For a debut and the first book in a series, I'm holding out hope this will only improve as more books come out. For now it's sitting at about 3.5 stars due to some clunky writing and a lot more show-versus-tell instances. However! I love the setting, the mythology, and the two opposing characters. I think the ideas present in this are very on the nose but very needed during this time. I'll be keeping an eye out for book 2!

This had a lot going for it in the set up. I don't think it quite fulfilled what I was hoping to get out of it, but as the first book in a series, there is still a lot of room for the overall series to grow and evolve.

I enjoyed the dual POV in this book, which provided a perspective of two main characters with very different perspectives. I also enjoyed the Indian-based setting, and the relationship with nature/nature magic was really interesting and well done. The various spirits were a great addition, and I could feel how lush the tropical plant/setting felt. However, I did feel that the character work fell a little flat here. There was a lot of telling what a character was like instead of showing through actions, and I did not feel that there was really any romantic yearning/development. That's fine, but I thought there would be from the description. It sort of felt like the author felt the need to include romantic elements because romantasy is a big market right now instead of genuinely wanting to write a romantic subplot and being interested in it adding to the story.

Overall, this was a 4 star in world building and general plot idea, but a 3 star in plot execution and character development. I also wish that it had been described to me as no romance + YA/NA, because with those two descriptors I would have gone in with a much more accurate expectation and would have enjoyed what I found more. I am rounding my rating up because I do think I would have enjoyed the book more with more realistic expectations.

Thank you, Harper Voyager, for the eARC!

Rating: 4/5 🌟

This was an interesting and unique fantasy dual POV between Ashoka, who is the prince, and Shakti, who is a mayakari (witch). When I first started the book, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this, but it literally took all but like 5 chapters, and then Shakti was cursing someone!

My favorite part of the story had to be the collective that Shakti receives, as she is the only witch who has ever had something like this. I think that it really reminds me kind of like the past avatars from The Last Airbender cause she can talk to everyone who has had it before her.

The one thing that I was disappointed in was that this book was labeled as romantic angst, but there was no romance anywhere in this book. Ashoka had the hots for his guard, and the guard possibly had the hots for Ashoka but no angst and no romance in sight. It would have been nice to see, though.

Overall, the author writes very great characters! The sister is a b*tch and is just evil like the father!

Can’t wait to see where book two goes!

A fantastical adventure of a novel. This book has some extraordinary writing and a cast of compelling characters. This book is wonderfully strange and undeniably beautiful.

This book was very interesting. The premise and world were very unique, and I enjoyed the magic system and the characters. However, I felt that the pacing was a bit slow, and there didn’t seem to be much direction from the characters. I think this story has a lot of potential, and perhaps subsequent books will feel more fleshed out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC of A Prince Without Sorrow.

This was just ok. I love any fantasy set in India or about characters/history of India so I gave this book much more grace than most. I didn't love it. The Story just wasn't compelling to me.

I really really wanted to like this book. I loved the setting and the magic and the setting of the Mauryan empire was unique and interesting. The emphasis on the people's relationship with nature and the nature spirits was incredibly interesting.
Unfortunately I had to DNF. Similar to other reviewers, I found that there were multiple instances where the writing was clunky and "show not tell" should have been utilized more. The idea for the parallels between the main characters was good in concept, but poor in excecution. A pacifist prince with the power to destroy and the witch who revoked her vow of pacifism due to the harm the prince's family caused is an excellent idea and I understand what the author was trying to convey, but I found it to be a little too on the nose. All the potential for "big reveals" that could have been led up to were instead splayed out in the open with very little suspense.

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyage for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Imagine being born into a ruthless, blood-soaked dynasty where your family’s favorite pastime is oppression. Where your dad’s idea of a bedtime story is a war strategy session. Now imagine that you, the youngest prince, are the odd-ball pacifist in a sea of highborn monsters. A kind-hearted, violence-hating young royal in a kingdom that is practically powered by tyranny and persecution. Ashoka, our gentle protagonist in The Prince Without Sorrow, might just be the empire’s worst disappointment.

