Princess of Shadows by A. G. Marshall Review

Princess of Shadows by A. G. Marshall 

The Princess and the Pea is a short intriguing story that is full of unanswered questions. They range from how does a pea under twenty mattresses cause the princess such discomfort and who is the princess who comes knocking on the prince's door in the middle of a thunderstorm. I personally wondered why a princess would be alone in a thunderstorm without a carriage or servants. But my main question is why is why does the prince want to marry a true princess? What does that even mean? Well, thankfully A. G. Marshall answers these questions in a very clever and interesting way. 

Prince Alaric needs to find a true princess because the court of kings is questioning if his family has the right to remain on the throne. One hundred years ago his ancestors over through the reigning monarch and took over the throne themselves. Now in order to help his family stay in power Alaric decides to hold a princess test and marry a real princess. Meanwhile Lina a noblewoman shadow magic user awakes from her enchanted sleep expecting her brother Lucca to greet her. After all the goblins she had been fighting were subdued by now. But to her shock and horror, she finds herself awoken in a new century having slept for one hundred years. With everyone she knew and loved gone Lina heads to the city to try and find answers on what fate befell her brother and kingdom. Having nothing but a enchanted ring and a magic green jewel similar to a pea Lina soon realizes that the kingdom is threatened by a mysterious danger. Frantic to warn someone of the upcoming threat Lina finds herself at the palace doors in a terrible rain storm. She is mistaken to be one of the princesses by and is sent to compete in the contest to win his hand in marriage. Believing she can meet with the council of kings who will surely know who she is Lina decides to play along until then. But can she protect the kingdom from a new threat that has arisen in the realm of Shadows? Can Alaric put aside his suspicions about her and follow his heart? Or will he choose duty over the growing affection he feels for the mysterious maiden? 

Princess of Shadows is a really interesting spin on The Princess and the Pea story. It answers many of the questions the original tale fails to tell the reader. Prince Alaric's reason to find a true princess is so that his family is so his family can stay on throne with no one questioning their right to rule anymore. The princess test is like a royalty version of the Bachelor. Except that he is not supposed to know the backgrounds of maidens and choose from his heart. However, since some of the maidens are only nobility and royalty, he sends spies to learn of their backgrounds. His loyalty to his country and family is really admirable despite how uptight I thought he could be. His brother Stephan was a nice contrast to his character being much more mischievous that he made me smile more than once. I preferred Lina though much more to Alaric though. She has to grapple with the fact that all her loved ones are dead and no one knows seems to know who she is. She ends up at the castle trying to warn the kings council of an unknown danger but is told she can’t meet with them. She is mistaken to be one of the participating princesses by Alaric's stepmother Queen Marta and thus she joins the competition to meet the council at an upcoming ball. But what is so cool about Lina is that she travels to the realm of shadows each night (her being a shadow warrior and all) and fights against a goblin called Nog. Nog is coming extremely close to breaking free from his prison and often injures Lina causing her to bruise over. Her only weapon is a small green gem the size of a pea. I absolutely love this plot twist. It makes a lot more sense that Lina should get injured through a goblin then a pea under twenty mattresses. Despite how much I loved Lina she is not actually my favorite character. No, that honor goes to Marta Prince Alaric and Prince Stephan's stepmother. She was so much more than she seemed which led to a plot twist that I totally did not see coming. She is not in any way an evil stepmother. Oh no she loves her stepchildren as much as her own and even encourages Alaric to follow his heart when choosing a princess and choose one just for what she has to offer to the country. It’s honestly so nice and refreshing to read a book with a stepmother that is not evil.  

So, this book was really good. If I had one thing to complain about it would be that the romance felt a little lacking. Maybe I just expected more but I felt like it could have been added upon more. But what we have is still very good. Overall, I would recommend this book to fairy tale and fantasy fans. Especially to those who are looking to read a retelling about a more obscure fairy tale. I rate this book 4 stars.