need that much explaining which only slowed my reading experience in a negative way. A ton of grammatical errors and typos were in the book and I know that's normal for an ARC but there were just too many that it ruined my experience and I think I would've rated the book higher (2 stars maybe?) if it weren't for them so that's why I am including that in my review. There were also a ton of formatting issues and I say this with all due respect, but this book is in desperate need of an editor.
The romance felt bland. The characters barely had any dept. It felt like the king was just cruel to Elara so that she can have a traumatic back story because we never learn why he's cruel to her in the first place. As for the romance it self, there was barely any chemistry or tension. This was marketed as a slow burn, arranged marriage with yearning. But there was none of that. The best part of a slow burn is the rising tension that makes us feel the characters are about to fall in love, but no. There was zero of that. And at the same time it was so insta-love. Elara had been nagging and whining about being forced to marry Cael, but the moment she sees him she forgets all about her feelings. In my opinion, a lot felt force such as the knight added. It just felt like he was added for the sake of a love triangle and the famous princess x knight trope rather than giving any depth to the story or moving the plot on.
The world.....that was a disaster. The reference to books from our world felt so cringe. Because why are we mentioning Divine Rivals and Once Upon A Broken Heart? There was another book from our world referenced as well but I forgot the name. I'm genuinely wondering how that was gonna work? Is this a medieval world? Fantasy? Could've been our world for all I know. But again, that would not make sense either because they live in an absolute monarchy where horses are the main form of transport and yet they have high technologies like showers. There was a lot more but I'm just going to leave it at that because I fear this review is only getting longer.
As for the forced elements, yes I did feel some quotes were a little forced. Not sure if it's because I actually felt that way or because it didnt hit like the way it was marketed. The book also tries to be whimsical and poetic but it did not feel that way. If anything, it felt like a failed attempt.
I'm going to leave this review at that and I will not be reading the second book. This was very disappointing and I fear this book is way too overhyped. Save your money; this was not worth it. I know the publishing date for this book has been pushed from September 10th to October 20th, but unfortunately from what I've read, I don't think two months is enough to save this book. It needs at least six months of good editing, preferably professional.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Before I begin this negative, but honest, review, I’d like to thank the author for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I’m going to be completely honest: I could not finish this book. I tried, and I genuinely mean that. I really dislike DNFing books and will usually push myself to finish even when I’m not enjoying them, but unfortunately, I just couldn’t do that with this one. I made it to around 60% before deciding to stop. I normally don’t review books I DNF, but if I’ve read more than 50% and over 100 pages, I feel I’ve read enough to share my experience.
Unfortunately, one of the few positives for me was the marketing. This book was marketed incredibly well and was ultimately what made me want to read it. I came across several quotes on the author’s Instagram that sounded really sweet and made me excited for the romance. Sadly, they didn’t have the same impact within the context of the actual story.
My first major issue was the writing and editing. There were repetitive phrases, typos, and grammatical errors throughout what I read, and they became distracting enough that they regularly pulled me out of the story. I really think another round of editing and proofreading would have made a significant difference to my reading experience.
I also struggled immensely with the worldbuilding. I went into this believing it was a fantasy with a medieval-inspired setting, but certain elements made it difficult for me to understand what kind of world the story was actually taking place in. For example, modern-feeling things such as showers were mentioned alongside a society where horses appeared to be a primary form of transportation. Maybe there was an explanation for this later in the book, but by 60%, I was still confused about the setting and its rules.
The descriptions were another issue for me. Rather than allowing me to discover the world naturally, a lot of information felt dumped onto the page or over-explained. At times, things were explained in far more detail than I felt was necessary, which slowed the story down instead of making the world more immersive.
I was also really confused by references to other books, such as Divine Rivals and Oubah. These references felt out of place within the story and made it harder for me to take the fantasy world seriously. They continuously reminded me that I was reading a book rather than allowing me to become immersed in the one in front of me.
As for the romance, unfortunately, this was probably my biggest disappointment. I felt very little chemistry or romantic tension between the characters. There wasn't enough tension, longing or yearning that made me believe they were gradually falling for one another, so I struggled to become emotionally invested in their relationship. Considering the romantic elements were a major reason I wanted to read this book, this was especially disappointing.
Ultimately, I reached a point where reading felt like something I was forcing myself to do rather than something I wanted to continue, and that’s when I knew it was time to DNF.
With more editing and a stronger sense of immersion, I think I potentially could have finished this and given it 2-2,5 stars. Unfortunately, based on the 60% I did read, this one simply wasn’t for me and is a do not recommend.
