The Princess Blog

The latest visual novel in Time Princess  is an interesting concept. However, it has little new to offer compared to the other stories in the app. Gourmet's Journey is a cooking-related story that takes place in ancient China. This is the fourth Chinese story in the game, and all of them are about spirits befriending the protagonist . I realize must be a common element of Chinese mythology and storytelling, but after seeing it so many times in a game with such a large variety of other stories and cultures, it is beginning to feel trite. The cooking aspect adds something new with tantalizing descriptions of delicious delicacies and spices that I wouldn't recommend reading about if you're hungry. The clothing was pretty, but not too different from what we've seen in the other Chinese stories so far. Players enter this book as Lai Wanzhou, a young chef who studied food preparation, cooking, and presentation under her father. One day, her father went to work at the palace...

Ever Cursed  by Corey Ann Haydu  reinforces the reasons that I enjoy indie fairy tale books more than books released by mainstream publishers over the past decade or so. This book was released by Simon and Schuster , a very well-known publisher of both juvenile and adult books that I used to read often when I was a child. Yet, it is so woke and borderline inappropriate--even for teenagers--that I'm shocked they would allow such a story to sit on bookshelves in the Young Adult section of stores. Maybe shocked isn't the right word. I'm  disenchanted with the modern mainstream portrayal of fairy tales in general. Like most contemporary media, this book contains a clear political message that is stronger than the plot or characters who reside within it. One of the most common criticisms of classic fairy tale princess stories is that they are misogynist . Princesses are always targets , witches and queens are always evil , and brave heroes always save the day . Over time, th...

I thought I said everything I had to say about Disney's upcoming remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs  starring Rachel Zegler  until  this set leak happened and took the internet by storm. While I'm no stranger to set leaks , this one really takes the cake. Maybe it's the lighting in these shots, Rachel's unfinished hairstyle in the process of being set, or her unnatural expression, but something seems very off about these photos. Can you spot it? It's probably the bright yellow skirt. As accurate of a depiction this is to the dress Snow White wore in the original animated film, these colors are horrendously bright and do not look good on our young actress at all. Don't worry, though. I'm sure they'll fix it with CGI. Rachel Zegler sports a surprisingly screen accurate rendition of Snow White's iconic dress with a blue bodice, white collar, yellow skirt, and red teardrop-shaped accepts on the puffed sleeves. And yet, it looks wrong. Could it...

Most adaptations of "The Little Mermaid"  do one of two things. They  retell the exact same story with more detail than the original or they turn the whole tale on its head and create something completely different , usually losing what made the story so special in the first place. A Song of Sea and Shore  by Katherine Macdonald lies somewhere in the middle. The best way I can describe it is that it turns the story sideways. Some aspects are exactly the same while others have shifted, such as the mermaid's motivation to visit her human prince. This is the third book I have read from The Fey Collection , and the author takes more liberties with this fairy tale than she did with the other two . Some of the changes lower the stakes for the main character, making it less of an emotionally powerful tale, while others address concerns that critics have brought up with this story for years. Like most incarnations of "The Little Mermaid," Neri is a headstrong and opti...

One princess experience that I've always been interested in despite being too old to truly enjoy it is princess party entertainment. These children's entertainment companies exist all over the world for the sole purpose of providing children with the joy of spending an afternoon with their favorite cartoon character. They are more accessible than theme park princesses  because they come right to your home without the expense and stress of planning a trip. I wanted to save this topic for when I have a little princess of my own to share this experience with, but when a UK-based group called Snow Princess Parties  requested that I share some of their magic in my blog, I couldn't resist. Here are some examples of the wonderful experiences they have to offer. While I have not personally had the honor of inviting a princess into my home for one of my past birthday parties, I did have a memorable experience assisting Belle at a local party company in Southern California as a favo...

The latest visual novel in Time Princess  is a little more historical than the last few , though it has nothing to do with actual princesses or royalty. Trendy Times takes place right before the Great Depression when women started wearing pants in public for the first time. It is about a fashion designer who is determined to put pants for ladies on the market even though it is a foreign concept at the time. Due to the fashion designer angle, the story has some unique outfits that stand out from other dress-up items in the game as well as beautiful illustrations that are done in an art deco style. Like Spring Sonata, the visual novel aspects are very clear-cut with theirs decisions. Most choices either trigger a bad ending or move the story forward, so there's no need to replay levels multiple times to see all of the endings. Marguerite Gautier is an orphan whose only dream is to put her design ideas for women's pants on the market even though the concept of a woman wearing pant...

