This book had soooo much potential! I liked sooo much the magic system, the betrayal, the royals, the world. I just could guess everything that was going to happen. It was a short, easy read, I should've been longer! I don't know if it's going to be a series well, it has to be. It has LGBTQ+ representation and also trigger warning for sexual abuse. I liked the story and how it developed, it sometimes was very slow and inconsequential.

Disclaimer I received an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. And my opinions are my own, it did not affect my rating or thoughts on the book (other than being thankful for the chance to read it in advance).

So this was like receiving going out on a sunny day and suddenly dropping water on yourself, making your socks soggy and uncomfortable for the rest of the day, unable to really dry them or change them.
This is how this book felt, a really nice idea and such a poor execution.
It managed to never have that perfect pacing where things felt like the story was naturally progressing, it was too fast then too slow and then predictable like no other. Maybe if I only read occasionally it wouldn't have felt as bad, but I hate when I can predict what is going to happen in a book. Nothing felt as if I was reading a new interesting, never seen before story. Yes the concept was amazing, but an idea is nothing without the right story telling and flow of a story. This can/could've benefited from a lot of beta readers and editors pointing out things that made the story predictable, ways to improve. This felt like a bad representation of what I believe this author could've had as an end result, it did a disservice to their imagination and to the sheer potential this story had.
I found myself often annoyed with it wanting to love it, but ending up rolling my eyes or wanting to skip paragraphs and pages. The characters felt one dimensional, the world not fleshed out enough to feel tangible and the plot was oh so boring. When I finally felt like this story was going somewhere it abruptly ended, yes this is meant to be the first book of a series, but nothing was interesting enough that kept my attention and when something did it was the end of the book. It felt more like it should've been the half of it and that the book itself should've been shortened up until that moment to make it more of a beginning part of the book, a couple chapters, then that event some action a bit of things somewhat resolved and then that is what should've been set up for the next book. Unfortunately, that wasn't what happened, just a book that felt more like a humongous intro and oh here is some action before you go.
I was oh so excited for this book and it just flopped for me.
In the end It was a :
1.5/5 stars for me.
Bookarina

Before I begin my review for The Prince and the Theif P.S Scott, I would personally like to thank the author, publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC and I have reviewed it honestly.

A brazen theif with forbidden powers, a prince who loves the wrong sex, a game of blackmail, secrets and stolen identities and a street that rearranges itself every 15 minutes. The Prince and The Theif is an imaginative introduction to a new series of royalty and magic.

The Prince and the Theif features, but is not limited to, the following themes:
○ YA fantasy
○ Royals and Poverty
○ LGBTQ
○ Light gay romance
○ Theives
○ Blackmail
○ Magic


My overall rating for The Prince and the Theif is…

4 Stars!

This book had me in the first couple of pages when the street began to move! How unique and exciting! This book gave me strong False Prince vibes with hints of Throne of Glass and Six of Crows! I havent read a lot of books with LGBTQ characters as mains and I really enjoyed our leading young men and their character developments. Scott has created an exciting tale, yes its a little cliche, but it also had unsuspecting qualities that really drew me in. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with the book.

The Prince and the Thief is a fantasy-based LGBTQ+ novel by P.S. Scott. The story looks at the main characters Will (the thief, who also has magical powers) and Aiden (the prince). One day both of them are thrown together when Will comes across Aiden giving help to someone in the street. This is the beginning of their story. From there we see the story develop as Will is thrown into Aiden’s life, trying to help him steal back some important letters that Aiden’s uncle is trying to blackmail him with. From their unlikely partnership, we also see their feelings for each other develop as both characters struggle with their place in the ‘worlds’ that they live in.

There is a lot going on with the story line in this book, not only do we have a budding romance, but we also have intrigue, politics, secrets and some twist and turns along the way which make this an easy and enjoyable read. As it is a series, there are some questions left unanswered, story-lines under-developed and some characters who we are left wanting to know more about. But, overall, a good read!

ARC received for a fair, honest and sometimes long review. All opinions are my own. 😊

More of my reviews can be found on my blog: http://thehotmesslibrary.blogspot.com

Loved this book. It had all the elements of a good YA fantasy book. It was fast paced and I found it very engaging, everything about the plot and characters was clear, well written and easy to follow. As an adult I enjoy reading YA books with LGBT + representation, so that younger audiences can see themselves being represented in books and other forms of public media. Thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and authors for my ARC, I will be praising and recommending this book to everyone.

