The Shadow Prince is a prequel in Stacey O'Neale's Mortal Enchantment series. In it Rowan is given a task in order to be able to claim the throne. Which means he could overturn everything his mother has ever done. But by completing the task he could also be the catalyst of a great war.

I absolutely loved Prisma. She was very clearly the villain and she did that role well. Even before meeting her you get the sense she is not the kind of person you mess around with. The only thing that confused me was the fact that Rowan had any bit of sympathy for her. She never reveals herself to be kind to him and he never gives any indication he cares about her. The only thing I can come up with is that kids must love their parents no matter what.

This book uses the throne as a mere plot point instead of a fully functional part of the plot. Minus one decision in the book where it made sense not to think of the throne, Rowan's decisions about the throne don't make much sense. Instead of doing anything logical, the book makes it out like following your heart and not politics is the noble thing to do.

But, then again, Rowan is looking like he's going to be one of the biggest drama queens.

I would recommend The Shadow Prince to those that want some silly, fun fantasy to relax to.

I didn't like the writing style, and the story world and plot were a mixture of many elements, none which stood out to me enough to continue reading this series.

2.5 - 3 stars. This arc was provided to me by the publisher and all thoughts and opinions are my own,

This novella is a fun & informative start to the series. We get to know the world, the magic system, and the characters better. The main character who is now known as the shadow prince reminds me slightly of Cardan from The Cruel Prince, so I think fans of Holly Black will like this. The magic system revolves around elemental magic, and there is even a special person who can control all of the elements which is very reminiscent of one of my favorite tv shows, Avatar the Last Airbender. Overall I did enjoy this book, however, I felt it tried to do too much for such a short book. It is only a short novella but the author did a lot of info-dumping and so many things happened that I did feel rather detached from the characters and wasn't as shocked by the events near the end of the book.

Unfortunately i had to dnf this book. While the premise was awesome and the writing solid, I just didn’t find myself drawn in to the story and no matter how hard I tried I kept forgetting the things I read and it was always a struggle to pick it up. So, unfortunately this was not a book for me.

Rowan, the prince of the fire court, could be king but can he go through with the request from his mother to get the throne?? I really enjoyed this prequel to the Mortal Enchantment series. Now I’m off to read the trilogy.

Stacey O'Neale wrote the awardwinning YA-fantasy-series The Mortal Enchantmend. - now a prequel is published named The Shadow Prince. This novella tells a trilling story about how Kalin is in danger, because elemental crownprince Rowan gets the order to kill her. He know's without a doubt that this will unleish a terible war between the elemental kingdoms.

O'Neale managed to set down a thrilling novella, that is a story that will be loved by many YA-fantasy fans. It has his magical and fantasy elements all over the story. And - although its a novella - it contains a whole story, wich excites her readers.

It is a very lovely invitation to the world of The Mortal Enchantmend, wich makes you wanna read more and be a part of this beautiful described fantasy world!

I have forever loved 1) fantasy, 2) romance, and 3) elements. Unfortunately, The Shadow Prince did not reach my expectations. Before digging into what I liked and disliked, I must admit that I understand that prequels are meant to be read after reading at least the first book of the series, so my thoughts may be a bit swayed. Still, I found the writing to be immature and unflowing. My biggest problem was the sentence structure: all of the sentences were this length. There were no sentences longer than this. There weren't any shorter than this, either. It was difficult to stay engaged. Besides the fluidity, I found the story itself thrilling and climactic. The length was perfect for the story arc, as it wasn't very developed but had just enough to keep me interested. All in all, I wasn't overly impressed with O'Neale's The Shadow Prince, but I am willing to read the next book, Storm Born, with no negative thoughts or impressions.

*thank you to Netgalley, Stacey O'Neale and Xpresso Book Tours for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*


Through it all, I remained focused on my mission. It was time to cast aside the childish prince and become the stone-hearted warrior. I would be the monster they feared— the slayer in the night. I am the shadow prince.


5 stars!

Now I'm not one who easily gives out 5 stars but wow oh WOW did this deserve it! This has restored my faith in YA Fantasy novels. As a Novella it is a short read, but in just over 100 pages I feel that so much happens. I am so glad that this series is a trilogy and I hope that it's just as good as this.

Rowan is an elemental prince. His mother is Queen in a place called Avalon and they both seem to have a huge dislike for each other.

She scanned me from head to toe. “You look ridiculous with that metal pierced into your eyebrow.” Score one for me. “I was wondering when you’d notice. I hope you don’t mind, Your Majesty.” It took everything I had to hold back the smirk growing across my lips. “You will remove it before your coronation,” she said, eyes narrowed. Her tone was all statement, zero requests. Man, she seemed even more pissed than I envisioned . I gave myself an internal high-five.

Rowan is about to become the new king to the throne but before he does, he is set a task which must be completed or face the extreme consequences. He has to kill the daughter of a king. I loved the world building and the characters and the friendship between Rowan and Marcus.

This is a fast read but that's ok because you won't want to put it down once you start.

“Well, this was predictably uncomfortable. We should do it again sometime in the never future.”

I really enjoyed the touch of humor that was in here. Yeah it had a lot of serious moments so this was a great way to balance it all out. If you like Fantasy, Paranormal, Fairies, Royalty, Magic, a touch of romance, action, Alternative World's that have portals between our world and theirs, then I highly recommend this. I also have to agree that this reminds me of Author, Holly Black. So for fans of her, this is a must!

