Angie Cox's Reviews > Bound to the Shadow Prince

3.5 ⭐️ If you like fantasy romance and Ruby Dixon, then definitely pick this book up


He's a polite monk of a Fellian who just happens to be trapped in a tower with a princess of loose morals who really, really wants to ride his c*ck.


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ fantasy romance
✨ feuding factions
✨ gods x humans x ‘monsters’
✨ locked away in a windowless tower with your enemy
✨ she’s a spoiled, chronically ill, lusty human princess
✨ he’s a shy, celibate, bookish non-human prince
✨ virgin, cinnamon roll monster
✨ enemies to friends lovers
✨ forced proximity
✨ opposites attract
✨ nursing back to health
✨ he falls first
✨ 4/5 🌶️ (primal, knotting, somnophilia)
✨ "you can take it"
✨ political intrigue
✨ world building
✨ high stakes
✨ intense third act
✨ HEA
✨ standalone
✨ single POV
✨ 1st person (present tense)
✨ TW: chronic illness, war, famine, starvation, violence, murder, r@pe (off-page, not the MC)

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this story overall! It was super unique and really engaging, especially from a fantasy standpoint.

Ruby Dixon really took her time developing the characters and explaining this world and the politics. This information was given in a palatable way where even though there were some complexities to the situation, it was easy to follow and understand.

The premise is amazing! Two enemies stuck together in a windowless tower for 7 years??? This is the ultimate forced proximity pairing! Since this story is from the FMC Candra's POV, the reader gets to experience all the fear, despair, and loneliness she encounters during her first few months in the tower. And even though she didn't start off as a likable character (I'll explain this more below), I couldn't help but pity her and her situation. My heart definitely went out to her and I felt some anxiety trying to figure out how the heck she was going to survive all that time in the dark.

The main characters, Candra and Nemeth, were also really interesting. Candra is a spoiled princess with a life threatening illness that is kept at bay by a daily dose of medicine. She was never intended to spend seven years in the tower or really do much of anything besides flit about in court, so she was woefully unprepared for the challenges that she would encounter being alone in the dark. Candra isn't usually a character I would like. She's vain, overindulgent, and (somewhat) selfish. But throughout the book, she slowly transforms into a brave, determined, kind-hearted person and someone I respected. She still has some vanity but I appreciated that she never tries to hide that part of herself. Nemeth comes off as dangerous and grumpy at first, but as he and Candra spend more time together, we discover how shy, kind, and patient he truly is. Ruby Dixon loves her gentle giant, cinnamon heroes and Nemeth is no exception. I'm also a huge fan whenever the love interest wants to take care of and pamper the heroine, and Nemeth is a king at this. I honestly loved their dynamic and the romance that blossoms between them.

This book is SPICY. There is a lot of sex and it’s explicit. Since Nemth isn't human, it's all very primal. There's also knotting, a chase, and many BJ somnophilia scenes. 😉

I know a lot of people will see the three-stars and think that must mean this isn't good, but that's not the case. While I really loved the premise, characters, and the romance, I ended up skimming a lot of the story. It was just so damn wordy with pages of unnecessary descriptions, explanations, inner thoughts, and showing the passing of time. Whenever Candra and Nethem get together by the 50% mark, I ended up skimming most of the non-dialogue and it truly didn't impact my understanding of the story. I will say, I've read all of the Ice Planet Barbarian series as well as Bound to the Battle God and I've noticed that for her fantasy romance books, Ruby Dixon likes to make them extremely long and wordy. I've never found that to be the case with IPB but I think it's because that world and the stories are less complex than these. It isn't a bad thing, but I think there should be a bit more editing with these longer stories to make it more palatable to the reader. If it's too long and filled with a bunch of unnecessary scenes/paragraphs, you're going to lose the audience.

The use of old-timey words in the beginning are never used again. This is such a small thing to bring up, but I found it strange that in chapter one, the Candra and her people use words and phrases like 'thrice,' 'thus,' and 'for shame' while speaking but quickly after, those words are never used again and are instead used with modern language. Sometimes too modern. For example, the magic blade she has is described as 'salty' because it wasn't working the way she wanted it to. Again, this isn't a huge issue with the story, but it's an inconsistency that I did notice.

**3rd Act Spoiler Ahead**

(view spoiler)[I was a little confused by Meryliese's story. Mostly, when and how did Ivornath meet with her if she was in the Alabaster Citadel? Maybe I missed it in my skimming but I've gone back and tried to look. All she says is that he wanted to work with her to take down Lios and he would make her his queen. But when did this relationship develop? How did Ivornath get into the citadel or communicate enough with Meryliese to make her think he loved her? There was a lot of build-up to this final conflict and reveal but the explanation of how it all came together wasn't as in-depth as it should have been to be convincing and impactful. (hide spoiler)]

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.


Favorite Quotes:

"I don't like a man who's too smart. You can't trust them."
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How do peasants get anything done without a staff to clean up after them?
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"I would have waited a thousand years for you. You are worth waiting for, Candra."
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"I can manage anything as long as I have you, Candra."
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