ARC Review--Princess of Throns by Stacey Jay

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm's fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty's daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora's throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it's too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, I was in no way compensated for this review.


Despite having a few Stacey Jay books on my TBR Mountain of Doom, I hadn't had a chance to read any yet, then I requested Princess of Thorns and it was approved!! So I dove into it as soon as I could and was taken away by such an incredible story!

First off, this isn't really a retelling of Sleeping Beauty...it's more like the sequel, as Aurora is Sleeping Beauty's daughter. That whole fairy tale is retold as well, as our prince/king wasn't such the good guy that we thought, but I'll let the story tell you all those details. And it was when the kind took a third wife, that of the ogre queen, things took a seriously bad turn for the kingdom. Aurora and her brother Jor were secreted away to the faeries who raised them. Aurora's mother sacrificed herself in order to bless her daughter with faerie gifts. Though a curse came with them as well, but it was done in order to protect Aurora and her heart. For whoever she kisses will basically lose all their willpower and be a slave to their love for her. Definitely takes having teenage love problems to a whole other level!

Then there's Prince Niklaas who is also cursed, but it was curse his father paid to have done. He curses all his sons to turn into swans on their eighteenth birthday so that he may always rule the land. But if Niklaas were to be married and be king of a different kingdom, then he gets to remain human. So many curses! You definitely know you're in fairy tale land!

Now with that background info, you can get a better grasp of what the story is about! Niklaas meets Aurora when he rescues her one day. But he doesn't know she's a girl. Aurora can easily pass for a boy and does so when the situation calls for it. She calls herself Ror and she and Niklaas make a deal, they'd help one another. Ror needs help rescuing a "friend"--aka her brother who has been kidnapped by the ogre queen--and Niklaas wants Ror's help in locating Aurora as she is the one who can save him from his curse.

The two have quite an adventure as well. And all the while Ror is able to keep her secret from Niklaas. Even after a close encounter with taking a dip in the hot springs! There's lots of litlte funny moments like that when Ror's secret is in ever present danger. She does want to tell Niklaas the truth, but closer to when they can rescue Jor--her brother.

I love Ror and Niklaas together! The two are constantly butting heads! It's hilarious! Niklaas comes off as a bit of an ass at first. He's hotheaded, talks about all the girls he's had...basically being a real you-know-what! But then we see another side to Niklaas and the friendship that grows between him and Ror is rather sweet. But yet...you already know that other shoe is going to drop, big time! And that it does! Just past the halfway point too! But the journey is nowhere near over at that point! 

I really enjoyed this one! It was so incredibly paced! I don't want to say "fast" because there were times it wasn't really moving forward so much, but it was still enjoyable! There's tension, secrets, and a good deal of action and fighting (some verbal fighting too!)!

There was just one thing I didn't totally grasp towards the end...it was just like bam! And I was left staggering. I can't say what it is, because it's a spoiler of sorts...but it left me befuddled because it kind of came from nowhere...that was really my only complaint with the story.

This is told mostly through Aurora and Niklaas' points of view, but there were 2 or 3 times the ogre queen had a turn, which was confusing itself really. So maybe another little half complaint there!

It's hard to go into other details I feel like because I don't want to spoil anything. I mean, it does become clear once Aurora's identity is revealed that romance may spark between her and Niklaas, but there are still other obstacles to overcome. But like I mentioned earlier, these two butt heads a LOT! They are a perfect match to one another, which in turn makes it harder for them to be together! LOL. Again, hard to explain but once you read it, you get it!

Princess of Thorns is a standalone and a marvelously told fairy tale! So just keep that in mind when reading! Though even I forgot a time or two towards the end! It's definitely a page turning kind of read!




Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars




Princess of Thorns releases December 9, 2014