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The Sin Eater’s Daughter #2
The Sleeping Prince
Return to the darkly beautiful world of The Sin Eater's Daughter with a sequel that will leave you awed, terrified . . . and desperate for more.
Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.
When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.
Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.
When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published May 31, 2016
100 people are currently reading
6861 people want to read
About the author
Melinda Salisbury
23 books1,367 followersMelinda Salisbury lives by the sea, somewhere in the south of England. As a child she genuinely thought Roald Dahl’s Matilda was her biography, in part helped by her grandfather often mistakenly calling her Matilda, and the local library having a pretty cavalier attitude to the books she borrowed. Sadly she never manifested telekinetic powers. She likes to travel, and have adventures. She also likes medieval castles, non-medieval aquariums, Richard III, and all things Scandinavian The Sin Eater's Daughter is her first novel. She can be found on Twitter at @MESalisbury, though be warned, she tweets often.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 659 reviews
February 15, 2017
I fell right in love with Silas as he is in this book so much doing good things and he has secrets, but I know what they are. . . mwahahahaahah.
So Errin is living in a hovel of a home that she rents from some jerk named Unwin. Her mother has some kind of disease that makes her crazy when the full moon is out. Poor Errin is trying to keep her mother locked away, making potions to sell to Silas to help her and her mother. Errin's brother Lief is also missing. Everything seems like doom and gloom.
which
it actually is because The Sleeping Prince was awakened by the queen and now he's wreaking havoc across the land with his golems. Killing everything in his path . . . well almost everything. There are things he wants and he will get that at whatever cost.
Of course now I need the next book to see what is going to happen with that ending.
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
So Errin is living in a hovel of a home that she rents from some jerk named Unwin. Her mother has some kind of disease that makes her crazy when the full moon is out. Poor Errin is trying to keep her mother locked away, making potions to sell to Silas to help her and her mother. Errin's brother Lief is also missing. Everything seems like doom and gloom.
which
it actually is because The Sleeping Prince was awakened by the queen and now he's wreaking havoc across the land with his golems. Killing everything in his path . . . well almost everything. There are things he wants and he will get that at whatever cost.
Of course now I need the next book to see what is going to happen with that ending.
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
February 21, 2016
Second-Book Syndrome? Ha, Salisbury wouldn’t dream of it; The Sleeping Prince completely outshines its predecessor with clever writing, an intricately woven plot and the ability to bring eerie folklore in a fantasy filled world to life.
Our new character Errin lives with her mother in the small town of Almwyk, the town is being evacuated because The Sleeping Prince is pillaging his way through Lormere, it's only a matter of time before their next. But Errin cannot let this happen, she’s convinced her mother has 'Scarlet Varulv'; a mythical affliction that makes her mother behave like a beast when the moon is full. No one in the town would believe such fairy-tales and would more likely lock her mother up in a facility for the insane and with nowhere to go Errin is slowly running out of options…
The Sleeping Prince is a fantastic book that follows Errin travelling the Kingdom in the hopes of finding a cure for her mother with the help of her friend: the magnetic and mysterious, Silas. Silas is possibly the sweetest, cutest character ever, I mean I loved him from the beginning and I didn’t even know what he looked like, he's an all-round good guy with a heart of gold *sigh*, I love him. Can I just add that The Sleeping Prince is the opposite to Silas in every way, he’s cruel, cunning and swift in his revenge but still a little thrilling; I obviously have issues.
Errin is such a strong and wholly-likable character, she’s been forced to grow up and be an adult, she must take care of her mother, pay the bills and taxes, try to keep a roof over her head until her brother, Lief comes home. I couldn’t help but admire Errin, she was backed into a corner with no options but remained clear-headed and confident that she could find a way to fix things; she’s truly made of tougher stuff than most.
I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone but by far the most compelling case I have for you reading The Sleeping Prince is the writing. Salisbury weaves a gorgeous tail, picking up on the clues left in The Sin Eater’s Daughter and adding her own spin on fairy tales and myths. The fates of old and new characters are slowly joined as this complex plot heats up. This book demands you sit up and pay attention from the beginning as a shocking revelation is revealed and trust me, it will break your heart!
The Sleeping Prince was a captivating sequel, filled with refreshing characters, eerie folklore, scary magical creatures and lots of action and adventure. This book was completely unpredictable, loaded with plot twists and a devastating cliffhanger that will leave you reeling... and a tad excited for the next book. This rich fantasy book is perfect for those of you who like your villains deliciously dark, your heroines strong and independent and a slow burn romance that may be doomed from the start.
Literary-ly Obsessed (Blog) | Twitter | Instagram
Our new character Errin lives with her mother in the small town of Almwyk, the town is being evacuated because The Sleeping Prince is pillaging his way through Lormere, it's only a matter of time before their next. But Errin cannot let this happen, she’s convinced her mother has 'Scarlet Varulv'; a mythical affliction that makes her mother behave like a beast when the moon is full. No one in the town would believe such fairy-tales and would more likely lock her mother up in a facility for the insane and with nowhere to go Errin is slowly running out of options…
The Sleeping Prince is a fantastic book that follows Errin travelling the Kingdom in the hopes of finding a cure for her mother with the help of her friend: the magnetic and mysterious, Silas. Silas is possibly the sweetest, cutest character ever, I mean I loved him from the beginning and I didn’t even know what he looked like, he's an all-round good guy with a heart of gold *sigh*, I love him. Can I just add that The Sleeping Prince is the opposite to Silas in every way, he’s cruel, cunning and swift in his revenge but still a little thrilling; I obviously have issues.
Errin is such a strong and wholly-likable character, she’s been forced to grow up and be an adult, she must take care of her mother, pay the bills and taxes, try to keep a roof over her head until her brother, Lief comes home. I couldn’t help but admire Errin, she was backed into a corner with no options but remained clear-headed and confident that she could find a way to fix things; she’s truly made of tougher stuff than most.
I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone but by far the most compelling case I have for you reading The Sleeping Prince is the writing. Salisbury weaves a gorgeous tail, picking up on the clues left in The Sin Eater’s Daughter and adding her own spin on fairy tales and myths. The fates of old and new characters are slowly joined as this complex plot heats up. This book demands you sit up and pay attention from the beginning as a shocking revelation is revealed and trust me, it will break your heart!
The Sleeping Prince was a captivating sequel, filled with refreshing characters, eerie folklore, scary magical creatures and lots of action and adventure. This book was completely unpredictable, loaded with plot twists and a devastating cliffhanger that will leave you reeling... and a tad excited for the next book. This rich fantasy book is perfect for those of you who like your villains deliciously dark, your heroines strong and independent and a slow burn romance that may be doomed from the start.
Literary-ly Obsessed (Blog) | Twitter | Instagram
May 25, 2017
“Were you disappointed?”
She takes a deep breath, looking down at her hands. “My heart was. My head wasn’t. Most days I’m at war with myself. My head wins, usually. And for that I’m glad.”
Once again I find myself playing the role of the little weird black sheep. The general opinion on this series is that the first book is just shy of decent, while the second is utterly outstanding. Well, I found both of them to be equally outstanding. Had I to follow my very personal taste I'd probably I say I liked The Sin Eater's Daughter better, but, trying to be as objective as I can, each book has its very own specific and different strengths and weaknesses, and though I may prefer one set over the other, they basically even out.
•Errin is a very different character from Twylla, female lead of the first book. Their lives are different, and their personalities, and their goals; Twylla's development is more evident and striking, but Errin is stronger to begin with, and the hardship she had to endure in the last months of her life makes her an admirable, strong heroine. She's loyal and level-headed, and easy to empathize with.
•You'll probably remember from my review of The Sin Eater's Daughter that I'd been hopelessly enchanted by the world building, the mythology, the folklore. Well, in a sense, The Sleeping Prince offers a little less of that all (I missed, for instance, the depth conferred on the story by all the religious issues arisen in book one), while on the other hand delightfully broadening the horizon. We come to know more about alchemy, about the Sleeping Prince, about how the kingdoms came to be and the stories that breathed life into them. It was deeply fascinating, and again we find that pinch of eeriness that makes the whole picture so much more enticing and alluring.
•Lief broke my heart. For multiple reasons. More than once. The same goes for Errin's family history. Funny thing is, I enjoyed it: because this series is a masterpiece of unexpectedness. You think you know what thing are, and how they went, until you don't. It's sadistically enjoyable and supremely painful.
•I absolutely want to see more of our villain, who's so charismatic and sinister he gets to say things like this and sound solid and fleshed-out all the same:
➽ The Scarecrow Queen just became one of my most anticipated releases ever. Barely more than a month is left now, and I'm convinced my brain will collapse before. There are so many questions I have, and so many fears, and so many hopes. In the meantime, all I can do is recommend this series to everyone: you won't find another like this if you look for a thousand years. Believe me. You don't want to miss this.
She takes a deep breath, looking down at her hands. “My heart was. My head wasn’t. Most days I’m at war with myself. My head wins, usually. And for that I’m glad.”
Once again I find myself playing the role of the little weird black sheep. The general opinion on this series is that the first book is just shy of decent, while the second is utterly outstanding. Well, I found both of them to be equally outstanding. Had I to follow my very personal taste I'd probably I say I liked The Sin Eater's Daughter better, but, trying to be as objective as I can, each book has its very own specific and different strengths and weaknesses, and though I may prefer one set over the other, they basically even out.