Then meet Shakti, a witch whose hobbies include dodging fire, plotting revenge, and, in general, not getting obliterated by Ashoka’s bloodthirsty family. After watching her village go up in flames (literally), she swears vengeance. But because irony is the universe’s favorite joke, her fate ends up tangled with Ashoka’s in a way neither of them saw coming.

The prince who doesn’t want to fight is now stuck in the middle of a magical conspiracy, an empire on the brink of chaos, and a particularly stubborn witch who isn’t sure whether she should stab him or hug him. Buckle your seatbelts for the sharp witty dialogue in this one, because it’s a wild ride and honestly my favorite part of the book.

The setting is constructed thoughtfully throughout the book. It felt like the kind of place full of intrigue and alive with danger. Wijesekara wove a rich fantasy world that I felt I was able to sink my teeth into. Very refreshing for YA.

What I missed a little bit with this book was the element of surprise and shock. I thought the whole idea was executed and well written, but I pretty much knew what was going to happen before it did. Not a bad thing necessarily, just don’t expect the book to be teeming with jaw-dropping plot twists. I also wish the bad guys were just a little more… well, interesting. I wanted to know more about them and their motives than what I felt like I was given.

All in all, The Prince Without Sorrow was a fun PG romantasy that blended adventure, mayhem, and love. If you love immersive main characters, if you love complex political tension, if you love a magical trope, you’ll probably love this one. However, if you like your villains dimensional, if you need a structured plot or if you’re looking for adult romance, this one won’t make the cut.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara is a third person dual-POV epic fantasy inspired by the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India. Prince Ashoka is the third child of the Emperor Adil and the emperor’s least favorite child. Shakti is a mayakari, one of the witches being persecuted by the emperor. When Adil dies, Shakti finds she has a magical connection to him and uses it to her advantage while Ashoka uses his new position to put an end to the war.

Shakti and Ashoka are idealistically opposed as Shakti has been raised to be a pacifist and rejects in favor of revenge while Ashoka chooses pacifism after growing up in a violent empire. Shakti goes so far as to curse the emperor and wish violence on others, which has consequences she doesn’t completely expect but is willing to exploit to get what she wants. Ashoka, meanwhile, doesn’t want to throw his weight around if he doesn’t have to and instead desires for people to come to an understanding and stop persecuting the mayakari. These two POVs and their ideals make me say that the book is mostly character-driven rather than plot-driven.

I wonder if the romantic angst in the marketing is going to pop-up in books two and three as there was no romance in book one. There’s maybe some inklings of feelings between Ashoka and Rahil, his long time friend and swordsmanship teacher, but there was no acting on feelings in this book. I cannot conceive of Shakti and Ashoka being the romantic couple mentioned in the blurb as not only are they so opposed, but they don’t have very many interactions. It’s more likely that Shakti and Aarya, Ashoka’s older sister who hates the mayakari, will be Shakti’s love interest for a very messy romance arc that I don’t think could end happily.

The main thing I really liked was the magic system, particularly with Shakti having a connection with Adil, the man she cursed nda who has been hurting her people, and being able to enter the dreams of his children. There’s something very interesting in having the opportunity to basically be the devil or the angel on your enemy’s shoulder and choosing to find new ways to make their lives more difficult. In a lot of books, I can imagine Shakti would learn things about her enemies that make her sympathize with them and I do not see that happening here. If she does have sympathy for them in later books, it’s gonna be after a lot of time and character development and possibly character regression.

Content warning for emotional abuse

I would recommend this to fans of epic fantasy with lots of political elements and readers of fantasy who prefer minimal romance and a slower pacing

DNF @ 50%

I'm so tremendously conflicted on my review for this book. I don't usually rate my DNFs but I did receive this as eARC and do want to provide a review since I really pushed myself through this book.

