I am forever an Elise Kova fan and so you know I begged my way into reading Prince of Swords. And HOW DARE SHE?! That ending. Prince of Swords is everything I wanted! Keep reading this book review of Prince of Swords for my full thoughts.
Summary
I am terrified. Yet my heart skips a beat. This man might be a monster, but he is my monster.
Clara Graysword is Oricalis’s most wanted. Hunted and cornered, not even her mastery of tarot can save her this time . . . until the mysterious Worldkeepers appear. This secretive order may hold the key to changing Clara’s fate. If she dares to trust them.
But the most dangerous alliance of all is one she’s already deeply ensnared Prince Kaelis.
Kaelis, second-born prince of Oricalis and headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the one man she can’t escape—maybe she doesn’t want to escape. Ruthless, dangerous, and bound to Clara by destiny and desire, Kaelis tests her heart as much as her loyalty. Together, they grow closer to the most powerful secrets of the tarot . . . and to the truths they both hide that could destroy the passion that they no longer deny.
Hidden in plain sight within Arcana Academy, Clara walks the dagger’s edge. Revelations about Oricalis threaten everything she thought she knew, and every choice she makes is the difference between salvation and ruin.
To change the world, Clara must risk everything—her power, her beliefs, and her heart.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Prince of Swords is a story about transformation. About what we will become when we are broken down, when we lose everything and still discover we have more to lose. It’s about the friends who sacrifice everything for us, the ones who are scared to love us, and the protection we fail to provide. We always think we can hold the secrets, the weight of the world, to protect the ones we love. But when does that become smothering? Clara is like a phoenix, continually braving the fire for the ones she loves, and burned down, emerging as something else entirely. Torn between love and the past, duty and hope, Prince of Swords is a story which allows Clara to figure out who she wants to become.
It’s easy to get caught up in the idea of transformation. In the process of becoming something new, of the choice, but will we like who we are after? The pain, the loss, the grief presses us into a diamond, compounding and sharpening. But what happens if the person we become just turns out to be a reflection, a fun house image of who we were running from? Prince of Swords is a vulnerable sequel. About wondering if we can ever be vulnerable again to trust, if we can let the joy and the moments of peace in. It’s about not wanting to say things aloud because we are worried it makes them real, it solidifies our fears, and proves we have even more left to lose. Prince of Swords makes me even more excited for the last book and the worlds Kova has created! Tarot card magic will always get me!
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Find Prince of Swords on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.