3.5
There is a lot going on in this first volume! Shojo manga sure to please romantically-minded teens.

I found it a little confusing, but as I continued reading, that was no longer a problem. As many characters are drawn similarly, it adds to the confusion.

4/5

Okay, how to describe this cute, fun and expertly drawn manga?

To begin with, this is the first in hopefully many to come of Freya, a girl who becomes a prince and (hopefully!) falls in love with her childhood sweetheart- or will it be her royal guardsman(?!?!?). A fantasy backdrop for this adorable story and you have all the right pieces to make a great manga series.

This is volume is just setting things up for future but there was still a lot of plot I know will be developed and worked on as the Ishihara writes and draws more- hopefully a million more. This is the manga for you if you are a fan of anything cute and fantasy-esque.

Nice touches were author's notes on the sides of the pages. I don't know if they will be present in the final copy but if so I think some readers will appreciate the notes.

As an aside, I think this volume pays so little attention to Freya playing the role of a male that it will not be offensive, however I am cis. On a personal level I didn't see it being an issue or gender really being discussed at all but as always check with your trans reviewers to see if they found anything offensive by it.

I feel like I got a different copy than the other reviewers, because mine felt very unfinished. The art style made me feel cross-eyed and the font outside of the word balloons looked cheap. Also, I know the watermark over the pages was done purposefully, but it made it extremely difficult to read and immerse myself in the story when the manga itself is a very rough black and white. The story was good, but like I said, I had a very hard time focusing on it due to the other things. And I couldn't download this to my Kindle app, it made me download as a PDF and it kept telling me it couldn't load, so I had to download another program to get it to even work. This manga was a lot of work. I'm going to give it 3 stars for story alone.

Freya is a very soft spoken and easy to cry girl who takes care of her ailing mother. Aaron and Aleksi, two boys that her mother took in when they were young, return to inform them that the neighboring country has come to take their town. They are knights for the prince and have come to stop the invasion. After the prince is poisoned, Freya is the only one who can take his place. She will impersonate the prince to keep the kingdom from crumbling.

I love the setting in this manga, an old medieval fantasy. Knights pledging their allegiances and fighting to the death for their friends, family and kingdom. The story takes many turn and is quite sad very early on. I hope that as it progresses past vol. 1 that the story becomes more cheerful and less depressing.

This could easily become my new favorite manga!

When it comes to this series, it's as if Yona of the Dawn and Requiem of the Rose King had a baby. That baby was this manga. The political climate within the series is amazing. The characters are going to bloom and blossom immensely. It will be interesting to see what having power will do to these characters.

I am particularly interested in Alek's character, and how he is going to develop throughout the course of the series. Will he be the grounding force that Freya will need to not become power drunk? So many possibilities, and I want them ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

For fans of Yona of the Dawn, Snow White with the Red Hair, and Requiem of the Rose King. If King Arthur and medieval times are your jam this is for you. Fans of the TV show Outlander and the manga A Bride's Story may also like this. The romance came a little fast for me and I had trouble following the plot.

Wow. This was not what I expected. SO much happens in just volume 1! First we meet Freya, a crybaby girl protected by her town while her mother is sick and her brothers are soldiers protecting the kingdom from invasion. War comes to neighboring towns and Freya grows concerned but her "brothers" arrive! I put "brothers" because they are actually 2 boys Freya saved from slavery when they were all children.

In a very short time we see one brother Freya loves killed, another trying to fill his shoes, and Freya become a stand in for the prince who has just died! She is his identical twin in a plot twist I'm not sure was revealed in this volume but will probably be elaborated on later.

We see Freya struggle with loss and self-doubt while also trying to force herself to be strong for her loved ones who are still alive and depending on her. It's hard but you find yourself rooting for her while reading! I'm definitely keen to read volume 2!

The art for this manga is beautiful, but the story is lacking a bit. It's enjoyable enough, but I can't help but feel like there is something missing. Also, I found Freya to be a bit annoying. She is way too much of a crybaby; she spent almost the entire book crying over something (or nothing really). The cliff hanger at the end at least has me a bit interested to see what happens next.


Thank you Netgalley for the free eARC to use for review purposes.

Prince Freya hits a bunch of things that I love: mistaken identity (sort of on purpose), obvious childhood friends to lovers, fantasy realms, a protagonist who is trying to better herself. I'm definitely going to be purchasing this title for my library; the teens who love Yona of the Dawn are especially going to love Prince Freya!

Prince Freya is like a teen version of Game of Thrones. I want her to succeed so badly at falling into the role of the Prince, but she has a lot to learn. We'll have to see in future volumes if she can keep up the premise or if she will get caught. I found this engaging and suspenseful..

This was such a joy to read!
I devoured it in one sitting and now I'm sad that I have to wait for more.

For being the first book in a series, the world was well-developed as were the main characters you're initially introduced to. Enough backstory is given to flesh out events taking place prior to the series to make you feel enough for the characters that you want to know more about the stakes, their stories, and what will happen next. I was hooked in the first few chapters, and by the end of it, I wanted the next volume immediately.

