Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: MacMillan Audio
Rating: ★★★★
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.
Review:
Thank you to Melissa Bashardoust, NetGalley & MacMillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
I was thoroughly shocked that I enjoyed this novel as much as I did. I am not a fantasy lover, but I really loved this story. There was a lot going on, but I’ll tell you, I think the narrator of this audiobook was the biggest reason why I loved it so much.
This was the first Melissa Bashardoust novel that I’ve read. I feel like the synopsis says as much as it can without giving anything away, but I will still blown away by her writing. As I was reading, I feel like this was either a two-story book or a trilogy wrapped into one book. The main reason why I gave this story a 4-star rating instead of 5-stars is because it was paced a little slow. In the beginning, I had a harder time getting into it, but as I listened on, there were plenty of interesting things going on.
There were a lot of things that will test your emotions in this novel. Between Soraya’s battles and the love story behind the main trope, you’re going to be wondering how everything fit so perfectly together. It was truly spectacular to be able to keep up with everything that was going on because of the writing and how everything meshed together so well. If this were to be turned into a movie, I’d watch it in a heartbeat.
“Sometimes the princess is a monster.”
Now, onto the narrator of the audiobook. I received this as a part of NetGalley moving into audiobooks from MacMillan Audio. The narrator, Nikki Massoud, truly made this story come to life while listening to it. She made those twists and turns in this novel really amazing with her voice and it sounded like I was watching a tv show versus listening to an audiobook. I will gladly listen to all of the books that Nikki Massoud has narrated.
Overall, this book was very good and I recommend it to be picked up if you haven’t yet. It was recently listed as a 2020 Best of Goodreads nominee and that is all the more reason to get this book. If I could possibly recommend, if you’re an audiobook lover, definitely listen to it!
Lacey's Library 