This book wasn’t perfect, and here’s and a couple points as to why;

1) I felt as if it was meant to be a fast- paced read, but there was just too many lulls in the storyline.

2) I liked both of the main characters, Will and Aiden. The author made you feel as if they had a really intense, electric and forbidden love forming, but I wanted more romance elements in the story.

Things I liked;

1) The story itself was easy to follow and hinted at some darker elements and themes. The magic system obviously had to be established but it didn’t feel as if the whole premise took up too much reading time.

2) The mystery and big reveal of the book is a little predictable, however, it is a interesting concept that will be explored more in the next book.

3) LGBTQ+ / Gay representations. This element of the story isn’t overpowering and doesn’t take over the entire plot. The characters and the plot act independently of this fact.

I think that all of the points I’ve made kind of adds up to me enjoying the story itself, but I think the author sacrificed a few things that would have made the book gain the extra 1-2 stars. The book ends on a cliffhanger, which leads to a sequel, but I believe this book would have been better off continuing further into the story.

All in all, even though this story wasn’t one of my favourite, I do want to continue reading Will’s and Aiden’s story.

I received a copy of the ARC of The Prince and the Thief thanks to L.E. Wilson and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

“It’s as though the walls are hemming me in, and I’m left hanging on nothing but the surety of Will’s firm gaze, caressed by the gentleness of his voice.”

Actual Rating: 3.5

Will is a thief, prowling the criminal underbelly of Ambrosia City when he comes across Prince Aidan coming to the rescue of a poor man being bullied by a city guard. Mistaking him for an aristocrat, Will thinks little of stealing the bracelet on his wrist and going on his merry way. When a job brings Will into the palace, Aidan catches him in the act of robbing a royal heirloom and the two strike a deal.

Forced to conceal his forbidden attraction toward men, Aiden hires Will to steal back the love letters his uncle is blackmailing him with. An unlikely partnership develops into a mutual budding attraction but a dangerous political plot threatens to tear them apart. Aidan struggles between his hopes to liberate the oppressed people of his kingdom and his family honor while Will’s loyalties become tied in with the rebels. Can the pair defeat the odds and their doubts to come together or does fate have other plans?

At less than 300 pages, this YA fantasy is a perfect choice for a quick read or when one is in a bit of a slump. The Prince and the Thief is engaging and fast-paced. I nearly read the whole novel in one evening, but I prefer to read review copies more slowly. Aidan and Will are both equally lovable characters and I found their growing attraction toward each other cute and endearing.

I’ve seen some complaints that the novel relies too heavily on tropes, which I agree with to a certain extent, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the characters and story. While not amazing development by any means, I still have to praise P.S. Scott for making me care so much for Aidan and Will, as well as the plot, within such a short amount of pages. I enjoyed the progression of Aidan beginning to wonder if there could be another life for him beyond the palace, as well as uncovering the dark secret of his family. Initially, Will cares for little else besides jewels and riches, but throughout the story grows a political conscience following meeting Aidan, which further comes into play when he becomes enveloped within the plans of Ambrosian rebels.

My only major complaints are with aspects of the writing style and world building. Neither of these are glaringly bad, but I feel obligated to bring them up, as they did persuade me to lower my rating to a 3.5. There are several passages and word choices that felt clunky to me and somewhat amateurish, but if I’m not mistaken this is only the author’s second published work. Perhaps, with a few more rounds of edits, the prose would have been more effective.

As for the world building, I definitely wanted to know more about the land and the magic system. There’s a fun and whimsical quality to the elemental magic (the Earth magic Aidan uses grants him the ability to conjure entrapping vines, Will has mastered his water magic in order to make the skies rain), as well as some of the quirks of Ambrosia City (for example, the street Will and other criminals hang out often breaks apart and rearranges itself). However, I was hoping to see different types and uses of this magic, as well as develop a deeper knowledge of Ambrosia and the surrounding countries. I’m optimistic these both might be further developed in the sequel, which I’ll be keeping my eye out for.

I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a fun and short YA fantasy with queer rep. I went into The Prince and the Thief thinking it would be a charming love story, but I appreciated how the author weaves serious topics within the narrative as well (trigger warnings for pedophilia). I’m excited that this story will continue and am looking forward to its sequel, The Fate of Kings. Keep your eyes peeled for this January 7th release.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve waffled for several minutes on how to start this review. The beginning is always the hardest. Do you start with a summary? Do you talk about the characters first? Do you just jump straight in and start shouting about the plot? Every book is different and, I think, needs a slightly different touch. The first thing popping into my head with this one?

I thought it would be gayer.