While we wait with bated breath for the live-action remake  of Chip'n'Dale: Rescue Rangers  this Friday, Disney+  dropped two lower-profile releases last Wednesday. Though not exactly the next Disney Princess films, the new musical,  Sneakerella , and the fantasy reality series,  The Quest , both contain princess elements to some extent. While I didn't exactly have high hopes for Sneakerella , I was expecting it to be more entertaining than a washed up reality show. It turns out I was completely wrong. Before I begin breaking these down, I have to give them both props for originality. In an era of sequels and remakes , it's impressive for Disney to give us a fresh take on anything at all, and both offerings provide unique versions of entertainment that are unlike anything we've seen before. A fantasy reality series sounds like an oxymoron when so many reality shows are already scripted to an extent. I was expecting The Quest to be more like a recording of a...

Kingdom of Thorns  by Katherine Macdonald  does not offer anything I haven't already seen in a "Sleeping Beauty" retelling, so I was hesitant to read it at first. In recent years, it has become traditional for the princess to fight against her curse , so that is something I have always come to expect from modern-day retellings. I even read another version where she uses astral projection to communicate while sleeping so she can still consent to the controversial kiss . Yet, this book manages to hit all the right marks in all the right places, combining everything great about fantasy novels and fairy tale adaptations in a way that's both engaging and interesting. Both protagonists are fleshed-out characters with hopes and fears just like any ordinary person. Their love is so strong and pure that it makes you want to read all the way to their "happily ever after" despite knowing that it's coming already. Prince Leo is not a hero. He is not prone to slayi...

There is no fairy tale that has been retold as many times as "Cinderella."  With a new jukebox musical on Amazon Prime  and West End stage show from Andrew Lloyd Webber , the story has no shortage of modern-day retellings. That's why I couldn't bring myself to get excited when I heard that Jennifer Lopez is developing a limited series  based on Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella  with Skydance Television  and Concord Originals . This version alone has had three made-for television films and a 2013 Broadway revival starring Broadway Princess Party 's Laura Osnes . Can you blame me for not feeling at least a little skeptical of yet another version of this rags-to-riches classic that the media has shoved down our throats for years? What's even more concerning about the announcement is that it is not another feature-length film, but instead a limited series with multiple episodes written by Rachel Shukert , who worked on Netflix series GLOW and The Baby-Sit...

Some of you might be wondering why I'm reviewing a DS game that came out 17 years ago. I had some recommendations to play Super Princess Peach on my old video game post , and I've always been a little curious about it. After all, there hasn't been a good handheld princess game since the Disney Princess Game Boy Advance game that came out almost 20 years ago. Disney makes great movies, but they don't make very good games outside of the Kingdom Hearts series , which has also been questionable of late . On the other hand, Nintendo is built entirely on its history of great games, and the Super Mario series is one of the most popular. Though Super Princess Peach does little to develop Peach's personality or backstory, it is a fun game that reverses that standard story structure where Mario must rescue Peach from Bowser. This time, Peach is the one who has to save Mario. If I had to describe Super Princess Peach in one word, it would be "cute." Like most inca...

It's been a little over a year since the tragic ending of WandaVision , which presented some of the classic Disney Princess archetypes in an innovative and contemporary way . Ever since it ended, Disney has teased that the conclusion of Wanda Maximoff's story would be revealed in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness , which was released in theaters last weekend. I enjoyed this movie, but I will not be giving it a full review. Instead, I would like to open up yet another discussion about the direction the media is going with female characters in modern times . As the Disney Princess genre pushes more in the direction of superhero films with characters like Raya  and Elsa , Disney doesn't know what to do with those who exhibit traits of classic Disney Princesses like Snow White . Right now, the best solution they have is turning them into villains  like they did with the title character in Cruella  last year. I am under no delusion that the Scarlet Witch is not supp...

"Beauty and the Beast"  is one of the most popular fairy tales for novel adaptations next to "Cinderella."  Given how similar these adaptations can become, it's important for authors to add some new elements to the story. Beauty and the Beast and the Enchantress  by Finley Aaron is one book to attempt this. It is told from the perspective of the enchantress and parallels the romance between Beauty and the beast with a second love story that is the true heart of the book. The problem is that so much of this book focuses on the story we already know that the newer romance is rushed and underdeveloped. Still, it provides an interesting concept about some of the psychological and existential elements of the fairy tale that are often overlooked. Beauty and the Beast and the Enchantress  introduces Rosalina as the character who cursed a prince named Alexander to become a beast. However, she does not do this out of spite, nor does she put much consideration into the r...