Wicked Prince of Shadows

Overall Rating: 5/5

Wicked Prince of Shadows is book 2 in the Wicked Princes series and is a standalone that may be read on its own.

A cursed ruler with a broken heart.

An herbalist mistakened for a princess.

And a ritual that demands royal blood to save a kingdom from obliteration...

Sabine is an herbalist who has become friends with the princess. Sometimes, she swaps places with her friend so that she may experience life as a normal person, away from her royal duties.... and she does just that on the night of the Blood Moon Festival, so her friend can escape to go explore the village...

And at midnight, when the fog rolls in, she meets the one known as the Hollow King. I went into this book utterly blind and not knowing what to expect, but I have to say, I was blown away. I adore the myths of Hades and Persephone, and I adore when I can read creative retellings of these myths. Jessica has not only incorporated the myth of Hades and Persephone into Wicked Prince of Shadows, but she has also effortlessly blended in elements of Beauty and the Beast in... with her own deliciously shadowed twist. To see the way this blossomed from a tale of attempted escape from a fate that Sabine did not want, to something else entirely.... mixed with tales of battling monsters and other shenanigans...This is beautifully written, and something I thoroughly enjoyed.