I’m going to be completely honest: I could not finish this book. I tried, and I genuinely mean that. I really dislike DNFing books and will usually push myself to finish even when I’m not enjoying them, but unfortunately, I just couldn’t do that with this one. I made it to around 60% before deciding to stop. I normally don’t review books I DNF, but if I’ve read more than 50% and over 100 pages, I feel I’ve read enough to share my experience.
Unfortunately, one of the few positives for me was the marketing. This book was marketed incredibly well and was ultimately what made me want to read it. I came across several quotes on the author’s Instagram that sounded really sweet and made me excited for the romance. Sadly, they didn’t have the same impact within the context of the actual story.
My first major issue was the writing and editing. There were repetitive phrases, typos, and grammatical errors throughout what I read, and they became distracting enough that they regularly pulled me out of the story. I really think another round of editing and proofreading would have made a significant difference to my reading experience.
I also struggled immensely with the worldbuilding. I went into this believing it was a fantasy with a medieval-inspired setting, but certain elements made it difficult for me to understand what kind of world the story was actually taking place in. For example, modern-feeling things such as showers were mentioned alongside a society where horses appeared to be a primary form of transportation. Maybe there was an explanation for this later in the book, but by 60%, I was still confused about the setting and its rules.
The descriptions were another issue for me. Rather than allowing me to discover the world naturally, a lot of information felt dumped onto the page or over-explained. At times, things were explained in far more detail than I felt was necessary, which slowed the story down instead of making the world more immersive.
I was also really confused by references to other books, such as Divine Rivals and Oubah. These references felt out of place within the story and made it harder for me to take the fantasy world seriously. They continuously reminded me that I was reading a book rather than allowing me to become immersed in the one in front of me.
As for the romance, unfortunately, this was probably my biggest disappointment. I felt very little chemistry or romantic tension between the characters. There wasn't enough tension, longing or yearning that made me believe they were gradually falling for one another, so I struggled to become emotionally invested in their relationship. Considering the romantic elements were a major reason I wanted to read this book, this was especially disappointing.
Ultimately, I reached a point where reading felt like something I was forcing myself to do rather than something I wanted to continue, and that’s when I knew it was time to DNF.
With more editing and a stronger sense of immersion, I think I potentially could have finished this and given it 2-2,5 stars. Unfortunately, based on the 60% I did read, this one simply wasn’t for me and is a do not recommend.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Firstly, thank you to the author for picking me as an ARC-reader in exchange for my honest thoughts.
I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately, I don't think this book was executed well at all. It desperately needs an editor, or at the very least someone to thoroughly look over it, because there were far too many errors for me to ignore. The grammatical mistakes, typos, awkward sentences, and repetitive phrases became incredibly distracting and constantly pulled me out of the story.
My biggest issue, however, was the worldbuilding, and that is why this paragraph will be long. I genuinely did not know where we were. Is this a fantasy world? A medieval-inspired world? Our world? Because honestly, I could not tell. There were references to books such as Divine Rivals and Once Upon a Broken Heart, which confused me even more. I went into this hoping for a fantasy world separate from our own, so seeing real books referenced completely shattered any immersion I had. At one point, the characters were using a shower, while elsewhere they were travelling by horse and cart. Of course, fantasy worlds don't have to follow the technological progression of our own history, but there was nothing about the worldbuilding that made these elements feel cohesive. Instead, they felt randomly thrown together. The descriptions didn't help either. Everything was extremely overdescribed and overexplained, sometimes to the point where I felt as though the book was explaining things to me like I was five years old. I don't need every small action, emotion, or detail spelled out for me. Sometimes readers need to be trusted to understand what is happening without having everything explained.
Eventually, I started skimming quite a lot because I was struggling to stay interested. Once I reach the point where I'm skipping paragraphs just to get through a book, I know the story has lost me.
I will mention one genuine positive, though, which was the plot itself. The premise was actually the reason I signed up to ARC-read this book in the first place. I thought the concept sounded really interesting, and I still think there could have been a good story buried underneath all of these issues.
Unfortunately, an interesting premise can only carry a book so far. The execution, confusing worldbuilding, lack of editing, ultimately prevented me from enjoying it.
I really did try with this one, but it wasn't for me. With significantly more editing and refinement, I think I'd have a better experience.
I really wanted to like this, but unfortunately, I don't think this book was executed well at all. It desperately needs an editor, or at the very least someone to thoroughly look over it, because there were far too many errors for me to ignore. The grammatical mistakes, typos, awkward sentences, and repetitive phrases became incredibly distracting and constantly pulled me out of the story.
