Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Principesse del Regno della Fantasia #5: Principessa del Buio.
Let's learn about Diamante and her kingdom this time around. Spoilers ahead!
In this book we travel into the shadows of the kingdom of Diamante, the Princess of Darkness and Nives' twin, who lives in a large cave system. Gunnar visits her and tries to warn her about Herbert "Prince Without a Name", however it is too late and her part of the song is stolen as well. Meanwhile, the other characters are still looking for a way to thaw out Nives and the other inhabitants of Arcadia before they become permanently frozen in ice.
I will say upfront that Diamante is probably one of my least favorite out of the princesses. I didn't find her particularly interesting nor did I connect much with her character. She's not outright bad or anything, but if I had to choose a least favorite out of the five sisters, it'd probably be her, or Kalea.
Despite this, I consider this to be so far the best book in the series. For the first time ever I was 100% into the story and some of the characters. Things were really going down since Herbert is now well on his way to victory and our heroes have to not only try to stop him, but also save Nives and the ice kingdom before it's too late and they're permanently stuck in ice. Herbert does get the upper hand eventually, having stolen yet another part of the song. This of course means he's well on his way to wake up his father, the evil king who once ruled Fantasia. So yeah, high stakes with this one!
Another development I was pretty pleased by is that Calengol (my favorite character of the series so far) is not only alive but also gets a proper redemption arc. How it was handled I'm a bit iffy on, but at least they gave us an actual conclusion to his character this time. When he "died" in book one it was so quick and unceremonious one would easily forget about it.
Still, I feel that this guy was done so dirty. He had his land colonized, his kind and friends wiped out, his practice of magic outlawed, everyone views him as a freak and in book one when he finally thought he'd found an ally in Herbert he gets discarded and almost killed the moment he's no longer useful. When he returns in this book, he finally seems to have some semblance of inner peace as he's now working happily for Diamante in the kingdom of darkness and seems to be semi-accepted here. Heck, he seems kind of just in his element.
But then Gunnar shows up and (understandingly, though I do kind of hate him for it) instantly accuses Calengol of once again trying to kill one of the princesses, this time Diamante. He tells her how Calengol tried to kill Nives at one point, which of course causes Diamante to dismiss him and once again he's abandoned. Calengol insists that he's changed, but nobody believes him. Finally, during one of the main team's trials where they have to face a mighty opponent in the form of a giant creature, Calengol gives it once last shot and fights off the beast so the others can escape. This succeeds, but Calengol ends up dying because of it. And it's not until after his death that Gunnar, Kalea and the others acknowledge that he was being genuine about having changed. I just feel bad for this character dude, even back in book one where he was an active antagonist. Sure, he shouldn't have tried to kill Nives and all, but if you consider what he went through and how each time it seems he's getting something nice it's instantly taken away from him, just sucks. Heck, he had to die before he was finally acknowledged as an actual worthwhile and good person. What a woobie.
The book overall was just really good and solid, though. One final point I didn't like, however, was the romance between Rubin Blue and Diamante which happened in pretty much the last chapter of the book. For those who don't remember, Blue was the guy who in book three was hypnotized by Herbert to steal Samah's part of the song. He returns in this book he returns and steals Diamante's part, of course still hypnotized. In the end the spell is lifted, however Diamante is absolutely pissed at the guy and calls him out and demands that he gets out of her kingdom at once. Blue is regretful and despite him being innocent, however, I totally get Diamante's anger here because he was still an active pawn in Herbert's plan, even if unwillingly. So yeah, I don't think she should punish him or anything as he's obviously innocent, but I don't blame her for not wanting him within her sight for a while; it's still because of him that Herbert got what he wanted in the end.
But then when Diamante, livid, demands Blue takes his leave, Blue refuses and then proceeds to declare his love for her. Which is, okay, fine, but then in an instant Diamante turns around and says she returns those feelings, which just feels incredibly forced. Reminder, just a minute ago she was giving Rubin Blue the lecture of his life, yelling and screaming at him how much she hated him and wanted to never see him again. And then one "I love you" instantly gets her to stop and change her mind. Which just does not seem like a logical progression of events.
I can honestly see Diamante after venting all her anger on him slowly calming down and then becoming more reasonable. I can see her forgiving him and heck maybe even eventually growing to truly love him again. But it just does not compute when you have her yell at him and completely put him down in one moment, only for her within a few lines of dialogue completely change her tune and forgive him. This just does not make sense or feel right.
If they'd given it a little more time, had given Diamante a few chapters after the one where he confessed his love where she pondered her feelings and maybe talked them over with her friends and family...I could see this working as a relationship. Heck, she already had feelings for Blue before he (against his will) stole the verse from the song, so we know she does love him. But in that one scene where she went off against him she was very clearly feeling incredibly hurt and betrayed and overwhelmed, so to have her instantly come around just doesn't work. Again, I think this romance could work, but Diamante needed more time to process things before she agreed she loved him as well. This random complete shift in her behavior during this scene is just jarring. Such a major shift in tone.
That's really all there is to say about this book, though. It's overall a solid book that ups the stakes and makes me excited to get started on the last installment! I do still feel very bad for how Calengol was treated (maybe they'll pay tribute to him in the last book? I hope so) and of course that one scene where Diamante forgives Rubin Blue was handled very jarringly, but overall I do consider this the best book in the series so far! Also, I just have a thing for settings of kingdoms and castles and cities within cave systems, so world-building-wise the shadow kingdom was also by far my favorite location thus far.
Rating: 4/5
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