The Green-Eyed Prince by Brittany Fichter

Fairy Tale. 160 pages. 4 Stars

Synopsis:

An enchantress is murdering Queen Kartek’s soldiers and threatening her kingdom. Kartek’s healing jewel has been lost. Her only hope of saving her kingdom seems to lie in the hands of the green-eyed stranger who claims he can save her jewel and her people…but the price is steep, and the young queen doesn’t have much time.

In this novella retelling of The Frog Prince, seventeen-year-old Queen Kartek has resigned herself to marrying the greatest warrior in the Megal Desert, but her true joy lies in sharing her healing powers with her people and meeting the everyday needs of her kingdom. When an enchantress attacks, however, her betrothed is murdered, and danger camps outside Hedjet’s gates, Kartek’s world is turned upside down.

To make matters worse, her healing jewel falls into an abandoned well just when she needs it the most, and her only hope of retrieving the jewel lies in marrying a green-eyed stranger and making him king.

In this retelling of The Frog Prince, Kartek must choose whether to trust that her new husband’s intentions are as honorable as he promises, or to try and defeat the enchantress alone. For as much as she resents her new husband, she quickly realizes that there is more to this quiet man than meets the eye. He might just be the miracle her kingdom needs…and the balm she craves for her lonely heart.

The Green-Eyed Prince is a novella set in the world of the Classical Kingdoms Collection, a series of clean fairy tale retellings full of sacrifice, true love, and the magic of happily ever afters.

My Review:

I am increasingly impressed by Brittany Fichter’s work. To be perfectly honest, I kind of put reading this one off, despite loving the previous two books of hers that I’ve read. Yes, I judged the book by it’s cover. Guilty. I’m not a huge Asian/Middle Eastern style culture fan. They’re great people and all, but the culture doesn’t appeal to me personally. It doesn’t draw my interest. It’s not where my mind wanders when I’m bored. So, as much as I love fairy tale retellings, I kind of figured I’d sweep this one under the rug and come back to it when I felt like it. Boy, am I glad Mrs. Fichter posted a chronological order for her books. My inner OCD won out and I determined to pick this one up and read it.

The setting is in the desert and the culture is reminiscent of a Middle Eastern people, but to my surprise, I didn’t mind in this book. It did take me a little while to catch onto all of the names, titles, and positions, the jahira, the emeerie, the alders, etc. The Rayis was easier to pick up on, but that may just have been because I was starting to sort all of the names out or because there seemed to be more explanation about what the Rayis was supposed to do. Some of the names were hard to get my mind around–solely because, again, I am very unfamiliar with the culture, language nuances, etc.–but eventually I guess I either settled into the names or created something similar in my mind that could pass for the name as I read it. (I probably mentally butchered these names, let’s be honest XD) These two things were the most difficult part of the book for me, as a reader. Aside from that, however, not only did I not mind the desert people culture the book was written in, but I found myself curious about the broader world building. I want to know what the traditions are of the people, how they grow and change, but also how their belief system was founded. I want to know how other kingdoms and peoples in the Classical Kingdoms universe interpret that belief system and implement it in their lives. I want to learn more about the magic system we see hinted at here. This book felt like a foundation for a greater worldbuilding to come, if that makes sense.

The story was well-written and I think there was only one spot I found that held a very small inconsistency. I found no glaring grammatical errors or boo boos, plot holes or anything like that. The plot was well-paced and kept me engaged throughout. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the enchantress and it kind of all unfolded at once rather than bit by bit, but that didn’t affect the continuity of the story. The nods to the Frog Prince were clear and made me smile. I liked the way the frog was depicted. This is only the second story I’ve seen where the frog was actually human with a froglike appearance.

The characters are what really made this story for me. Dakarai was my favorite. I could spend a whole other book diving into his character and be perfectly contented. I loved watching his character revealed. I loved watching Kartek watch him and struggle with the inconsistency in his behavior during their initial meeting versus every other time she observed him. I loved the way we got to know him: through the eyes of the children, the warriors, and his interactions with Kartek directly. He wasn’t all perfect either. He got angry and he stormed off. He felt hurt and loss and grief, but he had such a noble character. Despite his circumstances, he did what he felt was best. He was an honorable man, and I loved him for it. Kartek grew through the story, and y’all know how much I love character development. I’d also love to dig into her past a little. We got the basics for this story, but if the author ever one day decided to write a prequel, I wouldn’t be opposed! I wonder what she was like as a little girl, how she reacted the day everything changed, how she lost her parents, etc. I like that Kartek didn’t have all the answers, that she was still a young girl in many respects, but that she had a strong courage and loyalty to her people. The secondary characters made me smile often. I’d like to see more of the different tribes one day. I feel like we kind of breezed past them a little. Ahmos was my favorite SC. He’s another one I could happily learn more about him and his past.

Fantastic characters, an interesting creature, and a fun version of the Frog Prince. Overall, I enjoyed the book far more than I thought I would. And I am so ready for Beauty now! Especially after that epilogue!!

The book had no foul language, some very mild violence, and nothing more serious than a kiss. There were a few references to the “marriage bed,” but they were nothing detailed at all. Clean read easily recommended to fairy tale fans.

More:

Book 1 in the Classical Kingdoms series is Before Beauty (5 Stars)

Book 2 is Blinding Beauty (5 Stars)

Book 3 is Beauty Beheld (5 Stars)

Book 4 is Girl in the Red Hood (4 Stars)

Book 5 is Silent Mermaid (5 Stars)

Book 6 is Cinders, Stars, and Glass Slippers (5 Stars)

Book 7 is A Curse of Gems (5 Stars)

Book 8 is Neverland Falling (5 Stars)

Book 9 is Breaking Neverland (5 Stars)

Book 10 is The Sentinel’s Song (4 Stars)

Book 11 is The Seven Years Princess (5 Stars)

I have read and rated the above on Goodreads. Check out the links for more info.

The Becoming Beauty trilogy should be read in order; however, the others are technically standalones. That said, I’d still read them in order since there is some crossover between characters.

Here is a picture of the reading order as posted by the author:

On Gracebought:

Check out the review for the next book in the series, Before Beauty.