#Review - Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo #YA #Fantasy #Romance

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Release Date: October 11, 2022
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Romance

From the author of To Kill a Kingdom comes a Rapunzel-inspired YA fantasy romance about a teen witch groomed to steal souls for an immortal king and the reckless, rebellious boy to whom her fate is tied.

For sixteen years, Selestra has been trapped in her tower on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as the King's Witch, who foretells deaths in the Festival of Predictions. Outrunning your fate earns a wish and the chance to steal the King’s immortality. But die and your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.

A soldier in the King's army, Nox is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but, driven by revenge, he is determined to steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra.

Yet when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, their fates become entwined, and death seeks to take both their souls. Only by working together can they survive long enough to escape the dark fate and the immortal King that now hunts them. 

From the author of To Kill a Kingdom, Alexandra Christo, comes a Rapunzel-inspired YA fantasy romance about a teen witch groomed to steal souls for an immortal king and the reckless, rebellious boy to whom her fate is tied. For sixteen years, Selestra has been trapped in her tower on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as the King's Witch, who foretells deaths in the Festival of Predictions. Her mother is the top witch to the king who feeds him these souls.

 

Every year during Festival of Predictions, in preparation for the Red Moon, people barter parts of their soul to the king and try to make it until the beginning of the red moon or the end of the month. Some make it only a few hours or the halfway mark of the month, but after the halfway mark of the month the king hunts those still alive to consume their soul to stay alive Outrunning your fate earns a wish and the chance to steal the King’s immortality. But die and your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death. 

 

Selestra can tell when someone is going to die with just a lock of your hair. Selestra, like her mother, is tied to King Seryth thanks to an ancient oath made long ago by her descendant, Isadore. Nox Laederic is a member of the Last Army's Thanatos Regiment and the youngest to be given his own regiment. Nox believes that in order to kill Seryth, he must kill Selestra. But a curious thing happens to his path to revenge for his father. After Selestra sees her own death, she knows that she is now tied to Nox. If he dies, she dies. 

 

Only by working together can they survive long enough to escape the dark fate and the immortal King that now hunts them. Although you can see some Rapunzel references, the fact that Selestra has hair down past her butt, I would call this a loosely inspired retelling set in the same world as To Kill A Kingdom. This is both an enemies to lovers trope, as well as a story about a young woman coming to terms with the fact that she is no longer just a prop for her mother and the King, but someone who has her own powers and abilities that may finally unite the Six Isles. 

I really do appreciate authors who can write standalone novels and not expect readers to follow them to sequels. This book wraps up fairly mundane and maybe a bit on the predictable side. The story doesn't just stay in one place, it moves out of the Floating Mountain to a place by air balloon that is said to be the only place in the Six Isles that refuses to bend a knee to the King. This is also the place where Selestra can finally understand what her future really holds.

 

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