•Errin is a very different character from Twylla, female lead of the first book. Their lives are different, and their personalities, and their goals; Twylla's development is more evident and striking, but Errin is stronger to begin with, and the hardship she had to endure in the last months of her life makes her an admirable, strong heroine. She's loyal and level-headed, and easy to empathize with.
•You'll probably remember from my review of The Sin Eater's Daughter that I'd been hopelessly enchanted by the world building, the mythology, the folklore. Well, in a sense, The Sleeping Prince offers a little less of that all (I missed, for instance, the depth conferred on the story by all the religious issues arisen in book one), while on the other hand delightfully broadening the horizon. We come to know more about alchemy, about the Sleeping Prince, about how the kingdoms came to be and the stories that breathed life into them. It was deeply fascinating, and again we find that pinch of eeriness that makes the whole picture so much more enticing and alluring.
•Lief broke my heart. For multiple reasons. More than once. The same goes for Errin's family history. Funny thing is, I enjoyed it: because this series is a masterpiece of unexpectedness. You think you know what thing are, and how they went, until you don't. It's sadistically enjoyable and supremely painful.
•I absolutely want to see more of our villain, who's so charismatic and sinister he gets to say things like this and sound solid and fleshed-out all the same:
“Why are you doing this?”
“Because I can. Because I slept for five hundred years and now I want some sport.”
➽ The Scarecrow Queen just became one of my most anticipated releases ever. Barely more than a month is left now, and I'm convinced my brain will collapse before. There are so many questions I have, and so many fears, and so many hopes. In the meantime, all I can do is recommend this series to everyone: you won't find another like this if you look for a thousand years. Believe me. You don't want to miss this.
March 23, 2016
The first time to read a sequel that is so bloody better than the first book.
Look, I still find the first book to be horrible (can't change that), but I just realized that despite me finding the The Sin Eater’s Daughter an epic fail, the story of the series is now really one of a kind.
Let me summarize what the plot is:
Once upon there's that douche of a prince who can't keep his wiener in his pants. He's also a massive jerk and so powerful, people are scared of him shitless. The people got fed up and decided to hire someone to poison the son of a bitch. He was now cursed to sleep forever. He slept for so long that he became a fairy tale to scare children and eventually, some people forgot that he is a history lesson, not a myth.
Until an idiot decided to wake him up.
Now the prince is awake and he wants to kill everyone.
I did mention that he's a psycho, right?
Side note: This book has a new set of characters and though you might be confused a little bit from the start, it will get better. Take that from someone who has a terrible memory.
Let me tell you why this one is so much better than the first book.
1. No insta-love and love-triangle or any shape that is possible.
Like for real, yes. So yes yes yes. I hated the "I'm-so-torn-between-boy1-and-boy2" shit in The Sin Eater’s Daughter. It ruined the book for me. But this. This is glorious. I'm not going to spoil anything about the shipping but rest assure that this book is no Disney.
2. The characters.
Unlike book 1 where the most interesting character is the villain instead of the MC, The Sleeping Prince's characters are all well written. I love the way that the heroine is not just a "good girl who works hard" but a heroine who will resort to "blackmail, stealing and will fucking punch you if you come between her and her family."
There are also a lot of antagonists in this book and it makes the story so damn interesting.
3. The story/ plot/ scenes whatever
Melinda Salisbury shocked me with this one. I thought it would be the usual Fantasy book where cliffhangers may or may not happen, HEA is possible and all the common scenes that we can see in a book like this.
But no. Sorry Paige, you're dead wrong.The book has a touch of Game of Thrones factor and I'm not sure if I'll celebrate because it's freaking good or weep because GOT, man. You know what's in a GOT book.
Oh, and there's so many murders and stabbings in this book. Rejoice!
One thing is for sure though. WHEN WILL THE LAST BOOK COME OUT?
March 6, 2017
[DNF 77%]
I have not read the first book and thank the lord I dodged that bullet, because from what i hear it's even worst than this? Are you kidding me?
The book is called Sleeping Prince so you would think it would be about ... well, the Sleeping prince! The prologue got me all kinds of excited since he was actually in it. Now let's not get carried away, it's not actually about a fairytale prince came to life and now trying to conquer the world, he is more like the background. The main story follows an utterly boring girl named Erin. She lives with her sick mother, father is dead and the asshole brother is nowhere to be found (isn't he the protagonist from the first book? YICKS!)
Let's talk Silas now, shall we? HE! Him! MY sweet, sweet child! WAY TOOO GOOD FOR THIS BOOK. Why O why?! He was such an interesting character. It's a shame he wasn't written by a better author. Aft first, I was convinced it would be a 5 star read just because of Silas. Once he disappeared, we got stuck with Erin and her mighty thought. I couldn't read this any longer.
Needless to say, i will not be reading the last book either.
"I suppose it’s hard to remain on the side of reason when a five-hundred-year-old fairy tale comes to life and lays waste to the castle and the people in the country next door."
I have not read the first book and thank the lord I dodged that bullet, because from what i hear it's even worst than this? Are you kidding me?
The book is called Sleeping Prince so you would think it would be about ... well, the Sleeping prince! The prologue got me all kinds of excited since he was actually in it. Now let's not get carried away, it's not actually about a fairytale prince came to life and now trying to conquer the world, he is more like the background. The main story follows an utterly boring girl named Erin. She lives with her sick mother, father is dead and the asshole brother is nowhere to be found (isn't he the protagonist from the first book? YICKS!)
Let's talk Silas now, shall we? HE! Him! MY sweet, sweet child! WAY TOOO GOOD FOR THIS BOOK. Why O why?! He was such an interesting character. It's a shame he wasn't written by a better author. Aft first, I was convinced it would be a 5 star read just because of Silas. Once he disappeared, we got stuck with Erin and her mighty thought. I couldn't read this any longer.
Needless to say, i will not be reading the last book either.
"I suppose it’s hard to remain on the side of reason when a five-hundred-year-old fairy tale comes to life and lays waste to the castle and the people in the country next door."
October 20, 2016
“Why do I matter to you?”
“You don’t.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Because I can. Because I slept for five hundred years and now I want some sport.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Sleeping Prince has woken up and now he's coming for you.
Despair.
From the first line till the last word this books is filled with despair. Do not try to be brave. Do not ask your Gods for help. Do not hope. Do not wait for heroes to come and save you.
“Fortune favors the bold."
"So does death."
Fear is your new friend. Embrace it. Accept it. It will either preserve you or drive you mad. The chose is yours, or is it?
Welcome to the Kingdom of Tregellan. A place ruled by logic and science. The opposite of Lormer, which we aquatinted ourselves with in book one.We’re not Lormerians, with their temples and their living goddesses, and their creepy royal family. We’re people of science, and reason.
But what happens when a 500 year old fairy-tale wakes up? Where logic goes? Right, out of the window. People panic. People turn to superstition. It's in their nature to seek shelter in anything that at least slightly can reassure them. But nor logic, nor Gods can give such shelter any longer. What happens when hope is lost?“Burn all the food, and people will starve, weaken, and turn on one another. Destroy the temples and their acolytes, and the people will have nowhere to turn, no sanctuary, no charity. No hope.
Then people turn into monsters. They steal, they betray, they kill. This is a new world. Our heroine Errin lives in this world, in a god forsaken place called Almwyk. Just six months ago - which now feel like ages ago - she had it all: family, home, occupation, friends. Now she lives in a shack with ill mother and only her skills as an apothecary to make and sell dangerous poisons to sustain them. She lives in constant fear that greedy local mayor will take advantage of her, that hunger will never pass, that soldiers will come someday and kill her, that tomorrow will never come.
Once upon a time there was a young apprentice apothecary who lived on a red-brick farm with a golden thatch roof, surrounded by green fields. She had a father who called her a “clever girl” and gave her a herb garden all of her own, and a mother who was whole and kind. She had a brother who knew how to smile and laugh.
But then one day her father had an accident and, despite her efforts to save him, he died. And so did all of her hopes and dreams. The farm – the family’s home for generations – was sold. Her mother’s brown hair greyed, her spirit dulled as she drifted towards Almwyk like a wraith, uncomplaining, unfeeling. And her brother, once impulsive and joyful, became cold and hard, his eyes turned east with malice.
Errin has an only friend - Silas - a man she met a few months ago in the woods, who became, first her client for poisons, and then her only friend. But Errin never saw his face; he's always hooded and inconspicuous. It's no wonder he acts that way, because anyone can betray anyone, and you can't trust a soul with your life or your secrets. But at least Silas is here and he's a friend, or is he?
Errin is one of the strongest heroines I've read about. She lives a terrible life, she struggles everyday; she's no hero, she does what she must to survive.If it were real gold someone would have had it off her neck by now – Gods, if it were real gold, I might have had it off her neck. At least if it were gold it would be worth something.
But despite all of it, she's so head-strong I couldn't not admire her.Enough. I don’t have time for this; self-pity’s a luxury that I can’t afford.
Like bread. Or pride.
Enough, Errin. There’s work to do. Get up.
She stands up, she goes on, she fights. There's nothing that matters more to her than family. Family always comes first. But also, family is the thing that hurts us the most, or is it?
MythologyThat’s the trouble with knowing things: you can’t un-know them. Once you let yourself look at them, or say them aloud, they become real.
