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patroclus99's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
books_and_cha's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
The Marked Prince was better written than its predecessor. Although the story takes place in the same world, we visit a different part of this universe in the Seelie Court. This story has a different set of themes as well.
The book begins with Sebastian being tasked to enter the Summer Court to find Slaine, Roark's brother, in place of Finn, who has been overtaxing himself to what Roark worries is past his breaking point. There, Sebastian's path intertwines with Duine, an Unseelie servant of the summer court, a blood tribute given to Aoife when Slaine defected.
What I liked about this book was the political intrigue and strategizing that takes place as Sebastian tries to complete his mission. The plot kept me reading, except for a lull about three-quarters of the way through. The writing was captivating.
The romance was sweet and the pacing felt natural, although it received less attention than other parts of the book, unlike in the previous installment. The Seb-Duine dynamic is very different from Finn and Roark's pairing. The latter was filled with passionate desperation, whereas Seb and Duine are more mellow, their relationship moving from mutual trust and friendship to affection.
Where this book fell through were the characters. Sebastian is drawn well enough, but I wish there was more to Duine. We see his hardened shell cave to Sebastian's warmth and honesty, and there's a good chunk of backstory that explains why he's guarded, insecure, and sometimes cruel - never to Sebastian, but to other characters. That being said, his character development seems glossed over. It wouldn't bother me, but Grant's writing implies that Duine's growth is an essential part of the plot and while it happens, that arc isn't strong enough.
There's a fair amount of action in this book, but it's mostly concentrated towards the last quarter of the book, which made it seem slower compared to The Prince of Air and Darkness, where Finn would get himself into trouble every few chapters. Speaking of Finn, we see him happy with Roark in a few spots in the book.
This was a good follow-up to the first book, and I'm looking forward to more of Grant's writing and surprises.
The Marked Prince was better written than its predecessor. Although the story takes place in the same world, we visit a different part of this universe in the Seelie Court. This story has a different set of themes as well.
The book begins with Sebastian being tasked to enter the Summer Court to find Slaine, Roark's brother, in place of Finn, who has been overtaxing himself to what Roark worries is past his breaking point. There, Sebastian's path intertwines with Duine, an Unseelie servant of the summer court, a blood tribute given to Aoife when Slaine defected.
What I liked about this book was the political intrigue and strategizing that takes place as Sebastian tries to complete his mission. The plot kept me reading, except for a lull about three-quarters of the way through. The writing was captivating.
The romance was sweet and the pacing felt natural, although it received less attention than other parts of the book, unlike in the previous installment. The Seb-Duine dynamic is very different from Finn and Roark's pairing. The latter was filled with passionate desperation, whereas Seb and Duine are more mellow, their relationship moving from mutual trust and friendship to affection.
Where this book fell through were the characters. Sebastian is drawn well enough, but I wish there was more to Duine. We see his hardened shell cave to Sebastian's warmth and honesty, and there's a good chunk of backstory that explains why he's guarded, insecure, and sometimes cruel - never to Sebastian, but to other characters. That being said, his character development seems glossed over. It wouldn't bother me, but Grant's writing implies that Duine's growth is an essential part of the plot and while it happens, that arc isn't strong enough.
There's a fair amount of action in this book, but it's mostly concentrated towards the last quarter of the book, which made it seem slower compared to The Prince of Air and Darkness, where Finn would get himself into trouble every few chapters. Speaking of Finn, we see him happy with Roark in a few spots in the book.
This was a good follow-up to the first book, and I'm looking forward to more of Grant's writing and surprises.
jacqueleenthereadingqueen's review against another edition
5.0
Well I did NOT see that one coming. The few glimpses of both Slaine and Sebastian we were privy to in book 1 left me completely unprepared for discovering who they actually were as individuals. Seb has some rich history with not one, but both the Summer and Winter courts being halfsy himself. There was a lot of information to untangle there. Slaine, or should I say Duine, has the same martyr complex as his brother Roark does when it comes to the person they care about most. Both of these men have layers upon layers that get peeled away with each new tidbit of information we learn.
" I can’t offer you anything but a broken kingdom.”
“I’m a broken prince,” he counters .... “But whatever is left of me is yours.”
