Princess of Souls

by Alexandra Christo

4 out of 5

Synopsis

From the author of To Kill a Kingdom comes Princess of Souls, a Rapunzel-inspired YA fantasy romance about a teen witch groomed to steal souls for an immortal king and the reckless, rebellious boy to whom her fate is tied.

For sixteen years, Selestra Somniatis has been trapped in a castle on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as King Seryth’s right hand. Tied by blood to steal souls for the immortal King of the Six Isles, the Somniatis Witch foretells the deaths of participants in the Festival of Predictions. To outrun your fate is to save your soul and steal the King’s immortality. But if you die, your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.

As a soldier in King Seryth’s army, Nox Laederic is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but he has no plans to die at the hands of the King or his witches. His plan is more akin to violent revenge: steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra herself.

But when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, she sees her own death alongside his--their fates are unmistakably intertwined, and Selestra is no longer safe in the only home she’s ever known. Nox and Selestra will have to enter a turbulent alliance in order to survive long enough to free the Six Isles from King Seryth’s clutches and escape the new fate that hunts them.

Review

Selestra is a witch-in-training, duty-bound to steal souls for the immortal king. Nox is a soldier intent on bringing them all down, but fate ties them together.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows our two main characters.

Selestra may live in the castle, and have every luxury, but she is little better than a prisoner. Her mother is the king's witch - feared by all, seeing deaths and stealing souls to keep the king's immortality. Selestra is the witch's heir, born to follow in her mother's footsteps.

When she meets Nox, she sees his death is tied to hers, and decides they have to work together to escape their fate.

Nox is the perfect soldier. He is a legendary fighter, loved by the army and even has the king's respect. It's all a facade though, the king and his witches murdered his father, and Nox is going to kill every last one of them. And it starts with winning a wish in an annual competition - and if he loses, he dies.

When he meets the fearsome heir, she's not quite what he expected, and that she hates the king too. He doesn't trust her, but realises that his enemy's enemy could be his friend.

I enjoyed this story, with it's hint of dark Rapunzel with a bit of Medusa thrown in.

I thought the magic used by Selestra and her mother was very interesting. How their ancestor bound them all to serve the power-hungry king in any way he sees fit.

The first half follows them as they try and escape the king and his army - Nox only has to survive a month to win the contest, and Selestra is keen to get as far away from her prison as possible.

Nox believes they will only be safe on an island that is impenetrable, and is rumoured to be the home to a legendary weapon - the only thing that can defeat the immortal king.

It's interesting to watch how their plans start to change, when they realise not everything is as it seems. And Selestra finds that she will have to face her enemy to truly escape him.

The not-so-good.

The main characters are alright to start with, they have their desires and drives, but they're nothing special. The friends that accompany them are much more interesting.

As the story goes on, and the "relationship" develops, I found they got blander and blander. Nox loses a lot of his depth, and he's just their to support Selestra; but it never feels like a real relationship. It's just ticking boxes and saying they're in love.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to more by this author.

Goodreads

Amazon