Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo was an amazing story! It was great and a fun read! Looking forward to reading more from Alexandra Christo in the future.

This book was amazing! The plot was extremely creative and it had plenty of twists and turns that I didn’t expect.

Selestra is probably one of my new favorite heroines because of how realistic she felt. She had real insecurities and flaws but was strong and unafraid to stand her ground at the same time.

I also loved Nox he was arrogant but in a way that was funny, not annoying. He and Selestra worked really well together and I began rooting for them from the second they met.

This book is inspired by Rapunzel and I could definitely tell at times. The majority of the book is spent with them on an adventure with lots of ups and downs and I enjoyed every second of it. The ending of the book was really satisfying and overall I really liked this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone that likes fairytale retellings. Especially if you enjoyed To Kill A Kingdom as well.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley to read and review. Quoted excerpt/s may change in the final print.

Considering how much I love and obsess over To Kill a Kingdom, it’s no surprise that I had such high expectations for Princess of Souls. Unfortunately, it just fell flat for me.

While I can honestly say that I very much enjoyed the author’s signature snark and banter, I can’t say the same for the other elements of the story. The writing, the worldbuilding, the characters, even the romance was just… mediocre, at best. I was so close to DNF-ing but figured I should just finish and see if my feelings change. It did not.

I’m trying to come up with what else to say but can’t think of any. Princess of Souls just left me feeling… bleh. I’m so disappointed. And I’m sad that I’m disappointed. I don’t know… I think I need to reread To Kill a Kingdom to make myself feel better.

But while I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought I would, I still consider myself a fan of the author and wouldn’t miss her future works.

I really enjoy a hate to love story and this was a good one.

King Seryth is immortal. He made a deal with a witch a long time ago. He will have a witch that helps him take the souls of people. He eats them to stay young. The witch is loyal to him above everyone else. The current witch has a 16 year old daughter. Selestra is the heir and is reminded often that her full powers won't show up until her mother dies. But she does already have magic. No one really taught her how to use it, so things don't go as planned. The King makes Selestra predict the futre of a young soldier, Nox. When Selstra sees his death, she sees herself die too. They are both marked. Selestra doesn't know what went wrong, but she needs to keep the vision was happening. She and Nox do not get along at all at first. He thinks witches are evil, but over time, he sees that Selestra is different. She has a kind heart. She craves touch and attention. She's also really strong. If Nox can make it for the whole month, he can get a wish. Nox may be a soldier, but he wants revenge for his father's death. Nox plans on killing the king. The only way he can do that is to make it to the end and break the curse that keeps King Seryth young. Selestra starts to learn more about her magic and that she was sheltered and lied to most of her life. She loves her mother, but she can't see anything of her left. She's been locked away her whole life and Selstra wants to get away. That means trusting Nox and hoping that they can escape her death visions.

I gave this book 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

Alexandra Christo has a great way of creating a fairy tale retelling, I loved how unique this book was from other Rapunzel retellings. The characters were great and I was invested in what was going on with them in this book. The plot was fun and I enjoyed the scifi elements in the fairy tale elements.

“We’re checking everyone,” he says plainly. “New measures from the king. No hoods or cloaks.” He looks to Selestra with a glare. “And no exceptions.” Which means there’s no way for her to leave this mountain without being noticed. One look at her eyes and her hair and they’ll scream for help. The king has prepared for the chance of her escape."

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan's Children's Publishing Group/Feiwel and Friends for allowing me to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Princess of Souls is a Rapunzel re-telling with witches and adventure set in the same world as Alexandra Christo's debut book To Kill A Kingdom. To Kill A Kingdom is a Little Mermaid re-telling and I was super excited to read her next twist on a favorite Grimm story. It has been years since I've read Christo's debut and after reading Princess of Souls, I wasn't sure what the connection was. If you haven't read To Kill A Kingdom it is safe to say you can read this without reading the other.

Selestra is a witch kept hidden away in the immortal king's castle with her mother, who is loyal to the king's doings. Every year citizens are allowed to sell their souls for a wish but if they die before the end of the month their soul is forfeit to the king. Selestra doesn't agree with the king but when she reads her first death-vision for a handsome guard she becomes bonded to him. Nox's death is connected to Selestra and she needs to keep him safe while also making sure she doesn't die along with him.

While I'm not a huge fan of the cover I was definitely intrigued by the concept of a witch with natural green hair and snake-like eyes who is hidden away like Rapunzel and aches for freedom. Selestra comes from a line of witches who are able to predict when and how someone is going to die. Because she is not eighteen she does not have her full powers to save herself from the king and her mother's wrath. Deciding to follow Nox, to keep themselves safe from death, they go on an adventure for a mythical sword that can kill the immortal king.

Sounds like a really cool story right? Well prepare to be disappointed.

