Book Review: Heir to Thorn and Flame by Ben Alderson

book cover for Heir to Thorn and Flame by Ben Alderson

In Heir to Thorn and Flame, we follow Max who has worked as a servant in the palace for years in a kingdom where magic has been lost. Max discovers that he has magic after being attacked by the prince and killing him. Forced to take on the prince’s name and identity by the king, Max is then forced into an arranged marriage with Prince Camron. The king holds Max his parents hostage, and also holds his wand hostage which prevents him from using his magic.

Overall, this book was not for me. It seemed like it was going to be a fantasy romance type of book from the description and the cover. However, there was barely any romance, and the fantasy part of it was convoluted and not that interesting. Our main character Max also seems to make no choices, and everything is just kind of forced upon him, which doesn’t make for a very good read.

I probably should’ve stopped reading this book after Max was forced into becoming the prince. As part of that forced transformation, his skin was chemically lightened against his will. This horrific scene is never really brought up again, and we never really hear about it from Max. To have such a traumatizing event at the beginning of the story, and then just completely ignore it is wild and I didn’t like it at all. I’m not going to be reading the rest of the series.

I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC. All opinions are my own.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Rating: 1 star

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