Review: Henning Book 1: The Hunted Prince by Hayden Thorne

Young Henning Babkis has learned not to consider himself to be anything special. Ignored and taken for granted by his family, his education suffering as a result of their neglect, he nevertheless struggles to fit in and improve himself, though with unimpressive results. He’s also learned not to expect anything more for himself, convinced that he’s doomed to live his life in a deep closet, surrounded by people who don’t care and who’d have given him a lot of grief if they were to find out he’s gay.

Things come to a sudden head when Henning’s fifteenth birthday rolls around. An unexpected and terrifying attack by a creature from another world shakes up his quiet life, and Norbert steps forward with remarkable and shocking revelations as to Henning’s true identity. And from a boy who’s grown up to think himself as a nobody, Henning discovers a previous life in a world called Wintergrave -- a world of magic, romance, and danger.

In the company of a motley bunch of former warriors, Henning must reclaim his former life and regain his powers in order to defeat an old threat. But in order to do that, he needs to convince a certain former lieutenant that the two of them were deeply bonded before and need to reform their connection now in order to get their powers back. The wrinkle? Ellery Thomas is in a happy relationship with another boy in this lifetime.

Half the time I thought, "This is a way fun ride!"

The other half, "This is boring."

Weird things have been happening and Henning has no idea what's going on. Creatures are creeping in the dark and shadows and he doesn't know what they want from him. But he does know that he wants to avoid his weird Uncle Norbert. Until he discovers that his Uncle is there to watch over him since Henning is not who he thinks he is. He's a prince from an alternate world of sorts and is being hunted down. 

The scene when Uncle Norbert told Henning about himself solidified this book in the 'fun' category. He was very matter-of-fact and just ignored Henning's parents due to their lackluster "parenting" skills. He put it all out there and expected Henning to just take his word for it.

When the Uncle was telling Henning about who he was, all I could picture was Hagrid saying, "You're a wizard, Harry."

But, anyway...

And so, the adventure begins. Henning is taken from his home, and Norbert makes sure his parents forget Hennings existence. It's like he was never there (he might have had some help from Hermione). He now stays with his Uncle and his friend Cameron. Both were sent to look after Henning, and now to protect him from the creatures whispering "Your Highness" from the shadows. 

The cast of characters were great. I loved their loyalty to Henning and how much they're willing to protect him. This is very much a YA story, but I'm sure there will be romance in the future. There has to be, since Henning is destined to be with Ellery, who he was bonded to in this alternate universe. But Ellery has no idea who he is or who Henning is. He doesn't know that he's bonded to anyone, let alone a prince. 

I was expecting the bonding part of the story to be resolved in this book since the blurb hints at it. But all that's in the blurb, is all that happens in the book. There's no real resolution of anything. No climax. Nothing moved forward except for Henning discovering who he is. And then the same shenanigans with the things in the dark and 'Oh look! I have new powers!' Rinse. Repeat.

The characters were awesome, the plot was so-so. Enough to continue? Yeah, I'll pick up book 2.

A copy was provided in exhange for an honest review.

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