It was okay, but I don't think I'll be continuing the series. I've rated it 3⭐️ but it's verging on 2.5⭐️

It started off interesting, and I wanted to know what was going to happen to Shakti after the curse. As the story progressed, I started losing interest in her character and just wanted to focus on Ashoka and how his journey towards justice and peace would change him as you could see his resolve starting to crumble. Shakti was a strong character at the beginning, and I liked the revenge arc she was on . She was definitely entering her villain era, but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. I liked Ashoka's character development, and it really shows that innocence doesn't last forever. You have to make tough decisions in order to see your dream turn into a reality.

Parts of the writing felt long-winded and unnecessary. It took me out of it, and I found myself skimming some parts and getting back to the dialogue. There were aspects of the book that I liked, the main one being the Mayakari. Their history and power were interesting, and I wanted to know more about the spirits.

The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara is the first book in the Obsidian Throne Series. This is the story of Ashoka and Shakti.
 
Ashoka is the Prince of the Ran Empire, and he is trained to become the next king. His father is brutal and ruthless, whereas Ashoka is gentle and caring and he is looking to change things for the better. That makes him an outcast, but you immediately like him. But when he is handed the power, it isn’t all that easy anymore and I really liked how this story shows what can happen when you’re in charge and at the top.
 
Shakti is a witch, and she curses Ashoka and his family as a means to take revenge on them for killing her aunt. But that isn’t enough for her, and she wants to dismantle the monarchy from within and she starts working undercover in the palace. Shakti was my favorite part of this book, and she is strong, clever and determined and has a lot of rage.
 
The world is inspired by the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India and that was really unique and cool to see, and I always love to see and learn more about different mythologies. The world also has animal spirits and I loved how that was reflected in the cover and the beautiful illustrations in the book. The plot was also very gripping, and you have two characters who are completely opposite of each other and enemies and it was so intriguing to see them meeting and interacting. That also created the perfect angsty and slow burn romance situation and I already can’t wait to see more of it in the next books.
 
If you’re looking for a really unique and amazing fantasy story, you need to check out The Prince Without Sorrow. 4,5 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

I didn’t go into this book with any expectations either way, so I was delighted to find it easy to read, with interesting characters and lots of representation. I got immersed really easily, and the politics of their world were easy to understand without lacking in world building.

The character journeys fascinated me and I’m really excited to see how they play out in the next book because these are two very nice characters with good morals who descend into darkness over the course of the book. It was thrilling to watch them get darker, and I’m very intrigued to see where they go next.

I also enjoyed the lack of romance in this book. While I’m not against romance, and quite enjoy it in some books, it does seem to be dominating the field right now, so it was just really refreshing to read a book where there wasn’t really a heavy romance focus.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Unfortunately I didn't really get on with the way this book was written. The prose felt quite laboured at times and there was some very odd phrasing throughout. However, the narrative was still engaging so I'm sure others will enjoy this more.

*Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | HarperVoyager for providing me this e-book in exchange for an honest review*

Oh Boy, I didn't expected to love a book like I love "The Prince Without Sorrow". The world building was so good that I was immediately immersed. I was both Ashoka and Shaktii at the same time, feeling the betrayal, the love and every possible emotion they felt to my bone. The political aspect of the story was weaved with the magic system as harmonious as I ever. I can't wait to read the next installment. There is a next book, right? *Fingers crossed*

Thank you Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the arc!

As soon as I saw Ancient India inspired setting, with environmental themes, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of this. I’ve really been enjoying a lot of South Asian inspired fantasy recently and this was no exception.

This book had a lot of things that I love in a fantasy novel – political intrigue, multi-POV and wonderful world building. While this is the first novel in a trilogy, I appreciate the time the author took in setting things up without being too overly descriptive. I still have a couple of questions that weren’t answered in this particular book, but I am hoping will be in the sequels.

I also loved the dual POV in this and how they were from opposing sides. Both characters felt fleshed out and I really liked seeing their development over the course of the book (again, 2 more to go, so there’s plenty of room for things to change!) I also really liked how their approaches to the challenges faced in the book are so different, yet circumstances force them to change. It’s the changes that make the development really interesting and I can’t wait to see more of.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and I cannot wait for the sequel!