The Prince Without Sorrow follows two main characters. Ashoka is the third born child to Emperor Adil. Where his father wants to rule through fear and violence, Ashoka is desperate for peace and coexistence with the mayakari (nature witches). Shakti is a mayakari, who decides to give up the witch's strict code of pacifism for revenge against the Emperor when her aunt is killed. When said act of revenge leads to the death of the Emperor, Shakti joins the imperial staff and eventually becomes one of Ashoka's personal servants.

Let's start with the positives. The setting of this book is fantastic, it is inspired by the Mauryan Empire of ancient India. With most medieval fantasy books taking place in a European like setting, this is a nice breath of fresh air. I also loved the heavy focus on nature and human's relationship with it. With Shakti being of mayakari, she is able to see nature spirits and ask for their help.

Now let's get into the unfortunate downsides. The biggest one that finally caused me to stop reading is the writing. It is very clunky and repetitive. There are lots of sentences that are both showing and telling. I know we are asked not to quote but I just need to put this small quote in my review to drive my point home: "(Character) appeared disbelieving. "Tell me the truth."' There was no need to flat out say that the character wasn't believing Shakti, there are so many descriptors to show that the other character didn't trust her. There are many, many passages that are like this. Or the internal monologue of a character repeats the same idea over and over again. I think it's intended to drive the point home that they are thinking about it but it gets so tiring. The prose also felt like it had a quota of 'fancy' words that needed to be in it. Now, big elaborate words have their place but most of the sentences in here did not need them. Unfortunately the characters were also incredibly flat and uninteresting. Ashoka was almost a caricature of pacifism. He didn't have any personality beyond his want for peace and hating his father. Shakti was only a little bit better by having internal conflict about her actions, but not by much.

The pacing is a little off. I found it took a while to care about the characters. There is some interesting world-building, and I hope it pays off more in future books in the series

I absolutely adored this book from start to finish. The complexity of the characters and their lives was addicting. I felt myself feeling for characters that I didn’t even like, which is hard to do when creating a “bad guy”. The magic system and those who use it was beautifully written. I love the idea that “all magic has a price” because it follows such a metal life moral dilemma of “just because I can should I?” This was a fantastic read and I am super thankful for the opportunity to have been able to read!

Shakti is one of the mayakari's, witches linked to the Nature Spirits and persecuted by Emperor Adil. And while the Emperor believes they are dangerous creatures, hell bent on humanities destruction that couldn't be the furtherest from the true as their one overriding tenant is to do no harm. However, after the Emperor himself burns Shakti's aunt at the stake right in front of her Shakti, in her grief, she crosses a line that she may never be able to come back from.

Ashoka is the youngest of Adil's children and viewed as the weakest. He adheres to the tenants of the mayakari and rebels against his father's bloodthirsty campaigns against them whenever and wherever he can. After his father dies unexpectedly and his cruel but stupid brother ascends The Obsidian Throne Ashoka knows that now is the time to truly stop his family's bloody legacy, but, will he lose is soul in the process?

This was truly excellent. And while as you can see I only gave it four stars (I'll explain why later) it was one of the best books I've read where the author has left it up to the reader to wholly interpret their characters actions. Is Shakti justified in her increasingly cruel vengeance against the Maurya family? Does the wholesale slaughter of her people justify literally pushing Aarya, Ashoka's older sister, to the brink of madness? And has she simply not made everything significantly worse? This goes the same for Ashoka, he holds on to beliefs for so long and while when he does finally snap the chain he keeps on his control is the death of one worth not just the lives of the many but the simple goodness in Ashoka? And will this cause him to follow the same path his father did, using the same justifications? Wijesekara does not answer these questions ever. She leaves the interpretation wholly up to the reader, and I found that to be absolutely brilliant. And I can promise you I changed my mind on whether or not the ends justified the means here several times throughout the book.

You've also got this nature vs. nuture thing going on to some extent. Shakti is raised to abhor violence but she rebels against that almost as soon as she's old enough to say "Fuck this noise". Whereas Ashoka is not only surrounded by it he is subject to it. So is Ashoka inherently good while Shakti is not? It's an interesting question for certain.

