Only read:

~ The Valley of Wounded Deer by E. Lily Yu - 1.5*

These are the opening sentences to the story: Once there was a prince of Ruyastan who was born in secret and hidden behind a false wall with a nurse to hush her and soothe and give suck. The prince and her nurse lived in narrowness for ten years, reading and watching the world through a crack no bigger than a needle. {emphasis mine}

Can anyone help me understand why a prince would be called a she? I don't see any reason for stating the gender and "title" in opposition. I had to rewind it a bunch of times on audiobook because I was so confused.

In the end I wasn't a fan of the story and the gender/title opposition was never explained or seemed necessary.

Was the story a fairy tale? An accidental quest/journey to gain knowledge? A cautionary tale? I don't know and I'm not sure what the point was.