I have mixed feelings about this one. I was excited to read about a cross-dressing prince running away from home, but when I actually met the character, I grew annoyed by him fast. He was incredibly selfish and shallow, to the point where I din’t want to root for him at all. However, about 75% into the story he actually started acknowledging his flaws and even made me believe he genuinely wanted to fix them. So that was pretty satisfying! But also—simply because of the novella’s size—sort of rushed.

Actually, a lot of things about this book felt rushed, or shallow. I’d love to delve deeper into the worldbuilding. I’d love to figure out why Stephan’s relatives wanted to dispose of him; I get it, they’re homophobic assholes, but did they also see him as a political threat? I’d love to know more about the situation with the war between the two kingoms, too. And to get more backstory on Warren (and, ideally, some chapters from his POV, because that guy’s awesome and too good for Stephan, even the redemption-driven Stephan from the last part of the book). It feels like a little too much was stuffed into the novella’s premise, and then too much had to be glossed over instead following the plot threads. This book definitely would benefit from being at least two tmes as long as it is!

Despite all that, I greatly enjoyed Isabelle Adler’s prose. As I read, I could vividly picture every location the characters visited, feel the chill of autumn turning into winter, and hear the fireworks. And Warren absolutely has my heart.