What a fantastic Rapunzel retelling! I'm absolutely in awe of this author. Ivinya keeps managing to surprise me and she is such a wonderfully prolific writer!
The Golden Prince is set in yet another new world with a fantastic background and really incredible magic. The way everything is woven together to show the history and culture of the people is absolutely brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of watching in unfold.
The characters are amazing. I loved the hints of the grumpy-sunshine trope peeking through with Maisie and Thomas, not to mention that he falls first! Prince Thomas is such a wonderful, dutiful and kind person, not at all the snob you'd expect from the crown prince, but still Maisie puts him through the ringer and I loved her for it.
The themes in this novel are also incredibly powerful and I think are something we all find ourselves thinking about at one point or another. For the perfectionists, who need to learn to let go, there is a lot of character growth from Thomas regarding the misconceptions of perfection. We can be good enough even if we're not perfect. I truly loved that element and how Ivinya brought it out through the story. In Maisie's case, there's a lot of battle against the unfairness of the world and feeling like a reject. Her journey of empowerment was absolutely beautifully written and I truly appreciate how well Ivinya managed to convey the message that good enough exists.
All in all, this is a wonderful clean romantasy coming of age tale with a fabulous setting and a nail-biting plot. I blazed through this book in a single sitting and honestly was so glad it's the weekend so I could totally indulge.