My biggest issue, however, was the worldbuilding, and that is why this paragraph will be long. I genuinely did not know where we were. Is this a fantasy world? A medieval-inspired world? Our world? Because honestly, I could not tell. There were references to books such as Divine Rivals and Once Upon a Broken Heart, which confused me even more. I went into this hoping for a fantasy world separate from our own, so seeing real books referenced completely shattered any immersion I had. At one point, the characters were using a shower, while elsewhere they were travelling by horse and cart. Of course, fantasy worlds don't have to follow the technological progression of our own history, but there was nothing about the worldbuilding that made these elements feel cohesive. Instead, they felt randomly thrown together. The descriptions didn't help either. Everything was extremely overdescribed and overexplained, sometimes to the point where I felt as though the book was explaining things to me like I was five years old. I don't need every small action, emotion, or detail spelled out for me. Sometimes readers need to be trusted to understand what is happening without having everything explained.
Eventually, I started skimming quite a lot because I was struggling to stay interested. Once I reach the point where I'm skipping paragraphs just to get through a book, I know the story has lost me.
I will mention one genuine positive, though, which was the plot itself. The premise was actually the reason I signed up to ARC-read this book in the first place. I thought the concept sounded really interesting, and I still think there could have been a good story buried underneath all of these issues.
Unfortunately, an interesting premise can only carry a book so far. The execution, confusing worldbuilding, lack of editing, ultimately prevented me from enjoying it.
I really did try with this one, but it wasn't for me. With significantly more editing and refinement, I think I'd have a better experience.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was lucky to recieve an arc of the book and I have to say, as someone who has been following the story progress on TikTok, the book turned out being exactly what I thought it would be💕
Spoilers below
Spoilers below
Review of advance copy received from Author
📖 : The Silent Prince
✍🏻 : Ayesha Iqbal
⭐ : 1.5/5 | 🌶️: N/A
I appreciate the author for providing me with the opportunity of reading the ARC of her debut novel in exchange of my honest review.
I was really excited to read this book when I came across the promotional reel on my Instagram feed. However, those quotes did not hit the same when I started reading the book.
There is a potential in this book, a good one with characters, their development arc and the story as the way it seems to be progressing it's giving soft, whimsical, slow burn, clean romance with diverse representation however the clunky and repetitive writing, grammatical mistakes, and plot holes are extremely difficult to overlook.
The book appears to be set in the medieval era where there are repetitive mentions of kingdoms, castles, chariots and the like but there also exists American Sign Language, and modern paperbacks she mentioned – Divine Rivals, OUABH, Howls Moving Castle did not make sense to me at all.
The world building is clashing with constant mentions of the modern world all while trying to carry the story forward with medieval settings.
Secondly, the grammatical errors which I believe could be easily fixed with another round of proofreading and heavy editing.
Thirdly, the plot holes. There are so many things which are not addressed properly. Elara's father's & Cael's mother's cruelty for their children is not explained at all. The unconventional love story between a kind king and oppressive, misogynist queen who believes women should be held accountable for men's actions against them? I'm sorry the pairing did NOT make sense to me at all. I could point out so many other things like this but all in all this book needs a good editor who can help the author fix her mistakes.
I really get it that it's a debut novel and we cannot expect perfection from the young aspiring author but I truly believe another round of proofreading and a good amount of editing will do wonders to this book!
✍🏻 : Ayesha Iqbal
⭐ : 1.5/5 | 🌶️: N/A
I appreciate the author for providing me with the opportunity of reading the ARC of her debut novel in exchange of my honest review.
I was really excited to read this book when I came across the promotional reel on my Instagram feed. However, those quotes did not hit the same when I started reading the book.
There is a potential in this book, a good one with characters, their development arc and the story as the way it seems to be progressing it's giving soft, whimsical, slow burn, clean romance with diverse representation however the clunky and repetitive writing, grammatical mistakes, and plot holes are extremely difficult to overlook.
The book appears to be set in the medieval era where there are repetitive mentions of kingdoms, castles, chariots and the like but there also exists American Sign Language, and modern paperbacks she mentioned – Divine Rivals, OUABH, Howls Moving Castle did not make sense to me at all.
The world building is clashing with constant mentions of the modern world all while trying to carry the story forward with medieval settings.
Secondly, the grammatical errors which I believe could be easily fixed with another round of proofreading and heavy editing.
Thirdly, the plot holes. There are so many things which are not addressed properly. Elara's father's & Cael's mother's cruelty for their children is not explained at all. The unconventional love story between a kind king and oppressive, misogynist queen who believes women should be held accountable for men's actions against them? I'm sorry the pairing did NOT make sense to me at all. I could point out so many other things like this but all in all this book needs a good editor who can help the author fix her mistakes.
I really get it that it's a debut novel and we cannot expect perfection from the young aspiring author but I truly believe another round of proofreading and a good amount of editing will do wonders to this book!
Review of advance copy received from Author
The Silent Prince by Ayesha Iqbal
Thank you, Ayesha, for the advanced reader copy of this book.