Remember how the world looked in book one? We were isolated. We knew almost nothing. With the heroine Twylla we pieced information crumb by crumb, but if you thought you knew anything in the end of book one, reconsider. Now our world is widening, we are not just in one palace; we travel, we learn, we gasp in terror, we run. But oh, how deviously genius Melinda Salisbury is in her spinning of the story: we thought going "outdoors" will make us less claustrophobic, but after this book you will want to cuddle and lock yourself in a castle again.
This new world is terrifying. Monsters do not live in fairy tales any longer. They roam the land, collecting souls for their master. What we thought was real turned out half truth: going from teller to teller and changing in the process until it became unrecognizable, but we still believed that new lighter version. The author stamps on our belief; it crumbles under new facts that grow and spread without any regard for what was before. Religion, science, myth - everything becomes one. It felt like my eyes were open before, but, no, before I looked at the world with wide closed eyes, and now I am wide awake.
Twist upon twist. The pacing of the book is so rapid, I didn't have time for respite. I don't remember when was the last time I read a book with so many twists in it. Maybe never. I felt like Jon Snow: You know nothing, Nastassja! Honestly, I don't know how I've survived the book with so many emotions coursing through me. And after all the revelations and twists I still can't imagine what will happen in book three! That is how one writes a book! You can make as much theories as you please, but the story is so unpredictable, you probably will end up in the opposite direction from your theories.
I deliberate giving little information about characters. This book, as the previous one, is written from the 1st POV, so we see everything through Errin's perspective. She's a more reliable narrator than Twylla, and there was never a question from my side why the girl acted one way or another. Errin was a perfect narrator to follow on this terrifying journey. Reading this book also gave me a new angle to look at the characters from book one. Dead or alive - you will understand them better, and some of them will surprise you, because, again, you thought you knew them, but you didn't, not really. Character-development is fantastic in this series. The author shows and tells, and it's evidently that at first the author created the whole story and then divided it into three parts by giving information to us in little doses vial after vial, and, at times, deliberately misleading us, because first impressions are deceptive and you can't look into the problem's core without learning the problem from A to Z.
The language is a thing in itself: so beautiful, so very measured, like an alchemic formula coming to life if composed correctly. It was a pure joy to read this story and savor every word, every symbol of it.
This story is a pure alchemy on which it is easy to become addicted. If you haven't read The Sin Eater's Daughter - go read it! And then come back and read this book. If you read book one and it didn't make you feel, give The Sleeping Prince a chance to awaken your feelings, trust me, the guy knows a thing or two about slumber.
November 30, 2017
*screams for ten years*
SEE YOU ALL AT MY FUNERAL, FUCK ME SIDEWAYS, BYEBYEBYE.
REVIEW TO COME OH MY GOD AKDJAKDJFKF WHAT, I CAN'T FUNCTION RIGHT NOW.
----
Holy crap guys, I read the first 50 pages and already it's bloody awesome and much much intriguing than the previous book.
Anyways, I'm rooting for
SEE YOU ALL AT MY FUNERAL, FUCK ME SIDEWAYS, BYEBYEBYE.
REVIEW TO COME OH MY GOD AKDJAKDJFKF WHAT, I CAN'T FUNCTION RIGHT NOW.
----
Holy crap guys, I read the first 50 pages and already it's bloody awesome and much much intriguing than the previous book.
Anyways, I'm rooting for
October 19, 2016
11 out of 10
Ревью в моем блоге/This review on my blog
Living A Thousand Lives (please use Chrome/Yandex browser or Android/IOS to see the page; otherwise, spoiler-tags I use to make my post compact may not work)
Short-Soundtrack:
Neverending White Lights - Black Is The Color Of...
IAMX - Dead in this house
Les Friction – Save Your Life
Genre: high-fantasy, upper-YA, retelling
Stuff: Sleeping Prince, alchemy, war
WOW: writing style, MC, antagonist
POV: 1st person, female
Love-Geometry: none
Quote-Core:
"Be a good girl, or the Bringer will come, and then the Sleeping Prince will eat your heart."
I remember how I didn't like The Sin Eater's Daughter much, but decided to read its sequel for the infamous Sleeping Prince. BOY WAS I RIGHT. Moreover, now I see the first installment differently. Yes, there were flaws and pacing was rather slow, but the writing and atmosphere was worth my time. If you've seen how people were upset with the first part of the series and want to start it from the book #2, reconsider. Both parts are very entwined and accent each other with the details.
Okay, The Sleeping Prince...
First of all, this book is written SO good I wanted to read it as slowly as I can. You may put it down, pick it up after a while and in a matter of a few lines to be sucked in again. The text is lyrical and precise at the same time. That's a rare combination! Plus it helps to create the unique atmosphere. With scents, sounds, bright visions and even tactile sensations. Like virtual reality.
Also, you have to know that Melinda Salisbury is a brilliant world-builder and mythology-weather. The realm she writes about is dark, twisted and rich. And I LOVE how logically she united different cultures and gave them a common predecessor. Thus, we see that everything depends on tales our governments feed us with. We can be religion lunatics or men of science and both be fooled.
Melinda muddled Sleeping Beauty and Pied Piper of Hamelin together and gave us the Sleeping Prince. It was just a story for all the characters until it turned out to be real. And now the Sleeping Prince who was robbed from his splendid life woke up to nothing: his home's gone, his family's gone, everything's gone. Everything but desire to avenge his losses. He's coming and you'd better run!
Sleeping Prince is the closest characters to the Darkling I've read about. Most of the time he's out of the main picture, but you always feel his presence, fear his actions, and crave his appearance. He has a name, but it's a secret. He's ruthless, but has a goal, good reasons. He's not a bad guy for the sake of being bad. You find him weirdly attractive and strangely sexy, but understand that he is a fucking bastard. All in all, I'm impressed.
MC of this book is not Twylla, it's Errin, Lief's sister and a talented apothecary. Her mother is very ill, but this illness is quite unusual. She has to earn their money by selling forbidden potions, to look for a cure, to fight the lessor's innuendos, to hope that her brother's alive and to survive. All alone. Her father is dead, her mother is sick, her brother is lost. The only person she has is Silas. One of her clients who is in need of poison. She's never seen his face (he's always hooded), but she trusts him and, yeah, likes him. Why not? She's lonely, he's kind. But...
"From our first meeting, to today, he has always, always been hooded, gloved and cloaked, and he’s never removed them, never even pushed them aside, whether we’re indoors or out. When I asked him why, he told me it was safer like that. For us both. And to not ask again.
Mysterious boys are not as enjoyable in reality as they are in stories."
Is it wise to rely on a person who hides his face? Is it wise to develop feelings toward a guy who is cold as ice? Nope, it isn't and Errin knows it all. Plus, she has too many troubles to be distracted by something like that.
The story is told from Errin's POV and I have to admit she's a nice teller.
“If someone had told me six moons ago, before I watched my life slip through my hands like water, that my mother would be cursed, locked away, and drugged by my own hand, I would have laughed in their face. Then I would have kicked them for the insult and laughed again.”
Sarcastic, honest, brave and selfish than it needs. That's a a distinctive feature of every characters in this series. They want to save the world, but their own lives and their families' fates come first.
“Other people come and go, but family is for ever.”
Finally! I'm fed up with sacrifices for the greater good's sake. I love to see how people are scared, how they try to help others, but in the end of the day they always will choose to stay save rather that dead. Corpses unlike living can't try again.
This series deals with magic which isn't magic it all. It's whether facade or alchemy. That's really good and refreshing. People have to go through hell without handy spells, they can't kill their enemies with superpowers. Alchemy is a tricky thing. It always has a price.
We do have romance in here, but it's subtle and somehow reminds me of Kaz and Inej from Six of Crows. It's barely there, but it feels like a solid thing. I'm totally ship it.
The characters from the book #1 will show up in this part too. And all of them had change which isn't surprising after the ending of The Sin Eater's Daughter. Now I'm not afraid of Twylla's POV in the book #3 (I think it would be split into Errin's and hers chapters), 'cause the girl grew some brains and balls.
The pacing is well-balanced and the story is spiced with creepy moments and very good twists. Melinda Salisbury doesn't hold back, so be ready for anything.
The final was AWESOME. Until the last 5% I thought I'll give The Sleeping Prince 9.5 stars, but it deserves more, maybe I'll round it to the full 10, 'cause the more I think of the story, the more I love how consistent and beautiful it is.
“The apothecary, the monk and the living Goddess went to war. We sound like the start of a joke.”
I wanna learn the punchline.
PS: I wish I could quote more, but plot is very intricate: I'll offer you one thread and it gives you to many hints away.
PPS: Okay. I decided to give 11 stars. That's how the book impressed me.
The Sin Eater’s Daughter (Дочь пожирательницы грехов):
— The King of Rats (Крысиный король) #0.5/3
— The Sin Eater’s Daughter (Дочь пожирательницы грехов) #1/3
— The Sleeping Prince (Спящий принц) #2/3
— The Scarecrow Queen (Королева-пугало) #3/3
October 18, 2016
Full review available at: my blog
__________________________________
Note: The only reason I did give this series a chance was Katerina's amazing review of this book, do check it out here: .
My head is exploding and I can barely believe what I just read. I…will need rehab after this book. Or painkillers. Or both.
