Elaine White's Life in Books

Book – The Prince of the Moon
Author – Megan Derr
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 81
Cover – Okay.
POV – 3rd person, dual POV
Would I read it again – Probably not.
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Fairytale


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **



This story was a little different and a little familiar, all at the same time. It had hints of Snow White, Rapunzel and other fairytale characters to it, while also being about a witch who had cursed an entire kingdom to winter. Not a new concept, but the way it was handled certainly was.

I enjoyed the plot and how it unravelled, finding that Solae was charming, relateable and sweet. He was a great character to have the POV of, while Millio didn't get to tell his side as often, but had an impact as the witch who broke rules and did what was best, regardless of the consequences.

It began with 'once upon a time' and a retelling of the entire back plot of the story as if it was a book Solae was reading, yet it knew too much, predicted what was about to happen and Solae acted as if he didn't know half the information in the story that he had been, apparently, reading. That part, for me, was a little cheesy and predictable.

I also really didn't get the why of why Solae had been punished for his mother's apparent crimes, while being progressively ill treated and ignored by a family who were thought to be beautiful and bright, but were nothing more than stupid egoists. It didn't make much sense to me, how not even the servants or the commoners noticed that the only decent member of the family was being hidden away, while the others were nothing more than tyrants. Not one person, until Millio arrived, saw Solae for the human being he was, innocent of any wrongdoing, and ever thought that it was wrong the way he was being treated? All because he was a witch? There isn't enough claims/backstory to suggest that witches were always considered evil to validate this intense fear people had of him. Just one witch making one King fall in love with her – even if that's what happened, which isn't clear from the ending – it not enough to explain why no one will even look at Solae. It makes no sense, to me.

There were few editing issues, though the repetition was almost identical between the storytelling portion of the first few pages to the following few pages, as Solae basically acted out what was in the 'story'.

I liked that we got a dual POV, because it showed us things about Solae that we wouldn't have known otherwise and I found the chemistry between him and Millio quite believable. However, I in no way believed the insta-lust that hit them the moment they clapped eyes on each other and I never felt that they ever progressed into a deep emotional connection with each other until the very end, which was a little late. The fact that the entire story took place over just a few days made it harder to believe. I think it could have worked if it had been a few weeks or months, but a few days just didn't over the credibility to the 'romance' aspect that I needed.

Overall, it was a decent story, but there were issues, for me. I needed a little more in terms of romance and characterisation, particularly in exploring Solae, who remained a mystery throughout most of the book. I would have liked a more concise ending, because the one I read was a little too neat and wrapped up in a bow to sit well with me. I wanted to know the truth about Solae's mother, even if it was in some sort of long lost letter that he found in an old magic book of hers, in the epilogue. Something would have been nice. Because, without that, I'm left asking questions, and I'm seriously beginning to question why his father never threw the accusation at Solae that he'd bewitched Millio the same way his mother had bewitched the King. It would have suited his purposes, but he never brought it up and I find myself wondering why.

Left with too many questions and too many niggles in the story, it was just good but not as great as it could have been, with a little more attention to detail.

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