“Am I Mahan or am I Bayangan? If I am Bayangan, why do I have the Amok Strength? If I am Mahan, what am I doing on the throne of Bayangan?”

TW: gruesome deaths, torture, violence

Happy release day to The Tale of the Hostage Prince! 🎉✨✨

If you have been following my reviews, you may know that Amok (read my review here) is one of my favourite reads of 2021, and it is still among the top of my favourite fantasy reads. As much as I loved the main character, Mikal, his best friend, Yosua had been my favourite character from the start. I have wished that we will be getting a POV from him someday, and Miss Anna Tan decides to make my wish come true this year by releasing The Tale of the Hostage Prince!

The Tale of the Hostage Prince takes place two years after Amok. Despite the years passed, Yosua is still unable to adapt to his role as Raja of Bayangan. Despite finally returning to his homeland kingdom, where he should belong, he feels like something is missing. He longs for his best friend, Mikal, and misses Maha even though he was raised as a hostage there. His own people questions his ability to reign, making him doubt himself more. But when his parents are murdered brutally, and his uncle is hell-bent on seeking revenge, Yosua no longer has time to wonder where he truly belongs. If he does not play his role as Raja properly, his own people will betray him and death will claw its way to him soon.

I cannot remember feeling so much rage and pain while reading a book. The Tale of the Hostage Prince literally made me want to scream in agony, my fists clenched tightly and my heart breaking to pieces, because everything that Yosua goes through are too infuriating and painful to bear. Yosua has no men to trust after the death of his parents, and even his closest confidant will betray him at any given time. He does not even have the time to grief his parents when everything starts to crumble down, and Yosua realises that he may truly be alone.

The Tale of the Hostage Prince is a fast-paced story that left me breathless; there was no time to rest as things keep getting worse for Yosua after each page. The violence and torture are rather gruesome, perfect for my taste, even if it leaves a bitter aftertaste when I consider that Yosua does not deserve any of it. His faith is questioned and his efforts seem futile, but someone with a big heart like him never gives up. I love how hard he tries his best, and whenever he feels like giving up, somewhere deep inside him knows that it is not the right thing to do. This is why he will always be my favourite ♡

“I say that you are truer than a friend, closer than a brother. But my path is not your path and neither will yours be mine.”

When Yosua finally reunites with Mikal, it feels like a joyous celebration for me, and for them. They grew up together as best friends, as brothers, so being separated has taken its toll, especially on Yosua. I love, love the bond that these two have, and as much as I wish they can be back together like before, that is just not possible. And the way Yosua finally makes peace with this fact is pleasing in its own way. His character growth from a soft and meek boy, lacking in confidence over his worth, to becoming a man proud of his strength and flaws, unafraid to fight and protect his own people. I love that despite his harsh upbringing and the countless betrayals he went through, Yosua retains his softness and is nothing but kind to his people.

I have to say that I absolutely enjoy Anna Tan's writing style. She has a flair with words, and her world is written so vividly, I was able to imagine the scenes playing in my head, down to every detail of it. I fall in love hard with the characters that are good, and loath the villains to the deepest part of my heart. There are many twists and horrors, and despite having an inkling of who had caused the death of Yosua's parents, the truth still left me in shock. I had not expected to love this one more than I love Amok, but having a soft spot for Yosua, I can easily say I definitely love this one a lot more.

All in all, The Tale of the Hostage Prince is a story of a powerless young Raja, betrayals from those who you trust the most, and finding your inner-strength to fight back for what is rightfully yours. There is nothing I do not love about it, hence why I am giving it an infinity of stars as my rating! Many thanks to the author and Teaspoon Publishing for sending me the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Below are the links where you can order The Tale of the Hostage Prince!

Ebook: https://books2read.com/HostagePrince [USD4.99 / RM20]

Paperback (Malaysia only): https://teaspoonpublishing.com.my/shop/hostageprince-paperback/ [RM45]

“Don't grieve for me. I can't go on living this way. I pray every day to escape somehow—if the only way is through death, so be it.”

TW: mentions of non-consensual sex & rape, torture, death

I jumped into this book blindly, only wanting to satisfy my craving for a story with Japanese mythical elements in it. And I came out with a potential new favourite series! ✨

Emperor of the Eight Islands is the first book set in The Tale of Shikanoko series by Lian Hearn. It follows a young boy named Kazumaru, whom after being left to die in the woods by his greedy uncle, is taken in by a sorcerer and placed under and initiation against his will. He later becomes the "deer child", and is called Shikanoko. The tale follows Shikanoko as he meets new people, good and bad, all the while wondering what his true purpose in life is.

This book is told in the third person point-of-view, of six different people. Despite this, I find the flow of the story easy to follow, the transition between each character rather smooth. It even helps me as a reader to gauge the world of the book much better. While this book is quite a thin book, there is a large number of characters in it, but fret not as a character list in included at the start of the book. I do suggest skipping the character list unless you need to refresh a character's role, because there are some spoilers in it.

“He reflected grimly as he hastened back through the dark street on how children were used as pawns in men's struggles for power. His son, Tsumaru, the Emperor's grandson, Yoshimori, were to be abducted, hidden, murdered, not for any crime of theirs, unless it was from a former life, but because of who their fathers were.”

The adults in this book disgusts me. Fueled by their hunger for power and lust, the children becomes their pawns and victims. My favourite characters are mainly the children: Akihime, Hina, Yoshimori, Kai and especially Shikanoko. The way their fates are tied are heartbreaking, and I think it is sad how these children are being forced to mature quickly, or else they will die in between the cruel fights between the adults.

Desire, greed, betrayal and extreme loyalty play large roles as themes of this book. There are a few scenes where the characters are forced to have sex, while being partially conscious. This may sound vile, but these scenes are vital for the plot as lust and desire are part of the dark sorcery being performed. However, non of the sexual scenes (including consensual ones) are graphic and are mostly mentioned in a few sentences, but if you are uncomfortable with these, please be mindful if you want to read this book. As for the torture and death parts, they are also mentioned briefly, but if you have a good enough imagination, it can be rather gruesome.

Overall, Emperor of the Eight Islands is a great introduction to The Tale of Shikanoko's world, and I have plenty of characters that I'm rooting for, and also characters whom I wish to experience the worst pain in their deaths. It is an easy and rather light read, despite the mythical elements in it. If I had not procrastinate, I could easily devour this book in a single sitting! It has a good deal of twists and shocking truths in it, and even though one of the main characters ends up making a terrible mistake in the end, I still enjoyed every bit of this book.

I look forward to continue this series soon. If you love reading stories with dark magic, demons, wars and Japanese mythology and culture, you might like to try picking up this one!