Book Review: Prince of Song & Sea

Before Prince Eric’s mother, the Queen of Vellona, went missing two years ago, she reminded him about the details of the deadly curse that has plagued his entire life. The curse? If he were to kiss someone other than his true love, he would die. With a neighboring kingdom looking for any excuse to invade their shores, and rumors of ghost pirates lurking the seas, Eric is desperate for any information that may help him break his enchantment and bring stability to Vellona. The answers he has been searching for come to him in the form of a letter left from his mother that reveals Eric must find his true love, the one with a voice pure of heart, or kill the sea witch responsible for cursing him in the first place.

Now Eric is on a quest to find the Isle of Serein, the witch's legendary home. But after he is rescued by a mysterious young woman with a mesmerizing singing voice, Eric’s heart becomes torn. Does he enter a battle he is almost certain he cannot win or chase a love that might not even exist? And when a shipwrecked young woman with flaming red hair and a smile that could calm the seven seas enters his life, Eric may discover that true love isn’t something that can be decided by magic.

This is the first book in a brand new YA series that retells the classic Disney stories you thought you knew from the Disney Princes' perspectives. Prince of Song & Sea which is Linsey Miller's retelling of The Little Mermaid will be released on October 4 of 2022. Disney Publishing Worldwide provide me an early galley in exchange for an honest review.

I really like the concept for this new series. I am all in favor for giving us deeper back stories of the princes from the classic Disney tales. It has the potential to deepen the narrative of these stories we know so well.

However, this first book breaks what I would consider a cardinal rule: supplement the original tale but do not contradict it.

This story could have been set before Eric meets Ariel. Instead, it tries to wrap all of the new elements within the framework of the original tale, and that is wherein the problem occurs. The original story had a very tight timeline. Ariel has three days to have Eric fall in love with her. The film shows us most of that. This story shoehorns a huge side plot into all that, and it alters some of the vary foundation of the original story. Now, Eric cannot kiss another - which Ariel needs him to do to get her voice back - because he is actually cursed by a sea witch (whom you likely have guessed who it was). All that makes her overcoming the odds come across as a lesser accomplishment. This story makes Ariel secondary in her own tale. The retelling from another point-of-view should never minimalize the original heroine.

I will look into the next book in the series and hope that it pays better respect to its source material and heroine.