Review: Pathways by Camille Peters

My rating: 3 stars / I liked it

Synopsis

Eileen has never been interested in love. Ever since her father's abandonment, she's vowed to never experience such pain again. But the enchanted forest has different ideas. When the continuously shifting pathways lead her to a mysterious stranger, Eileen finds her promise to fiercely guard her heart increasingly difficult to keep.

One night when she becomes lost in a storm, the enchanted forest's pathways lead her to the castle, home to the kingdom's Dark Prince, where Eileen finds herself entangled in what many consider an opportunity but which Eileen believes to be a curse: competing for the Dark Prince’s hand through a series of tests that judge one’s royal worth. Eileen is neither royal nor interested in becoming a princess. But the mysterious stranger she met in the woods has his own reasons for helping her succeed, although the cost of his assistance may be too high: that of Eileen's heart, the one thing she's vowed never to give.

Inspired by “The Princess and the Pea” and "Rumpelstiltskin"

My Review

I enjoy a good fantasy now and then, and I'm always up for a fairy tale retelling. I enjoyed the world building in this one, especially the enchanted forest which had its own personality. Eileen is a peasant living with her mother (never did figure out how they supported themselves) who spends all her time wandering, drawing, gossiping with her starry-eyed friend, and angsting over her father's disappearance. I thought her attitude and assumptions about his fate were immature, but this is a YA novel after all. Her meet up in the forest with Aiden was awkward and I was surprised at how quickly they went from fear to antagonistic mistrust to lovers for no apparent reason. I prefer the getting to know each other and falling in love parts to last longer! The whim of the forest is the impetus for sending Eileen into the castle to further the plot, and she's caught up in the princess test with the assistance of Aiden. His selfish reasons for withholding the truth from Eileen were flimsy and obviously backfired, but true love conquers all. I have to admit that the story was just unique enough to keep me reading, and the characters were likeable (even when I was frustrated with them), and it also had a nice secondary cast. Overall, I had my issues, but it was still a pleasant read!

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions in this review are my own)