Review: Prince of Shadows

Prince of Shadows by Rachel Caine
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Although I would never label Rachel Caine one of my favourite authors, she is one of my most-read authors. She’s one of those authors I will pick up whenever I see one of her books on offer, or when I see one of her books sitting in the library. She may not be one of my favourite authors, but I find her books to be consistently enjoyable.

I find there’s almost always an exception to the rule, though. Even with most of my favourite authors, I can name one of their books I was not crazy about. With Rachel Caine, Prince of Shadows is the book that has left me feeling disappointed. For me, Prince of Shadows was not up to the usual Rachel Caine standard of addictive reading.

I’ve read plenty of books that work off the Romeo and Juliet theme, but Prince of Shadows was my first retelling I picked up. I was both intrigued and nervous – intrigued as to how someone would retell one of Shakespeare’s best-known words, and nervous as to how the story would be reworked to give us something different to what everyone knows.

At first, I wasn’t won over by this one. In fact, I had a great deal of difficulty with this novel. There were plenty of times where I considered returning the book to the library without finishing it, finding the book was unable to hold my attention. I persisted, though. I kept reading, hoping things would get better.

Things did improve somewhat, but I was never completely won over by this book. Things improved from my original disinterest, but it was never enough to leave me falling in love with the book. I found myself enjoying the little twist Rachel Caine added, but I also felt it played out in a rather predictable manner. Add in the fact that I never felt any connection to the characters, I did not much care for the new depth given to them in this story, and I found myself reading just to see how it was different to the original story.

I’m sure there will be plenty of people out there who will enjoy this take on Romeo and Juliet, who will enjoy this retelling. Unfortunately, for me, this book was a slog to get through, one I never found myself invested in.

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