Prince of Shadows

** spoiler alert ** "Blood has slaughtered blood since Cain killed Abel." I underestimated just how much of a romance story this was. It was billed as an adventure story- and the premise certainly lends itself to adventure much better. The basic concept is the tale of Romeo and Juliet told through the eyes of Benvolio, Romeo's cousin, and the famous thief, The Prince of Shadows. Imagine a story where the Prince of Shadows sows chaos and disorder among the Capulets and works secretly to prevent Romeo from doing anything stupid while in love with Juliet. Imagine Benvolio leading a double life and all the spy vs. spy and Robin Hood-esque dynamics that could have been. That is the wasted potential of this concept. Instead, it was an elaborate love play between Romeo, Mercutio, Rosaline, Benvolio, and Juliet, that ended in almost all of their deaths- and something I would not read again.

I never expected to love this book as much as I did. I've never paid much attention to the Romeo and Juliet story, I've never thought it was romantic, but I've always had a thing for the secondary characters and underdogs, the lesser known voices, so I thought I might enjoy this and I really did! It's full of passion and violence and despair and forbidden love. Rachel Caine out does herself. She has so many worlds and each has its own voice which is rare for an author these days. It couldn't be more different to Morganville but it's something I will read again and again.