Up to the 40% mark I was entertained and ready for a fun ride but once I hit the middle of the book the pacing dropped to zero. It was a heavy slog up hill to get to the final battle between Selestra, her mother, the King and Nox. To bounce off of what another reviewer had said, it's almost like there was a YA checklist and Alexandra Christo was just checking it twice to make sure she had everything in there. The story is written appropriately for the target audience of YA: around 15-17 years old.

Character development is lacking and the romance wasn't needed. It didn't add much to the story and felt forced and unnecessary. I wish Nox and Selestra's friendship was built on more than the romantic feelings, I think it would have made for a better dynamic.

I wanted to love this book so bad.

My expectations might have been high due to my love for To Kill A Kingdom and I think that hurt Princess of Souls chances of being great. It's possible this book wasn't for me in the end as much as I very much wanted it to be.

3 stars

As a huge fan of Alexandra Christo and "To Kill a Kingdom", I was so so excited to return to it's world with a whole new story and set of characters.

Christo writes retellings so charmingly! I loved Selestra, Nox, Selestra AND Nox.

This book is a bit of a light read, but something I think goes alongside "To Kill a Kingdom" when people ask for fantasy romance books! (Seriously, I've recommended "To Kill a Kingdom" more times than I can count!).

It was an absolutely fantastic read with the gripping and the strong storyline that I think people from very age gap would love and enjoy!!

Wow!! It was a perfect amalgamation of love, joy and pain. I really enjoyed it. The story was engaging and the word building was phenomenal. It was definitely a full 5 stars read for me.

I’m not sure what I was hoping for from this book but this was missing something. It was fast paced and, much like Christo’s other books, has excellent world building. The plot had potential and kept me interested, but I think it was the characters I found lacking. It’s a pretty solid YA fantasy novel though!

I read this book without reading any other books by this author. An extremely loose retelling of the Rapunzel story. I am a sucker for the enemies-to-lovers trope, and this book didn't disappoint when it came to that. I always say that tropes exist for a reason, and this book, while seemingly formulaic, exists because of tropes. And I liked that. The world building and prose in this book had me hooked. Definitely a book I can see a lot of my students enjoying.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

3/5 stars. To be released October 2022.

I've always enjoyed Alexandra Cristo's novels and this one was no different. It did however feel very formulaic, as if she had to check some boxes of the typical things that happen in young adult novels. This took a little bit of the enjoyment out of reading simply because it felt like nothing new. I was very engaged in the book about 2/3 of the way through but found myself struggling to finish since it felt like I already knew what was going to happen in the end (which, turns out, I did). Overall, a fun read, but nothing groundbreaking that stood out and was memorable.

This was a perfectly passable YA fantasy novel! I didn't love it (I found it to be rather slow) but I would still recommend it to teen fantasy readers looking for this type of story.

Princess of Souls is a loose Rapunzel retelling set in the same world as the author's previous work, To Kill a Kingdom (a Little Mermaid retelling that I adored). The creativity in the worldbuilding was pretty amazing - our main character, Selestra, is the newest in a generation of witch queens that serve the made-immortal-through-their-magic-King. Nox is a solider whose father was killed by the King and he obviously wants revenge/to make the King less immortal/permanently dead. Selestra and Nox find themselves linked and embark on a journey to quash the king and remove his immortality.

This was so much fun! Like I said, the worldbuilding is truly amazing - I remember thinking that about To Kill a Kingdom, and even though I've read that book, this world felt fresh, new, and truly cool. The book is very quickly paced - it starts with a bang and never really lets up. Because the book is a standalone (huzzah!) the plot and the worldbuilding sort of supercede character development, so I never really connected with our main two characters, but that didn't matter too much because I was just having so much fun with the story.

TLDR: Amazing worldbuilding and a plot that never stops does hamper character development, but it's overall a very solid YA fantasy standalone that I would generally recommend to readers of YA fantasy - 3.5 stars rounded up to four.

This was such a good read!! I really loved the unique characters and the smooth plotline. I was never bored because the story kept moving at a great pace. This was a great book and I highly recommend this to everyone. Great book!

Thank you, Feiwel & Friends, for allowing me to read Princess of Souls early!

Alexandra Christo is a new-to-me author and while I love discovering new voices, this book didn't entirely captivate me as much as I hoped it would. It lacked something to send it over the edge and the pacing felt off.

I read an ARC of this book. The main characters and plot lines were okay, nothing too exciting. The secondary characters and their friendships with the main characters were much more interesting to me and kept pulling me in. The scene towards the end with the four of them…it made me long for my college days and those close friendships that are built in the wee hours of the night. Overall, the story of an abused/neglected girl who learns to believe in herself and become who she dreams of being held my interest long enough to finish the book, although I wish the author focused more on the main character learning to love herself rather than on her gaining strength from someone else’s love for her.