I loved this, is it perfect no but it’s a lush story with incredible imagery that was so easy to picture in my head. For an adult book it does read young but I did still really enjoy it.

The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithrre Wijesekara is a beautifully written lyrical piece that not only tells a story, but describes it so we the reader can see it in our minds eye. Not only that, but there are illustrations as each new chapter begins… To be honest, I’d fallen in love with the cover before I even started the story. It’s stunning!
Anyway, the story… The Ran Kingdom is ruled by a brutal King. His name is Adil. He destroys anything attached to a tribe of people called Mayakari. They are peaceful witches, but Adin tells everyone they are dangerous and burns them. This has befallen Shakti’s aunt.
We meet Adin’s children, Arush, Arya, and Ashoka. The first two follow their father, but Ashoka is a gentle, peace loving Prince who hates that the Mayakari are hounded. He wants peace in the land.
Adin dies and his eldest son becomes ruler. After having an out of body experience, Shakir travels to the capital to talk to Ashoka. They both want peace, but fate has other ideas!.
I found this story a wonderful easy read and I can’t wait for the next book in the series to see what happens next!.
Many thanks to Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this arc copy via Netgalley. My opinion is my own.
#Netgalley, #HarperCollinsUk, #Maithrre_Wijesekara

Happy publication day!!
We cannot wait to read this one! Is #theprincewithoutsorrow by @maithree_wijesekara on anyone else's TBR?!

A prince born into violence, seeking peace.

Prince Ashoka is the youngest son of the tyrannical Emperor Adil Maurya. Considered an outcast by his father for his rejection of the emperor’s brutal onslaught against the witches of the empire, Ashoka longs for change. When the sudden and unexpected death of his father leaves the monarchy in disarray, Ashoka is sent to govern a tumultuous region annexed by Emperor Adil that is terrorized by nature spirits—a task many see as doomed to fail. Suspected by a disdainful governor and evaded by distrustful witches, Ashoka must question his rigid ideals and fight against becoming the one person he despises the most—his father.

A witch shackled by pacifism, seeking revenge.

Shakti is a witch bound by a pacifist code. After witnessing the murder of her aunt and village at the hands of the emperor, Shakti hurtles down a path of revenge, casting a curse with unexpected consequences. Posing as a maidservant in the famed palace of the Mauryas and armed with newfound powers beyond her imagination, Shakti attempts to dismantle the monarchy from within by having the royal progeny ruin themselves and turn their father’s legacy into nothing but ash.

In a world where nature spirits roam the land, and witches are hunted to extinction, Ashoka and Shakti will be forced to grapple with the consequences of to take it for themselves or risk losing it completely.

Thank you to @harpervoyager_uk for this beautiful copy!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book in advance!

This was a good book overall. I liked the idea, the magic system is interesting, the world building was well done and the writing immersed me in the story. However, I sometimes felt like the action was dragging along a little, or that it was a lot of set up for not many results. I may have expected this to be a standalone and then realised as I read the book that it was not. Overall I don't regret reading this at all, but I wish I had realised earlier that this was a series.

3.75/5, rounded up

This is a disappointing DNF for me at 25%. The Prince Without Sorrow is marketed as an Adult Fantasy but I really do feel that it is reads more as a YA (which isn't an issue if I KNOW that going into it and can expect the writing to read accordingly).

Where this book really had me lose interest in continuing is unfortunately in the actual line writing, grammar, and the depiction of our two main characters themselves. Some direct quotes that I wondered how they didn't get edited were:

"A round pink body atop a round head". So is this humanoid thing upside down? Was this written incorrectly? It was never explained.

"It didn't stop Ashoka from viewing his father with contemptuousness". Just say contempt. There are several similar examples to this that are making sentences unnecessarily "complicated/complex" for no reason.

"An innocent requires a cremation it didn't deserve." This sentence is conveying the OPPOSITE of what the character is meaning. He's trying to communicate that the animal was unfairly killed and deserved a cremation to honour it, but the sentence is just badly written and therefore says the opposite.