In terms of world building, pacing, etc, this was really well done as well. The magic systems were interesting, especially since we still have no idea what the collective means, how it works, why it even exists, etc. While it was not completely unique or original, I think it's a system that could be utilized more often. Carrying your ancestors around inside of your subconscious would definitely carry a pretty hefty price tag. The Minor and Great Spirits were reminiscent of Princess Mononoke, and I really loved that.

My one complaint was that I think Ashoka's absolute dedication to not cross his own moral boundaries to the point where he misses opportunities to undermine his cruel siblings happened way too often and for little things I believe he should have comprised on. He would have got his way faster (and this is clearly what I was talking about earlier in terms of its up to the reader to interpret), not to mention saved lives. And to be fair, there were many times it felt like the only reason he adhered to this strict moral code was simple spite, which, while totally valid, I think it went a bit too far.

I definitely recommend this one. It's one of those books that there is a distinct possibility that every character is the bad guy to a certain extent. For me, this is a reflection of how humanity truly is. Plus, as I've said a few times, it's up to the reader to make that determination, and that oddly feels like a heavy burden to bear for some fictional characters.

As always thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the eArc!

Let's get the basics out of the way:
1. This is the first in a trilogy. It doesn't stand alone. It ends on a cliffhanger.
2. This is not a romantasy. There's no romance in this book. There are minor romantic feelings that aren't acted upon (so far). They're not between the 2 characters mentioned in the blurb.
3. This is not a gritty grimdark story. This is a YA/adult crossover epic fantasy veering more towards heroic / hopeful than grimdark.

I had an eye on this book since I've seen the publisher's marketplace announcement. Evil witch & pacifist underdog prince? Sign me the heck up! However, my first worry was "is this gonna be another of those tropey no plot just vibes I-hate-you-but-can't-resist-you romantasy? if so, I don't wanna read it!" But hey, it surprised me the best way possible because it's the utter opposite of a romantasy! The protagonists might be immature (they're young, in their early 20s), but but they don't run on "horny logic", that's for sure.

I feel the fantasy genre right now is so overrun with romantasy that a 2-pov blurb makes people think this is some grand enemies to lovers story. It is not. Ashoka and Shakti are political allies of convenience, but harbour no romantic feelings for one another. It makes me sad how this book has so many romance / romantasy tags on goodreads based on who knows what assumptions. There's literally no romance in this story. Ashoka has romantic feelings for another character, but out of fear and hesitation doesn't act on them. But really, can't people these days be allies or reluctant friends anymore? Everything needs to be about romance otherwise it's condemned?

This is a story of an extremely idealistic to a fault prince whose ideals are slowly eroded over time. I don't understand the reviews condemning the book just because he starts naive and a bit "stupid" / delusional. That's what the story is about. The corruption of unsustainable "purity" that doesn't withstand the clash with reality. That he could have afforded his lofty ideals when he was just an idle spare, last in line to the throne, but the moment he has to actually do things, he's forced into hard choices and all of them go against his initial morals. He's forced to pick a lesser evil, and due to that evolves over time. And this is only the 1st in a trilogy. Who knows, maybe in the end he will go full Darth Vader. The fall / corruption is only sweet if the character started really high and mighty, noble and pure.

It's also a story of oppressed witches who were supposed to "do no harm", but how can they just lie down and die? In both cases of Ashoka and Shakti / Nayani there's the question: can you stick to a pacifist code in the face of a genocide?

Ashoka and Shakti are meant to be foils of each other. Shakti was taught pacifism and rejects it. Ashoka was taught the ruler should be brutal, but he rejects it and wishes for pacifism, for which he's mocked to be "weak" and "unsuitable to rule". But when his oath of pacifism breaks, this doesn't bring him respect, rather more mockery and hatred.

