The False Prince (Ascendance #1) by Jennifer A. Nielsen - Review

Book Synopsis:

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point—he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

My Review:

5/5 stars. This book/series was recommended to me by a friend, and I'm so glad I took the recommendation! I loved it! I enjoyed all the characters and really got invested in the story. It was full of a lot of small twists that kept me engaged and had one major twist that was so unexpected and shocking. That alone solidified the 5-star rating. The writing style was also very nice and easy to read.

Right away, the book had a great opening hook. It immediately set the stage for an intriguing adventure with an unwilling protagonist. Speaking of the protagonist, Sage was great. He was hilarious from the start - I found myself laughing out loud at his narration. At the same time, though, he was a bit of a jerk. This was an interesting combo to read, and he definitely grew on me.

As for the other characters, they were also very interesting. Sage and the other two boys all had such different motivations and methods of doing things, so it was a fun dynamic to read about as the story unfolded. I also like the character of Imogen. She's probably my favorite of the side characters, and I'm very curious to see what happens with her in later books.

I can't speak much on the quality of the worldbuilding, since I'm not a huge fantasy reader, but I will say that this is the kind of fantasy I enjoy. It's light and easy to understand. There are no crazy magic systems to creature names to learn. There were a lot of place names and historical details I felt slightly overwhelmed by at times, but in general I could keep up.

Finally, I'll talk about the plot and the crazy twists. There was so much happening that I never lost interest, and it really picked up even more in the second half. I won't spoil the big twist here, but I was not expecting it at all. It's one of those twists that make you feel like you need to go back and re-read it, to notice all the little hints. Some reveals I was able to predict, but they weren't so obvious in a way that made the reading experience less enjoyable. There were other details that I could tell were going to be important later on, but couldn't predict how, which made it all the more satisfying when they came back and played a major role in the end.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Content:

Language: None

Sexual Content: One cheek kiss, a mention of "trying mischief" with a girl

Violence: Surprisingly dark for a middle grade - death, killing, descriptions of blood and wounds, a scene where someone is whipped and tortured

Drugs/Alcohol: None