I don’t know how I’m going to wait for volume 2 when the first was so great!

Typically I’m not a huge fan of historical fiction, but this book had the right blend of character development and plot to get me hooked.

Keiko you did amazing and I can’t wait to read more!

I loved this manga so much I just preordered a copy. I can't get enough of historical dramas so this genre is right up my alley. The art is beautiful. The characters were all well-written and had unique personalities. There's political intrigue but also potential romantic drama, so I stayed involved in the plot and interested in the characters.

I liked that instead of ending the volume with a few pages of notes, the author actually dispersed them throughout the manga in side-bars. I have not seen that done before. Usually when I reach the end of a volume of manga, I feel like reading the author's notes after the story is just a chore. But this way, I felt like I was actually getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the author's creative process and enjoyed that a lot more.

If I had any critique, it would be that the main plot point of the peasant girl taking over the role of the prince was completely rushed. If I hadn't read the synopsis of the book first, I probably wouldn't have even been able to understand what was happening. I assume this is just a translation and that there's no going back to fix it, but I feel it would have served the story much better if readers had been able to see the prince being poisoned, and his confidantes coming up with a plan to use a decoy. That was almost entirely left to the imagination. I actually felt as if I were missing several pages of the manga.

Regardless, I love the manga and I'm completely invested now. I'll be looking forward to more volumes in the future!

Prince Freya by Keiko Ishihara is a European-inspired fantasy shojo centered around three childhood friends: Freya and two brothers, Aaron and Alek. Tragedy befalls the kingdom of Tyr as the crown prince, Edvard, falls ill, and Freya rushes to accompany her friends before they encounter an unexpected twist.

At first, I was drawn by the cover art of the manga volume. However, I was unfortunately not as impressed with the in-book art. The story is reminiscent of Yona from Yona of the Dawn, both showcasing soft, sheltered, 'crybaby' girls who have to steel themselves because of certain circumstances.

I am interested in finding out what happens next, so I will be looking of the volume two at the library.

Will I purchase a copy? With how much manga costs these days, I will not be picking this one up for my personal collection.

Great Artful drawings that are backed up with a really fun and interesting story! I will be reading more of this series!!!

"Prince Freya" is a beautifully drawn story of crybaby Freya who gets thrust into living a lie as Prince Edvard after his murder. There's a lot of room for political plots, twists in the story, and relationships which I'm excited to see where it will lead. The love "triangle?" (kinda?) is a little contrived but ultimately it makes for good stakes and very sweet plot points. This is something that teeters on the line of older-teen to adult so it's possible that we may order a copy for the teen room depending on the reveiws and interest.

A solid choice for any manga reader looking to jump into a fantasy adventure story.

Freya is a villager in a small town in the country of Tyr. She is a timid young woman who cries easily. Her two adopted brothers, Alec and Aaron, have been gone for three long years working as knights for Prince Edward. When they unexpectedly arrive home, Aaron kisses Freya and promises that he and Alec will never let their duties for the prince outweigh their love for her and her mother. Once they leave, Freya overhears soldiers from the neighboring country of Sigurd say that they poisoned Prince Edvard in the hopes of conquering Tyr. Freya, in a panic, rushes to the castle where Alec, Aaron, and Prince Edvard are staying. It turns out that Alec and Aaron had been sent home to bring back Freya, who looks eerily like Edvard, to impersonate the dying prince so as to not appear weak in the face of conquering Sigurd. The boys don’t want to submit Freya to this life, but she volunteers for it.

And so begins Freya’s journey from weepy to strong. We’ll have to see how she handles standing up for herself when White Knight Julius tries to bully her around, how she comes into her ownership of her role as prince, and how her relationship with Alec turns out since Aaron was killed by the Sigurdians.

While I am more comforting with the historical European setting (than the Japanese settings of most manga), I really hate Julius. He says he wants to support Prince Edvard, but he keeps throwing Freya under the bus. As a novice to manga, I don’t feel like I have much authority in judging this book, but I could take or leave this one— when I usually could leave the majority of manga I’ve read.

I received an electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4/5

This book was GORGEOUS. The art style is just *mwuah* chefs kiss. Getting a physical copy of this and seeing the 2 page illustrations is now my dream.
I haven’t read any other of Keiko Ishihara’s work but she seems like my kind of girl. This book has everything you could ask for: gender bender, hot knights, medieval-time fantasy, war, romance, blood! Need I go on? As a lover of both Inuyasha and Goblin Slayer, this new series hits the right spots with me.

Just as some side notes, I do like that Freya, the main character, is already being set-up for some serious character development, and I can’t wait to see if she becomes the character who I really want her to become. Her “quirk” is adorable though, but I am glad to see that she doesn’t get lost in her emotions.

I must say the story become real harem-y, real fast. I’m curious to see what Ishihara does with her romance - though of course I already have my favourite ;) As for other concerns, I am a little confused as to how nobody must take fall damage? Fingers crossed that that’ll be explained.