I am voluntarily leaving this honest review; all opinions are my own.
The Silent Prince is a slow burn, young adult romantasy that focuses more on the cute romance between the FMC, Princess Elara, and the MMC, Prince Cael; and not so much on the politics brewing in the background.
Princess Elara is forced into marriage with Prince Cael. At first, she naturally feels unhappy and out of place. The most intriguing aspect of this novel, and perhaps the primary pull for why I wanted to read the book, is that Prince Cael is mute and mocked and belittled by his own people as the “Silent Prince.” Instead of punishing them for their disrespect and their utter disregard for his royal rank, he shows strength of character. As Princess Elara continues to immerse herself into the new kingdom she was ushered into, she comes to witness Prince Cael’s depth of character - his love, patience, consideration, compassion, and spirit. She sees how he does so much for his people, undeservingly enduring their mocking, disrespect, hate, and cruelty. She also notices the little things he does for her sake, unaware of the full extent of how important and precious she progressively has become to him.
If you enjoy a cute slow burn romance story, with no spice, and doesn’t weight to heavily on kingdom politics, you may love this. Unlike other romantasies, the MMC is soft, kind, and sweet, and not dark and shadowy or morally grey, but he does have a bit of a sad backstory. There are political problems brewing, but it isn’t the focus of this book in the planned trilogy. Overall, it was a delightful, cozy romance story that sets up the relationship in preparation of what’s to come - with one being the voice to the mute, and the other who makes you feel unafraid of the dangers and uncertainties ahead.
Thank you, Ayesha, for the advanced reader copy of this book.
I am voluntarily leaving this honest review; all opinions are my own.
The Silent Prince is a slow burn, young adult romantasy that focuses more on the cute romance between the FMC, Princess Elara, and the MMC, Prince Cael; and not so much on the politics brewing in the background.
Princess Elara is forced into marriage with Prince Cael. At first, she naturally feels unhappy and out of place. The most intriguing aspect of this novel, and perhaps the primary pull for why I wanted to read the book, is that Prince Cael is mute and mocked and belittled by his own people as the “Silent Prince.” Instead of punishing them for their disrespect and their utter disregard for his royal rank, he shows strength of character. As Princess Elara continues to immerse herself into the new kingdom she was ushered into, she comes to witness Prince Cael’s depth of character - his love, patience, consideration, compassion, and spirit. She sees how he does so much for his people, undeservingly enduring their mocking, disrespect, hate, and cruelty. She also notices the little things he does for her sake, unaware of the full extent of how important and precious she progressively has become to him.
If you enjoy a cute slow burn romance story, with no spice, and doesn’t weight to heavily on kingdom politics, you may love this. Unlike other romantasies, the MMC is soft, kind, and sweet, and not dark and shadowy or morally grey, but he does have a bit of a sad backstory. There are political problems brewing, but it isn’t the focus of this book in the planned trilogy. Overall, it was a delightful, cozy romance story that sets up the relationship in preparation of what’s to come - with one being the voice to the mute, and the other who makes you feel unafraid of the dangers and uncertainties ahead.
Review of advance copy received from Author
By the way someone said the author has been shaming people for negative reviews. Lol well guess I'll be shamed because unfortunately this book did not vibe with me at all. And yes I turned my comments off for that very reason.
Genuinely I believe these 4 or 5 stars were paid because this book is trash. Saw someone say these reviews are fluffed and I 100% agree.
Anyways, lets move onto my thoughts.
Unfortunately I don't have anything good to say. I received this as an arc, thinking I'll love it but this read as a wattpad or some school work at most. The writing was awful---mistakes everywhere and was giving middle school.
As for the romance, what a disappointment. This was supposed to be a slow-burn and yet it was giving insta love, along side with zero connection, yearning or tension. Cael did not click with me like other mmc do. He had met Elara as a child, could not remember her when he meets her and then falls straight in love? How unrealistic and cliche.
The world tho.......it's laughable. What a joke. It has both medieval and modern things in it + some fantasy. I cringed hard when I saw a vendor sell Divine Rivals. like bro? Was that necessary? This no longer felt like a book at that point because why are we mentioning a book from our world into a fantasy novel? And why do heaters and glass showers exist? Honestly this is just amateur level world building. More research might have been good.
Oh and that knight. Please, im sorry, (not) but it felt like he was just added there for the sake, the sake of a love triangle and some sort of princess x knight trope. Please bye.
Yeah that's all. Huge miss and a disappointment considering I had been waiting for this since November. This is a wattpad at most.
Genuinely I believe these 4 or 5 stars were paid because this book is trash. Saw someone say these reviews are fluffed and I 100% agree.
Anyways, lets move onto my thoughts.