The world building in this series is just top notch. There is also so much going on behind closed doors with lots of deceit and betrayals and all that dramatic goodness which makes you just devour each page wanting to know what happens next. If you thought the Winter Court was vicious, it has nothing on the Summer court.
Finn and Roark do have some page time in this one and it appears their relationship is as strong as ever. I liked how once Slaine falls in love he finally understands why his brother did everything he could for the human he loves. He even shows regret to missing important aspects of his brother's life such as his handfasting ceremony, not that Slaine could help it at the time.
Next up is the youngest prince of the Winter Court. Last we heard he was off searching out the Sluagh looking for an alliance for the coming war. After reading this book we are aware this is not without significant dangers. April cannot come soon enough.
" I can’t offer you anything but a broken kingdom.”
“I’m a broken prince,” he counters .... “But whatever is left of me is yours.”
The world building in this series is just top notch. There is also so much going on behind closed doors with lots of deceit and betrayals and all that dramatic goodness which makes you just devour each page wanting to know what happens next. If you thought the Winter Court was vicious, it has nothing on the Summer court.
Finn and Roark do have some page time in this one and it appears their relationship is as strong as ever. I liked how once Slaine falls in love he finally understands why his brother did everything he could for the human he loves. He even shows regret to missing important aspects of his brother's life such as his handfasting ceremony, not that Slaine could help it at the time.
Next up is the youngest prince of the Winter Court. Last we heard he was off searching out the Sluagh looking for an alliance for the coming war. After reading this book we are aware this is not without significant dangers. April cannot come soon enough.
missawn's review against another edition
2.0
I am surprised by my reaction to this book. I adored [b:Prince of Air and Darkness|41550787|Prince of Air and Darkness (The Darkest Court, #1)|M.A. Grant|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543531041l/41550787._SY75_.jpg|64825586]. I absolutely loved the tempestuous chemistry and intriguing world-building. It was not a perfect book but there was enough there for me to really, really like it and to get quite excited about moving on to this book.
This book made little sense to me (of particular note was the persistent mask and secret identities -- which just felt weird). I struggled with the MCs and found that while the first book had buckets of chemistry, this one had virtually none. We first meet both MCs in the first book of this series -- I found Seb quite bland/boring in that book -- in this book he gets a brand new personality transplant as a royal-being of extraordinary ability (which was a little silly actually) and then goes on to be one of those saintly/martyr-like characters that I'm not a fan of at all. There was also cruelty in this book that was hard to reconcile without yet another personality transplant and a lot of martyring of characters via. guilt. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of -- none of which were particularly engaging and their motivations often unclear.
It just did not work for me and I found myself quite disengaged from the whole story -- and it took me a while to get through it. Still, I really enjoy this author's writing and consider [b:Prince of Air and Darkness|41550787|Prince of Air and Darkness (The Darkest Court, #1)|M.A. Grant|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543531041l/41550787._SY75_.jpg|64825586] to be one of my favourite reads of the summer! The high point of this book is definitely the reappearance of Roark and Phin!
Not my favourite book of the series but I intend to continue on -- and look forward to the next book ...
This book made little sense to me (of particular note was the persistent mask and secret identities -- which just felt weird). I struggled with the MCs and found that while the first book had buckets of chemistry, this one had virtually none. We first meet both MCs in the first book of this series -- I found Seb quite bland/boring in that book -- in this book he gets a brand new personality transplant as a royal-being of extraordinary ability (which was a little silly actually) and then goes on to be one of those saintly/martyr-like characters that I'm not a fan of at all. There was also cruelty in this book that was hard to reconcile without yet another personality transplant and a lot of martyring of characters via. guilt. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of -- none of which were particularly engaging and their motivations often unclear.
It just did not work for me and I found myself quite disengaged from the whole story -- and it took me a while to get through it. Still, I really enjoy this author's writing and consider [b:Prince of Air and Darkness|41550787|Prince of Air and Darkness (The Darkest Court, #1)|M.A. Grant|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543531041l/41550787._SY75_.jpg|64825586] to be one of my favourite reads of the summer! The high point of this book is definitely the reappearance of Roark and Phin!
Not my favourite book of the series but I intend to continue on -- and look forward to the next book ...
mcassin's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
intheend's review against another edition
4.0
4 to 4.5 stars.
I liked this second book better than the first one. I just wish it had more sexy times! I know that's the smut lover in me though.
