Review: The Prince and the Thief

The Prince and the Thief by P.S. Scott
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 48%.

Will is a commoner and a thief, a commoner with water magic - something only nobles from Aqua, the underwater kingdom, should possess. One night he stumbles across a young man trying to save a young girl in one of the notorious areas of the city, he is shocked to see the young man use serious amounts of earth magic - what is a nobleman doing in the slums? The next day his uncle orders him to break into the royal palace and steal a ring from under the King's bed. Will is surprised to see the same young noble in the palace and learn that he is Prince Aidan.

Aidan is the second prince of Ambrosia, his father is forcing him to marry a princess from the neighbouring kingdom of Chronos to create an alliance between their kingdoms. Aidan doesn't want to marry anyone, especially not a woman, but it is forbidden for the aristocracy to have same sex relationships so his love for Orion, the son of Ambrosia's Minister of Law, must remain secret. Unfortunately for Aidan, his abusive Uncle Nicholas, the Prince Regent has incriminating letters between Aidan and Orion which he threatens to share with the King, unless Aidan steals a key to the travel line chamber.

I loved the premise of this, opposites attract, LGBTQ+ fantasy involving political upheaval. Unfortunately, 48% into the book and nothing seems to have happened. Also, the book is told in alternating chapters by Will and Aidan but there is no change of 'voice' between a prince and a commoner, no change of language and it feels like a relentless stream of 'I, I, I, I, I' page after page, after page. So almost six months after I first started reading this book I am giving up. The pace is too slow and everything feels all too predictable.

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

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