Heartless Prince is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel. It tells the story of orphaned Princess Evony who was and raised in a castle by the parents of Prince Ammon. They’ve been friends for years, and slowly Evony has wanted to become more. When Ammon is attacked by the servants of the witches that oppose his kingdom, Evony is determined to save him by retrieving his heart.
I was so excited to be on the tour for this book! As soon as the novel arrived, I was marveling at the absolutely gorgeous cover. That is the one thing I have to say about this book, I have no complaints about the art. It sucked me in and made me finish the book in less than an hour. I hope I get to see some of this artist’s work in future graphic novels I read.
The main complaint I have about this graphic novel is the story. I found it very shallow. Yes, there are witches attacking the kingdom. Why are they attacking the kingdom? How long has this been going on? How are the outside villages affected by the demonic familiars prowling through the woods? I felt like I was reading a short story rather than the start of a graphic novel trilogy. Maybe a better setup would have been to focus more on the early life of Evony and her prince and end the book with the prince being hurt by the witches as a cliffhanger for the next installment of the series. I’m not sure, but all I know was that I left this book feeling like I didn’t have much of a connection to the characters.
Evony was a character who had potential. She had a unique backstory and the world she lived in was full of magical creatures controlled by witches. I don’t want to make any strong statements about her specifically as I feel like the next book in this series will expand upon her character greatly. The end of the book set things up for a completely different side of Evony to be shown. Nevertheless, in this book, she is mostly just a girl with no background. A blank slate aside from being friends with and being raised with Prince Ammon, and having clear, strong feelings for him. Her background is hinted at in the short scene about her as a baby, but those events are not really expanded upon much. I hope that more connections are made between her past, her family, and her future in the next book of this series.
At this point, I wouldn’t recommend this book to those looking for a new graphic novel to enjoy. If you would like to see beautiful art, check it out, but don’t expect a super in-depth story. I hope that this view changes with the second book in the trilogy, which I might check out at my local library once it is released.
I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 books.