Throughout the years I have found that a perfect book for me consists of several components: good writing, interesting characters I can sympathize with, an angsty love story(I'm so lame, I know) and a mysterious plot. It is the last that is perfectly executed here. Don't get me wrong, "The Sleeping Prince" has all the aspects listed above, but what impressed me the most was its unpredictability. I really love it when I don't straightaway guess where the plot is going. The whole book stars in a way that makes you think it is going to be . And as a person, who's read my fair share of YA fantasy, I thought "I've got this. I know what's going on."And then…BAM! Katrin was wrong. Katrin didn't guess right. And I love this. I love when it happens and when it is executed in a logical manner that perfectly makes sense.
The prologue stunned me, I definitely did not expect that. Overall, I can say the whole book surprised me immensely when it came to the plot. There were so many unexpected twists and turns, which constantly had me raising my voice in incredulation (is that even a word?). I lost count how many times I stopped reading just to process a revelation or .
Now lets talk about fairy tales for a bit. Retellings have been so popular over the last few years in the YA kingdom, that hardly a month passes without a new release comes out that's based - whether loosely or more solidly - on a popular fairy tale we all have grown up with. And, to be honest, most of these retellings are shit. It's not easy taking a known concept and developing it into something unique, something yours. Melinda Salisbury, however, prove she can do it flawlessly in a manner that grabs the attention of the reader and doesn't let go until the last page. She spins well-known fairy-tales into her own stories, filling them with mystery, legends and a huge dose of her great imagination.
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW
So, what is this book about? Well, we remember how Leif talked about his sister and his dire family situation in the first book. The second installment of the series follows Errin, Lief's sister, and we find out she has been left completely alone - her father is dead, her mother is unresponsive and unable to take care of herself, her brother is missing. So, the young girl has been forced to grow up faster than anyone should and care for her mother and their livelihood, leaving behind her dream of becoming an apothecary. Errin has managed to survive by creating potions and poisons, and selling them to a mysteriously hooded guy, who never reveals his face and who is completely off the radar in the border village of Almwyk they have been forced to live. The Sleeping Prince and his right hand the Silver Knight have already conquered Lormere, so now they have turned their attention to Tregellan. Poor Errin is struggling to find a cure for her mother - who she believes has been bitten by an animal and turned into the Scarlet Varulv (werewolfish kind of beast, save for the physical metamorphosis). Her only ally and friend in this desperate situation is Silas, the mystery guy, who needs her apothecary skills for some not-so-legal substances. The intriguing part is, Errin is not entirely sure where Silas' loyalties lie and she still doubts him, regardless of the fact that she has started developing feelings for him. At the same time she gets entangled in the fight against the Sleeping Prince and from then on, the whole amazingly intricate story unfolds.
I normally am not a fan of series that change protagonists in every book. Not that I don't like the Lunar Chronicles, for example, but … I really prefer it when we follow the journey of one set of characters from the very beginning. It's just a personal preference, I'm sure most people probably wouldn't mind. I knew from the beginning of the first book that this series was going to be like that, so I was mentally prepared. But nothing prepared me to actually love this. I think in this series this is one of the best literary devices used. The story itself gives a perfect preposition for the change in protagonists, which really aids the development of the plotline. And I'm not saying that because Errin is a stronger heroine than Twylla. Not at all. I think both of them are great (I've explained my reasons for liking Twylla in the review of the first book.) So, I really respect that the author obviously uses different protagonists in order to develop her story and not because she's run out of ideas for the original pair. That being said, I think a few words about the characters are in line.
ERRIN
Errin is such a great heroine that I easily fell in love with her. She has faced so many difficulties over the past few months and this is really heartbreaking since she actually can make a parallel with a happier time. She's known happiness and now is facing only hardships. Which is very much unlike Twylla, whose whole life has been completely devoid of happiness and entertainment, but who also has not faced physical/physiological troubles - such as taking care of her sick mother, going hungry, escaping the attentions of nasty men. The comparison between the two is inevitable and I'm really glad to say that their stories are so different, yet both of them are quite likable, in my opinion (I know a lot of people compare Twylla to a doormat, so I'm not gonna go into more details here).
SILAS
I love reading about mysterious guys. I mean, who doesn't? I think the tortured, secretive hero trope is one that will never go out of style. He was so fun to read about because throughout the beginning/middle of the novel I couldn't help but wonder where exactly did his loyalties lie. Was he about to help Errin? Was he going to betray her? Who was he fighting for exactly? All of this really made me pay attention to every action of his, every word he said and ultimately to just be extremely aware whenever he was in a scene. I believe this is a sign of great writing and great character personalisation. He is so effortlessly intriguing that I just fell in love with him. Hard.
THE SLEEPING PRINCE
We get very little direct interaction with the main villain, but even this was enough to paint an amazingly complex, flawed, twisted and interesting character. I absolutely hate the black and white villains, who flood literature, so the Sleeping Prince was a breath of fresh air. Don't get me wrong, he is a sick bastard. But he's a sick bastard because of reasons and you can't help but feel intrigued as to what he's going to do in the future. His moves are not easily anticipated. His motives are morally ambiguous. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how you create a worthy villain.
Let me share with you an amazingly powerful (in my opinion) scene:
This is not a scene that's very dramatic or one where something extreme happens. No. It seems like a normal conversation. But in all honesty, if you read it carefully, there's so much more hidden. So much power and characterisation. I'm really in awe of Melinda Salisbury's writing. Which was precisely the reason why I read and reread paragraphs, whole pages and hell, I read the epilogue twice in a row. Because of this:
This was so beautifully heartbreaking that I just…had to come back to it.
Again, like in the previous book, the writing was amazing, so effortlessly beautiful and poetic. It's not one of those overly dramatic and pompous - see Jay Kristoff here - where the author obviously thought super hard how to jag seven similes in one sentence and top it off with three metaphors that don't make any sense. No. The writing is so unpretentious and simultaneously touching, that there were simple sentences I read and reread for their sheer prettiness. I think I'm going to read anything this woman writes. Even a milling machine operation manual, if she so decides. I can absolutely say that I'm a fan of Ms. Salisbury and will follow her writing career attentively.
I can continue writing about how amazing this book was until tomorrow, so my advice is, if you still haven't read it, stop wasting time and just do it. I promise you won't be sorry.
__________________________________
Note: The only reason I did give this series a chance was Katerina's amazing review of this book, do check it out here: .
My head is exploding and I can barely believe what I just read. I…will need rehab after this book. Or painkillers. Or both.
Throughout the years I have found that a perfect book for me consists of several components: good writing, interesting characters I can sympathize with, an angsty love story(I'm so lame, I know) and a mysterious plot. It is the last that is perfectly executed here. Don't get me wrong, "The Sleeping Prince" has all the aspects listed above, but what impressed me the most was its unpredictability. I really love it when I don't straightaway guess where the plot is going. The whole book stars in a way that makes you think it is going to be . And as a person, who's read my fair share of YA fantasy, I thought "I've got this. I know what's going on."And then…BAM! Katrin was wrong. Katrin didn't guess right. And I love this. I love when it happens and when it is executed in a logical manner that perfectly makes sense.
The prologue stunned me, I definitely did not expect that. Overall, I can say the whole book surprised me immensely when it came to the plot. There were so many unexpected twists and turns, which constantly had me raising my voice in incredulation (is that even a word?). I lost count how many times I stopped reading just to process a revelation or .
Now lets talk about fairy tales for a bit. Retellings have been so popular over the last few years in the YA kingdom, that hardly a month passes without a new release comes out that's based - whether loosely or more solidly - on a popular fairy tale we all have grown up with. And, to be honest, most of these retellings are shit. It's not easy taking a known concept and developing it into something unique, something yours. Melinda Salisbury, however, prove she can do it flawlessly in a manner that grabs the attention of the reader and doesn't let go until the last page. She spins well-known fairy-tales into her own stories, filling them with mystery, legends and a huge dose of her great imagination.
MINOR SPOILERS BELOW
So, what is this book about? Well, we remember how Leif talked about his sister and his dire family situation in the first book. The second installment of the series follows Errin, Lief's sister, and we find out she has been left completely alone - her father is dead, her mother is unresponsive and unable to take care of herself, her brother is missing. So, the young girl has been forced to grow up faster than anyone should and care for her mother and their livelihood, leaving behind her dream of becoming an apothecary. Errin has managed to survive by creating potions and poisons, and selling them to a mysteriously hooded guy, who never reveals his face and who is completely off the radar in the border village of Almwyk they have been forced to live. The Sleeping Prince and his right hand the Silver Knight have already conquered Lormere, so now they have turned their attention to Tregellan. Poor Errin is struggling to find a cure for her mother - who she believes has been bitten by an animal and turned into the Scarlet Varulv (werewolfish kind of beast, save for the physical metamorphosis). Her only ally and friend in this desperate situation is Silas, the mystery guy, who needs her apothecary skills for some not-so-legal substances. The intriguing part is, Errin is not entirely sure where Silas' loyalties lie and she still doubts him, regardless of the fact that she has started developing feelings for him. At the same time she gets entangled in the fight against the Sleeping Prince and from then on, the whole amazingly intricate story unfolds.