First of all, I love fantasy romance and from the summary of this book it sounded like just my cup of tea. Then make it gay and I am THERE. I want my grubby weirdly small adult hands on it. Will, our jewel thief living in a run down part of the capital with the palace looming high above, is good at what he does. His parents died when he was just a baby and he was raised by a family who seem to love him but, let’s face it, also use him as a means to an end. Will seems like a good guy. He does what needs to be done with very little consequences. He comes across as hard working yet still carefree with a desire to just be happy.

Then we have Aiden, the prince. Aiden, I think, could do with a touch of editing. At first he seems like a strong, masculine type character who is slightly adrift with his place in the world. He isn’t the prince who will inherent the crown which makes him the prince who will be married off for political alliance. His character quickly devolves into a bit of a weak whiner. Everything puts a hitch in his giddy up and he lets everything get to him. He also does not seem like the brightest bulb on the tree. Do I like Aiden? Not really. But I wanted to.

Aiden hires Will to steal his love letters to a male member of the court from his pedophile uncle who is trying to blackmail him. They interact a lot during the period between hiring and executing the heist and I kept waiting for Gay Shit, however, there was some pining so I supposed that is something.

This book is rather short but the end sets itself up pretty nicely, and dramatically, for a series continuation and I’d be interested in picking up the next book when it comes out. The plot of this story is good but it does need expanded upon and the characters developed further. Overall, a good read and I would recommend it for people who enjoy fantasy romance that isn’t too heavy.

The Kingdom of Ambrosia is coming to tumultuous times. When Prince Aidan seeks the help of a thief to steal some compromising letters of his that are in possession of his uncle, he didn't know that some secrets would be revealed and that some things he thought he knew weren't exactly the truth. Will accepted helping steal something for the prince for a price, but ended up discovering some nasty things happening inside the palace and rumours outside of it. Will and Aidan start to be friends but with the things they just discovered that might be difficult, especially when both of them seem to care for each other more than they intended.

I loved the fast pacing of the story, it got me on the edge of my chair and so invoved with the plot that the characters were a bonus. Will and Aidan had such great chemistry and trust in each other, even if not so intense I know their friendship and maybe more will develop between them in the next book (even if things are exploding around them lol).

I can't wait for the next book!

This book left me unsatisfied to say the least. There was so much lost potential ; and I got to say I didn't know a book could be both fast paced and slow at the same time, but The Prince and the Thief managed to be just that.

I did read this in one sitting so I guess I was invested enough to see what happened and that's something ; but at the same time I felt like nothing seemed to really happen for the longest time and just when it started to get interesting it ended.

The characters were also bland and nothing really special about any of them and I'll probably forget about them in like a week. Which was disappointing because both Will and Aidan had some characteristics of some of my favorite male characters, but it was not enough and I didn't feel one bit of a connection to either one of them.

Nonetheless I still want to see where this story goes, like I said it was just starting to get interesting; so I will definitely keep an eye out for the sequel. I just really hope that it finally lives up to its potential.

Overall an okay read that I think might be better to read after the sequel is out.

I mean, doesn’t the blurb promise you an entrancing world of fantastical LGBTQ romance? I was. so. so. so. excited.
But it disappointed me. See if it were up to me, I’d make it a magical, gritty and dark but this was such a juvenile piece of work! It could have been the perfect reimagination of Red, White and Royal Blue in a fantasy universe.

While reading this book, I am reminded of all the quips during Avengers: Endgame. And that comparison is being made because in the movie there are plenty of moments that are supposed to be serious that are broken down with laughter.
I wish that I had gotten the audiobook for this title. Sometimes while reading, Will's quips just don't come across how the author intends. And I know this because those moments are cringy as all hell. I will say that as the story goes on, the quips do become more pointed and purposeful, because you finally know the character. I'd hate to keep making comparisons to superhero movies, but it's like the newest iteration of Spiderman. Peter makes these awful quips that he thinks are super cool, but in reality, he's a fourteen year old boy that really isn't that smooth. In other words, for those who don't watch superhero movies (but they watch Tik Tok) he's written like a pick me girl. To parents who are looking for positive queer fantasy for their children, this book was written by someone who knows they're the main character of their story, which is not a bad thing. We need more children to be confident in themselves (especially those that are LGBTQ+, it's a dark, but brightening world for them).

To the right of this paragraph, you will see a bit of word barf. I wrote it before I realized that maybe changing the sexual orientation in the trope would actually change the story. My opinion did a complete 180º. Adding LGBTQ+ representation in literature not only can create new cliches and tropes, but breathe life into old ones. I don't know what it is about seeing the same old tropes done in an inclusive way, but I love it and I am here for it.

