Saturday, August 18, 2018

The Prince (Wicked #3.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout ~ Review

The Prince (A Wicked Trilogy, #3.5; 1001 Dark Nights, #85)Source: e-ARC provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Prince (Wicked #3.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout


From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes a new story in her Wicked series…

She’s everything he wants….

Cold. Heartless. Deadly. Whispers of his name alone bring fear to fae and mortals alike. The Prince. There is nothing in the mortal world more dangerous than him. Haunted by a past he couldn’t control, all Caden desires is revenge against those who’d wronged him, trapping him in never-ending nightmare. And there is one person he knows can help him.

She’s everything he can’t have…

Raised within the Order, Brighton Jussier knows just how dangerous the Prince is, reformed or not. She’d seen firsthand what atrocities he could be capable of. The last thing she wants to do is help him, but he leaves her little choice. Forced to work alongside him, she begins to see the man under the bitter ice. Yearning for him feels like the definition of insanity, but there’s no denying the heat in his touch and the wicked promise is his stare.

She’s everything he’ll take….

But there’s someone out there who wants to return the Prince to his former self. A walking, breathing nightmare that is hell bent on destroying the world and everyone close to him. The last thing either of them needs is a distraction, but with the attraction growing between them each now, the one thing he wants more than anything may be the one thing that will be his undoing.

She’s everything he’d die for….




It is no secret that I love me some JLA. Her books are some of my favorites. And Wicked was a good trilogy, so I was looking forward to The Prince. Partly because I was excited for more of the Wicked characters--but especially because Cadan intrigued me in Brave. Unfortunately, this novella didn't end up really working out for me.

Let's start with things I liked:
- Tink! Tink is hilarious. Adding more Tink to anything automatically makes it better. That's just a proven fact. So I liked his humor and silly ways, but I also liked how he was a friend to Brighton.
- There were some good moments between Cadan and Brighton. They were fleeting, and I'll talk more about this in a minute, but I have to give credit to the moments I liked, and there were a couple.
- It's not a long novella, so it was easy to fly through. I honestly read it in one sitting without a problem. 

Now for things I was not a fan of:
- The romance. First of all, there wasn't a lot of it. I get that this is a novella, but so much of it was spent on world stuff and only a small portion of it was spent working on the actual Brighton/Cadan romance. Second of all, when it was happening, it wasn't a solid romance. It was so shaky and I felt nervous the entire time reading it. Never did I feel like they were a stable couple. Third, it's so short. They have a moment one second, then they're over the next. Ugh. That's all I'm going to say about that for the sake of spoilers.
- The story was rushed. I thought it was only going to be the beginning, but the whole thing was very this happens then this then this then this, which I guess is good? But it didn't exactly come across as entirely organic, you know? I get that it's a novella, but...
- The Prince is not a standalone. There will be a sequel. So this is like the first half of a story. Which means, in theory, that it could have been fleshed out just a liiiitle more before getting to the, ahem, ENDING, thus making the novella flow better.
- I also did not like the ending. I get that it's supposed to make me intrigued for the next book but I'm...I'm not sure. I don't feel invested in this story enough. I think that's just a ME thing, though. I think others who liked the Wicked world will probably click better with the arc that's being executed here.

Now, there are two things I'm on the fence about:
- Brighton. I'm not sure if I like her or not. I think maybe I just don't understand her. I don't dislike her at this point, so that's good.
- Cadan. I don't quite know what to say about him. The way he is sometimes...I don't like it. But when he's HIM, I kind of do. But the way he ended this book...sigh. I know he's going to have his reasons, but jury's out on how I'll feel about him when all is said and done.

Overall, I wanted so badly to enjoy this novella. Unfortunately, The Prince didn't click well with me. I wanted more (solid) romance, and I wasn't all that interested in the actual plot of the entire thing. I'm on the fence about whether I'll continue onto the next book or not--I'll need to think about it more. BUT, all that said, I think this is a *me* issue. I think most people who enjoyed the original Wicked trilogy will like The Prince just fine. It just didn't turn out to be my cup of tea, sadly.


2 stars - This novella just didn't click with me, unfortunately.

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