I normally am not a fan of series that change protagonists in every book. Not that I don't like the Lunar Chronicles, for example, but … I really prefer it when we follow the journey of one set of characters from the very beginning. It's just a personal preference, I'm sure most people probably wouldn't mind. I knew from the beginning of the first book that this series was going to be like that, so I was mentally prepared. But nothing prepared me to actually love this. I think in this series this is one of the best literary devices used. The story itself gives a perfect preposition for the change in protagonists, which really aids the development of the plotline. And I'm not saying that because Errin is a stronger heroine than Twylla. Not at all. I think both of them are great (I've explained my reasons for liking Twylla in the review of the first book.) So, I really respect that the author obviously uses different protagonists in order to develop her story and not because she's run out of ideas for the original pair. That being said, I think a few words about the characters are in line.
ERRIN
Errin is such a great heroine that I easily fell in love with her. She has faced so many difficulties over the past few months and this is really heartbreaking since she actually can make a parallel with a happier time. She's known happiness and now is facing only hardships. Which is very much unlike Twylla, whose whole life has been completely devoid of happiness and entertainment, but who also has not faced physical/physiological troubles - such as taking care of her sick mother, going hungry, escaping the attentions of nasty men. The comparison between the two is inevitable and I'm really glad to say that their stories are so different, yet both of them are quite likable, in my opinion (I know a lot of people compare Twylla to a doormat, so I'm not gonna go into more details here).
SILAS
I love reading about mysterious guys. I mean, who doesn't? I think the tortured, secretive hero trope is one that will never go out of style. He was so fun to read about because throughout the beginning/middle of the novel I couldn't help but wonder where exactly did his loyalties lie. Was he about to help Errin? Was he going to betray her? Who was he fighting for exactly? All of this really made me pay attention to every action of his, every word he said and ultimately to just be extremely aware whenever he was in a scene. I believe this is a sign of great writing and great character personalisation. He is so effortlessly intriguing that I just fell in love with him. Hard.
THE SLEEPING PRINCE
We get very little direct interaction with the main villain, but even this was enough to paint an amazingly complex, flawed, twisted and interesting character. I absolutely hate the black and white villains, who flood literature, so the Sleeping Prince was a breath of fresh air. Don't get me wrong, he is a sick bastard. But he's a sick bastard because of reasons and you can't help but feel intrigued as to what he's going to do in the future. His moves are not easily anticipated. His motives are morally ambiguous. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how you create a worthy villain.
Let me share with you an amazingly powerful (in my opinion) scene:
This is not a scene that's very dramatic or one where something extreme happens. No. It seems like a normal conversation. But in all honesty, if you read it carefully, there's so much more hidden. So much power and characterisation. I'm really in awe of Melinda Salisbury's writing. Which was precisely the reason why I read and reread paragraphs, whole pages and hell, I read the epilogue twice in a row. Because of this:
This was so beautifully heartbreaking that I just…had to come back to it.
Again, like in the previous book, the writing was amazing, so effortlessly beautiful and poetic. It's not one of those overly dramatic and pompous - see Jay Kristoff here - where the author obviously thought super hard how to jag seven similes in one sentence and top it off with three metaphors that don't make any sense. No. The writing is so unpretentious and simultaneously touching, that there were simple sentences I read and reread for their sheer prettiness. I think I'm going to read anything this woman writes. Even a milling machine operation manual, if she so decides. I can absolutely say that I'm a fan of Ms. Salisbury and will follow her writing career attentively.
I can continue writing about how amazing this book was until tomorrow, so my advice is, if you still haven't read it, stop wasting time and just do it. I promise you won't be sorry.
March 21, 2018
This is the second instalment in the Sin Eater's Daughter trilogy, of which I only ever read the synopsis for the first book and so spent the first 50 pages of reading this second book in utter confusion, until I realised this followed a separate protagonist's movements. It wasn't until the third chapter that the protagonist, Erinn's, name was even mentioned and, even then, I assumed this was original protagonist, Twylla's, self-appointed name, to live a life of undercover solitude.
I also, once I realised Twylla and Erinn were, in fact, separate people, had a wild and completely false theory that that would account for this seemingly sudden shift in locales and perspectives. Struggles all round!
Once I realised my mistakes I began to try to appreciate this story for what it was. However I still found I had some sources of contention.
It took almost half of this book for the figure mentioned in the title to make an appearance in the story-line. It wasn't a case of not enjoying the first half of the narrative but I felt like I was constantly eagerly awaiting a momentous shift of some sort that would switch the very dialogue-and-internal-monologue-heavy narration up a gear. Of course, I now understand that not all of this was the book's fault and was partly my own confusion over the main character.
I didn't entirely dislike this and thought it acted as a good bridge between the first and third books, but it did suffer from middle book syndrome, a little. I found it took too long to set up Erinn's character (again, the fault probably lays with the reader for this) and I also found I could guess all of the plot twists, before they occurred.
This was an enjoyable fantasy story and I am intrigued to see how the events of the first book and this one will align into one, cohesive finale. I only hope there are more original fantastical elements explored, as that is what made the first instalment so enjoyable for me.
I also, once I realised Twylla and Erinn were, in fact, separate people, had a wild and completely false theory that that would account for this seemingly sudden shift in locales and perspectives. Struggles all round!
Once I realised my mistakes I began to try to appreciate this story for what it was. However I still found I had some sources of contention.
It took almost half of this book for the figure mentioned in the title to make an appearance in the story-line. It wasn't a case of not enjoying the first half of the narrative but I felt like I was constantly eagerly awaiting a momentous shift of some sort that would switch the very dialogue-and-internal-monologue-heavy narration up a gear. Of course, I now understand that not all of this was the book's fault and was partly my own confusion over the main character.
I didn't entirely dislike this and thought it acted as a good bridge between the first and third books, but it did suffer from middle book syndrome, a little. I found it took too long to set up Erinn's character (again, the fault probably lays with the reader for this) and I also found I could guess all of the plot twists, before they occurred.
This was an enjoyable fantasy story and I am intrigued to see how the events of the first book and this one will align into one, cohesive finale. I only hope there are more original fantastical elements explored, as that is what made the first instalment so enjoyable for me.
July 11, 2017
Can someone tell me, why do I feel such a strong pull towards the psychopaths?
What does this say about me?
Now, remember when I told you that this book delivers?
Yeah... that doesn't happen until we're about halfway through it.
The beginning is all about Errin reminiscing her old life before her father died, wondering where Lief is and worrying about her mother.
And even after she is traveling across land and is searching for this girl she knows nothing about, she still gives us flashbacks about her old life.
At this point the only thing that got me hooked was the mysterious man she saw in her dreams.
Then finally she found the girl and things started to get a little more interessting and when finally the Sleeping Prince showed up, I couldn't put it down. I was hooked.
What made me give it such a high rating (at least for my standarts), was the ending.
I don't know what it is with Melinda Salisbury's books, but in every one of her books, the majority of the book are just "meh". Then BAM! The ending comes and it's killing it.
It happend with The Sin Eater's Daughter and now it happend again with The Sleeping Prince.
Everything changes.
It was everything you hoped the book would be and you just wished that the entire book was written around that plot, not just the ending...
Just for those endings, this series is worth the read.
What does this say about me?
Ok forget book one and everything it could've been... this one actually delivers some of it.
Errin is the sister of Lief and is left alone with a mother who turned into a beast. A folklore tale like the Sleeping Prince which Errin didn't belive in at first but after the return of the Prince, who knows what is real anymore and what isn't?
With no parental supervision and stuck in a town you can't even trust your own shadow... Errin meets Silas. A mysterious boy that she sells homemade poison to.
Even tho she considers him her only friend and he knows everything about her and her life before she had to move here.... She knows nothing about him. Not even what he looks like.
He wears a tunic that covers his entire face appart from his mouth. Even his hands are covered with gloves.
They never make direct skin contact and everytime she asks him a question about him, he tells her “Ask no questions and you’ll be told no lies.”
However when the Sleeping Prince declares War agains the entire land, they are forced to flee.
Silas has a mission, to find a girl that is important to all of this but betraying her, Errin makes it her mission to find the girl first and find a way to help her mother.
Now, remember when I told you that this book delivers?
Yeah... that doesn't happen until we're about halfway through it.
The beginning is all about Errin reminiscing her old life before her father died, wondering where Lief is and worrying about her mother.
And even after she is traveling across land and is searching for this girl she knows nothing about, she still gives us flashbacks about her old life.
At this point the only thing that got me hooked was the mysterious man she saw in her dreams.
Then finally she found the girl and things started to get a little more interessting and when finally the Sleeping Prince showed up, I couldn't put it down. I was hooked.
+ I know he is a psychopath and has no redeeming quality in him but I looooove him.
He made it in my favorite Villains list. (The Darkling will always be no 1!)
What made me give it such a high rating (at least for my standarts), was the ending.
I don't know what it is with Melinda Salisbury's books, but in every one of her books, the majority of the book are just "meh". Then BAM! The ending comes and it's killing it.
It happend with The Sin Eater's Daughter and now it happend again with The Sleeping Prince.
Everything changes.
It was everything you hoped the book would be and you just wished that the entire book was written around that plot, not just the ending...
Just for those endings, this series is worth the read.
January 30, 2016
***I received the physical book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***
Oh my god… So many emotions right now! There was heartbreak and anger and relief and so, so much love. At the beginning I was biting my nails and at the end I was jumping up and down squealing (I tried not to but I really couldn’t help it, much to my brother’s shock. However the same thing happened at the end of The Sin Eater’s Daughter so I wasn’t really surprised!)
