The Princess Blog

After joining a review team for one of Rachel Huffmire 's upcoming books, I decided to familiarize myself with her first series, The Mirror Chronicles. Unfortunately, the fourth book in the series was probably not the best place to start. Unlike many other fairy tale series I've read, Saving Winter  does not work as a standalone at all. I've discovered in the past that the science fiction genre does not blend well with fairy tales , and this ARC was no exception. The book is loosely based on "The Snow Queen,"  but I found little similarity to it despite the quoted Hans Christian Andersen passages at the beginning of each chapter, which seemed out of place. Regardless of whether or not it followed the fairy tale, this was not a pleasant reading experience in general. While it could be because I didn't read the rest of the series, I found it exceedingly difficult to keep track of the characters and plot in this book. This would normally be the place where I sh

One of the most common complaints about Disney's  The Little Mermaid  that the new remake tried to "fix" is that after Ariel demonstrated she could write by signing her name on Ursula's contract, she never used this method to communicate with Eric when she was mute. In an interview on TikTok , director Rob Marshall said that in order to fix this "plot hole," he "wanted to eliminate the whole idea that she can write at all." Instead of signing a scroll, she plucks a scale from her scale to seal the deal with Ursula, giving her no other way to reveal her identity when she meets Prince Eric. The popular YouTube account HISHE (How It Should Have Ended) played with this idea in their recent video , in which Ariel scrawls her entire story to Eric in the sand the moment she meets him on the beach. Even novel adaptations of the fairy tale  have incorporated this method of communication for the voiceless mermaid. Is it true that no one who worked on the

The Seven Years Princess  by Brittany Fichter is one that had been on my reading list for a while. After reading several of Brittany's other books , I knew to expect a dark fantasy romance with religious undertones. In this case, however, I was not very familiar with the fairy tale it was based on. So I pulled out my fancy Brothers Grimm anthology and took a few minutes to learn the story of  "Maid Maleen."  It is about a girl who was imprisoned for seven years after falling in love with a prince and left her tower to find that everything she knew had been destroyed. As soon as I finished it, I said to myself "Yup, that sounds like a Brittany Fichter story." Her adaptations tend to be darker than most, so this seemed like the perfect fairy tale for her to expand upon. Ever since she was a little girl, Princess Maleen took a liking to Prince Roburts, who belonged to an enemy kingdom. The one person who she could never tell about this forbidden romance was her u

"The Magician and the Maid" Once upon a time, there was a lady's maid named Edna who worked at the palace. Every day, she would tend to fine ladies in beautiful gowns of shimmering satin and silk and dream of wearing one herself. She was so obsessed with this dream that she often sneaked into the closet of the princess and tried on her dresses when she was away. One day, the princess came back early from a riding lesson and caught Edna admiring herself in one of her fine dresses in the mirror. She threw a huge fit and nearly got Edna kicked out of the castle. The king thought it would be a more suitable punishment to lower her rank to that of a scullery maid. Now, Edna had to spend her days and nights scrubbing floors and chamber pots, watching the fine ladies living out the life she dreamed of from a distance. One day, the king hired a traveling magician to create fireworks for a grand ball to celebrate the princess's coming of age. Edna had been working as a sculler

Disney's 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid  is a movie that means so much to so many people, myself included. It inspired children to chase after their dreams, encouraged future ingenues to pursue musical theater, pioneered the Disney Renaissance , started the trend of mermaiding, got the general public interested in animation, had a huge impact on the lgbt community , and held a universal appeal to dreamers everywhere. It is not only my favorite Disney movie, but my favorite movie of all time. If there was one film I didn't want to see suffer from Disney's live-action remake syndrome , it was this one. Even though I knew it would never live up to the original because nothing ever could, I went in with high hopes that it would at least capture the spirit of the story for a new generation of audiences. And I am so pleased to inform all of you, my lovely readers, that it did. Back in 2019 when Disney first announced the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel , the internet t