Unfortunately I don't have anything good to say. I received this as an arc, thinking I'll love it but this read as a wattpad or some school work at most. The writing was awful---mistakes everywhere and was giving middle school.
As for the romance, what a disappointment. This was supposed to be a slow-burn and yet it was giving insta love, along side with zero connection, yearning or tension. Cael did not click with me like other mmc do. He had met Elara as a child, could not remember her when he meets her and then falls straight in love? How unrealistic and cliche.
The world tho.......it's laughable. What a joke. It has both medieval and modern things in it + some fantasy. I cringed hard when I saw a vendor sell Divine Rivals. like bro? Was that necessary? This no longer felt like a book at that point because why are we mentioning a book from our world into a fantasy novel? And why do heaters and glass showers exist? Honestly this is just amateur level world building. More research might have been good.
Oh and that knight. Please, im sorry, (not) but it felt like he was just added there for the sake, the sake of a love triangle and some sort of princess x knight trope. Please bye.
Yeah that's all. Huge miss and a disappointment considering I had been waiting for this since November. This is a wattpad at most.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I wish I had some good to say but unfortunately I don't.
This read like an unedited wattpad draft. This is my first two star review in a while so it's unfortunate how disappointed this book left me. The marketing for this book was good, but I think it's far too hyped for what it actually is.
The romance was really shallow. I wanted to feel some chemistry, but never did. It was truly disappointing as this was marketed as a slow burn romance with one of my fav tropes -- arranged marriage. But it was all done wrong. Nothing felt legitimate and they never stayed consistent with their feelings.
As for the characters, they're bland. No dept or anything. There's no explanation or dept for why their parents are cruel.
And the world was the biggest disaster ever. I went in, hoping for a fantasy and yet see things from our world such as books like Divine Rival and Oubah. It felt really out of place considering this is an absolute monarchy where they ride horses and have knights.
Oh and the knight - he felt out of place too. Im sorry but imo it just felt like he was added for the sake of a princess x knight trope (which was also done poorly).
And as for the editing, I don't think this is ready to be published September 10th. It needs a lot more time. Months probably with consistent editing because the amount of grammatical errors, typos, repetition and other mistakes are absurd and ruined my experience so much.
There is a lot more I wish to say but imma just leave it at that. This isn't something I recommend unfortunately. It is barely anything like it was promoted on Instagram.
This gave me a headache and probably has put me in a long reading slump.
This read like an unedited wattpad draft. This is my first two star review in a while so it's unfortunate how disappointed this book left me. The marketing for this book was good, but I think it's far too hyped for what it actually is.
The romance was really shallow. I wanted to feel some chemistry, but never did. It was truly disappointing as this was marketed as a slow burn romance with one of my fav tropes -- arranged marriage. But it was all done wrong. Nothing felt legitimate and they never stayed consistent with their feelings.
As for the characters, they're bland. No dept or anything. There's no explanation or dept for why their parents are cruel.
And the world was the biggest disaster ever. I went in, hoping for a fantasy and yet see things from our world such as books like Divine Rival and Oubah. It felt really out of place considering this is an absolute monarchy where they ride horses and have knights.
Oh and the knight - he felt out of place too. Im sorry but imo it just felt like he was added for the sake of a princess x knight trope (which was also done poorly).
And as for the editing, I don't think this is ready to be published September 10th. It needs a lot more time. Months probably with consistent editing because the amount of grammatical errors, typos, repetition and other mistakes are absurd and ruined my experience so much.
There is a lot more I wish to say but imma just leave it at that. This isn't something I recommend unfortunately. It is barely anything like it was promoted on Instagram.
This gave me a headache and probably has put me in a long reading slump.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was given an early ARC copy, it wasn't a final copy, which may be why some of the other ARC reviews have noted some writing errors. I personally found little errors and enjoyed the writing style! The writing is third person, present tense, which isn't my favourite but thats more a preference rather than a fault! I originally wrote the review to say the ending was abrupt, but I went back and read the acknowledgements, Ayesha wrote that this wouldn't be the final ending! So I am now very excited to see the finished ending!
Writing ✨
For a debut novel, I found the writing to be descriptive and indulgent, immersing the readers into the world of palaces, kingdoms and flower gardens. World building isn't necessarily an element in her writing, because Elara is mainly kept within palace walls. So I think it reflects that in the storytelling.
Plot ✨
The plot itself takes a while to get going, but seeing the slow burn progress is worth it if thats your thing! The characters were developed in terms of past lives and growth. I thought the slow burn was done well, the relationship didn't jump or propel at any point. Some other reader have noted Elara had 'insta love' but I think she noticed he was kind and relaxed into her new life, rather than fall for him instantly.