I'm gonna be real honest here. I've read this book. I've read it a thousand times. What makes this book different is the types of conflict in the story. The main premise is Flynn Ryder-esque character meets prince who needs help. Prince asks Flynn for help with very difficult problem, and they fall in love. I feel like the only thing separating this story from the others is the inclusion of LGBTQ+ issues and heavier topics such as sexual abuse from a family member. This story is perfect for anyone who wants a predictable, but grim, meet-cute set in a fantasy world with magic and political turmoil.
As for vocabulary, advanced words are sprinkled in throughout and are used in what seems like an unpurposeful way. However, I did look up one of the words and it was on the SAT vocabulary list. Whether the author was intentionally using words from that list, I do not know.
Over all, I think that The Prince and the Thief is a wonderful start to a great series.

This was fun, but could have used a little more depth. I think there needs to be a little more character development but overall, it was worth the read!
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review!

The Prince and the Thief had potential and could have easily traversed into a solid grim dark should it have wished. However, it fell into the cumbersome trap of tired tropes and characters without nuance.

Each character fit neatly into a prescribed box. We have the resident villain with no redeeming qualities, a thief who is can only be categorized as 'good' and thus any transgression ignored, and the prince who generously wants to serve his people. No one felt real, nor like they had much more to offer than their superficialities. On top of that, the writing felt very young. The narrative presents dark themes, but they were tackled in such a way to be one-dimensional and flat. The characters and dialogue were, at times, clunky, and overall felt too simplistic; any salient critique on class, power, and social institutions, which was easily at the writer's disposal and readily available, was never fully realized.

All this said, I don't hate the book. However, I had higher expectations for the storyline and felt let down by the lack of actualized narrative and the writing's simplistic nature.

This book has so much potential! I really enjoy the idea and the premise...especially the city that rearranges itself every 15 minutes!
The story follows Aidan the Second prince and Will, a thief. Aidan is gay which is forbidden of royals. It's easier for Will because he is a commoner and it is not forbidden for them.
Their paths cross when Aidan hires Will to steal back some love letters for him that potentially could get him in a lot of trouble.
It's a quick fun read and I will definitely read the second one!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for providing me a e-copy of this book.

So I enjoyed reading this book, it was entertaining and a really quick read.

BUT. It felt like a first draft. Some plots are introduced and completely forgotten in the next chapters, there are cool ideas which are not developped at all.
I was confused by one of the MC facing issues he could resolve himself.
You think the story is going somewhere but, because some things which seem important at the beginning just dissapear, we don't really know what is at stake anymore.
The main characters are cool, but this book feels like a first draft and could use an improvement on the managment of plots and subplots. And it ended when it was becoming very interesting!

1.5* This book had potential but fell short. It's a quick, easy read but suffers trope-overload.

Will is an orphan who lives with his aunt, uncle and cousins. He's a talented thief with a talent for water magic - an unheard of ability outside of aristocratic circles. Interrupting a beat-down by the city guard, Will meets Aidan, second son of King Adam Garius. Betrothed to a neighbouring princess, Aidan is being blackmailed with the love letters he sent to his ex-boyfriend and needs the help of a thief to rescue the situation. However, the situation is rather more complex than either initially realise and could have consequences that affect the whole of society.

Kind Prince who wants to help the people: check. Handsome thief who's good at heart: check. Evil Brother to the King: check. And so on. Tropes aside, I found the writing rather juvenile. The dialogue was clunky, the characters one-dimensional and the twists obvious. The sad thing is, it really had potential. I love the idea of a moving city and was intrigued by the wider world hinted out. Could be good with work.

Pretty cool premise! Reminded me a lot of avatar the last airbender what with all the elements and stuff. Romance was cute too and felt extremely YA to me

Thank you to Netgalley and P.S. Scott for giving me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Aiden Garius is gay - forbidden, given that he's a prince of Ambrosia. When his uncle, Prince Regent Nicholas, gets his hands on Aiden's old love letters, Aiden's world starts to crumble. Nicholas is blackmailing him - if Aiden does not steal a particular key for him, then Nicholas will expose Aiden's letters and effectively out him.

Will is a thief living in Crimson Street - a region of criminal activity within Ambrosia - with a love for shiny things and nothing else. When Aiden catches Will stealing a signet ring from the palace, he realizes that hiring Will to steal back his letters may be the only way out of this situation.