I liked this second book better than the first one. I just wish it had more sexy times! I know that's the smut lover in me though.
brokenrecord's review
5.0
I LOVED this. I was worried I wouldn't be as into it as the first one, or that I would continue to have some nitpicky issues with the plot/worldbuilding, but I loved this book even more. There were fewer niggling plot issues that weren't explained distracting me. The plot generally seemed more focused and thus easier for me to follow, and the worldbuilding was a bit clearer (this being the 2nd book is probably helps with that, of course).
AND THE ROMANCE. It was such a beautiful slow burn of two people on kind of opposite sides coming to work together and trust one another and fall in love. Basically my favorite kind of romantic arc, and it was so beautifully done. No dumb drama or misunderstandings, either!
I loved both Seb and Slaine so much, but Slaine's character development in particular was perfect. And I loved how that coincided with watching Seb trying to be a leader. Seb's arc gave me The Goblin Emperor vibes of just this kind and decent ruler (well, Seb's not a ruler in the same way as Maia in that book, but still) trying to make good decisions and do the right thing, and I loved how Slaine learned from Seb about how there was a better/different way to go as a ruler than his family had chosen. I'm always up for politics in fantasy settings, so I ate all of that up. I also really enjoyed Aislinn and Seb's servants. And the Slaine/Roark stuff was great (), and it was fun to see Finn and Roark again (MARRIED!!!). Anyways, I'm assuming the third book is going to be about the third Roark/Slaine brother, and based on the first two books in this series, I am so here for it.
AND THE ROMANCE. It was such a beautiful slow burn of two people on kind of opposite sides coming to work together and trust one another and fall in love. Basically my favorite kind of romantic arc, and it was so beautifully done. No dumb drama or misunderstandings, either!
Spoiler
I was very afraid how Seb would react once he found out about Slaine's true identity, but I loved that it didn't matter to him when he found out because he loved and trusted Slaine completely and nothing could shake that by that point. And there were so many amazing moments/scenes between them, like the bit where Slaine is thinking that his life has never been valuable enough to warrant his freedom at the cost of Seb's life. AND WHEN SEB TAKES AOIFE'S TRICK AND ENDS UP CROWNING SLAINE AS HIS EQUAL IN FRONT OF EVERYONE INSTEAD. The "I care for you," scene!!! The bit where they share a bed before anything's even happened romantically between them because Seb doesn't want to sleep in his mother's room alone!!! Basically everything between them and their gradual getting closer, touching each other more, giving each other more glances, etc. was so good.I loved both Seb and Slaine so much, but Slaine's character development in particular was perfect. And I loved how that coincided with watching Seb trying to be a leader. Seb's arc gave me The Goblin Emperor vibes of just this kind and decent ruler (well, Seb's not a ruler in the same way as Maia in that book, but still) trying to make good decisions and do the right thing, and I loved how Slaine learned from Seb about how there was a better/different way to go as a ruler than his family had chosen. I'm always up for politics in fantasy settings, so I ate all of that up. I also really enjoyed Aislinn and Seb's servants. And the Slaine/Roark stuff was great (
Spoiler
although the reveal about Roark not being related meaning he could've been the knight without ill-effect — once again, what was the point of ANY of the plot of the first book? Like, apart from the romance — WHICH I ADORED — all the plot points turn out to be, "haha jk all of this was for nothing!" It just seems like a really odd choice.katleap's review
4.0
I received an e-ARC copy of The Marked Prince from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
srharris's review
4.0
This was a really good book. I had this book for a long time and I am mad at myself for waiting so long to read it.
I loved Seb and Slaine, they were perfect together. Even though the plot from the first book is ongoing in this, the story line in this one was a bit darker, but I enjoyed it.
Even though it usually annoys me when the villain is a female, but that is usually because she want the main guy for herself, that was not the case here, everything Aoife did, she did for power, she was still a bitch though.
I love that the plotline is focusing on the three brothers.
A great read.
I loved Seb and Slaine, they were perfect together. Even though the plot from the first book is ongoing in this, the story line in this one was a bit darker, but I enjoyed it.
Even though it usually annoys me when the villain is a female, but that is usually because she want the main guy for herself, that was not the case here, everything Aoife did, she did for power, she was still a bitch though.
I love that the plotline is focusing on the three brothers.
A great read.