Despite being set in within a medieval world, the modern elements tie it to real life, and I felt like I could connect more with the characters! Like the mention of makeup and modern day books (OUABH, Divine Rivals).There isn't any magic but I'd still class it as a fantasy / fairytale!
Overall ✨
I gave it a 3.5/5 because slow burn isn't my favourite, but i know a lot of people like a more developed, slow build up to a relationship and falling in love. So again a preference rather than a fault! I really enjoyed this book, I found it endearing and after I got into it, I found myself reading it a lot!
Writing ✨
For a debut novel, I found the writing to be descriptive and indulgent, immersing the readers into the world of palaces, kingdoms and flower gardens. World building isn't necessarily an element in her writing, because Elara is mainly kept within palace walls. So I think it reflects that in the storytelling.
Plot ✨
The plot itself takes a while to get going, but seeing the slow burn progress is worth it if thats your thing! The characters were developed in terms of past lives and growth. I thought the slow burn was done well, the relationship didn't jump or propel at any point. Some other reader have noted Elara had 'insta love' but I think she noticed he was kind and relaxed into her new life, rather than fall for him instantly.
Despite being set in within a medieval world, the modern elements tie it to real life, and I felt like I could connect more with the characters! Like the mention of makeup and modern day books (OUABH, Divine Rivals).There isn't any magic but I'd still class it as a fantasy / fairytale!
Overall ✨
I gave it a 3.5/5 because slow burn isn't my favourite, but i know a lot of people like a more developed, slow build up to a relationship and falling in love. So again a preference rather than a fault! I really enjoyed this book, I found it endearing and after I got into it, I found myself reading it a lot!
Review of advance copy
I received this as an arc copy and doesn't affect my review in anyway.
I almost dnf'ed this book, multiple times. A piece of information would be either be revealed twice on the same chapter or on different chapters. The first time I noticed I thought it was my own issue until it kept happening again in different chapters
The fmc Elara thinks a lot about trying to show herself as the perfect princess but as long as she had been living there; she didn't read one book on politics or about the kingdom she is staying in. She was only reading fictional books. There is nothing wrong with reading fictional book, it's what I mainly read all the time but she was in a new kingdom even though it was against her will, I thought she would have liked to learn or not be kept in the dark. Then the books she was reading, I understand if this was a contemporary romance novel and she was reading irl books but this was fantasy. It just felt off. It was also strange the way she talked about propriety a lot but she was okay with dirty dresses. There is nothing wrong with being frugal but it rubs me thw wrong way when she has no personal maid to carry out duties for her.
Elara was married against her will not kept as a prisoner for them. A personal maid taking care of her made a lot of sense or a personal guard.
Then ASL; when I read this on the passage my first thought was that there is no creativity. This was a fictional world. They definitely don't live in America so why was ASL a thing. There wasn't also enough worldbuilding. Why can almost everyone understand Cael? Was it a priority to learn sign language? Was it ordered by his father?
Why would Elara pray to flowers?
The one that baffled me most was their intelligence. I felt played😭. All of them are stupid😭😭. Not one of them had a lick of sense.
I almost dnf'ed this book, multiple times. A piece of information would be either be revealed twice on the same chapter or on different chapters. The first time I noticed I thought it was my own issue until it kept happening again in different chapters
The fmc Elara thinks a lot about trying to show herself as the perfect princess but as long as she had been living there; she didn't read one book on politics or about the kingdom she is staying in. She was only reading fictional books. There is nothing wrong with reading fictional book, it's what I mainly read all the time but she was in a new kingdom even though it was against her will, I thought she would have liked to learn or not be kept in the dark. Then the books she was reading, I understand if this was a contemporary romance novel and she was reading irl books but this was fantasy. It just felt off. It was also strange the way she talked about propriety a lot but she was okay with dirty dresses. There is nothing wrong with being frugal but it rubs me thw wrong way when she has no personal maid to carry out duties for her.
Elara was married against her will not kept as a prisoner for them. A personal maid taking care of her made a lot of sense or a personal guard.
Then ASL; when I read this on the passage my first thought was that there is no creativity. This was a fictional world. They definitely don't live in America so why was ASL a thing. There wasn't also enough worldbuilding. Why can almost everyone understand Cael? Was it a priority to learn sign language? Was it ordered by his father?
Why would Elara pray to flowers?
The one that baffled me most was their intelligence. I felt played😭. All of them are stupid😭😭. Not one of them had a lick of sense.
Review of advance copy received from Indie Reviewers
*I received an E-arc in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author for allowing me to read it!
The concept of a mute prince, along with one of my favorite tropes: arranged marriage was what pulled me in. But I had a hard time staying engaged with it. I felt like the father and daughter dynamic, as well as her feelings on the marriage, dragged on a bit. Once Cael entered the picture though, things got more pace-y, but it still felt dragged.