The characters themselves I also fairly quickly went from being extremely intrigued by (essentially a pacifist embodying revenge and violence and the son of the emperor who you'd expect to be violent- being an extreme pacifist), to feeling no emotional connection to them whatsoever and feeling like I barely know them behind their 2 characteristics. They felt flat. The magic system also wasn't feeling well established and more felt conveniently slotted in when the plot needed it, and in a fantasy book there's nothing more frustrating than an elusive magic system.

It felt like it had a great concept, so it's a shame the execution was so disappointing

Thanks to HarperCollins UK and the author for a review copy.
The Prince Without Sorrow is the first in a new fantasy series. The book is set in a world in which the cruel Ran Empire is the most powerful force. Headed by the Emperor Adil who sees expansion and conquest as the way to leave a lasting legacy, the peaceful Mayakari witches are being burned alive wherever they are found and Nature Spirits are increasingly enraged by the never ending destruction.
The story is told from the points of view of Shakti, a young Mayakari, and Prince Ashoka, youngest son of the Emperor. These are two very different characters and are well differentiated in the story. Each chapter focuses on one of them and is headed with beautiful artwork, a hummingbird for Shakti and a Leopard for Ashoka.
The book focuses on world building and is, in my opinion, a little too long. We get to know the main players intimately and the story is clearly working up to a well signposted crisis, but we are left on a cliff hanger which is, presumably, the focus of book two. The ending of the story feels muted and anticlimactic given all that has gone before. That is not to say that the portions of the world in which the tale takes place are not exquisitely described and peopled by well developed characters but I think that some of this could have been moved into a future book and the story continued just a little further for it to feel a worthwhile payoff for the reader.
There is a gay romance smouldering in a ‘will they, won’t they?’ sort of way but I think this is also overdone and could have been toned down without losing any impact, especially as it, like the main plot, is not resolved.
My favourite characters were the minor Nature Spirits who appear as coloured balls of light and pop up in the most unexpected of places burbling away to themselves in a language only understood by the Mayakari. I would love to have some of them in my garden.
I will read book two when it comes out as I would like to know what happens next but in the meantime I doubt that I will think too hard about what is in store for Ashoka and Shakti.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 3.25 stars
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
The Prince Without Sorrow is a fantasy story about Shakti, a witch who curses the emperor after he burns down her village. Ashoka is the third child of the emperor, a pacifist at heart and considered an outcast for it.

“How typical – the powerful fearing power they didn’t understand.


I was intrigued when first learning about this book and fell in love with the cover! (yes I was convinced by a beautiful cover). The prose also sounded right up my alley!

The story starts with a great introduction to the divide caused by the emperor and his hatred for the witches. Both Shakti and Ashoka are against him in their own way, and I liked the way this story started off.

I was enchanted by the world and lore and magic created by the author! It was lush and made me want to visit the world! I loved the idea of the witches being pacifists and the spirit animals living in the world.

While the world was lush and enchanting, the writing style itself was very slow. It made it hard for me to really get into the story.

The characters were another part of the story I couldn’t really connect with. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Shakti from the start. I could understand the need for revenge and gave her the benefit of the doubt, but she couldn’t convince me in the end.

I was charmed by Ashoka at the beginning, his stand in the world and his views were admirable, especially knowing who the rest of his family is. The more the story progressed, the more he seemed to deviate from that very stance that made him stand out to me.

I’m not really sure what to think of the end of this book, mostly because I kinda didn’t like the way the characters were acting towards the end. I think they got a lot of opportunities and a lot of room for growth, and they didn’t. While the end did set up greatly for the sequel, I’m not sure I’ll pick it up.

Overall, The Prince Without Sorrow is a book with an intriguing prose, a lush and amazing world that work as an amazing backdrop and stage for the characters, who unfortunately fell flat for me.

♾️⭐ aka 5⭐

THE PRINCE WITHOUT SORROW is my new lifeline! Maithree Wijesekara is now my auto-buy author! This book was mind-blowing on so many levels and as someone who loves read YA novels and diverse novels, I LOVED THIS SO MUCH! LGBTQ themes are not often explored in Indian-inspired fantasy novels, especially in YA novels! Harper Voyager UK & US picking up this book was an amazing power move and influence to readers!

