The Chained Prince - Becca Calder

First thing's first; I'd like to thank Book Sirens and Becca Calder for the opportunity to read the first book in Eldergreen series prior to release, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and quite literally couldn't put it down. I read this book in one sitting. I genuinely couldn't believe that this is a debut novel!

This series already has a lot of my favourite fantasy elements; oppressed races, seeds of rebellion, blood magic, supressed powers... definitely a winner for me. If you enjoyed The Plated Prisoner series or Mistborn I'd say this is a must-read for you.

Let's jump to it, because I have so much to say!

Trigger and Content Warnings

There are a few open door spicy scenes, but they're not too explicit.

TWs:

• Violence

• Coercive control

• Domestic abuse

• Oppression of minorities

• Torture

• Desecration of corpses

• Forced breeding

Tropes

• Forced proximity

• Fated mates (it's definitely complicated)

• He falls first

• Friends to enemies to (hopefully) lovers

• Villainous 'saviour'

• Reluctant heroine

The Blurb

The chained prince haunting her dreams isn’t a nightmare.

He’s real—and fate won’t let either of them go.

Fae mage Araya Starwind has survived the New Dominion’s brutal rule by keeping her head down and her magic leashed. To stay safe, she binds herself to a powerful human mage—Jaxon Shaw—whose protection comes at a steep and controlling cost.

But when the fae male from her dreams turns out to be the missing prince, Araya is drawn into a conflict she never asked for—and a connection she can’t escape.

Now, she’s caught between two impossible choices: obey the laws that keep her caged, or risk everything for a freedom she never believed in.

My Reading Journey

The prologue grabbed me instantly; the opening was so strong that I was hooked immediately. We're introduced into a world where the fae are fighting against humans who want to colonise and own not just the land but the people. Worse yet, they want to use the fae people's bones in order to steal a magic that isn't theirs.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and we meet Araya. Araya is an extremely talented and intelligent young female - unfortunately she's also three quarters fae, and due to be sent to the Arcanum's mandatory breeding program where she will bear children she will never raise and have her powers stripped from her...

...wow, way to get me invested! The loss of identity, of autonomy? I'm hooked. I found the descriptions of oppression and colonisation really powerful, perhaps not as nuanced as other novels, but really well done and there was this insidious kind of feeling behind it. The descriptions of physical changes imposed on the fae, their treatment and the 'schools' they were forced into were reminiscent of Western colonisers and their treatment of indigenous peoples. The fae had had their language eradicated, forcibly beaten when it was uttered to the point that it had been forgotten and their distinctive ears mutilated... I mean, we already knew humans were the worst, right? I hope that by being able to put themselves in the position of the protagonists, that non BIPOC readers are able to empathise a little more with marginalised peoples.

The other aspect of the story that really impacted me was the relationship between Araya and her so-called 'saviour', Jaxon. I'll start by saying I detest Jaxon. He is a textbook piece of shit, but the way the author detailed the creeping, subtle way coercive control can gradually become more suffocating and more dangerous was masterful. Araya has spent most of her life not knowing love or safety, and that vulnerability is just what Jaxon needs to bind her to him and use her powers for his own gain. Ugh, I just hate him.

The last major player is Loren. The lost fae prince with his sentient shadow magic. Him, I love. I won't say too much as I don't want to spoil anything, but his relationship with Araya is complicated to say the least. He's been tortured, chained, and stripped of his identity and birth-right. Loren really starts to come into his own at the end of the book and I can't wait to see more of him.

Peaks

• A 28 year old FMC! No teenagers!

• Araya, despite her age, still having a naivety about her - mostly due to the confines she has been forced to live in.

• The shadows are sentient and communicate. They have a personality, I'm so excited to learn more about them - they reminded me a little of Auren's ribbons in The Plated Prisoner.

• The true name of a fae is the source to controlling their power. This is a part of fae lore that you really don't see enough and I am here for it.

• The writing style was great - not overly prose-y, but great descriptive language making it easy to feel immersed.

• Interesting and gripping story, I can't wait to read more about the rebellion and to travel to different parts of this world.

• Characterisation was great. I only disliked the characters I was supposed to dislike, and am really rooting for our protagonists (and Serafina).

Pits

• I really hate the miscommunication/secret keeping trope. I get why, but we know the truth will come out so just let everyone make informed decisions.

• The differences in fae and human architecture was mentioned a few times, but not really described so I struggled to picture it.

• Honestly? I just want more. That's my biggest pit.

  
  

The BookCat’s 9 Lives

I would read this in nine out of nine lives.

The breakdown:

Writing style 😻

Pacing 😻

Plot and storyline 😻

World building 😻

Magic system 😻

Originality 😻

Emotional impact and engagement😻

Lasting impact 😻

Character development 😻

I've been lucky with ARCs lately, this was another absolute joy to read and I'm so invested that I'm desperate for the next instalment. I'd definitely recommend this series if you enjoyed The Plated Prisoner series or Mistborn.

Get your copy on 3rd June, on Amazon and at all good book stores!

Thank you for reading my latest ARC review, please let me know below how you found it and any way that would improve my future reviews. Also let me know what you think of the new graphics!

Life before death, fellow Radiants <3