Mini ARC Reviews// First Came Forever and the Prodigy Prince

Back with another installment of mini ARC reviews! I find this is the best way to get all your ARCish thoughts out there. This one is featuring two books, both of which I was lucky enough to be contacted by the author themselves and asked to review. The first is First Came Forever by Annie Woods, and the second is Prodigy Prince by Natasha Sapienza.

First Came Forever

Rating: Fire 

*This book was given to me for free by the publisher and author in exchange for an honest review.*

First love. A promise of forever. A lie that changes everything.

Backpacking with her high school friends, Erica Lindell’s life takes a thrilling new turn. Meeting the fascinating Sasha Ailes, she can’t help but fall completely and irrevocably in love with him. When he feels the same way about her, Erica finds herself drawn into a fairytale love story that will set her life on a new direction. But Sasha has kept his true identity a secret. Finding out who he really is, Erica must overcome the betrayal and make the hardest choice of her life. Can she give up her own dreams to live in his world, or leave and lose him forever?

First Came Forever is an enchanting, heart-wrenching story about finding true love and the devastating consequences it can lead to. What price is too high to pay, even for love?

This book is so much more than it seems at first glance. It looks like it is just a cliche romance story with royalty but Oh No! There’s betrayal, assassins, scandals, love triangles (yes, plural!) and so much more. The story isn’t even that focused on Sasha and Erica as it is on Erica’s life. And there’s side plots that happen simultaneously as when they collide it’s just BAM!

I will say nothing in this book surprised me too much. I expected some of the big plot twists but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy them, because I did. And once you got past the whole vacation with Sasha, the book got so much better! I posted a reaction earlier to when Sasha told Erica he loved her within the first 50 pages but now looking back I am not that mad. I thought the whole book was going to be about Sasha and Erica so I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to make it through an entire insta love book. But then the plot picks up and their insta love makes a ton more sense. And if you’re like me, you totally have a side in the love square.

I loved all the characters, they were all so well done. Erica was great– sweet, sassy, sporty, nerdy. Sometimes she was a bit too much of an angel and her niceness was overdone but overall I enjoyed her. Although she’s a real idiot when it comes to Sasha. Danny is such a sweet best friend that anyone would be lucky to have. Ricky is funny and cute and just fun to be around. And Tyler is my favorite– tough and cocky on the outside with a heart of gold on the inside.

One thing about the writing is that it was a bit jerky. It was written in third person, but where the narrator knows the people’s thoughts, and it wasn’t just Erica’s thoughts we knew. Sometimes we would hear some of Sasha’s or some of Danny’s and it was a little disorienting. Also, there needed to be page breakers in between scenes, because it was sometimes unclear that a new scene was taking place. And lastly there were some name errors. Like one time she was talking to Sasha but the book said Tyler? Which was a little confusing.

But overall this book was a pleasant read, cute and enjoyable, which is why I gave it three stars. Thank you so much Annie for providing me with the book!

Prodigy Prince

Rating: Fire 

*This book was given to me for free by the publisher and author in exchange for an honest review.*

At seventeen, all Prince Nuelle had ever known was safety and peace while living in the Supreme Palace of Zephoris.

But one night, his older brother, Tane, defies their father by traveling to a cursed land. Now Nuelle holds the signet-ring and carries more responsibility than even Tane bore. Thrust from the palace and sent to a knight-building academy, Nuelle must discover his purpose for the entire kingdom’s sake.

From his place of banishment, Prince Antikai has been exacting revenge through fear and rebellions. Nuelle has the potential to defeat him, but he needs the help of a powerful book and six gifted youths.

Summoned by Antikai, shape-shifting beasts and other enemies hunt Nuelle and the Acumen. If either is destroyed, the faithful citizens in Zephoris will perish, and darkness will rule forever.

When Natasha reached out to me about reading this book, she included the first chapter, and I can honestly say I was hooked. The writing is a type that just draws you in, as well as the story. It is action packed, with hardly a moment of rest. The story itself really intrigued me as well. I have a weakness for books with guardians, and this book had six! And they were all teenagers which was super cool. And it was a cool premise to have a book written specifically for Prince Nuelle with all the answers. I think I was just a little confused at what the main point of the plot actually was. Was it to kill Antikai? Was it to save the Faithful? Idk.

The characters were all good. Almost too good, I would say. The whole point of the book was to explore good vs evil, which is made very explicit by calling the good people the Faithful. And to be Faithful, you had to love others and trust in human goodness, which meant all six Sentinels plus Prince Nuelle were perfect little angels. Which was a bit unrealistic, that six teenagers could just be so good and angelic. I mean, one thing that annoyed me was whenever someone died, they would all sob. That sounds pretty cold hearted, but why are they all sobbing if someone died that they literally just met a second before. 

I also think the world building itself was a little confusing. Why was everyone rebelling against the kings? Also, why were there multiple kings all under one Supreme King? Like what is the political structure like in this book? Why does each person have a gift, and why are all their gifts so different? Like there isn’t any overlap between them all. What is Antikai’s motivation for rebelling and everyone else to turn dark?

However, as I said before, this book was seriously engrossing. Once I started I didn’t want to stop reading. If you are interested in some new fantasy series, try this one out!

And that’s the end of my mini ARC reviews!

What do you think of these books? Which sounds more up your alley?