It was a bit too “insta-lovey” on Alara’s side. One look at him and she stopped mourning her arranged marriage; instead of staying consistent with her feelings throughout it while also acknowledging her attraction.
Despite that, the author did good with Cael’s aura through the screen/words, even when I was skimming most— if not all— parts of the book.
One of the things that truly annoyed me were the Roman numerals in place of Number Chapters. While Roman numerals look cool, it’s a bit of a hassle to search what the Roman numerals are in number form.
There are mentions of praying, but the characters aren’t consistent with it, and one character mentioned they didn’t believe in prayer at all
Overall, the writing style just didn’t match with me. I wanted to DNF but I pushed through for an honest ARC review. I found myself wanting to correct the sentences so it could make more sense. For such a young age to be an author, she did decently but has a lot of room for improvement; which is meant to be a positive thing. I wish her well and hope she improves more as time goes on!
The concept of a mute prince, along with one of my favorite tropes: arranged marriage was what pulled me in. But I had a hard time staying engaged with it. I felt like the father and daughter dynamic, as well as her feelings on the marriage, dragged on a bit. Once Cael entered the picture though, things got more pace-y, but it still felt dragged.
It was a bit too “insta-lovey” on Alara’s side. One look at him and she stopped mourning her arranged marriage; instead of staying consistent with her feelings throughout it while also acknowledging her attraction.
Despite that, the author did good with Cael’s aura through the screen/words, even when I was skimming most— if not all— parts of the book.
One of the things that truly annoyed me were the Roman numerals in place of Number Chapters. While Roman numerals look cool, it’s a bit of a hassle to search what the Roman numerals are in number form.
There are mentions of praying, but the characters aren’t consistent with it, and one character mentioned they didn’t believe in prayer at all
Overall, the writing style just didn’t match with me. I wanted to DNF but I pushed through for an honest ARC review. I found myself wanting to correct the sentences so it could make more sense. For such a young age to be an author, she did decently but has a lot of room for improvement; which is meant to be a positive thing. I wish her well and hope she improves more as time goes on!
Review of advance copy received from Autorin bzw. Autor
"The Silent Prince" by Ayesha Iqbal is a heartwarming, deep story about a princess who gets married to a prince of another kingdom.
The relationship between the main characters Elara and Cael is really special. What interested me most in the book was that Cael is a deaf character. It's relevant for the plot, makes his little communication even more important and I love deaf representation in books.
The author does torture us with a perfect slow-burn romance (which I mean as a huge compliment!!) With every page you're yearning for the main characters to fall in love and realize that.
The slow-burn is what I think makes the book really fast paced while reading. I devoured the book in two days (with little time for reading in these days).
And it's a clean romance which made me like it even more!
In the book there is are hints at little love triangle, which I am not a fan of. This would be my only negative point about the book. The love story is too special to have another person disturbing that. But as that is just a personal preference of mine and just hinted at I decided this is still a five star book for me. I do hope the love triangle isn't getting more relevant in the next books.
Right now I am desperate for book two! I'm wondering what will happen between Cael and Elara and also how the relationships with side characters will develop (especially Caels sister and her love interest!!)
The relationship between the main characters Elara and Cael is really special. What interested me most in the book was that Cael is a deaf character. It's relevant for the plot, makes his little communication even more important and I love deaf representation in books.
The author does torture us with a perfect slow-burn romance (which I mean as a huge compliment!!) With every page you're yearning for the main characters to fall in love and realize that.
The slow-burn is what I think makes the book really fast paced while reading. I devoured the book in two days (with little time for reading in these days).
And it's a clean romance which made me like it even more!
In the book there is are hints at little love triangle, which I am not a fan of. This would be my only negative point about the book. The love story is too special to have another person disturbing that. But as that is just a personal preference of mine and just hinted at I decided this is still a five star book for me. I do hope the love triangle isn't getting more relevant in the next books.
Right now I am desperate for book two! I'm wondering what will happen between Cael and Elara and also how the relationships with side characters will develop (especially Caels sister and her love interest!!)
Review of advance copy received from Author
A huge thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book!
Tropes: forced marriage, royalty, friends to lover, princess x mute prince, slow burn
The Silent Prince follows Princess Elara Everwyn, a prisoner in her own home who is traded away by her cruel father to marry the mysterious, mute Prince of Riverath: Cael.
Elara gave me such fairytale princess vibes! She is so incredibly sweet, but beneath that gentleness lies deep fragility and a really troubled past.
And Cael... where do I even begin with him?! I am a sucker for a male lead who seems all broody on the outside but is secretly the sweetest, most attentive person for the ones he loves 🫠 I lost count of how many times I melted over the little, thoughtful things he did for Elara! Getting his POV made my heart melt even more, but it also broke my heart learning about everything he’s had to endure.
