* I have received this book for review from the publisher but this in no way affects my review *
Title: The Return of the Young Prince
Author: A.G. Roemmers
Source: From publisher
Publisher: One World Publishing
Rating: 2/5 stars
Summary of The Return of the Young Prince from Goodreads:
With specially commissioned illustrations by Pietari Posti and a foreword by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s nephew,THE RETURN OF THE YOUNG PRINCE will be cherished by children and adults alike across the globe.
Even princes from faraway planets do not always remain small. Eventually they grow up and – no longer content with their tiny planet – set off once again to explore the universe anew. So the Little Prince, now a teenager, one day returns to Earth and finds himself on a lonely country road in the vast, desolate plains of Patagonia. There he meets the narrator of this novel, who rescues him and takes him on a journey. Slowly the Prince shares the stories of his adventures, and together they begin to explore some of the life’s most important questions, taking readers along with them on a wonderful spiritual journey. An inspiring, life-changing book.
Even princes from faraway planets do not always remain small. Eventually they grow up and – no longer content with their tiny planet – set off once again to explore the universe anew. So the Little Prince, now a teenager, one day returns to Earth and finds himself on a lonely country road in the vast, desolate plains of Patagonia. There he meets the narrator of this novel, who rescues him and takes him on a journey. Slowly the Prince shares the stories of his adventures, and together they begin to explore some of the life’s most important questions, taking readers along with them on a wonderful spiritual journey. An inspiring, life-changing book.
Book Review:
Before I get into this review I would like to explain that earlier this year I read The Little Prince. It was a different type of story. Unique in many ways and I honestly don't think that I would ever find a book that evokes the same feelings again.
So flash forward to now, I am offered to read a "sequel" per say to the Little Prince and I say yes. Does it feel in many ways like the original story? Yes, but something was different... Very different and not in a good way.
Whereas the Little Prince felt like something I had never read before, The Return of the Young Prince just felt like it was trying on some many levels to replicate what had already been seen before. This did not really pay off, instead of being a joy to read, I found it to be over cramped with life advise to the fact that I was reading a 150-page life advice book in contrast to an actual fiction story. Some of this was nice to read but seeing it on every page was a bit boring and I wanted to stop reading it on some many occasions.
The Prince himself was also not really the centre of the story, it was mainly based on the author's own experiences rather than having a narrative. He also came across a little naive something that reading the original story I would not guess the case would be. The narrative also was not really there. It was basic a road trip novel which involved nothing but talking and although there were some parts of the story that were entertaining and had some development of the Prince's character this was few and far between and did not take up much of the novel which was quite a disappointment.
Although there was much that I dislike about the novel, there were aspects of the novel I enjoyed. Although some aspects were quite preachy, other bits of advice were nice and I enjoyed reading them and could some on board. I also feel as though it was a nice homage to the story, taking the spirit of the previous book and putting it into play. In the beginning, I did feel some of the emotions that I found in The Little Prince. The illustrations were also a nice addition to the story and often broke up the large chunks of text which were a relief from what was often normally written. The illustrations were also were well-drawn and I really enjoyed them.
I know that you can tell by my review that I did not like this book but I would recommend for those who enjoyed The Little Prince as it does keep the spirit and love for the book alive for those who want to re-enter the world.
Before I get into this review I would like to explain that earlier this year I read The Little Prince. It was a different type of story. Unique in many ways and I honestly don't think that I would ever find a book that evokes the same feelings again.
So flash forward to now, I am offered to read a "sequel" per say to the Little Prince and I say yes. Does it feel in many ways like the original story? Yes, but something was different... Very different and not in a good way.
Whereas the Little Prince felt like something I had never read before, The Return of the Young Prince just felt like it was trying on some many levels to replicate what had already been seen before. This did not really pay off, instead of being a joy to read, I found it to be over cramped with life advise to the fact that I was reading a 150-page life advice book in contrast to an actual fiction story. Some of this was nice to read but seeing it on every page was a bit boring and I wanted to stop reading it on some many occasions.
The Prince himself was also not really the centre of the story, it was mainly based on the author's own experiences rather than having a narrative. He also came across a little naive something that reading the original story I would not guess the case would be. The narrative also was not really there. It was basic a road trip novel which involved nothing but talking and although there were some parts of the story that were entertaining and had some development of the Prince's character this was few and far between and did not take up much of the novel which was quite a disappointment.
Although there was much that I dislike about the novel, there were aspects of the novel I enjoyed. Although some aspects were quite preachy, other bits of advice were nice and I enjoyed reading them and could some on board. I also feel as though it was a nice homage to the story, taking the spirit of the previous book and putting it into play. In the beginning, I did feel some of the emotions that I found in The Little Prince. The illustrations were also a nice addition to the story and often broke up the large chunks of text which were a relief from what was often normally written. The illustrations were also were well-drawn and I really enjoyed them.
I know that you can tell by my review that I did not like this book but I would recommend for those who enjoyed The Little Prince as it does keep the spirit and love for the book alive for those who want to re-enter the world.
The Verdict:
The Return of the Young Prince is a great homage to the original story but fails to deliver on some aspects of the story.
Have you read The Return of the Young Prince? Did you like it? Leave it in the comments below.
See you soon,
Amy
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