Review: "The False Prince" by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Legolas got this one for Christmas and told me that the MC reminded her of Eugenides, so obviously I had to read it. Once I started, I realized that I had read it a long while ago, but I had forgotten most everything about it...so it was pretty much like coming to it fresh, and I think I enjoyed it more this time around. :) 

In a discontented kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point -- he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.

As Sage moves from a rundown orphanage to Conner's sumptuous palace, layer upon layer of treachery and deceit unfold, until finally, a truth is revealed that, in the end, may very well prove more dangerous than all of the lies taken together.

Worldbuilding/Writing Style
The worldbuilding in this book was fairly typical fantasy: kingdom, royal family, nobles, squalid medieval-ish cities, etc. Not that there's anything wrong with that...and it did work well with the story. The writing style was not super noticeable as being either good or bad. :) 

Plot
The plot is interesting in that, while a lot of time is given to the boys' "prince lessons", it almost never gets boring. There's always some conflict, some problem, some danger, that spices up the mundane-ness of those lessons (inasmuch as learning what one needs in order to survive is mundane...). And the end, with its twists, is intriguing. I will say, I did figure out the twist ahead of time. Then again, I am intimately familiar with the Queen's Thief series, which has many twists similar to the one in this book, so it was easier for me to recognize.

Characters
I think the characters are where this book shines. Nielsen does a really good job of not making them too similar. Four orphans...it would have been easy for her to make them similar. And yet, they're not. Sage, Tobias and Roden are all very different, despite having similar characteristics in terms of appearance. They're all very motivated, but they approach their job of learning to be the prince in very different ways. And this makes them extremely, exceedingly interesting, especially in contrast with each other.
But it's Sage who makes the book. For the longest time, you can't find out how he's motivated, since he agrees to be "recruited", but seems to resist Conner at every turn. He's complicated, tricksy, but also charistmatic, and he cares about people. He reminds me--and Legolas--of Eugenides from The Queen's Thief, albeit a slightly less tricky, more immature, and more hotheaded Eugenides. Very, very fun to follow as the POV character and MC. 

Romance
Not really any to speak of.

Content
Some gore, brief torture scene, deaths. 

Overall Rating
I'm waffling between 3.5 and 4 stars, but upon consideration, I'll give it four. :)

Reminds me of...
The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner (although MWT's setting is much more creative. :D).

What's your favorite book with a tricksy narrator? What about your favorite book with a classic fantasy setting? Have you ever started to read a book only to remember that you had already read it a long time ago?