A fantastic book and brilliant sequel, I had no clue where the story would go following a new set of characters (that I have grown to love, particularly Silas who needs a damn hug) but I knew it would be an epic journey and I wasn’t disappointed. As always Melinda painted a beautiful tale filled with rich settings, vivid characters and astonishing secrets; add in lots of murder, angst and a villain who’s just too good (in that evil way) and hey presto! I have a new favourite book of 2016.
I couldn’t get enough of The Sleeping Prince (book & character) because he’s twisted in all the ways that make him fascinating. His lore helped The Sin Eater’s Daughter make so much sense and when the two collided as new friendships formed there was no going back.
One thing is for sure, I am desperate for the final instalment and by desperate I mean I WANT IT IN MY HANDS SOON ELSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR HOWEVER MANY MONTHS!
Posted on Enchanted by YA
Oh my god… So many emotions right now! There was heartbreak and anger and relief and so, so much love. At the beginning I was biting my nails and at the end I was jumping up and down squealing (I tried not to but I really couldn’t help it, much to my brother’s shock. However the same thing happened at the end of The Sin Eater’s Daughter so I wasn’t really surprised!)
A fantastic book and brilliant sequel, I had no clue where the story would go following a new set of characters (that I have grown to love, particularly Silas who needs a damn hug) but I knew it would be an epic journey and I wasn’t disappointed. As always Melinda painted a beautiful tale filled with rich settings, vivid characters and astonishing secrets; add in lots of murder, angst and a villain who’s just too good (in that evil way) and hey presto! I have a new favourite book of 2016.
I couldn’t get enough of The Sleeping Prince (book & character) because he’s twisted in all the ways that make him fascinating. His lore helped The Sin Eater’s Daughter make so much sense and when the two collided as new friendships formed there was no going back.
One thing is for sure, I am desperate for the final instalment and by desperate I mean I WANT IT IN MY HANDS SOON ELSE I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR HOWEVER MANY MONTHS!
Posted on Enchanted by YA
January 2, 2018
"Op dat moment weet ik dat ik hem wil geloven. Wil ik dat dit een eenvoudig misverstand is. Maar ik kan hem niet geloven. Nog niet. Niet helemaal." ~ p106.
Wat een einde!!?? Als Melinda Salisbury ergens goed in is dan is het wel in serieus schokkende plottwists, en dan het liefst op de allerlaatste bladzijde... heerlijk!!!
"Hem te horen optreden als de broer die ik zo mis, zijn woorden, zijn vriendelijkheid, de bezorgdheid die daarin doorklinkt, de manier waarop hij praat, dat alles breekt mijn hart." ~ p187.
De Slapende Prins is het vervolg op De vergiftigde gave, en het tweede deel in de De dochter van de Zondeneter-trilogie. Waar het eerste boek je het verhaal vertelde van Twylla, neemt het tweede boek je mee in het verhaal van Errin, het zusje van Lief. Nu de Slapende Prins ontwaakt komt de oorlog steeds dichterbij. Twylla moet uiteindelijk vluchten om zo zichzelf en haar moeder in veiligheid te brengen... maar waar moet ze heen? En wie is Silas, en kan ze hem nu wel vertrouwen?
In het begin was ik echt even de weg kwijt, had ik geen idee waar ik terecht was gekomen en waar het me mee naar toe zou nemen. Maar het verhaal wist me absoluut sneller te grijpen dan het eerste deel en al snel gaf ik mij over aan het verhaal van Errin. Geweldig hoe uiteindelijk alles in elkaar lijkt te vallen en ze schrijft naar een "grande finale" in het laatste deel. Ik MOET nu echt gewoon weten hoe dit gaat aflopen...
"En ik vertrouwde hem. Dat deed ik echt. Ik had geen benul hoezeer ik hem vertrouwde tot hij me in de steek liet." ~ p207.
Dit tweede deel heeft mij echt weten te verbazen en wederom een belofte neergelegd voor het volgende en tevens laatste deel. Is het niet de cover waarvoor je hem gewoon moet hebben, laat je dan zeker verleiden door het verhaal. Want soms zijn sprookjes werkelijkheid, alleen niet zoals je dacht.
Wat een einde!!?? Als Melinda Salisbury ergens goed in is dan is het wel in serieus schokkende plottwists, en dan het liefst op de allerlaatste bladzijde... heerlijk!!!
"Hem te horen optreden als de broer die ik zo mis, zijn woorden, zijn vriendelijkheid, de bezorgdheid die daarin doorklinkt, de manier waarop hij praat, dat alles breekt mijn hart." ~ p187.
De Slapende Prins is het vervolg op De vergiftigde gave, en het tweede deel in de De dochter van de Zondeneter-trilogie. Waar het eerste boek je het verhaal vertelde van Twylla, neemt het tweede boek je mee in het verhaal van Errin, het zusje van Lief. Nu de Slapende Prins ontwaakt komt de oorlog steeds dichterbij. Twylla moet uiteindelijk vluchten om zo zichzelf en haar moeder in veiligheid te brengen... maar waar moet ze heen? En wie is Silas, en kan ze hem nu wel vertrouwen?
In het begin was ik echt even de weg kwijt, had ik geen idee waar ik terecht was gekomen en waar het me mee naar toe zou nemen. Maar het verhaal wist me absoluut sneller te grijpen dan het eerste deel en al snel gaf ik mij over aan het verhaal van Errin. Geweldig hoe uiteindelijk alles in elkaar lijkt te vallen en ze schrijft naar een "grande finale" in het laatste deel. Ik MOET nu echt gewoon weten hoe dit gaat aflopen...
"En ik vertrouwde hem. Dat deed ik echt. Ik had geen benul hoezeer ik hem vertrouwde tot hij me in de steek liet." ~ p207.
Dit tweede deel heeft mij echt weten te verbazen en wederom een belofte neergelegd voor het volgende en tevens laatste deel. Is het niet de cover waarvoor je hem gewoon moet hebben, laat je dan zeker verleiden door het verhaal. Want soms zijn sprookjes werkelijkheid, alleen niet zoals je dacht.
May 3, 2016
I devoured and loved The Sin-Eater's Daughter, so I was beyond thrilled to get my greedy hands on this one. I was intrigued to see how the shift in POV was going to further the story.
Oh man. I loved Errin and Silas. They're both strong and secretive and don't really trust each other. I loved seeing them figure the other one out while still maintaining the balance of their relationship. And much as I loved being in Errin's head, I would gleefully cut someone to be in Silas's head for even a page.
The shift of POV is explained, but I was woefully unprepared for what it meant. Yes, we got a lot of answers, but there are more questions too. This book was a roller coaster of feels and I loved every single word of it.
**Huge thanks to Scholastic Press and Edelweiss for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
Oh man. I loved Errin and Silas. They're both strong and secretive and don't really trust each other. I loved seeing them figure the other one out while still maintaining the balance of their relationship. And much as I loved being in Errin's head, I would gleefully cut someone to be in Silas's head for even a page.
The shift of POV is explained, but I was woefully unprepared for what it meant. Yes, we got a lot of answers, but there are more questions too. This book was a roller coaster of feels and I loved every single word of it.
**Huge thanks to Scholastic Press and Edelweiss for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
November 7, 2016
My poor little heart!!! I'm too happy and traumatised to think clearly right now O_O
RTC
07/11/2016
I was hoping that this couple of days would help me sort my thoughts out, but this book still has me in shock, in the best possible way. For those of you who don't want any spoilers, I'll say this: The Sleeping Prince is freaking awesome. It's original, twisted, and totally mind-blowing. Read it!! :)
Now beware of the huge, massive, colossal spoilers under the tag!! You've been warned!!
So now I'm counting the days until The Scarecrow Queen comes out. And March is so, so far away T_T
RTC
07/11/2016
I was hoping that this couple of days would help me sort my thoughts out, but this book still has me in shock, in the best possible way. For those of you who don't want any spoilers, I'll say this: The Sleeping Prince is freaking awesome. It's original, twisted, and totally mind-blowing. Read it!! :)
Now beware of the huge, massive, colossal spoilers under the tag!! You've been warned!!
So now I'm counting the days until The Scarecrow Queen comes out. And March is so, so far away T_T
August 1, 2021
احتمالا باید بیشتر بهش وقت میدادم ولی واقعا نمیتونستم بخونمش! من با توضیحات اضافی کنار میام با طول دادن داستان کنار میام اما نویسنده همون جلد اول رو با شخصیت های جدید تکرار کرده بود و تهش لابد اینا هم میخواستن برن پیش بقیه و شاهزاده خفته رو نابود کنن.
برای جلد دوم یه سه گانه باید یه کاری کنی که مخاطب از همون اول جذب شه ولی من اصلا هیچ حوصله ای واسه ادامه دادنش ندارم.
برای جلد دوم یه سه گانه باید یه کاری کنی که مخاطب از همون اول جذب شه ولی من اصلا هیچ حوصله ای واسه ادامه دادنش ندارم.
February 4, 2016
Oh so deliciously dark, I loved it! And that epilogue <333
April 8, 2017
4,5*
Der zweite Teil hat mir noch besser gefallen als der erste Teil, aber beim Epilog bin ich aus dem wütend werden nicht mehr rausgekommen. Mir passiert das wirklich selten, dass mich ein Buch dermaßen in Rage versetzt, aber hier war es wirklich so - ich wollte die Seiten rausreißen und vergessen, dass sie existiert haben.