I loved this plot so much. There are so many nods to the Mauryan Dynasty, Emperor Ashoka and locations in the book. There's no romance yet but the morally-greyness of these characters have me hooked for the better part! No one understands how much this book has influenced my life! I love the sibling banter, the feminine rage and the anger that's being boiling inside these characters! I love Ashoka, Rahil and Shakti so much! I loved the very subtle studio-ghibli recommendations!

I AM ALREADY BEGGING MAITHREE WIJESEKARA AND HARPER VOYAGER FOR THE NEXT BOOK! I literally CANNOT WAIT for the next installment. 🧎🏽‍♀️🧎🏽‍♀️🧎🏽‍♀️

Flying serpents ✔️
Leopards rode like horses ✔️
An obsidian throne ✔️
A tyrant king ✔️
Witches ✔️

This book is beautifully written and has such amazing characters, some you will hate and some you will love. The Mayakari witches are peaceful however the Emperor Adil likes to burn the witches and eradicate them all. His eldest son and daughter also follow in their father’s footsteps but the youngest son, Ashoka is nothing like the rest of his family. So when the emperor dies Ashoka is sent away but Ashoka decides that no more Mayakari will suffer and he works alongside the witches to put a stop to the killing.

Then there is Shakti a Mayakari whose only living relative is burned by Emperor Adil and so Shakti sets out to avenge her Aunt but also the other Mayakari who have suffered the same fate. She curses the Emperor and infiltrates the palace to become one of the staff but she has ulterior motives and will stop at nothing to save her Mayakari brethren from the hands of the royal family.

I throughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the second book.

Reviewed by my teen Grandaughter.
This is a fantasy based on traditional folk stories and it is very intense. The main characters are interesting so that you want to follow them and see how the story turns out. There was a touch of romance but not too much to distract from the story. Overall very good.

A really interesting premise, with strong folklore influences that made this more intriguing. I didn't connect with the characters but this has so much potential, especially as it becomes a trilogy.

I really enjoyed reading this. The worldbuilding is immaculate, the characters are interesting and the plot intrigued me. I cannot WAIT for the next book.

DNF at 18%. Unfortunatly I struggled with the writing, had a hard time connecting with the characters and wasn't keen on the world building.

The Prince Without Sorrow is Maithree Wijesekara’s debut novel and the first book in The Obsidian Throne trilogy, drawing inspiration from the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India.

After witnessing the brutal destruction of her village, Shakti abandons her people’s pacifist ways to seek revenge. Meanwhile, Prince Ashoka, the overlooked third son of the Emperor, is sent to govern a region plagued by Great Spirits. As he begins to understand the weight of his father’s destructive legacy, he is forced to question his own ideals and decide where his loyalties truly lie.

The worldbuilding was a definite highlight of this novel as Wijesekara seamlessly weaved in political intrigue and culture without it ever feeling like an info dump. However, I did find that some aspects of the book lacked intensity, which led to uneven and sometimes slow pacing - some parts really gripped me, while others felt underdeveloped or resolved a little too conveniently.

Shakti was an absolute standout! She’s emotional, a little morally grey, and makes decisions that aren’t always smart but always feel right for her character. Ashoka, while still interesting, felt slightly less fleshed out in comparison. However, I did enjoy reading his character development and I think there is much more to come from him.

Given that this is a dual POV book, the two main characters had little interaction which I was surprised about. As a result, the use of two POVs feels unnecessary and the pages could’ve been used to flesh out the characters a little more.
The book is marketed as having an angsty romance, but I’d argue that’s pretty misleading. There are some fleeting mentions of some feelings about halfway through, but there’s no real development or tension. Personally, I don’t need romance in my fantasy, but I do think readers picking this up expecting romance will likely be disappointed.

Overall, while this wasn’t quite what I expected, it still delivered an intriguing premise, and a strong political foundation. I’ll definitely be picking up book two to see where things go next!