Cursed Prince

Night Elves Trilogy, Book 1

By: C.N. Crawford

Narrated by: Amanda Dolan

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

My heart hasn't beat in a 1,000 years. I haven't uttered a word in prison, and the guards keep their distance. If they get too close, they die - until at last, my magic binds my soul to another.

Unfortunately, the person destined to save me is a night elf - the enemy of my kind. And yet, when I see her in the cell across from mine, an ember starts to burn in my chest. When we escape together down the palace walls, it’s almost like I can feel again.

As we journey to find the magic that will save us both, attraction simmers between us. But I keep my secrets close. Because, if she finds out what I am, she will find a way to kill me, even if it means sacrificing herself to do it.

©2020 Corey Press (P)2020 Corey Press

Looked for a standard fantasy; this is not it

I have a lot of pet peeves with both the writing and the voice performance, and these annoyances are detailed below. However, I could probably overlook what I perceive as faults if this had been the right kind of novel for me. It is written as a romance, replete with purple prose. Just. Not. My. Jam. If romance is your thing, you might like this selection.

My peeves:

The author struggles with pronouns. Unfortunately, that is getting to be a common occurrence. They are also innocent of the rules of prepositions. Then there are the words they can't turn loose as the words will be repeated for no good reason throughout a chapter and even within sentences. Has it become taboo to use a thesaurus?

There is repeated place name dropping where I suspect the names mean nothing to people not familiar with Boston. The characters and situations are difficult to believe - and this after you've already suspended a hold onto reality and opened yourself to a world of fantasy.

The performer... is no Bahni Turpin or R. C. Bray. We can't all be the ones at the apex, but this performer doesn't seem to be aware of a voice acting standard. Not that no effort is expended - far from it. The over emoting and the unsettling inflections and pauses are weird in a most cringe inducing way. (Some weirdness I celebrate, but not this.) In fact, listening to the performance exhausts me. Switching to reading is not an option as the mangled grammar would try me too much.

I made it about an hour into the listen before deciding life is too short for this.

A really nice surprise

I was rather desperate for a story, and took a chance on this one. And I was very happily surprised overall. I was soon caught up in the story. There are some great creative touches that caught me by surprise, and maybe best of all, some real, actually funny, humor.
Some of the writing is “under-written” or simplistic?, while at other times the writing is breathtaking and very well-done.
The concept, to me, was unique and intriguing. I found myself quite happily entertained, and naturally able to root for and sympathize with both protagonists. I liked how the cursed prince is forced to gradually re-acclimate himself to the world after 1000 years of imprisoned darkness. It’s perfect for the story and makes sense. Actually after reading the next two books in series, the entire plot of this first book makes all kinds of sense and is very well done. I liked it the best of whole series, I think.
Maybe I’ve just stumbled upon a genre I’m unfamiliar with. Or maybe it’s just this author, but to me, it’s disconcerting to have modern day memes thrown in, such as referring to 80s singer Rick Astley as “RickRoll”. My nieces used that phrase a few days ago and it was SO very weird to find out it wasn’t fictional. Not sure I like that. It jolts a reader from the “suspension of disbelief” necessary for reading fiction. Some elements are familiar from basic folklore though. Just broken apart, mixed up and reassembled into something new.
All in all, definitely worth the credit and very glad I stumbled upon it.
As for narration, I can’t say much. I’ve become spoiled by narrators who have serious pitch range and can give males a deeper voice. I definitely prefer that, but as long as I can differentiate the characters I don’t criticize. Often written books don’t give enough clues to speaker changes, they just make a new paragraph, so it’s critical in audiobooks that narrators somehow signal the change. I’ve been so confused at times. Apparently this narrator did a good job since I don’t remember that happening.

Very Rare

This book was an accidental find. I was looking for my next book & passed ready to pass it over. That was until I accidentally played the sample. The narrator hooked me from the 1st sentence. The main characters live & breath. I just love the concept & idea - very creative. The story is very well written with wonderful word choices. The author has a wonderful grasp of Norse mythology. I can't wait to read the 2nd book.

Exactly what I wanted!

I really love fantasy romance/ paranormal romance and this book hit the nail on the head. It had the usual tropes of assassins and Princes but it still had an original story and plot that was wonderfully done.

Good story for a casual listen

This is a good story for a casual, not focused solely on the story book. There were several holes or maybe parts I missed, like when did she start wearing a dress? and the narrator changed how names were pronounced several times, which got a bit confusing sometimes. Overall it was a good listen, if you don't get hung up on the details.

Good Read

Enjoyed the story. The plot was good, but I wish there was more info on the characters. Their backgrounds just aren't there.

Good story, not great narration.

The narration is really off putting. All I could focus on was the strange emphasis on every third or fourth word. I’ll be checking a sample of the next book and probably switching to the kindle version to continue the story.

Action packed adventure

This book was quite a ride: no moment that things are too slow.

Auhors have build a very interesting world mixing reality, fantasy and norsk folklore. This book takes place 1000 years from now, arter the ragnarök. Main issue in this book is conflict between two races of elves: high elves and night elves. Night elves have been imprisoned under ground for 1000 years and they are trying to break the spell that keeps them confined.

Our journey starts here, Heroine Alley is a night elf assasin that tries to free her people. Hero Marroc aka cursed prince who has been imprisoned whole time and made into undead creature who can’t feel anything. They’re paths collide and the adventure begins.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was light action packed story. But after saying that, there was a lot of lack in the romance storyline. Expecially heroine Ally didint seen to feel anything towards the Marroc, while he started to feel feelings towars h even without his soul. Alley seemed also otherwise little one dimentional character, even if she was not passive character.

Narration was fluent and good. Would have liked it even more if there would have been male reader to Marroc parts.

loved it!

I thought it was great my only issue was the voice for the prince. I wish his regular thinking voice would have been more distinct from hers because I often forgot who was talking unless it was a direct quote.
Still great just make sure to pay attention.

Amazing start to a series!!

Eveey body should get this book is amazing, non stop action, twist and turns!! Must read!!!!