Wie kann Melinda Salisbury mir das bitte antuen?
Trotzdem - lest das Buch, es war echt gut! Die Reihe verdient allgemein mehr Beachtung.
Mehr dazu bald in einer Rezension auf meinem Blog -> allysbooksession.blogspot.de
Der zweite Teil hat mir noch besser gefallen als der erste Teil, aber beim Epilog bin ich aus dem wütend werden nicht mehr rausgekommen. Mir passiert das wirklich selten, dass mich ein Buch dermaßen in Rage versetzt, aber hier war es wirklich so - ich wollte die Seiten rausreißen und vergessen, dass sie existiert haben.
Wie kann Melinda Salisbury mir das bitte antuen?
Trotzdem - lest das Buch, es war echt gut! Die Reihe verdient allgemein mehr Beachtung.
Mehr dazu bald in einer Rezension auf meinem Blog -> allysbooksession.blogspot.de
July 8, 2016
Holy crap!! Why do I have to wait for book 3!!! Full review soon
June 12, 2023
#1.) The Sin Eater's Daughter: ★★★
#2.) The Sleeping Prince: ★★★
#3.) The Scarecrow Queen: ★★★
3.5 stars rounded up. This was my second time reading this and I still say this book has brilliant writing and brilliant characters...if it weren't for the fact that the plot moves so slow like a filler. The majority of this book had me like, "Zzzzz..." but the last line of the epilogue had me like:
THE STORY
Errin is a steely young woman taking care of her ailing mother by herself in her village while trying to be an apothecary. Her buddy, Silas, is a mysterious guy who occasionally pops in and out. The Sleeping Prince is awake and wrecking havoc with his golems (not to be confused with the Gollum). Nuns and monks and medicine and plot twists.
THE GOOD
1) The writing is good.
2) Plot twists keep it fun.
3) I liked Errin far better than Twylla, and Silas far better than Merek or Lief. She's brave, so brave...but also a relateably scared, lonely girl taking on too much by herself.
THE BAD
1) Bit of a slow story.
2) The only character I earned enough to care about was Errin. Maybe Dominia as well since she seems to be an important character.
THE VERDICT
This can't be a standalone. The fairy tales in this book were first introduced in the first book, as were the secondary characters.
Still got Darkling vibes from the Sleeping Prince.
#2.) The Sleeping Prince: ★★★
#3.) The Scarecrow Queen: ★★★
3.5 stars rounded up. This was my second time reading this and I still say this book has brilliant writing and brilliant characters...if it weren't for the fact that the plot moves so slow like a filler. The majority of this book had me like, "Zzzzz..." but the last line of the epilogue had me like:
THE STORY
Errin is a steely young woman taking care of her ailing mother by herself in her village while trying to be an apothecary. Her buddy, Silas, is a mysterious guy who occasionally pops in and out. The Sleeping Prince is awake and wrecking havoc with his golems (not to be confused with the Gollum). Nuns and monks and medicine and plot twists.
THE GOOD
1) The writing is good.
I hate the feeling that I’m breathing in my neighbours’ breaths, hate knowing that even the air I breathe these days is second-hand, or stolen. I can hardly breathe as it is.
2) Plot twists keep it fun.
3) I liked Errin far better than Twylla, and Silas far better than Merek or Lief. She's brave, so brave...but also a relateably scared, lonely girl taking on too much by herself.
Loss washes over me, breaking like a tide, my insides feeling hollow, my eyes smarting, and I fist my hands and rub them angrily.
Enough. I don’t have time for this; self-pity’s a luxury that I can’t afford.
Like bread. Or pride.
Enough, Errin. There’s work to do. Get up.
________
I force myself to speak. To beg.
“Please let us go,” I say, my voice cracking. “I beg you. Please. I won’t tell anyone I saw you. I won’t say anything. Please let us go—” Then my control breaks and the words come out as a sob. “Please, please. Have mercy on us…” I’m shaking so hard now that I can’t speak; all my courage has left me. I’m afraid I’m going to wet myself; I’m afraid it’s going to hurt. I’m ashamed that I begged; Lief never would have. I can’t remember what you call a prince. “My Lord.” I try to bow as best I can. “Please, Your Grace…”
________
“She sat there, Silas. I ran into the room to defend her. I would have died trying to save her but she didn’t do anything. She stared at the wall while her daughter, her only living child, was struggling before her. I didn’t want to die. But I couldn’t fight. Not after that.”
________
Lief and I ate separately, both of us seething because he’d demanded I make the supper and I had refused.
“But it’s your job.”
“Because I’m a girl?”
“Yes.”
I glared at him. “You’d better not let Papa hear you saying that.”
“I’ve never seen Father cook a meal, have you? That’s Mother’s job.”
“Well, today I was a farmer and that’s a man’s job. Which means today I am a man and I’m cooking nothing for you.”
THE BAD
1) Bit of a slow story.
2) The only character I earned enough to care about was Errin. Maybe Dominia as well since she seems to be an important character.
THE VERDICT
This can't be a standalone. The fairy tales in this book were first introduced in the first book, as were the secondary characters.
Still got Darkling vibes from the Sleeping Prince.
February 12, 2016
WOW!!!!!Original review here...
First off, hello to that gorgeous cover I mean come on it's absolutely gorgeous!
Anyhow, regardless of the cover learning that the book wasn't going to be from Twylla's perspective didn't really bother me. I felt that Errin was a brilliant protagonist if not more so than Twylla, I mean having to look after her Mum, worrying about her brother Lief and having to conjure up illegal herbal cures just to pay the bills- now that's what I call a girl with some bottle! If anything I preferred her to Twylla, she didn't moan when things got tough and she's put to the test with each obstacle she faces.
Living in a poverty stricken home, I found it enjoyable learning about Errin in training to be an apothecary. It was a fun addition to the religious/mystical aspect to the book- the mixing of potions and the knowledge of the ingredients was simply fascinating and another good twist to add to the book.
We have a new romance, and no love triangle- nope instead we have the mysterious Silas capturing our attention, and I'm still trying to make up my mind about him but he's certainly a character to keep a close eye on I reckon. What I liked about the relationship between himself and Errin was her not being cloudy-eyed over him as we see towards the last half of the book she stands on her own two feet regardless of everything else, and she really only has herself to look out for to survive The Sleeping Prince's wrath!
This second installment to the series is a real page turner, I feel like I've been sucked in and spat back out again. That epilogue nearly killed me, I was in shock and yet grinning to myself because boy it's SO going to kick off in the next book! Everything has come together and set for kick off, and my head is still spinning trying to take every bit of this book in. All the twists and surprises have left me in suspense of what's going to happen next now that worlds have collided, and the Sleeping Prince's revenge has barely started ahhh!
Melinda Salisbury's writing is a joy to read, and this book has blown me away. I'm not normally a lover of the second book in a series but I take that back, this sequel is perfect and fully deserving of a five star rating.
First off, hello to that gorgeous cover I mean come on it's absolutely gorgeous!
Anyhow, regardless of the cover learning that the book wasn't going to be from Twylla's perspective didn't really bother me. I felt that Errin was a brilliant protagonist if not more so than Twylla, I mean having to look after her Mum, worrying about her brother Lief and having to conjure up illegal herbal cures just to pay the bills- now that's what I call a girl with some bottle! If anything I preferred her to Twylla, she didn't moan when things got tough and she's put to the test with each obstacle she faces.
Living in a poverty stricken home, I found it enjoyable learning about Errin in training to be an apothecary. It was a fun addition to the religious/mystical aspect to the book- the mixing of potions and the knowledge of the ingredients was simply fascinating and another good twist to add to the book.
We have a new romance, and no love triangle- nope instead we have the mysterious Silas capturing our attention, and I'm still trying to make up my mind about him but he's certainly a character to keep a close eye on I reckon. What I liked about the relationship between himself and Errin was her not being cloudy-eyed over him as we see towards the last half of the book she stands on her own two feet regardless of everything else, and she really only has herself to look out for to survive The Sleeping Prince's wrath!
This second installment to the series is a real page turner, I feel like I've been sucked in and spat back out again. That epilogue nearly killed me, I was in shock and yet grinning to myself because boy it's SO going to kick off in the next book! Everything has come together and set for kick off, and my head is still spinning trying to take every bit of this book in. All the twists and surprises have left me in suspense of what's going to happen next now that worlds have collided, and the Sleeping Prince's revenge has barely started ahhh!
Melinda Salisbury's writing is a joy to read, and this book has blown me away. I'm not normally a lover of the second book in a series but I take that back, this sequel is perfect and fully deserving of a five star rating.
June 6, 2016
OMGOMG that ending!! Completely shocked and mind-blown and I love it! I really like both Silas and Errin who are such strong and resilient characters. Need and hope for more romance between them<3. What happened to both of them in the end pained me and I can't imagine or deal with any more mishap happening to them. Wow the sleeping prince...he is beyond cruel and sadistic. Didn't expect certain old characters to be reintroduced into this sequel and I'm pleasantly surprised by how well they are woven into this new plot. There better be a third book coz you can't just leave me hanging there!!
March 15, 2017
I love all the story telling inside this world, and THAT ENDING really got me. It's fun to see more of the characters together and how their dynamics work, although for me, Errin and Silas were exactly like Twylla and Lief...still, on to the finale!
