GDR Book Club. The False Prince

This isn't something I plan to make a regular series, but I have tonnes of books to read these days. I'm glad for it. It gets me off the computer for a while and gives me a decent amount of mental stimulation. One of the books I enjoyed was one I bought last year while I was living in Indianapolis, and it's called The False Prince.

The False Prince is about three orphans taken up by a conniving nobleman to exact a plan laced in treason and struggle. The story is written mostly from the point of view of a ruffian named Sage who makes life difficult for Connor, the nobleman, along the way.

I regret not reading this book faster and enjoying it when I initially started. It really came around for me. Don't get me wrong; it didn't start poorly at all. It had a decent building pace, and I rather like Sage, even though he is incredibly difficult and even insufferable at times. Sage, as a character, is well rounded, and the story itself is well written. There are some typical moments and twists, but they're executed in such a way that the tropes seem fresh.

It's honestly hard to talk about this book without giving away spoilers. But here we go. The kingdom of Carthya is in trouble because all of their nobles have been assassinated. It's rumoured that the youngest Prince, Prince Jaron, may be alive, but literally no one is sure. Except one man, Lord Bevin Conner from the Farthenwood estate. He has a plan to replace the prince with his own and ascend to a status of grandeur, political importance, and notoriety. Conner has been combing various orphanages for someone who looks like the deceased Prince Jaron, and after so much searching, he comes away with four from various homes: Sage, Roden, Tobias, and a sickly boy named Latamer—remember the last one's name.

Conner plays up his part as the bad and lethal man when he was carrying the four boys away to Farthenwood. When they stop in the travels to rest and eat, Latamer tries to make a break for it. And is killed in cold blood by one of Conner's men, Cregan. You're gonna hate this sonuva bitch. Sage holds that moment close to his heart for right reason. When Conner lets them in on his plan to groom them all to take the crown, they, naturally, feel iffy towards him and the plan, but there isn't much they can do. They either go along with the plan or face certain, swift death. It's a hard, dangerous crawl to the top! And we experience it all vicariously through Sage, the token troublemaker.

Who is this book for? I believe anyone who can appreciate sort of the modern/old world, Kings and Queens aesthetic will enjoy this book. I bought it at a Scholastic warehouse with four other books for about five or seven dollars. I lucked out with my loot, and I'm really glad this is apart of my library. It pulled through! It really did! How can I talk about it without getting too excited? I apologize to Yasu for having to hear my excited noises and groans towards the end of it all.

I got really tired of Sage's antics at some points, and his inability to shut up really got in him trouble—more times than it should have. But I understood. If I were held against my will to go through with some crock pot plan, I might have acted the way he did a lot of the time. The other two orphans, Roden and Tobias, are both likable and irritating respectively, but I did come to get accustomed to them. I wanted them to live at the end of it all as much as Sage did at the end of it all. I haven't read a good book about kingdoms and royalty and all that in a long time, but oh, this was good.

It's important to enjoy the book, because there are a few important things that can be easily called as things go on, but the characters' reactions towards the events (and the characters themselves) make this story that much better for me. It's hard for me, I suppose, to express my opinion on books because I usually just... don't. Ahaha, especially in any detail, but I'm glad I bought this. It was money well spent.

If you think this is something you could enjoy, take a chance and read it. Despite how you feel about it one way or another, tell me how you felt about it. Let's open a discussion about it, and suggest your favourite books!