{Spoiler Alert} The Runaway King: Jennifer A. Nielsen

Rating: 9.5/10

Series: The Ascendance Trilogy #2

Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Young Adult Fiction

Publication Date: March 1, 2013

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Page Count: 331

Format: Paperback

Source: Book Orders

Goodreads Synopsis: A kingdom teetering on the brink of destruction. A king gone missing. Who will survive? Find out in the highly anticipated sequel to Jennifer A. Nielsen's blockbuster THE FALSE PRINCE!

Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation. Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting within Carthya. Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it. But the further Jaron is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far. Will he ever be able to return home again? Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his kingdom?The stunning second installment of The Ascendance Trilogy takes readers on a roller-coaster ride of treason and murder, thrills and peril, as they journey with the Runaway King!

*This is new feature I will be doing when I want to write a review of a book with my unfiltered feelings. I will post two versions of the review, spoiler filled, and spoiler free so people can still read the review and hear me gush about how good it is without the plot being spoiled for them. If you want to read the spoiler free click here*

*Check out my spoiler free review and spoiler filled review of The False Prince, which is the first book in the stunning Ascendance Trilogy*

*There are spoilers for The False Prince and definitely for The Runaway King in this review so click out of this right away to the spoiler free version so you don't find out what happens*

My Backstory: Another back story....because the entire paragraph for The False Prince's backstory was definitely not long enough. Anyway, I finished The False Prince last Saturday morning. I then had to eat lunch, then spent my entire rest of the afternoon doing a math project. While I was taking an alleged "break" I started reading The Runaway King. On Sunday, I had church and more working on my math project so I only got to page 75 on The Runaway King. On Monday morning while I was reading in ELA class, I was just not feeling the same feelings. All of that changed come about 30 pages later. I read the next 200 something pages in one sitting and please excuse my language. What. The. Hell? The Runaway King was a phenomenal roller coaster of non-stop action. I went back to my roots of reading in the bathroom just because I felt it would be nice to end each book the way I have before. Yes, I am extremely weird.

Plot: The reason I wasn't loving The Runaway King in the beginning was because the action wasn't as fast and furious as it was in The False Prince. Of course that only lasted for the first 100 something pages, but after that, when Jaron goes to the pirates, everything changes and I am practically ripping the pages out of the book. 

The events left me like this...

The Runaway King is the very core and definition of page-turner. When reading, I felt as if I couldn't breathe. It wasn't one of those "this piece of art work took my breath away" kind of situations but the story literally knocked my breath of me. I felt like things were being pelted at me and it was the best feeling in the world. (Yes. I am that crazy to enjoy things being thrown at me) I laughed, sighed (in annoyance with Jaron), and almost hyperventilated with this book. I consider myself a fast reader but reading The Runaway King....was FAST! My eyes would trail down the page, then go on to the next one. And the cliffhangers were continuous. Just when you thought you could return to the real world to do things like brush your teeth or get ready for school, there was more of Jaron being an idiot or him fighting 15 people at once with a broken leg. 

The cliffhangers just keep happening over and over, and Jaron keeps getting out of them but I still (am stupid enough to) think Jaron is finally doomed. I mean....Roden broke Jaron's LEG and he still didn't back down. That is where things got a little bit unrealistic, but the action didn't slow for a millisecond. Jaron scaled a freaking CLIFF, then fought Roden for the pirate king crown and all the mini-events in between.  

Romance: I completely understand the dynamics and set up for the love triangle in The Runaway King, but I still don't like it. Amarinda and Imogen have become BFFs...like totes, bla bla bla, Jaron will do anything for Imogen and Amarinda is meek and mild as ever. I know others would say differently, and this is my own opinion but I do not see/understand the 'sparks' between Jaron and Imogen. There are examples in the book for how imogen is strong, and willful, and more of my unusual requirements for a female character. I just don't see them and even though it would never happen, seems an almost submissive and dominant relationship because Jaron is so headstrong and Imogen is compassionate and a used-to-be servant.

Pacing: I honestly don't know how Jennifer Nielsen does it. By that, I mean that I have no idea how the heck she is so talented to be able to write what she writes, and not make me annoyed. Jaron is a cat with nine lives, no matter HOW HARD people try, he just can't be killed. Nielsen leaves you thinking at the end of almost every chapter that he's done for, he's doomed, he's burned a bridge that can never be crossed, he's said something he shouldn't have. 

And Jaron comes out of these situations better off than he was before

I swear, if this were any other author or character, I would have thrown my book against the wall in pure annoyance, but she pulls it off. 

Writing Style: Oh My Gosh, the Legend Trilogy feels came back big-time in this novel, but when I read The Runaway King, it was for a different reason then The False Prince. With The Runaway King,  it was the narration that made me reach up to the heavens and thank the lord (which is weird since I'm not overly religious) Jennifer A. Nielsen is alive to quench my thirst while Marie Lu is still working on The Young Elites. 

