Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Príncipe del mal

*Update:
Having just finished the rest of this series, I feel the need to revisit this review. Do I still agree with the rating and points outlined below? As they apply to the first book, most definitely. But many of my objections (not enough world building, writing style, general confusion, etc.) disappeared in the second and third books, which I gave 4 stars. I got used to the writing style, I got the world building I wanted, and even murderous little Jorg grew on me. Do with that what you will.

*Original Review:
I honestly went into this book with zero expectations and a complete lack of information about the plot, having not even bothered to read the synopsis. But based on the title and the popularity of this trope at the moment, I wasn't surprised to find an anti-hero in our protagonist, but I definitely wasn't expecting someone quite so... immoral? Ruthless? Surprisingly uncaring about the value of human life?

If you're expecting a morally gray yet redeemable main character, you probably won't find him in the Prince of Thorns. He has moments of humanity, to be sure, but to say that they make up for everything else would be a stretch. Prince Jorg is a pretty bad person for some arguably understandable reasons, but it's his complete lack of remorse for his actions that really makes him hard to stomach as a main character at times. There's one particular instance toward the beginning of the book that made me question if I even wanted to keep reading, and while I did keep reading, I can understand and respect how others might draw a line and put the book down right then and there. Despite his awful actions, I still found myself cheering him on if only because there's no one else to really root for and I have a soft spot for underdogs, even if they're awful people apparently. And he is witty and brilliant, which definitely helps. Still a shit person who experiences almost no personal growth throughout the book, though.

But the anti-heroic protagonist is not the only or really even the main reason I gave this book 2 stars. It was also just really confusing at times and not well fleshed out. I could have used some more world building to explain how we got from technologically advanced civilization destroying itself to kingdoms fighting over an empire to some kind of magical beings using said fighting kingdoms as some kind of proxy war. Other questions: How is there magic 1000+ years after modern technology? What was the point of all that stuff under the mountain? Why is the protagnist's dad such a piece of shit? And why do other more morally sound characters follow this murderous child around? Basically, the book makes barely enough sense to follow and leaves a lot of gaping holes. Maybe I'll get answers in the next book, maybe I'll just have to suspend disbelief and roll with what I'm given. The writing style was also hard to get used to at first, and there are still a few points in the book where I have no idea what happened due to vague writing.

We'll see what book 2 brings.

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