March 17, 2017
Actual rating: 2.5 stars.
I still found Errin to be insufferable at times, but part two was a lot better! I feel like I saw through all of the 'plot twists'/'big reveals' especially the epilogue just because throughout the whole books I was like 'this character can't be dead because of x,y,z...'
Still, I like where this series is building up to, and I hope the finale is action packed and exciting!
I still found Errin to be insufferable at times, but part two was a lot better! I feel like I saw through all of the 'plot twists'/'big reveals' especially the epilogue just because throughout the whole books I was like 'this character can't be dead because of x,y,z...'
Still, I like where this series is building up to, and I hope the finale is action packed and exciting!
May 20, 2018
This is so GOOD! Melinda is definitely my favorite author at this point.
November 23, 2019
خب خب
خیلی خیلی جالبت از قسمت اول بود همونجور که انتظارش رو داشتم!
جادو قشنگ تو این دنیا وجود داشت
پایانش هم که دیگه نگم براتون!
امتیازش هم 4/5 است
خیلی خیلی جالبت از قسمت اول بود همونجور که انتظارش رو داشتم!
جادو قشنگ تو این دنیا وجود داشت
پایانش هم که دیگه نگم براتون!
امتیازش هم 4/5 است
February 6, 2016
Review originally posted on my book blog: https://afrolicthroughfiction.wordpre...
RATED 4.5/5 STARS!
I don’t even know how to put my thoughts into words after that gem of book. I’m still trying to get over the ending.
But why talk about the ending at the beginning of a review? That’s not how I do things here.
(And let’s be honest, I won’t say much about the ending anyway because spoilersssss)
Right.
Originally I was a bit confused when starting this book. All the characters were new, we were in a new setting, and a new situation. I was skeptical about how well it would link to the first book. But let me tell you right now, I was very impressed. Seeing the same world but through a different character’s eyes helped the story seem original and almost new, while still having that air of familiarity surrounding it. And the thrill that caught me whenever a link between the characters or stories was discovered…it was like one of those light bulb moments, where you it suddenly clicks and you just have to go “OH I see it!”
The folklore and fairy tale side to this I found particularly interesting. It almost seemed like a fairy tale retelling book, apart from it wasn’t. I mean, it has one thing in common with Sleeping Beauty, with the whole sleep-for-a-really-long-time thing, but that’s about it. This whole world of folklore was invented to create a convincing story, and my love for fairy tales made this even more enchanting to me.
I actually really liked all the characters, new and old. Yes – I said “and old”. Although this book is based on a new cast, it is a series and we have some old links arrive in this book too. So don’t fret, fans of the first book. You’ll get to find out what happened after.
One thing I picked up on especially in this book was Melinda Salisbury’s writing style. When she describes things, to me it goes unnoticed…but in a good way. She chooses her words so well, that it only takes a few sentences to fully describe a scene, rather than laying on a huge over-the-top paragraph that drags on. So without me even realizing, she manages to draw a scene so vividly in my head, while I speed through the words wanting more.
And let me tell you, “wanting more” is exactly the phrase I’d use now. Seriously, WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?!? It was so fast paced I didn’t dare blink in case I somehow missed a bit. All the emotions were tugged and pulled in different directions and making me frantic to know more! I can’t believe I now have to wait once again for the next book *cries*. At least I can stare at the pretty cover all year while I wait. That might distract me from those last few pages *sigh*
This book is very close to being one of my favourites, and I feel like if Melinda Salisbury keeps it up, her next book might just be up there.
RATED 4.5/5 STARS!
I don’t even know how to put my thoughts into words after that gem of book. I’m still trying to get over the ending.
But why talk about the ending at the beginning of a review? That’s not how I do things here.
(And let’s be honest, I won’t say much about the ending anyway because spoilersssss)
Right.
Originally I was a bit confused when starting this book. All the characters were new, we were in a new setting, and a new situation. I was skeptical about how well it would link to the first book. But let me tell you right now, I was very impressed. Seeing the same world but through a different character’s eyes helped the story seem original and almost new, while still having that air of familiarity surrounding it. And the thrill that caught me whenever a link between the characters or stories was discovered…it was like one of those light bulb moments, where you it suddenly clicks and you just have to go “OH I see it!”
The folklore and fairy tale side to this I found particularly interesting. It almost seemed like a fairy tale retelling book, apart from it wasn’t. I mean, it has one thing in common with Sleeping Beauty, with the whole sleep-for-a-really-long-time thing, but that’s about it. This whole world of folklore was invented to create a convincing story, and my love for fairy tales made this even more enchanting to me.
I actually really liked all the characters, new and old. Yes – I said “and old”. Although this book is based on a new cast, it is a series and we have some old links arrive in this book too. So don’t fret, fans of the first book. You’ll get to find out what happened after.
One thing I picked up on especially in this book was Melinda Salisbury’s writing style. When she describes things, to me it goes unnoticed…but in a good way. She chooses her words so well, that it only takes a few sentences to fully describe a scene, rather than laying on a huge over-the-top paragraph that drags on. So without me even realizing, she manages to draw a scene so vividly in my head, while I speed through the words wanting more.
And let me tell you, “wanting more” is exactly the phrase I’d use now. Seriously, WHAT WAS THAT ENDING?!? It was so fast paced I didn’t dare blink in case I somehow missed a bit. All the emotions were tugged and pulled in different directions and making me frantic to know more! I can’t believe I now have to wait once again for the next book *cries*. At least I can stare at the pretty cover all year while I wait. That might distract me from those last few pages *sigh*
This book is very close to being one of my favourites, and I feel like if Melinda Salisbury keeps it up, her next book might just be up there.
December 18, 2017
This has been the strangest reread ever. First time with first book, I loved. Second time, I really liked. First time with second book, I liked. Second time with second book, I looooved.
We're people of science and reason. Or at least I thought we were. I suppose it's hard to remain on the side of reason when a five-hundred-year-old fairy tale comes to life and lays waste of the castle and the people in the country next door.
The way this installment ties in with the first one, the way the mythology of this story is fleshed out and cycles back to so much of what we learned, oh, and the way what we thought we knew but was instead a lie but now.. isn't..? That probably sounds confusing. Oops. But trust me; it's all brilliant. There may be a bit of a slowdown in the middle but I read this so fast that it didn't bother me the way it did the first time. This is (so far!) definitely a series to binge because I can see from my first review that I had forgotten a lot of the plot and that certainly didn't help to motivate me during those less exciting chapters. But this time? Oh man.
Mysterious boys are not as enjoyable in reality as they are in stories.
I'm so glad I have book three already checked out because while I remembered the ending of this one being amazing, I had completely forgotten about what happens in the epilogue. Hot. diggity. damn.
We're people of science and reason. Or at least I thought we were. I suppose it's hard to remain on the side of reason when a five-hundred-year-old fairy tale comes to life and lays waste of the castle and the people in the country next door.
The way this installment ties in with the first one, the way the mythology of this story is fleshed out and cycles back to so much of what we learned, oh, and the way what we thought we knew but was instead a lie but now.. isn't..? That probably sounds confusing. Oops. But trust me; it's all brilliant. There may be a bit of a slowdown in the middle but I read this so fast that it didn't bother me the way it did the first time. This is (so far!) definitely a series to binge because I can see from my first review that I had forgotten a lot of the plot and that certainly didn't help to motivate me during those less exciting chapters. But this time? Oh man.
Mysterious boys are not as enjoyable in reality as they are in stories.
I'm so glad I have book three already checked out because while I remembered the ending of this one being amazing, I had completely forgotten about what happens in the epilogue. Hot. diggity. damn.
September 20, 2018
I always have a hard time reviewing sequels - especially the ones that differ from the first book as much as this one does.
There's a whole new setting, an entirely different POV of a character we didn't really get introduced to in the first book and.. overall I just had a lot to get used to. Which caused me to struggle - of course, because why not, right? It took me quite a while to get used to all the changes, especially since I had completely different expectations for this book thanks to the ending of The Sin Eater's Daughter.
Safe to say reading the first half was a bit of a struggle. I don't know why it took me so long to get into it, but it did. The second half though? Now, there's where things picked up a LOT in my opinion. Lots of things happening, our characters actually doing things instead of.. this feeling of being stuck and overall.. the pace picked up as well.
I'm already reading the third installment, so don't think I didn't enjoy The Sleeping Prince - I did! I simply had completely different expectations for this book which caused me to.. have a difficult time reading it at first.
3 / 5!
There's a whole new setting, an entirely different POV of a character we didn't really get introduced to in the first book and.. overall I just had a lot to get used to. Which caused me to struggle - of course, because why not, right? It took me quite a while to get used to all the changes, especially since I had completely different expectations for this book thanks to the ending of The Sin Eater's Daughter.
Safe to say reading the first half was a bit of a struggle. I don't know why it took me so long to get into it, but it did. The second half though? Now, there's where things picked up a LOT in my opinion. Lots of things happening, our characters actually doing things instead of.. this feeling of being stuck and overall.. the pace picked up as well.
I'm already reading the third installment, so don't think I didn't enjoy The Sleeping Prince - I did! I simply had completely different expectations for this book which caused me to.. have a difficult time reading it at first.
3 / 5!
January 30, 2019
This was a lot better than the first book!
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