This book was received as an ARC from Phoenix Reign Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I did not know what to expect of this book and the conflict that Rowan had to battle with returning to Avalon and claim his rightful position of the throne. He is tasked by his estranged mother that he needs to kill Kalin and take back the throne and the conflict arises and Rowan is faced with a difficult mission he can't refuse. There were some parts however that is did measure up plot wise and the story did go off on a tangent at times when it came down to put the final pieces of the puzzle together. Then later reading that this will become a series, this was a good prelude to the series and overall this will be an interesting series to invest in for our teen book club.

We will consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 4 stars.

Okay so to be clear, this is a Prequel Novella to the Mortal Enchantment series.
I had never read or even heard of the series before seeing this prequel available for request on NetGalley.
So with that being said....

I really enjoyed this novella!! I didn't know anything about the characters or the world going into it. There is no introduction or explanation into Rowan or why it is in the mortal world (its briefly explained later), but honestly I really enjoyed it. It was nice just coming in and moving right on to the things that mattered.

Rowan is an unwanted Prince of the Fire Court (I love elemental stories so I was pretty excited already) who is summoned home by his Mother (Prisma) to be crowned as King. Its as sudden as it seems and as a reader I was glad he was confused too. So of course its all a setup and Prisma wants Rowan to murder the heir to the Air court., which is only breaking EVERY code they stand by. If he doesn't do it she will never give up her throne to him, and he will never be able to set things right in his abused court.

This novella is about the choice he makes about that ultimatum and the consequences that follow, leading us to what sounds like the opening scene in the first book.

This is short, as novellas are, but I really enjoyed it. I am rooting for Rowan and ready to dive into Storm Born.

A great prequel Novella!
I've never heard of A Mortal Enchantment before the eARC but I will definitely start the series because I liked The Shadow Prince very much.
Prince Rowan is a likeable, strong character and his brotherly banter with his best friend was a highlight of this story for me.
There is also much pain and cruelness but it added to the story. The reader sees what drives Rowan, why he chooses the way he's on.
I just would have liked to learn a bit more about Kalin but seeing as this is Rowan's point of view it makes sense that she is staying very mysterious for now. I guess I have to dive into the first book of the series soon.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC!

One of the best things about a novella is that it gives you a taste of a series, and when it is a prequel, it gives you an insight into a series without having to read the whole thing or get disoriented from entering the series at the wrong place. The best thing about this prequel novella? There is a whole series still to read! For readers new to O'Neale, or to the series, you will not be disappointed. This is a fast-paced adventure establishing some of the groundwork for the series. It is not a tedious, tell-all explanation, but a wonderful exploration of Rowan and his relationship with his mother. There are more possibilities for further vignettes or novellas, but I am sure that fans of the series will enjoy it as much as new readers.

A warning for new readers - be prepared to go and buy the rest of the series. The parallel world-building, the characters, and the adventure will draw you in and not let go.

A lot happens in a short number of pages. I think it sets up the series pretty well. Enjoyed Marcus and Rowan's friendship and hope to see it again. Fast paced. Makes you want to continue with the series to find out what happens.

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**

Title The Shadow Prince (Mortal Enchantment #0.5)

Author Stacey O’Neale

Description from Amazon

Sixteen-year-old Rowan is an elemental prince. Banished to the mortal world, he doubts he will ever return to Avalon and claim the fire court throne. Until he receives a challenge from his estranged mother. If he slays Kalin, the half-human, half-elemental princess and heir to the court of air, she will abdicate her throne. Is he capable of completing such a heinous task? And what price he will pay if he refuses?

Initial Thoughts

I had not heard of the Mortal Enchantment series until I saw this novella on NetGalley. The premise sounded interesting so I decided to apply. I was also intrigued by the idea of reading a series chronologically, instead of by order of publication date. This novella was published after the series, but I think reading it first will give me a unique perspective on the other books.

Some Things I Liked

POV. I love a good novella, especially one from a different character’s POV. Although I haven’t read the rest of the series, I did read the description of the first book on GoodReads and learned that the rest of the series is told from Kalin’s POV. Using Rowan’s POV here gives so much backstory and I loved that.
Length. This was the perfect length for a novella. It gives a rich backstory and was a quick read.

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About

This is completely a personal opinion, but I don’t love when fantasy and contemporary mix. I thought the colloquial language mixed with the elemental court setting was too much. I prefer one or the other.

Series Value

I would definitely continue reading this series. This novella gave me just enough to crave more without giving too much away. I am especially intrigued to read about Kalin in the rest of the series as she is only a background character here.

Final Thoughts

I liked this novella a lot. Am I going to binge read the rest of the series right now? No, probably not. Did I add it to my TBR to be read sometime (possibly soon but more likely not so soon)? Yes, I did. I think there are a lot of promising elements in this series and I am interested in seeing more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

The Evil Queen by Gena Showalter – if you’re not like me and you do enjoy a good contemporary and fantasy blend, definitely check out this book (just announced to be a series) by Gena Showalter.
Storm Born by Stacey O’Neale – it seems like a pretty natural progression, if you liked this story, check out the next book in the series. I haven’t read it yet, but I definitely want to.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare – I think the contemporary setting with supernatural elements idea gave me Mortal Instrument vibes. If you’re a fan of this novella, try Cassandra Clare’s books.

Quite a cute novella. I really enjoyed this. I requested it to see if I would like the series, and I just ordered it on amazon. Cute as can be.. cant wait to get further into this series.