Cover Image: A Peculiar Royal

A Peculiar Royal

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Member Reviews

Immature writing and hackneyed tropes made this book predictable and then unreadable. More clever ways to genre-bust exist. Find them.

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I received a E copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This did not change my opinion on this book. Thank you Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book.

This story is about Tristan. He's a street rat and a thief. Tristan has grown up without a family to support him. He has learned to survive over the years by stealing food and other ways for his street rat family. Tristan is a kind soul that can't stand to see his friends hungery.

King Dorian is getting old and is now having to hand his throne to someone not in the family. Since king Dorian no longer has heir's due to a tragic murder of his son and family. King Dorian believes that his grandson is still out there. Dorian has to find his lost grandson so he can take the thrown.

I'm 46% into the book and I feel like I'm losing interest. I feel like I could honestly stop reading and it wouldn't bother me. I feel like Tristan is a big whinner. Now I can understand that this is a huge change in his life. He went from having nothing to having more than he could ever ask for. I know that it is a huge jump for his old life. My only thing is that Tristan is 20 years old. I feel like it's time for him to start gowning up. He also uses his past as an escape goat. We know that Tristan use to be a street rat for 18 years, but you have a new life and new responsibility. He has to take care of his country and is new family. Granted he has to learn new things like being a ruler, which I'm sure would be hard. His grandparents are helping him as much as they can. They want him to become a great ruler. I just feel like Tristan should start acting his age. Also hate Marcellus and Tristan's friends since he became prince.

This book has so much potential. I was totally into the idea of rags to riches and a murder mystery! It sounded so good but I feel like this didn't hit the mark. I would definitely say this is more middle grade than young adult. Overall the last few chapters where interesting and cute. It ended on a good note so that's nice. I feel like this could have been more.

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This book was high up on my anticipated list. There is a royal family setting with a race to find an heir to the throne. There is a mystery developing in the plot which is quite exciting. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I love a royal setting of any kind. There is a trope of lost royalty which is probably one of my favourites to read. You can follow the character progression in this book very well.

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The cover is beautiful and the story has a decent plot but I kept getting the sense it is written for teens than young adults. I was not a fan of the writing style but can appreciate the story line and characters.

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The story had promise but fell flat. Prince Tristan is 20, somehow escaped the same fate as his late parents and was found living on the streets not knowing he is the prince. I had a hard time with this being a YA book it really reads more like a middle grade with the way Tristan acts and pouts.

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This book has been removed for further edits, so I'm not currently able to access my copy and read it. As a result, I'm not able to provide a review.

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I was caught by the synopsis of this book but I feel like I was let down a little. I found the story line lacked resolution and was a little childish. I think this would be more a Children's level than a YA.

I did enjoy the premise of of this book but thought that it missed the mark a little for me.

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This was my first book of Alonna’s and it didn’t quite do it for me. I really wanted to like this book because the plot was right up my usual alley. I found the plot kind of predicable, which is fine, but I like to be surprised. But I did like the way Tristan found out about his family. All in all I just think it wasn’t for me, but I will give Alonna another try in the future.

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I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

2/2.5 stars

I had high hopes for this story of a lost Prince finding his way home, discovering who he is and his past whilst tackling the new challenges that come with his identity.

It had great potential to be a fantastic self discovery book, wrapped in a murder mystery. However the execution and writing style didn't feel polished enough for my liking.

The main character Tristan, is supposed to be a young man in his early twenties that has spent the vast majority of his life living it rough, on the streets, without realising he is actually the lost prince his kingdom needs. Unfortunately his character comes across extremely juvenile, I kept being confused by his mannerisms and speech as he read as a young boy of between 10 and 12. And sadly it wasn't just his, almost all the characters, including his grandparents speech is all over the place. The storylines momentum seemed a little all over the place and I wanted there to be more depth and meaning to some scenes that were glossed over completely.

A really great concept, and I think if this had had more time to be thought over and ideas developed further, it could have been something really compelling.

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I didn't particularly like this book. It's sad, because the synopsis was good and the book has a lot of potential, but it feels unfinished and juvenile. I could see this book as a MG rather than a YA. I love rags to riches stories, but some parts of the book felt incoherent and could use some enhancements, like:
- Tristan is over confident when he is a thief, but he's constantly stammering and whimpering in his new life. I wanted to shake him up! It's normal, in his situation, to feel insecure... But crying like he does for absolutely nothing? No excuses.
- He is 20 years old, but he is acting like a 12 year old. Everyone is treating him like a 9 year old.
- The villain is so obviously mean, bullying everyone just because he wants to... It needs to be more subtile.
- The plot is SO predictable and obvious. (Did I say it's obvious? Because it is.)