I felt the pace and tension was medium-burn, not too slow but also not very fast. Which is fitting for an epic fantasy where we need to learn the world, its politics, the magic and so forth. But it also didn't go into long worldbuilding tangents and there were regular reveals and mini-plot-twists. Halfway the story the protagonists get separated and have to work on their political goals apart. I was never bored with the story and never struggled to follow the plot.

The worldbuilding is lush and interesting, full of tropical flora and fauna, spirits small and big (the small ones reminded me of creatures from Princess Mononoke, the big ones usually take animal forms like a tiger or an elephant), we have flying winged serpents and rideable panthers, flowers, food, clothing and architecture mostly resembling India but we have chilli peppers and "frangipanis" that from what I've checked originate from America so it's more like a fantasy tropical world with Indian influences but not 1:1 historical India. And I'm not the person to obsess how fantasy authors can't have potatoes in their pseudo-medieval Europe; tbh I think this rule is stupid - it's fantasy, if the climate permits it, or other worldbuilding elements, go on and have your vanilla and cocoa alongside "old world" plants.

There's a certain amount of violence, blood and gruesome deaths but they always serve the plot and aren't over the top gratuitous. I'd say fairly standard for epic fantasy.

Representation:
MMC Ashoka is in love with his bodyguard Rahil, so most likely gay or other MLM orientation.
FMC Shakti is most likely aromantic, as she mentions romantic feelings are foreign to her.
Side character Aarya is bisexual.
All characters are South Asian coded / Brown-skinned.

I really enjoyed this entry installment in a trilogy and I'm really curious where the author takes the story next! I loved the worldbuilding, the queer representation that wasn't the focus of the story but rather "just existed", and a rare YA/adult crossover fantasy that doesn't center any romance. I love to see more of them - this one was definitely better than my last pick! A very competent debut.

My only complaint is that I hate cliffhanger endings, but that's totally my fault I'm a lousy sequel reader. Alas, that's no fault of the book or the author, series are viable and common in epic fantasy.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

the premise is really intriguing, mauryan inspired and hunted witches, but unfortunately it does fall rather flat and is a big case of telling over showing.

I love the cover of this book and the synopsis grabbed me. However, I really did not enjoy this book. The whole thing felt incredibly disjointed and nothing is thoroughly addressed that to a point of me feeling like any sentiments the book was going for were properly finished.

Ashoka is a prince who has been raised into violence but dreams of peace. Shakti is a mayakari who was raised to be peaceful but wants revenge for the death of her aunt. They both have to navigate a world that wants to destroy both of them. This is a very good fantasy story with a lot of political intrigue. The story is compelling, and I am very invested in Ashoka and Shakti as characters. I am excited to see where book 2 will go with the story.

I was pretty disappointed by this book. The plot just didn't give me what I wanted it to. It was too confusing and not cohesive enough. The main character wasn't someone I found myself rooting for so that also took away my enjoyment. The cover is beautiful though.

Thank you for an ARC for an honest review!

I will say that I think I read this at the right time as an American woman. I could truly empathize with the duality of pacifism and violence. I did enjoy the fantasy aspect and the spirits but sometimes the characters and world building fell a little flat. I would still recommend this book to anyone feeling the anger that I am at our current administration.

Read This Book If…you want a unique setting for your fantasy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara

Genre: Queer fantasy
Series: Obsidian Throne # 1
Spice Level: 0/5🌶, no spice
Setting: fantasy world inspired by Ancient India
POV: dual, 3rd person, past tense

My Thoughts:
This book was a really good release for me post-Inauguration. If you’re frustrated with the current regime and persecution against innocents, then this book with be very cathartic for you.

Since I know very little about the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India, I found this world to be very new and exciting and the witches in hiding have such interesting lore.

With this being a dual POV story, I was expecting more romance. However, I think there’s a very interesting dynamic being set up for the rest of the series. Both of the main characters are “act now, think later” which made for entertaining reading and I loved that for them!

I’ll definitely be continuing with the series!

Memorable Quote: “Vengeance praised her but recklessness punished her.”

Thank you to the publisher for my advance copy!