Jaron is not Day.

Jaron is not Anden.

But Jaron sure as heck sounds like the two of them.

Let me explain a little for those of you that haven't read The Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu. Daniel Altan Wing or 'Day' is a notorious criminal in the Republic of America who is very similar to Jaron, but that's another post/story altogether. Anden Stavropolous on the other hand is the boy-king that has been raised and groomed to take over the Republic of America. It is as if someone had put an equal amount of Anden, an equal amount of Day into my mothers Nutri-bullet, and a Jaron smoothie came out. I'm not saying Jaron isn't his own person/individual, quite the contrary, he is the most unique character I have ever met. Circumstantially, he is the smoothie. Jaron can't be the carefree boy he was even five days ago that he was with Bevin Conner. He has a duty and responsibility to a kingdom he loves, and he can't be quite as rambunctious and bent on making the lives of the people around him horrible. It's a battle between being the center of grief (in the good grief way, not the somebody died grief way) for all of his regents and subjects, and trying to be a ruler that people believe is too young, inexperienced, and without a good head on his shoulders. Somehow, Nielsen pulls it off the same way she miraculously makes Jaron realistically escape from everything and makes readers perceive him as a saint rather than a devil.

One of the last things I would like to say about The Runaway King is that this is a book for all ages (part of the reason I don't know whether to classify the book as Young Adult or Middle Grade). While the general feel of the book (setting and set-up wise, not 'the feels') may be for littler ones, it was still just as appealing to myself, and others that are older than the targeted age for this book. The themes were wonderful especially the "I never run away or back down" considering the title is The Runaway King. At the same time, Nielsen pulls off having a ton of fighting and face-to-face confrontations, and there is no trace of gore or graphicness to be seen which I know parents (such as my own who are horrified when it comes to violence) appreciate a lot.

Conclusion: This is one of the best books I have read in terms of pacing, style, and themes, and has definitely gained a place of honor on my bookshelves.

  
Be sure to check my lovely friend Tina Chan's review of The Runaway King at her blog The Book Landers. If you are Legend fangirl you HAVE to talk to her, and even if you aren't you should talk to her and follow her blog because that's just how awesome she is. 

{Spoiler Alert} The False Prince: Jennifer A. Nielsen

Rating: 9.5/10
Series: The Ascendance Trilogy #1
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Thriller, Mystery, Action
Publication Date: April 1, 2012
Recommended For: Fans of the Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu
Publisher: Scholastic
Page Count: 342
Format: Softback

Source: Purchased from school bookorders



Goodreads Synopsis: THE FALSE PRINCE is the thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy filled with danger and deceit and hidden identities that will have readers rushing breathlessly to the end.

In a discontent 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.An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

*This is new feature I will be doing when I want to write a review of a book with my unfiltered feelings. I will post two versions of the review, spoiler filled, and spoiler free so people can still read the review and hear me gush about how good it is without the plot being spoiled for them. If you want to read the spoiler version click here*

Oh my gosh, the feels, the emotions, the thrills, the astounding writer, the mystery, the suspense, the non-stop action the culmination of every plot element that makes this one of the best series I have read in 2014 and the best re-read of all time. I would have done a "Feels Review" but I did not have time when I finished it.....so this as close as you will get to a feels review without me having written it RIGHT after I had finished the book. 

Let's start with the backstory. I had read this book for the first time more than two years ago on a recommendation from a friend who was so kind to lend it to me, and then I ruined it with a leaky waterbottle, but that's  another story. Anyway, I remember finishing this book the first time around. I was sitting on the toilet in my bathroom (don't worry, I wasn't actually 'going to the bathroom') using the nightlight in the bathroom the finish the book in the wee hours of the morning (ten o' clock at night) because it was just SO GOOD, and I knew I would DIE without the sequel. I would have had to wait until next Fall (we all know how that is *points finger at Rick Riordan*) and pretty much forgot about the book entirely. Fastforward to February of 2014. I was browsing Netgalley, looking for books to request that would further lower my already horrible approval vs. feedback ratio. Low and behold, I found the third book in the series that I had fallen in love with. I did the thing we are all expecting. I requested it. Low and behold again, I was accepted. *Showers the world with crowns, swords, and half-truths!* Now here was the problem,  I didn't have access to the book anymore....or the sequel.....which meant I couldn't read the last book. Fastforward to March 2014. I was browsing through the Scholastic book orders (they may be for little kids, but there are some amazing deals, don't judge) and books one and two were there, for nine dollars only.  Of course, I bought them, and here I am around three weeks later, having binge-read almost the entire series as fast as homework and school would let me.