I enjoy Freya as a character and the hinted political and domestic problems that may arise from her taking the place of the Prince. Even in one volume, she has evident development while retaining so much of who she was from the first chapter that it really feels like she’s trying to adjust to everything. She hasn’t just “gotten” it. I’m hoping the next volumes continue to depict her struggle and honest emotions with her new life as well as more development and fleshing out of the world, politics, and characters.

Ahh, I can't wait to read more of this series! The twists and turns we went through just in the first volume were so shocking and I can't wait to hurt more as the story goes on. You really understood the stark contrast in lifestyles the main character had to face and I can't wait to see her grow as the series goes on.

The only thing I would prefer is more time at the start really getting to know these character's lives beforehand, I feel like some of the emotional moments would've hit harder if this had happened. I also felt the start seemed a bit rushed, personally I really like a slow start where we really get to know everyone, but I understand that this isn't for everyone and some people may even find this start too slow!

Ok so this art style is gorgeous and everyone is so hot! Like damn how can a drawing make me feel this way?! Aleksi is just the epitome of gorgeousness and I cannot wait to spend more time with him as the series goes on. This volume has the set up to become one of my favourite comic & graphic novel series, cannot wait for the next volume!

Thank you.

ARC provided by VIZ Media via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Prince Freya seems to follow some of the typical cliches that you'll either really love if you're a fan of them or be super annoyed. I'm in the middle here as this was a new author for me and sometimes, stories start off like a cliche only to move on and add different twists. The twists comes in this volume toward the end so I guess I'll have to read the next volume to find out how the events will all play out. The art style seems to be a blend of old and new. The characters have a flowery look to them as so far they all seem to be in a beauty content haha. So far the main character seems to be off putting for me as she is willing to do things for others but when it comes to herself, she seems to not care as much. This may change as it is only volume one and we can't get a comprehensive look into her character just yet as the events unfold in a way that only gives you glimpses of her character rather than a good synopsis. The extra side characters and leads also seem a bit two dimensional at the moment, with their intentions all to clear to the reader. Hopefully the next volume will leave change my mind and show me the characters' depth.

I read this on a kindle and I do admit to finding this difficult. It is working out who each character is that I find hard.

The plot though seems to leave a number of questions. Aaron and Alek were clearly sent to bring Freya to the Prince but they wanted to protect her. Why is this? Who are Skaldi and Freya, what is their connection with the Prince? These questions are not answered in the series so far. Is the Chancellor Murkhani to be trusted? Are Julius and his master loyal to the Prince? These questions are raised in the fast moving plot. The characters are developing over a period of time. There is an opportunity for Freya, Alek and Julius to work together to rescue Mikal in the next book, what will befall them all? I want Freya and Alek to survive and grow as characters, to people Aaron in particular would be proud of. This first book seems to be developing the characters to grow into the next few books. So I have already learnt to care for these two in particular.

The setting of the book is alien but already I do not want Freya and Alek to let anyone down with regard to the take over of their country. Sigurd is the baddie at the moment I wonder if there will be future twists?

I have so many questions that this book has raised and as an introduction to a series I think it setting the scene well. Future books iwill contribute to a good adventure series with a few mysteries to solve.

This was very good. Not only did I enjoy the art style, but I also enjoyed the story and the characters. I can’t wait for the second installment.

If there is one way to grab my attention and suck me into wanting to read a story, it is the timeless trope of a girl needing to disguise herself as a boy. So right away I knew I needed to read this first volume.

It is hard to judge how this story arc is going to go but just this first part but it was intriguing enough that I breezed through it quickly and enjoyed what was there. My only set back is that I did not become as invested in the story as I wanted to. Most of the characters did not have enough page time to solidify into anything I wanted to grasp onto and the setting felt to European generic.

I am interested in seeing where some of the relationship dynamics go and hope to see the characters become more flushed out in later volumes.

My second ever manga to review and this one is amazing! I'm intrigued to see how Freya manages to overcome her insecurities in order to better imitate Prince Edvard. The Prince and Freya both look similar and she's been tricked (sort of) into playing his role when he dies unexpectedly. Freya's friends Alek and Aaron come to visit after being way. Freya is beyond excited to see them again and it even seems like Aaron has romantic feelings for her. And then everything goes unexpectedly to hell xD. Freya is attacked by soldiers of an enemy kingdom but thankfully Aaron steps in to save her. She is taken the Prince Edvard's castle hold where she runs into him, ultimately setting off the events that lead her to take over his personality. I don't want to give away too much but it was a great read!

A visually stunning manga, Prince Freya tells the story of a sheltered girl pulled from her simple life into a world of turmoil. While there are many points of the plot that are not original, it is woven into an interesting story filled entertaining characters. As per usual with manga, it is a good intro into the series and feels like a first installment with story and character introduction. It gives the reader enough to hook them on the story and coming back for next book in the series.

Keiko Ishihara's art is stunning, and she gives so many expressions to the heroine it's very nice to see. Freya is from a small village and her two child hood friends come to visit and protect her rather than take her like they had been ordered too. Freya is a crybaby but she starts to grow a little by the end of the chapter having her world tossed upside down and having to be someone that she is not. There's secrets wrapped around Freya and her mother that leaves you wanting to know what else is going on. I can't wait to get my hands on the second installment to see what else Freya is going to get into and watch her grow and her child hood friend.