The Cursed Prince by Aya Ling Review

After reading the first two books in the Reversed Retellings series I was very eager to see how the final book The Cursed Prince would turn out. I have been extremely interested in Sleeping Beauty retellings recently and this book did not disappoint me. In fact, it turned out to be my favorite in the trilogy. And just like its precursors it was the first gender swapped Sleeping Beauty retelling I had ever read despite knowing of others like it like Daggers Sleep by Tricia Mingerink. I look forward to reading more Sleeping Beauty retellings in the future and am currently reading another one which will be reviewed sooner than later once I finish it. Also, before continuing this review please know there are some minor spoilers of the two previous books mentioned in this review. If you don't care about spoilers than carry on reading. If you don't want to be spoiled than come back after reading at least the first two books in the trilogy.

The book introduces Gabi a mage whose parents were killed and she herself left crippled by the attack. She is found by another mage Freja (a prominent character from the two previous books) who takes her in and tasks her with protecting her ward, Alrik. In truth, Alrik is prince of Arksan who is believed dead by the world. At birth he was cursed to die on his twenty-first birthday by an evil witch named Moira. Freja, however, managed to soften the curse by making him fall asleep instead (should he prick his finger) and he can be awakened only by a kiss of true love. Raising the boy on her own without him knowing his real identity, Alrik grew up believing he had hemophilia and that even a small scratch could bleed him to death. Gabi soon falls in love with Alrik, but he rebukes her affections making her feel he does not love her back. In truth Alrik had been in love with Gabi for a long time but was afraid to get married to anyone since he did not want his hemophilia to get passed onto his children. When the truth of Alriks past and the curse comes out Alrik confesses his feelings for Gabi, and all seems well until the witches Moira and Sorcha kidnap him. With Freja busy helping the Savon princes (from the first book) it is up to Gabby and the other mages to defeat the witches once in for all and rescue Alrik before he is forced to become Moira’s husband. Find out the answers by reading the book yourself. 

Although I did not mention it in the book summary, this book also continues the stories of Alix Thoe, Gerald, and Sybil. Their battle with the trolls is concluded in this book as well. It was nice to read from Alix and Sybil’s perspectives again, but it felt that their character arcs were not concluded in the most satisfying way. It would have been nice if they had epilogues along with Gabi. They might appear in Aya Ling’s other series Maid of Iron which is set in the same world.  

Overall, this was a terrific book and by far my favorite out of trilogy. It had a sweet love story, that made me root for Gabi and Alrick to finally be together after so much heartache and hardship. I hope they will make cameo appearances in the Maid of Iron series which I plan to read in the upcoming year. I plan to read some of Aya Ling’s other book series first, however, such as her Unfinished Fairy Tales series, and her standalone novel Enspelled. I look forward to reading those books soon and posting reviews on them. I give this book 4.8 out of 5 stars. Until next time. E.V.A.