What I did like:
- His escaping attempts were really funny.
- The emerging romance that begins somewhat weirdly with Princess Aliona.
- Dorian and Elandra are adorable.
- I loved Meggin. I would have loved for her to have a bigger role in the book.
- The way Tristan learned about his parents was fabulous!!!

In retrospect, the book isn't bad. It may be for younger readers rather than me.

Many thanks to Blue Gingham Publishing for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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I'm afraid to say I gave up on this book and didn't finish. This retelling of a classic story was far too predictable.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Since the publisher has already taken feedback on this book about the age of the main character and language, I will stop reading this book and look forward to reading the revised version later in the year.

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The "Prince and the Pauper," has long been a staple in fiction. This version tends to be over dramatic and lagging in areas. You can almost predict the next line of dialogue. Today's young adult audience will pick this up and quickly put it back for it lack luster story line.

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Summary
A tale about a lost Prince, who spent 2 decades of his life thieving and surviving in the slums.
However, his life is turned around when the King announces his attempt at searching for his heir who was rumored to be assassinated 17 years ago...
Tristan considers himself a pro in his lifestyle and way of living, and when the fated announcement is made he does everything to avoid being detected but obviously that doesn't go to plan.
His entire word is turned over as soon as he steps into the palace...from rags to riches, the transition frightens him endlessly but Tristan might just be the key to find the person behind the assassinations all those years ago.

Thoughts
This book had so much potential it had a very intriguing concept of a boy going from literally rags to riches not just in clothing and food but mannerisms, outlook and so much more. But the way the story was presented, I think it would have better worked out a play since we weren't given any worldbuilding or adequate description of our character and his surroundings; we were told everything in internal monologue and intermittent flashbacks to the time around the assassination.

Another problem was the MC himself his mannerisms were way too juvenile for a 20-year-old especially the one who lived his life braving the streets.
Fainting spells, hiding behind his guard out of shyness or uncertainty and everything was delivered in specific scenes and dialogues ( see what I meant by this having a greater chance at being a play)

What I liked, This book managed to realistically grasp the downside of the transition as he grappled to get his bearing s and his friend s consider him a traitor, and his court finds him akin to a fool.
We were even given attempts at sabotage as he tries to secure alliances and to final honor his family's legacy, furthermore, I liked how we uncover what really had happened that fateful day.


All in all, this book albeit full of potential to an enjoyable read fails to be entirely wholesome of a novel.

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DNFed at 31%, unfortunately.

The scenes were flat, there was no conflict in the non-existent plot and it genuinely felt like this was some unedited draft a kid wrote.

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The Lost Prince is an exciting and gripping read about a lost royal. It's extremely easy to connect to and enjoy. The only thing is the main protagonist acted and spoke in ways which seemed much younger than the age he was supposed to. Either he was written to be extremely immature for his age or it was slight oversight., but it doesn't make too much difference to the overall story.

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An entertaining book that describes the drama and problems experienced within a royal family from a distant country. I have always liked books that include princes and princesses. This is no exception, the time has come for King Dorian Lockridge to find an heir to his country, Odsia. However, 18 years ago the kingdom suffered a heinous crime, King Dorian's only son was killed, along with his wife. But it is believed that Prince Tristan survived he must be found for the throne to be secured. I loved King Dorian's personality because he shows concern and responsibility towards his people. I also liked how the prince's story unfolds, I was intrigued so I want to be able to read book 2. I thank NetGalley, Blue Gingham Publishing, and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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I read the synopsis and was instantly hooked by it. A story about a lost prince, oh I was so excited. I thought it would be a really fun reading but unfortunately I didn't like it.
If this story was a disney movie maybe it would've been netter but not as YA. I was really disappointed.
I picked up this book for the review and also the cover is really pretty. But I DNF'ed it at 20% cz I really couldn't connect with the story. I didn't like the writing style nor the characters. I mean it wasn't a horrible book it's just my personal preference.

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This book was good! It was a fun story and I did really enjoy the characters! Lost royalty isn’t my favourite trope but it did work well here. My only complaints are the MC seemed to act younger than he was and I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately and I don’t think this will be memorable for me.

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Interesting tale with lots of twists and turns. Can I just go ahead and say that my favorite character here was August? I mean a knight/soldier who is good with dogs?
So, the story introduces us to King Dorian who is looking for his grandson, 20 years after the murder of his son and daughter in law...and when he finds him, Tristan, or Tricks as he's known to his street family- is afraid, hasn't learned how to read or write and is scared of life as a royal.
I know the author had a plan for this plot- however something about Tristan's age does not mesh well with his personality and behavior, he seems more under the age of 16.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

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