So... there's a lot to say about this book.

Let's start with this: The Prince and the Thief genuinely has potential. There are tons of cool aspects in this world. Will is a water magician that can make it rain (hypothetically - we never actually see this happen) and Aiden can summon twisting vines. A prince and a thief are complete opposites, and I adore that sort of relationship. Furthermore, the setting of Crimson Street is built upon an underground clockwork mechanism, meaning that every 15 minutes, it rearranges itself.

So, this clockwork region - it's a really freakin' cool idea. I adored it, and I loved the mixing of steampunk and fantasy elements. But it... isn't... used? The region rearranges itself on many occasions, but ultimately, it's pointless. At no point does this truly present a serious problem for Will and Aiden. I needed higher stakes. I wanted to see the gears have a purpose - like, the rebellion operates from beneath. Or, I wanted the clockwork to feel dangerous - I wanted to see people killed or maimed by sliding/falling in between the gaps. Aiden faces this threat very briefly in the last quarter of the book, but it isn't actually a problem, because he has his "travel stone" that just teleports him away.

Magic itself is rarely used in the story, to the point where it genuinely would not make a difference if it wasn't there at all. The magic we do see is often seemingly limitless. The red travel stone is a device that only magic-wielding people can use that allows them to travel... literally anywhere? All Aiden has to do is rub it three times and think of where he wants to go. So now we have the issue: why didn't Aiden just use the travel stone to steal the letters back from Nicholas himself...? The very existence of this travel stone nullifies half the stakes of the book. Aiden doesn't need to worry about Crimson Street being dangerous, because he can pop out any time he wants. There has to be limitations/rules, because otherwise, the plot ends up riddled with holes like these.

There are an abundance of abandoned threads in this story. Most of them are small things - objects disappearing (i.e. Aiden's bracelet), Mink the cat, etc., but some of them are much more significant. Remember that key I mentioned in the summary? It's never actually brought up again. Will steals the letters back for Aiden (which Nicholas never seems to realize are missing, and he never even attempts to follow through on his threats), and that's that. I understand this is the first book in a series, but given that the plot line of this first book was meant to revolve around Nicholas outing Aiden should he not get that key, it doesn't make sense to leave it for another book.

Moving onto the characters: I enjoyed the idea of Aiden and Will, but didn't end up feeling attached to either of them. I wanted to like them, and I could have - there was a lot of potential, a lot of personality quirks that I really enjoyed (the idea of a protagonist who genuinely likes the idea of becoming rich while others remain poor is so interesting) - but in the end, they just fall a bit flat. I needed to see more sides to these characters to feel like I could connect to them.

They were also very reactive characters, as opposed to active. Things happened to them, rather than them "happening to things".

Also, the female characters in this story speak to some pretty hefty internalized misogyny. There are no main female characters, and most of those that are present are written to be intentionally annoying, weak, and/or roadblocks for Will and Aiden. Elysia, Will's cousin, is the most present female character, and is described as being short, loud, and shrill. She has a psychic business that is constantly referred to - in fact, it's basically her only personality trait - but the author doesn't actually make use of this psychic business. I was waiting for it to become relevant, because it's mentioned that much, but it never does.

One of the more significant issues I had was the sublot of incestuous pedophilia between Aiden and Nicholas. It's strangely voyeuristic for no reason other than shock value, up until the point where it just... stops being mentioned (particularly on Aiden's part)? At the start, it's played off as a major plot point, but it slowly dwindles down into nothing. There was no reason for this sub plot to exist in the first place. It's really only there to emphasis that Nicholas is a villain, which can easily be done without something that makes the reader feel gross in their own skin.

In the end, what this story needs is a professional copy editor; someone to tie together the loose threads, to help strengthen the prose, to flesh out the characters, etc.

I truly hope Scott's novel does well and finds a sequel given the fact that this with a few major cliffhangers. It's a dystopic adventure in the same vein as Victoria Aveyard's "Red Queen" series (fans of her work will find a comfortable home here). We are thrown into the socio-political drama of Ambrosia, a monarchy that is ruled by the magically gifted Garrus family. In alternating chapters we follow, Aidan, who is second in line to the throne, and Will, a thief that Aidan hires to steal letters that are quite provocative blackmail material. Their relationship quickly evolves from a business transaction to a surprising friendship with hope for a potential romance in the future. Scott does some solid world-building while fleshing out the characters and narrative of this story. You want these young men to succeed and to get to the heart of the mysteries that are planted here. There were some answers to satisfy here, yet it's evident there's a bigger plan at work.