Review: Prince of Shadows

Princeo of Shadows
Author: Rachel Caine

Publication Date: February 4th 2014              

~A copy was provided by Allison and Busby in exchange for an honest review~

 

 

 

 



 

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A thrilling retelling of the star-crossed tale of Romeo and Juliet, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series.
In the Houses of Montague and Capulet, there is only one goal: power. The boys are born to fight and die for honor and—if they survive—marry for influence and money, not love. The girls are assets, to be spent wisely. Their wishes are of no import. Their fates are written on the day they are born.

Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, knows all this. He expects to die for his cousin, for his house, but a spark of rebellion still lives inside him. At night, he is the Prince of Shadows, the greatest thief in Verona—and he risks all as he steals from House Capulet. In doing so, he sets eyes on convent-bound Rosaline, and a terrible curse begins that will claim the lives of many in Verona…

…And will rewrite all their fates, forever.

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Alright, I'm going to put it out there. I loved this so freaking much.

But, I also hated it so freaking much. Nothing to do with Rachel Caine, of course, because she's basically a YA God. Romeo and Juliet. It's just that while I used to love Romeo and Juliet when I was younger but the older I got (I'm 21 now, I know, I know. I'm so old guys) the more I despised it. Mainly because everyone focused on the love story. And everyone called it a love story.

It. Is. Not. A. Love. Story. It. Is. A. Tragedy.

All through high school everybody called it a love story. I-No.

No.

First and foremost it's a tragedy. It's not meant to end happy. Their love was never destined to end happy. If it was love at all. I mean, A) simple Instalove and B) The ultimate instalove.

This is where it started.

I blame Shakespeare.

Overall though, I still really do love the essence of Romeo and Juliet.

While Prince of Shadows is supposedly a retelling of that, buy from the perspective of Romeo's cousin,  Benvolio. It's not. I mean, it is. But it's not. Prince of Shadow's seems more like a companion, than a re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, which I'm so grateful for, you have no idea, and is unlike anything I've read of Rachel Caines' before.

It's totally different and it's what saved it for me, because, I've always kind of thought Romeo was stupid, and in it you can kind of see it more clearly.

Okay, I feel like I'm writing another essay on it, so back to the book.

Prince of Shadows focuses on Benvolio, and while the story's following it's set in stone behind the scenes, Benvolio's own drama is front and centre. Benvolio has his own little twist and surprise. He's a thief, a rule-breaker, a trouble maker in the guise of the Prince of Shadow's. It's his way of coping with the extremities that's put on him by his grandmother, because you know, he's Romeo's manny and he has his own little forbidden romance almost going on with Rosaline. The fleeting interactions between them were sweet, and actually quite hot. I expect nothing less from Rachel Caine. But, it's also his way of getting revenge on people who deserve it, even if they've done no wrong to him specifically, he just likes evening the score and pegging someone down a bit.

The writing itself, God, you guys. It's unbelievable. It's atmospheric, flows well and it's just vividly gorgeous. It's written in a way that at least sounds authentic but in a way that's understandable . But, even if you didn't understand it, there's no way you couldn't feel it, because tensions ran high. A lot went into it, and you can tell that, and it pays off. Though you know the story, seeing it through somebody else's eyes gives you a different perspective, a realistic perspective. And sometimes it was quite extreme and angry and really sad to read. Especially with this Mercutio and the events that led up to his fate.

Passion, Love, Loyalty and Blood run high and truly was the downfall of Romeo and Juliet, and in Prince of Shadows, paved a way for a new love.

 

Rating: 5/5