The Sleeping Prince

The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury

Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.

When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom. {goodreads summary}

Reading the Sleeping Prince reminded me why I should try to read novels in the same series more closely together - it's been so long since I read the Sin Eater's Daughter that I had forgotten a lot of the plot lines and back story, which made reading the first third or so of the book a struggle in places. 

“The apothecary, the monk and the living Goddess went to war. We sound like the start of a joke.”

I'm not usually a fan of books in series which follow different characters to the original, but TSP is definitely an exception. I really loved Errin and Silas - they were such complex, interesting characters and a real credit to Salisbury's world. They also meant that TSP nicely avoided the mid-book slump that it all too common in YA trilogies, giving the story a fresh twist with the changed perspective.

“Fortune favours the bold." I smile weakly."So does death," she counters immediately. "The craven tend to live much longer than the heroic.” 

I adored the world building, and found myself lost in Salisbury's fantasy world for days after I'd finished TSP, even though I'd started on another book. I just couldn't get it out of my head. The backstory and mythology is incredibly detailed.

When I asked him why, he told me it was safer like that. For us both. And to not ask again.
Mysterious boys are not as enjoyable in reality as they are in stories.

I'm going to make an effort to read The Scarecrow Queen quite soon, so I don't encounter the same issues that I did at the start of TSP. I can't wait to see how this series ends.