Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book!

This is a quick, easy read that has a lot of potential- some good twists and interesting main characters. Unfortunately I wasn't really pulled into the plot and struggled to finish. I think if some things were cleaned up and reorganized this could be amazing! I'd be interested in trying to read the next in the series just to see what happens but I didn't connect with this like I wanted to.

"The Prince and the Thief" is the first book in new, adventurous and thrilling fantasy series. Aiden, the soft and gentle prince of Ambrosia, and Will, a gutter thief with a jewel obsession, find their lives intertwined when Aiden decides to hire Will to steal back some very incriminating letters from his scheming (and horrible) uncle.
This book is full of thieving and daring escapes, political intrigue and a rising rebellion, a touch of romance and elemental magic: I could't have asked for more.
It also touched some rather tough subjects: it has an undercurrent of heartbreak and darkness that I really appreciated as a reader. However, I desperately need Aiden to be safe and whole and happy now.
I adored both of the MCs and I'm very curious to see their relationship progress.
I'm looking forward to reading the next installment very much.

I went into this wanting to love it quite a bit and I found some of the consistencies hard to overlook while reading. The ages, some of the writing was hard to follow and I felt like the story was super rushed. The basis of the story was super interesting and I think it had great potential and definitely has the possibility of being someones favorite book but it just wasn't for me

I’m going to start saying one of the only things I didn’t absolutely love about this book: there were a few inconsistencies in some of scenes, like Aiden and Will’s ages, but those were things I could easily overlook, as I don’t have many other complaints.

Now, let’s start with the praise party I’ll be hosting today in this post! Both the plot and the characters are simply fascinating. No less than that. Basically, the story centers around Aidan and Will, the prince and the thief respectively. Aidan is gay, but not out, since his family arranged a marriage between him and a princess from a powerful kingdom, and his uncle is blackmailing him with love letters sent to and by his ex boyfriend, threatening to reveal the secret. That’s why he hires Will to steal the letters from his uncle’s house.

I gotta say I loved the way the roles had been switched in the book from what would normally would be the secure route: Aidan, the prince, is kind and altruistic, while Will, the thief who lives without luxuries but wished he did, is the materialistic, egocentric one. That alone already got me from the start. The world building is also good, having powers related to the elements, which reminded me of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

But that isn’t all: trauma and the relationships between the characters are incredibly well explored. Aidan’s problems with his family are nicely portrayed; as someone who has those as well, the way it was told resonated with me. Despite them doing things that are wrong, there’s still that conflict, the doubt about the undoubtable, that’s hard to explain, but I feel like Scott did this right.

It’s scary how much I’m loving this book right now. I started it this morning, because I made the mistake of requesting too many books on NetGalley, all at once, so I gotta push myself towards reading everything (or, at least, most of it) as soon as possible and I finished it at [checks clock] 19:45. The story is extremely attention grabbing, the plot is well developed just like the pacing (I didn’t get bored for even a minute!), Scott’s work with the characters is fantastic, the world building is nice and the ratio between lore information and plot/character development is just perfect, the right measure, the relationships are well built... Some scenes and information like ages, as I said before, aren’t exactly consistent, but with everything Scott got right, it was easy for me to turn a blind eye.

One warning I must give you, though, if you’re going to read it is, there are some trigger warnings: sexual assault, rape, child abuse and mentions of death. There’s nothing graphic, but it’s explicit enough to be triggering, so make sure you’re safe!

The only thing I have to say after reading this was: wow, that was good!

I usually don't read books that are part of a series or books that are in the present tense, so I had my doubts about this one, but this book impressed me.

The writing was beautiful and descriptive, and I really enjoyed the plot, the relationship that developed between the characters, and the world that the author built. Did I mention there was LGBT+ representation? By the end of the story, I felt as though I was part of the world and was itching to read more. That's how you get someone like me to read a series. I sincerely cannot wait for the next installment.

The only complaint that I have is that the copy I received via Netgalley had this issue where, every time the first letter of the opening chapter would appear, it would overlap with some of the text from the story. However, that is no fault of the author.

I flew this book, it's the kind of fantasy I was looking for right now. Will is a jewelry thief with magic powers, something unheard of, outside the nobility. One day, when he is returning from an assignment, he meets an enigmatic aristocrat that uses his powers to save a common girl. Will is immediately intrigued.
I loved the premise of the book, but I was left unsatisfied with the political intrigue, it lacked intrigue in general since I saw the various reveals coming from miles away.
Overall, it felt like the build-up for a book, not a proper book in itself. While many things did happen, I felt like it was lacking action, the stakes never felt particularly high. I kept reading, waiting for something big to happen, but it was a bit lackluster.
Nevertheless, I read it in just a couple of sittings, so that has to count for something. It was an enjoyable read, and I might pick up the second book once it comes out.

I received this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Because of this, I'd like to say thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Thank you to NetGalley and P.S. Scott for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a very quick read (for me, at least) that I attribute to both Aidan and Will. I loved them both and wanted to keep reading just for them (read: me pushing their heads together going "kiss already!").

However, there are a lot of issues I had with the writing itself that kept me from giving the book a higher rating. Quite a bit of text is repetitive to the point of irritation; for example, the phrase "revolutionary club" is used three times in three short sentences. There's also inconsistency with characters. Is Aidan 17 or 18? I could have sworn an early line said he had just turned 18, but later on he's 17. Aidan's older brother is the heir apparent, which would make Aidan second in line for the throne. But it's mentioned if his brother has "another son", Aidan would be pushed to third in line. But if there's already a nephew, then Aidan already *is* third in line. "Another" nephew would push him to fourth.

Another prominent character apparently has selective blindness; on one page Will says of this previously-established character "I hope he doesn't see me standing back here", but the next page he says "I sure am glad he's blind and can't see me standing back here". ?????? Why does a blind person need to hold up a candle, by the way? How does a blind person examine (visually) another's wardrobe choice? There is a lot of inconsistency in the book, but this one is honestly the most glaringly painful that I can't just ignore.

The last big issues are how things overlap differently (ex: a character is shoved into a room with a hidden third party and says nothing in response to being pushed, but in the POV switch they suddenly have a piece of dialogue) and no one seems to have the slightest idea of why anything is happening without an info dump (ex: Aidan seems surprised that there was a king before his father; this could be interpreted as his playing dumb out of self-preservation, but at face value just seems like he's painfully naïve.

I really was invested in Aidan and Will's relationship and the big plot twist, but there really should be some major editing and sensitivity readings by actual blind people. The framework of a story is there and I'm definitely intrigued, but if book two is constructed and edited the same as this one, I'm filing to have to pass. I really wish I could give this more than three stars, but there ya have it.