Elara & Cael together are SOFT SOFT SOFT. I truly can’t stress this enough! Their connection is so beautiful.
While this first book is definitely more romance driven, there are some really interesting plot crumbs scattered throughout that I’m sure will be expanded on in the next books. Keeping in mind that this is such a young author’s debut, it was such a delightful and lovely read! I will happily be continuing this series! 🤍
“𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵.”
Pub date: 20 Oct 2026
Tropes: forced marriage, royalty, friends to lover, princess x mute prince, slow burn
The Silent Prince follows Princess Elara Everwyn, a prisoner in her own home who is traded away by her cruel father to marry the mysterious, mute Prince of Riverath: Cael.
Elara gave me such fairytale princess vibes! She is so incredibly sweet, but beneath that gentleness lies deep fragility and a really troubled past.
And Cael... where do I even begin with him?! I am a sucker for a male lead who seems all broody on the outside but is secretly the sweetest, most attentive person for the ones he loves 🫠 I lost count of how many times I melted over the little, thoughtful things he did for Elara! Getting his POV made my heart melt even more, but it also broke my heart learning about everything he’s had to endure.
Elara & Cael together are SOFT SOFT SOFT. I truly can’t stress this enough! Their connection is so beautiful.
While this first book is definitely more romance driven, there are some really interesting plot crumbs scattered throughout that I’m sure will be expanded on in the next books. Keeping in mind that this is such a young author’s debut, it was such a delightful and lovely read! I will happily be continuing this series! 🤍
“𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵.”
Pub date: 20 Oct 2026
Review of advance copy received from Author
First of all thank you to the author for giving me an arc of this book I started reading it in July and got about 40% done but then I started a different book and kind of forgot about this book and I started it again yesterday from the beginning because I forgot everything and I just found the writing very boring. I feel like it was trying very hard to be poetic and I got about 100 pages in and there was still no plot. I think the only big thing that’s happened so far was that she got married off to the prince and that happened in chapter like 3. The first time I read it I got to a point where I was actually really invested in the story and the was at this cute little market and then the author brings up divine rivals and it just snapped me out of the whole fantasy world soo fast. There was also a paragraph I just read and it went from third person to first person and then back to third person and I just found that very confusing. I also just didn’t like the writing it felt very confusing and overly complicated. Overall I think for a debut book this isn’t bad but I just don’t really like the characters or the way the story was flowing. On the topic of the characters, Cael, who is the mmc (I think? I remember there was a small “love triangle”? With a knight at some point) but Cael just felt so bland to me and he had no character he kinda just showed up in some places wherever he was “needed” but I think he needs some more depth to him. And Elara who is the fmc is just really annoying to me and I just don’t like her personality.
Thank you for the arc!
Thank you for the arc!
Review of advance copy received from Author
First of all, thanks to the author for giving me the arc.
This book looked really interesting and unique at first, and I was really excited to read it, but as I read on, it was just a little bit of a no.
Not going to lie, the book was different, and the concept was really fun at first, but upon finding errors, book references of our world (divine rivals and oubah??), and that there is barely any chemistry between the main characters, it went downhill pretty soon after.
I am not hating, because I know, as a teen author myself how hard it is to promote, publish and get people to engage with what your wrote, and ayesha did an amazing job of this, but this book just needed tweaking a little more.
I did read it all the way through, and finish it, but sadly after about Halfway through, I literally did not want to pick it up again, but I did finish it.
I believe if the book was properly edited and proof red before it was given out to 'arc' readers, and the pacing was speed up a bit, the characters had like 50% more personality, depth and development, the romance didn't feel forced, then, yes, this book could have lived up to its expectations. But no, it did not, and I am very sorry to be saying this....
Thanks for reading and try this book to give support to the author! :)
This book looked really interesting and unique at first, and I was really excited to read it, but as I read on, it was just a little bit of a no.
Not going to lie, the book was different, and the concept was really fun at first, but upon finding errors, book references of our world (divine rivals and oubah??), and that there is barely any chemistry between the main characters, it went downhill pretty soon after.
I am not hating, because I know, as a teen author myself how hard it is to promote, publish and get people to engage with what your wrote, and ayesha did an amazing job of this, but this book just needed tweaking a little more.
I did read it all the way through, and finish it, but sadly after about Halfway through, I literally did not want to pick it up again, but I did finish it.
I believe if the book was properly edited and proof red before it was given out to 'arc' readers, and the pacing was speed up a bit, the characters had like 50% more personality, depth and development, the romance didn't feel forced, then, yes, this book could have lived up to its expectations. But no, it did not, and I am very sorry to be saying this....
Thanks for reading and try this book to give support to the author! :)
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