Prince of Song & Sea (Princes, #1)
by Linsey Miller
A beautiful extension of the original story. Not only from Eric's point of view, but so detailed and riddled with information and back ground. Making the original story more dynamic, and beautiful. I am glad to see that they honored the original story not changing things from the Hans Christian Andersen tale of a lonely mermaid. The author had added to the story, with modern story telling but also details that made motivations clearer and hints at the magic that over laid the story. Music and love gives us freedom from darkness, madness, and magic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC and audiobook.


Description from NetGalley:
Before Prince Eric’s mother, the Queen of Vellona, went missing two years ago, she reminded him about the details of the deadly curse that has plagued his entire life. The curse? If he were to kiss someone other than his true love, he would die. With a neighboring kingdom looking for any excuse to invade their shores, and rumors of ghost pirates lurking the seas, Eric is desperate for any information that may help him break his enchantment and bring stability to Vellona. The answers he has been searching for come to him in the form of a letter left from his mother that reveals Eric must find his true love, the one with a voice pure of heart, or kill the sea witch responsible for cursing him in the first place.

Now Eric is on a quest to find the Isle of Serein, the witch's legendary home. But after he is rescued by a mysterious young woman with a mesmerizing singing voice, Eric’s heart becomes torn. Does he enter a battle he is almost certain he cannot win or chase a love that might not even exist? And when a shipwrecked young woman with flaming red hair and a smile that could calm the seven seas enters his life, Eric may discover that true love isn’t something that can be decided by magic.

This is the start to a prince centered series of books like the Twisted Tales series that Disney publishes. This is interesting. It is more than just a retelling from Eric’s POV. Like with the Twisted Tales books, the bones of the story are there. Those big plot beats are hit, just a little differently. Eric is more than just a pretty face. He’s got friends and people trying to get him to marry their daughters. Plus a lot of people are going missing in the sea. It was interesting to see Ariel through Eric’s eyes.

Overall: 4/5

This is a lovely telling of the tale from the Prince's POV. I love The Little Mermaid and Eric is a great prince who feels so different from the rest, he actually does something with his day that helps his kingdom. The narrator fits so well and does a fantastic job!

I loved this.

A fan of all things Disney but have always preferred the Villains and Princes to the Princesses 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is a retelling from the Prince Eric’s POV and his own struggles and curses he faced. Definitely read it if you like Disney and want to see more depth in the Prince characters.

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book!

I was hesitant to read this book because I love The Little Mermaid so much, but I have to say that this book was fantastic! We get the story from Prince Eric's point of view, with added depth and a deeper reason behind Eric's being at sea, and the reasons he does certain things. Things were added to the story like ghosts, curses, a non-binary pirate, and other side characters. I found myself wishing the movie had included some of these elements. If you like the Little Mermaid, or any seafaring tale, you'll love this book!

I really hope that this is just the first in the series. We need more ya books told from the perspective from other Disney characters. Loved it. Having the story that we all know told from the male hero's perspective was fantastic.

I loved this book. Having the story that we all know told from the male hero's perspective was fantastic. The narrator did a phenomenal job with portraying the emotions and actions of the characters. I would love for this concept to continue as a series so that the boys in my classroom could have a chance to join in on the excitement.

AHHH, I AM SO TORN.

On the one hand, Prince of Song and Sea was a thoroughly refreshing take on a Disney movie retelling — especially after the disaster that almost all of the “Twisted Tales” retellings have been — but also…ghosts? Really? Was that necessary?

I’m certain we could have thought up a better way to move the plot along than that little bit of nonsense right there.

But, all of that put aside, I actually <I>really</I> enjoyed this rendition of a twist to our beloved Disney classic of The Little Mermaid. All throughout, this was engaging and fun and new with just enough of the original to make you feel completely in love with it. Miller’s take on Eric’s character was an absolute blast to follow and quite believable in how she merged his own life and plot with the original story we all know so well.

Basically, this book is The Little Mermaid with a twist from Eric’s point of view. Instead of only Ariel having an unfortunate association with the sea witch, Ursula, so too does Eric. Cursed before he was even born to die if he ever kisses someone who is not his true love, Eric is surrounded by a constant fear of losing his life to one single kissing mistake. And suddenly the stakes of the story become unbelievably high…even if we do all know how it’ll turn out in the end.

This wasn’t a perfect retelling. I’m not going to shout from the rooftops about how perfect it was. But I did kind of love it. And I’d be more than happy to pass it along to another Disney loving reader. It doesn’t have everything I wanted out of a Disney retelling with this absolutely fascinating plot twist, but I’ll take it.

Advanced Reader's Copy audiobook provided by NetGalley, Disney Audiobooks, and Disney Press in exchange for an honest review.

Growing up I have always been a fan of the Little Mermaid, so once I saw that there was a retelling I knew I had to read it!