This series has GREAT potential and I’m very excited to dive deeper. Would love for this story to gain traction because it is worth the attention.

Beautiful artwork and compelling characters, plus a great start to the story. Some of the twists were amazing - one in particular was heartbreaking. Keen to see where this one goes.

ARC Copy...although the cross dressing plotline among political intrigue game is well intriguing and a promising start. In compare to other high fantasy-nordic style mangas...it did not "sing" as strong to me.

That took a turn for the dark right quick. Not as dark as Promised Neverland, but not what I was expecting either. Manga doing Western Historical or Fantasy has been hit or miss for me in the past but so far, I'm liking this enough to.read the rest of the series. Freya is a little bit of a crybaby but it is understandable and I like the direction the author is taking her. Alek I'm a little worried about. He seems a flat, but I hope that will change as we get to know him.

<b>Advance reader copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</b>

I went into this manga knowing that it is not normally my cup of tea, but I wanted to expand on my manga reading tastes to see if I could discover more things which I liked. I am happy that I was able to read this book because it enabled me to read outside of my comfort zone, and I did like it to a degree. I would be tempted to read volume 2 but I don't think it would be high on my reading list if I did continue with the series. If I did buy the second volume, I would probably read it because it was a fast read and not because it was a read that I really anticipating. But I do want to know what will happen in the series.

In terms of the plot, I liked it but I wasn't completely invested in it, and I didn't like the concept of Freya needing to become the crown prince. The plot of the story did surprise me. There was a twist, and I was like, "Oh my god! The author actually went there." That is a reaction which I very rarely have in books that I read. I am slightly invested in the story because I want to know what will happen, but I don't know if I will continue on with the series.

I didn't mind the characters in this story. My favourite character was Aaron. I did feel like we didn't really get to know anyone though, as this is a plot based story. The story is filled with action rather then getting to know the characters.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I don't regret reading it.

This is very much a first volume of a series, in that it's mostly setting up the story for future action. That being said, it did pique my interest. I love a good mistaken/disguised identity story and this delivers a very promising beginning. It sets up some good character dynamics and I'm interested to see where the story goes from here. I also can't wait to see how Freya grows into her new role as prince. I'll probably pick up the second volume when it comes out, so, this definitely accomplished its goal of getting me curious.

Would recommend for anyone interested in s shoujo romance manga with an action twist and hidden/mistaken identities.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Prince Freya seems to be the start of what I’m sure will be a long fantasy adventure series.
Freya is a simple seeming girl who cries at the drop of a hat, when her adopted brothers show up to her village for reasons they don’t enclose. The older brother Aaron is a personal guard of Prince Edvard and Alek is the younger brother perpetually in the shadow of his more talented big brother.
When they leave Freya discovers that her village may not be safe for much longer. The kingdom of Sigurd has been slowly advancing and Prince Edvard is one of the few remaining kingdoms capable of holding them at bay but Edvard has been poisoned and Freya bears a striking resemblance to the prince. The country depends on her ability to pretend to be the prince and lead in his stead but is she ready for such a task?

This isn’t the first story of its kind, but I also don’t think I’ll ever get sick of it either. I enjoy the art style employed in this series and will look forward to seeing how it progresses in the long run.

Great start to a new medieval adventure. When war threatens, Freyja's life in a reclusive village is turned upside down. Thrust into the role of Prince Edvard, Freyja must learn to be the hero her country needs - to protect the kingdom and the ones she loves. While Freyja struggles to become a prince she hardly knew, her brother Alec struggles with their eldest brother's legacy, and the prince's knights figure out their role with this changed prince. And of course there's the burning question: why does Freyja look so much like the prince?

The first chapter is a roller-coaster of emotion, and I found myself very attached these characters I'd just met. All of the prince's knights, the conniving nobles, the bandit attacks, I love it all so much, and I'm so ready for more.

Strongly recommend to fans of The Legend of Arslan or Yona of the Dawn.

Prince Freya is a really fun story and I was instantly caught up in the world and the characters. I liked the premise and I can see there will be many great opportunities to develop Freya's character as the tale continues. The artwork in this series is stunning, and for me that was as big a draw as the story itself. This is a book that captured my interest enough that I would be keen to read on, given the opportunity. I would like to see how things go for Freya and the others as the adventure continues.

The cover for this one definitely captured my attention. I also was intrigued by the idea of Freya dressing up like the prince and taking over his position. I really didn't know what to expect when it came to the plot. There were definitely a lot of surprises that I wasn't anticipating.

Freya is thrown into this mess of warring kingdoms but it wasn't specifically mentioned why she decided to run and take the prince's place. She didn't have much development and most of the time she was crying. I didn't understand why a few of the male characters seemed to fall all over her.

I did like the brother because I just love when brothers are in stories! They were charming but again, lacked much development.

 I am still curious to see where book two goes when it comes to the plot and hopefully there will be more development for the characters.

Rating: 3.5
Continue?: Yes, I will check out book two whenever it is published.