Review: The Marked Prince

The Marked Prince by M.A. Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

High Prince Slaine of the Unseelie Court appears to have defected to the Summer (Seelie) Court and become betrothed to Princess Aoife. In reality he has been put under a Thrall and his face has been given to an imposter, unable to tell the truth. He spends his days being tortured and ridiculed by Aoife as a political prisoner, his identity hidden by a gold mask and the name Duine.

Sebastian has hidden his real identity for many years, half-Seelie, half-Unseelie and son of King Oberon's beloved sister, he hasn't been in the Seelie Court for years, not even after his mother's death. But when bringing Slaine back is the only thing that is likely to prevent war between the two courts he is the obvious choice.

Sebastian is shocked at the lack of glamour in the Sidhe when he returns to the Summer Court, his cousin Aoife is advocating war and gathering supporters, King Oberon appears afraid of Aoife and the nobles seem indifferent to the suffering of the ordinary fae. When he sees Aoife torturing an Unseelie prisoner he requests him as a manservant.

Despite not wanting to be designated a prince of the Seelie court Seb cannot ignore the suffering of the fae and with Duine's help he starts to muster support for peace and a more equitable sharing of the Sidhe's glamour. But he has made a dangerous enemy in Aoife and there are forces at work that neither of them understand that threaten the very existence of both courts.

This is a deep contrast to the first book which I likened to Harry Potter with the fae. This is set entirely within the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Despite the abrupt change of focus I enjoyed this book, once I realised that it was not about the couple from the first book, but Prince Roark's older brother (poor memory for names). These novels are not for the faint hearted, the fae can be frighteningly imaginative with their tortures but the writing was engaging and Seb and Slaine/Duine are a charming couple as the prince turned servant teaches the new prince how to win over the nobility.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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