Review on The Shadow Prince

I have a new review for ya'll! This book was recently featured on my Waiting on Wednesday and I am so glad I did! I absolutely loved this book and I can't wait for it to come out so I can buy it.
Without further ado, I present to you...
The Shadow Prince by Bree Despain!!!



Format: Hardcover/ e-book
Pub. Date: March 11th, 2014
Summary:
Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world to entice a girl into returning with him to the land of the dead. Posing as a student at Olympus Hills High—a haven for children of the rich and famous—Haden must single out the one girl rumored to be able to restore immortality to his race.

Daphne Raines has dreams much bigger than her tiny southern Utah town, so when her rock star dad suddenly reappears, offering her full tuition to Olympus Hills High’s prestigious music program, she sees an opportunity to catch the break she needs to make it as a singer. But upon moving into her estranged father’s mansion in California, and attending her glamorous new school, Daphne soon realizes she isn’t the only student in Olympus who doesn’t quite belong.

Haden and Daphne—destined for each other—know nothing of the true stakes their fated courtship entails. As war between the gods brews, the teenagers’ lives collide. But Daphne won’t be wooed easily and when it seems their prophesied link could happen, Haden realizes something he never intended—he’s fallen in love. Now to save themselves, Haden and Daphne must rewrite their destinies. But as their destinies change, so do the fates of both their worlds.
My rating: 5 out of 5 hell cats!
My recommendation: Anyone who wants to read a book with a new twist on mythology or anyone who likes a book that involves music.
My review:
My copy was provided to me by Netgalley.
I loved this book! I loved the mythology and the music and especially Haden! I was practically going in blind on the mythology of this book. In my school, we barely touched on Greek mythology and never covered the myth of Orpheus. The only reason I knew anything about him was reading about it in Everneath by Brodi Ashton. This book elaborated much more on Orpheus's tale and included so much more myths.
We all know the story of Persephone and Hades, right? Most people think Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and was tricked to eat six seeds. Well, what if she wanted to go with Hades? What if she fell in love with him and wanted freedom from her destiny? This book makes you question everything you know about Greek mythology.
Haden is the son of the Underworld ruler, but this ruler is not Hades considering Hades is dead. Haden has always been too human, too emotional to be a great Dark Lord and his father has always resented him for it. Haden just wants to be respected by his father, to be accepted as a Dark Lord. But it isn't that easy. To be accepted, Haden was chosen as Champion and had to bring a Boon back to the Underworld. This has been accomplished multiple times by other Champions, but Haden's Boon was a bit different. His Boon is the Cypher, a term he had never heard before. Haden had to go to the mortal realm, convince the Cypher, Daphne Raines, to trust him, and take her back to the Underworld. Simple, right? No, it gets so very complicated.
Daphne is an amazing singer. As well as having an amazing singing voice and being able to play the guitar, she is able to sense the songs in everything, in everything that has life. She wanted more than her small town life, in a town she has never left. She wanted to become famous, to sing where everyone could hear her, just like her father did, the famous singer, who left Daphne and her mother for a life of fame.
I loved Haden! He came into the human world without knowing everything about the gagets or technology. It was pretty funny how Despain explained what Haden thought about iPhones and music. Haden had no idea how to date or make a girl fall in love with him. He thought he had to be mean to get Daphne to like him. He was so funny and sweet. Haden blushes and cries, the opposite of what a Dark Lord should be like.
Daphne was down-to-earth and didn't care about fame or money like her dad did. All she cared about was her music. She doesn't fall in love with Haden at first. Most of the time, she thought he was either a pervert or he was just plain crazy. There's no insta-love here, which was very refreshing. In fact, there was only one kiss, but man did that kiss contain a ton of passion!
This book was all about the romance with a little bit of plot on the side. No, the plot was so important and complicated, but it didn't confuse me. The myths made sense to me and I loved how everything tied together. The book is a long read, but it didn't feel wrong. It was a fast-paced book filled with action and suspense. I couldn't put it down until I was done. This book was written well and the bits about the Underworld weren't just plopped down and you had to sort through the whole mess. They were laid out quite simply and made the whole book both easy to understand and interesting.
The mythology was amazing in this book! It makes me want to find out more which every book should do.
The ending of this book was packed with suspense and revelations. It wasn't too much of a cliffhanger that made you want to throw the book across the room. It left you with tidbits that makes you want to read the next book to figure out how everything's gonna end.
This book was packed with action and it was so interesting. You should definitely read this book, especially if you want to know more about Greek mythology.