Prince of Song and Sea follows Prince Eric's point of view of the story we all know and love. This point of view adds so much more complexity, depth and emotion to the story. The disapperance of his mother makes Eric next in line for the throne and his coronation is fast approaching. To bring peace to the kingdom his advisors suggest he marries, but there is one major problem. A CURSE!

The curse helps lovers of the Little Mermaid understand more of the magic drawing Eric and Ariel together, while also trying to keep them apart. I would recommend re-watching the movie either before or soon after reading that way you can pin the two point of views together! After re-watching after reading, I was able to notice some parallels between the two characters in their thought processes, their wants and interests and it was just so interesting to have that added layer!

I will likely follow along with the rest of this series!

Dan Bittner did an amazing job with his narrator of the story.

The Little Mermaid, Retelling, Prince Eric, Curse, Pirates, YA.

I loved this book so much, I think I smiled the entire time I listened to it. It’s so much more than just a simple retelling of Disney’s classic “The Little Mermaid” from Prince Eric’s POV. Miller did a wonderful job of expanding the story in a way that didn’t seem forced or over the top. The world-building was complex and interesting, the supporting characters were fantastic, the plot was fun and intriguing, and there were pirates! Also, this new world is sans sexism, racism and homophobia which is just fantastic. Another bonus is how Miller fixed up a bit of the more questionable aspects of the movie, like abandoning your entire world and way of life for a guy you saw once and didn’t speak a word to.

I was really impressed with Miller’s ability to skillfully weave in the spirit and nostalgic aspects of the movie while telling a new story of a Prince trying to save his kingdom while coming to terms with his fate. This was a fun and cozy ride that brought back so many childhood memories. I just had a blast from start to finish. I highly recommend it and I’m very excited for the next prince.

Shout out to Dan Bittner, you really captured Prince Eric and did a wonderful job.

Special thank you to #NetGalley, #LinseyMiller and #DisneyAudiobooks for sharing this digital copy, these are my honest thoughts on #PrinceOfSongAndSea
Also, a thank you to narrator #DanBittner

Set within the narrative expected from Disney's animated The Little Mermaid, PRINCE OF SONG & SEA gives a backstory to Prince Eric - which is greatly appreciated. There are nods to the Disney movie throughout even though Miller expands upon the original plot line (Eric's curse drives his early interactions with Ariel and does a better job of explaining how and why their first 24-hours play out the way they do).

I really liked Eric's history and thought his curse was interesting and added more depth to the entire storyline. As an adult reader, the plot point of consent being important seemed very heavy handed, but might be not as obvious to teen readers (and it IS a solid message to include within this storyline especially given what Ursula does to gain her power and how Eric could break his curse).

Overall I enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing what comes next in the Princes series.

Dan Bittner does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Disney Audiobooks, and Disney Press in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic YA re-telling of The Little Mermaid through Prince Eric's POV. Some extra adventures thrown in along w/ a few new characters for balance of the side-story. Ursula is much more of a meanie than we ever gave her credit for!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this mp3 version*

We know the story from Ariel's point of view. But as with most of Disney's princesses, the prince of The Little Mermaid is barely more than a name. Prince of Song and Sea fleshes him out and gives him motivations and depth. It develops the country and the other human characters while adding some new faces. Eric lost his mother when she'd left to search for the witch that cursed him to die if he doesn't kiss his true love. The kingdom her reigns over is being attacked by pirates and hurricanes with equal veracity.

I would say this were more of a younger YA kind of book, as can be expected, but it never sacrifices stakes and story for that. It's a fun ride with exciting reveals. I loved the pirates we get to know, and seeing Ariel's classic scenes from Eric's point of view. In the movie, we saw the creatures Ariels tried to hide like at dinner, or being confused about the fork. Seeing them from Eric's point of view, seeing how he interprets the scenes was really interesting and fun. Seeing him, with his friends was also a good time.

I think I'll be reading the next book in this series for sure.

If you like The Little Mermaid, the movie, you'll love this book. The music takes you straight to Disneyland and makes you feel like a princess. Oh Eric please be my prince.

A new and unique take on Prince Eric’s point of view. Eric was always so robotic and dull and yet Ariel was adventurous and full of life. This story breathed life into his character and made the match make sense. It even dives into his feelings when Ursula aka Vanessa tries to control him. I love how new stories are giving a better story arc to classics and creating better world building!

Thank you to Disney Audiobooks and to NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook.

Where do I begin with this review. First off the Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney Princess. I was really excited when I saw this book and audiobook I knew I had to request them. This was a really fun one. The author did a wonderful job interweaving her story with the movie (even dialog was matching) so she definitely did her homework. I really liked the back story that she created for Prince Eric. It gave him a lot more depth in my opinion. I also love the fact that one of the characters in here shares my last name. That was a pretty fun surprise. I absolutely loved this book. It was really fast paced, but also kept you guessing what was going to happen. The narrator was great as well. This is a must read for any Disney or Little Mermaid fan!