Now that my (very long) backstory is over, where do I begin? The first thing I would like to establish is that this book was a gazillion times better the 2nd time around. Two years ago, I had rated it four stars, it was out of my comfort zone, the first novel I read solely narrated by a male character. Oooh, scary! The thing was, when I re-read this book, it was like walking through a portal back in time. I remember exactly how I felt, when I had read it the first time, the tension, the suspense, and because I knew that Sage was actually Jaron, I noticed subtle hints that hadn't been there before (maybe they were already there and I was too ignorant to notice, but we'll just go with that they hadn't been there before). It was like when you watch a murder mystery again, but you watch the killer with an evil glint in your eyes and curse yourself the entire time for not realizing he was the killer before. 

The first thing I would like to bring up in terms of structure of the book is Jaron. Oh my gosh Jaron, you are my newest book boyfriend, but if I actually knew you, you would probably make my life hell. Jaron was like a cat with nine lives. He just COULD NOT be killed. Time after time again, after button after button he pressed, bridge after bridge you believed he had burned. He was rash, impulsive, aggressive, clever impatient, comical, and so much more. Jennifer Nielsen is a literary genius for having created a character like him. He appeared to be so arrogant and selfish and basically a male version of an absolute and total b***h. Yet, I loved him. If this were any other book, any other premise, and any other author, I would have thrown this book at the wall out of frustration with his character. He would be considered weak, poorly developed, and annoying. Yet, he wasn't and that's why I loved him so much. Jaron stood on this line between right and wrong, and flip flopped between good and evil. You never knew what side he was on, and he intended to keep it that way. The entire book, he was carrying out his own personal agenda, without a care or thought to his responsibility to others around him.

My second point is that if I hadn't read The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, I would not have enjoyed Legend by Marie Lu as much & if I hadn't read Legend by Marie Lu, I would not have enjoyed The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen as much the second time around. Why is this you may ask? The settings couldn't be farther apart. The premises don't have anything in common. What they have in common are the characters and passion. If you have read Legend and The False Prince, then you will know that Day and Jaron are very similar to each other. Their narration, while Jaron's could be coarser and less eloquent at times was mostly what made me draw the connection. But even more than that was the way they thought. Jaron was clever enough to talk or fight his way out of a thousand and one situations that could have ended with his death if he hadn't been Jaron. Day on the other hand was intelligent enough to con his way out of any situation. In terms of physical attributes, they're practically the same person, minus the long hair on Jaron's part. Just to list a few, they're both theives, they spent almost the exact same time period on the streets (ages 10-14/15), agile, climbers, fighters, intelligent, the list goes on. The biggest similarity is that they both have the spirit to do the impossible. 

One area The False Prince lacked in was definitely the female department. First of all, there were only two females mentioned by name in the ENTIRE story (if you don't count the mean orphanage director, Mrs. Turbeldy). There was Imogen, the serving girl who Jaron/Sage had an inexplicable attraction to and who pretended to be mute for her own safety. Then there was Princess Amarinda that is betrothed to the throne of Carthya. Both of them behaved just as females did back then. They were meak, they were mild, and certainly no Katniss Everdeens. It would have been nice to have a girl to snap back at Sage's quick witted comments. 

Besides Jaron's character and similarities to my all-time favorite book boyfriend, Daniel Altan Wing, was the plot and pacing. Event after event happened, delving deeper and deeper into Jennifer A. Nielsen's mind. There was Sage being defiant, Sage annoying people, Sage getting into trouble, Sage doing a range of things that kept the plot going while Conner and everyone around him kept doing things to. I sound so literate. My point, is that the plot was a complicated dance of Jaron against the rest of the world. Imagine the game that little kids play called Ninja. Everyone in the circle gets one strike to a person, but if they hit someone, then that limb and/or body part is frozen until there's only one person that can strike another. Imagine that, but with Jaron against every other character in the book trying to strike him and bring him down. 

Now the ending is what made me truly respect Jennifer A. Nielsen two years ago. I was so certain that something bad would happen to Sage because Conner picked Roden as his Prince. Never in one freaking million years did I think that Sage was actually Jaron. In fact, I was very confused when his identity was revealed. What made this book so fun for me as a re-read were noticing all of the subtle hints and pieces of the puzzle that didn't connect. My friends @codesandwrites and @MalacalaS both noticed them their first time around which proves how much smarter they are than me. Anyway, the ending is the very best I have ever read in any novel. 

Continuation: I have already finished the rest of the series and the review will be up soon but let me tell you, there is no way I could not have read the sequels. After finishing The False Prince. 

Conclusion: The False Prince is a page-turning novel full of sensational feels, plenty of humor, and a protagonist that is impossible not to fall in love with and one HELL of a book.