Book Review: Prince of Thorns & Nighmares
Following the delight that was last years’ Prince of Song & Sea comes the second book in the Disney Prince series, Prince of Thorns & Nightmares, this time following Prince Phillip in the lead-up to Princess Aurora’s fateful 16th birthday, where she is doomed to prick her finger on that infamous spindle.
Linsey Miller’s epic adventure follows Phillip — heir to the throne of Artwyne, begrudging fiancé and protector to the mysterious Princess Aurora, whom he’s never met — attempting to find one last scrap of freedom for himself before his life becomes dedicated entirely to the Princess he’s been told about his whole life. Along for the ride is his best friend and knight Johanna, aware of his predicament, and who ribs him in the way only a best friend can.
The two are found by three fairies — just not THOSE three fairies — who tell Phillip he has latent magical abilities, and that he must train to use them, as well as acquire two magical objects if he ever wants to have a hope of defeating Maleficent. Phillip jumps on board with this proactive approach, all the while being haunted in his dreams by a mysterious girl named Briar Rose, who he can hear, but never quite see.
Like Prince of Song & Sea, Prince of Thorns & Nightmares takes a Disney couple that didn’t have a tremendous amount of time together from the outset and finds a way to give them more in common, and more of a foundation for their relationship, in this case by having Phillip and Aurora literally meet “once upon a dream”. Their struggles in seeing one another, but never being able to escape each other in dreams force the two to form a friendship and actually talk things out long before that waltz in the woods. Those sequences were by far my favorites in the book.
Where this series really excels is in giving the characters who maybe didn’t have all that much to do in their movies a little more involvement in their own stories. I am not the kind of person who thinks Disney movies need a massive overhaul to resonate. Adventure and romance are not mutually exclusive, and fleshing out a well-known story to include more dimension while leaving the original as a frame and influence is always a fun time.
Prince of Thorns & Nightmares is out now. Special thank you to Disney for the advance copy for review purposes.
