Reviews by Teens

Review by Calvin

The kingdom of Carthya is on the brink of war  against the neighbouring kingdom of Avenia. It is up to Conner, a nobleman to ensure the safety of Carthia by replacing a pacifist king with a militaristic king who would eliminate any potential dangers to the kingdom. As part of an elaborate plan to replace the murdered king, Connor chooses four orphans and trains each of them to adopt the behaviour and mannerisms of a royal prince. Conner would train these four orphans to behave more like a prince by teaching them how to speak well, ride a horse and wield a sword in a fight. Conner would choose the one who best impersonates a prince while the others would be put to death to cover up the entire plan. One of the orphans who was chosen was a boy named Sage who, like the other three orphans had two choices: impersonate a prince or be killed by Conner.  

This is why I believe one of the most important themes in this story is deception (trickery) since there are many characters in this story who deceive each other for the greater good of Carthya.

There are many reasons why I believe that deception is one of the central themes of The False Prince, by Jennifer A. Nielsen. First of all , Conner is so focused on ensuring the safety of his country even to the point where he states “that he would give his soul to the Devil for greater good of the kingdom.” Connor isn't satisfied with King Eckbert’s decision to remain a pacifist and not eliminate any potential threats from neighbouring kingdoms. So he develops a cunning plan to let Avenian pirates kill the king's youngest son, which will force Eckbert to attack Avenia and eliminate a potential threat to Carthia. However, Eckbert, knowing that the prince has escaped, declares that he will only attack Avenia if he sees the dead body of his son. So with no other option, Connor decides to murder the whole royal family and find an imposter who he can control and manipulate to rule Carthia. This shows how Conner tricks both Avenia and Carthya for the greater good.

Another example of a character who becomes involved in a plot of deception is Jaron, the legitimate prince of Carthya, who lets himself be deceived by Conner who believes that Jaron is a mere orphan who goes by the name Sage. Jaron allows Conner to use him as a puppet in his plan to control Carthia in order to find out who is behind the murder of his family. While Jaron is with Conner training to be the lost prince, he finds evidence of a type of poison that if you drink it you will go to sleep like nothing happened but will never wake up alive. Conner uses this poison to kill the the royal family at supper one night. When Jaron frames Conner, he says, “I want the prime regent, Lord Bevin Conner, arrested for the attempted murder of Prince Jaron four years ago. Arrest him for the murder of an orphan boy named Latamer. And also for the murders of King Eckbert, Queen Erin, and Crown Prince Darius.” This is how Jaron tricked Conner that he was a regular orphan who later blackmailed him

My third and final reason why I believe the theme of the The False Prince to be deception is how King Eckbert lies to the people of Carthya that he didn't know if his son, prince Jaron, was dead or alive. When King Eckbert finds that his son is alive, he goes and visits him at a church in Avenia; he tells Jaron not to come with him and live a life of an orphan for he knows that one day he and the royal family will be no more, after the attack of the Avenian pirates. Eckbert knows there will be a day when Jaron will have to return to the kingdom if Eckbert the Queen and Prince Darius die. Jaron will have to return to the throne, but until then he must be an orphan. However king Eckbert never tells this to Jaron. This is another example of how a charter uses deception for the good of Carthya

Therefore these are my reasons why I believe the main theme of  The False Prince is deception, for Jaron, Conner, and Eckbert deceive each other for what they believe is the greater good of Carthya. I suggest this book for an audience from ages 10-14, due to this book's story and mind-blowing concept. I would rate this a 10/10. That's how good it was!