ARC Review: The Golden Prince by Alice Ivinya
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book, and I’m sharing my review voluntarily.
Genre: Fairy Tale Retelling, Romantic Fantasy
Pages: 224
Series: Once Upon a Prince (standalones)
Rating: 5 stars
Alice Ivinya is one of the names that drew me to the Once Upon a Prince street team! Then, to find out that her book is a Rapunzel retelling?! I was beyond excited! I read and adored Ivinya’s stories in Enchanted Forests and Enchanted Flames, but The Golden Prince was the first full-length novel I read by her, and I can honestly say there will be many more to come because I loved it!
One thing I really appreciate about this book (and so far, all the books I’ve read in this series) is that the authors do a phenomenal job of intertwining their own original story with the classic fairy tale they are retelling. Just one example of this was Maisie’s ability to change the length and color of her hair. Going off of that, Ivinya tied Maisie’s magic to the larger magic system flawlessly and meaningfully.
Up until the 50% mark, I was thoroughly enjoying this book…then I stopped existing in this realm and traveled to the realm the characters live in! I literally could not put the book down after the halfway mark! The romance was spot on, which really kept the novel moving at a wonderful pace.
On top of that, I was very impressed by the ways Ivinya twisted the original fairy tale, mainly through the characters. So many of them were extremely compelling. Thomas was endearing in a comical way. It was hilarious that he read the room so wrong in many situations. His personality was very much like the stereotypical Rapunzel, who is innocent and perfect. I was drawn in by the way he cared about his people and his naiveté. He had some very romantic ideas of love that were adorable.
Similarly, Greggory, Thomas’s manservant, was a nice foil to the prince. The way he called out Thomas on his dishonesty was great. He not only felt like a dynamic character but also helped move the story along.
Finally, Maisie was the perfectly imperfect Rapunzel! I liked that she was not innocent and trusting. She was cynical and everything a princess shouldn’t be. Both Maisie’s and Thomas’s character arcs were fantastic. They were both transformative yet still believable, which added a lot of depth to the story.
As a whole, I feel like us readers put a lot of trust in authors when we read fairy tale retellings, especially of our favorite fairy tales. In many ways, it is a difficult position for an author to be in because they have to balance originality with elements from the story they’re retelling. The Golden Prince was simultaneously one of the books in this series I was looking forward to most and one that I worried about since I love the original fairy tale so much. I am so glad to say that Ivinya did justice to the original fairy tale, and in this reader’s opinion, improved it by adding her own spin on the story!