Promoted on Sony's website as "Part One of the thrilling conclusion to the Swan Princess series," The Swan Princess: A FairyTale Is Born  marks the 11th film in the franchise  since The Swan Princess  came out in 1994, meaning it is expected to end with a total of 12 movies. That's still not as many as The Land Before Time , but it's close! With all the experience that Richard Rich and his team have making Swan Princess films, they had plenty of time to hone their skills with animation and plot development, which is why the last few movies have not been as nightmarish as some of the earlier CGI ones . This movie serves as a nice homage to its roots as a partial prequel that ties up any loose ends long-time fans of the series may have had about Queen Uberta's origins and the absence of Odette's mother and Derek's father along with some nostalgic orchestrations of memorable songs from the original film. Do you ever get the feeling that you've jus

It's hard to find new retellings of "The Princess and the Pea"  that don't stray too far from the original source material . That could be because the soft delicate princess presented in the original fairy tale is the exact opposite of how princesses are portrayed in modern media . Nevertheless, Kayla Eshbaugh  does her best to honor the source material in her premiere fairy tale retelling, True Princess . This is the first book in The Cursed Kingdom Chronicles , which expands upon the world of fairy tales by making each princess's unique situation a curse on her kingdom created by the Ancients, a vengeful race of magic users. The premise is similar to Ever Cursed  without all the misandry. Using this overarching narrative, the book provides a simple explanation as to why the princess from "The Princess and the Pea" was so delicate that she turned black and blue from a single pea being placed under her mattress. True Princess  is stereotypical in its pr

If you're a fan of Disney's  The Little Mermaid , you're in for a treat! Today marks the launch of not one, but two exciting new musical releases related to the beloved Disney classic. First up, we have the highly anticipated soundtrack for the 2023 live-action adaptation of "The Little Mermaid."  The album features new takes on classic songs like "Under the Sea" and "Part of Your World," as well as brand-new tunes by Alan Menken and Lin Manuel Miranda . But that's not all - we also have a brand-new music video from PattyCake Productions called "Fish Out of Water." This fun, upbeat video takes us on a journey through the history of Disney's The Little Mermaid , from the original animated movie  to the newest incarnation coming out next week. Featuring catchy music and delightful animation, this video is a must-watch for anyone who's ever been enchanted by Ariel and her underwater world. "Fish Out of Water"

Look at this stuff! Isn't it neat? I posted a couple of videos on my YouTube channel  several years ago showing off my collection, but it has grown quite a bit since then, especially after getting a castle of my own . As a self-proclaimed princess enthusiast, I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting additions to my collection. And let me tell you, I've hit the jackpot recently. From 3D prints of enchanted jewels to rare memorabilia from classic and upcoming princess movies, I've added some truly amazing items to my collection. My household recently invested in a 3D printer, and I've found that it's a fantastic tool for growing your princess collection with items that might be difficult to find online such as Magical Girl transformation wands, tiaras, and more. I also may have inherited some of Ariel's hoarding tendencies lately as a side effect of my hype for the upcoming remake of The Little Mermaid . Having a 3D printer is a lot of work, but it can

Did you know that there are several fairy tale franchises that portray the legendary princesses as mothers ? One of the most famous is Ever After High , Mattel's series of dolls, books, and animated webisodes that ended abruptly a couple of years ago. I consider myself a casual fan of this series, watching or reading stories as I find them without going out of my way. I love the concept of fairy tale characters fighting to write their own story as well as the beautiful character designs that were cleverly engineered to sell as many dolls as possible. A couple of weeks ago, I hit the jackpot at a local library sale that had not one, not two, but three Ever After High books available for my reading pleasure! Until then, I had only skimmed through the first book in the series, The Storybook of Legends  by Shannon Hale , which was the only book with a faithful animated adaptation . The premiere series went on to release three other full-length novels. I got my hands on the second one,

"The Fairy and the Witch" Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there was a princess named Amara. She was beautiful, kind, and clever, but she was also very lonely. Her parents, the king, and queen were always busy with their royal duties, leaving Amara with no one to talk to or play with. One day, Amara decided to take a walk in the forest to clear her mind. As she was walking, she stumbled upon a small cottage. Curious, she knocked on the door, and an old woman answered. "Hello, my dear. What brings you here?" the old woman asked. "I was just taking a walk in the forest, and I stumbled upon your cottage," Amara replied. "Well, you're welcome to come in and rest for a while," the old woman said, leading Amara inside. As Amara sat down, she noticed a beautiful flower on the old woman's table. "What a beautiful flower. May I have it?" Amara asked. The old woman smiled. "Of course, my dear. But be warned, this is no ordinar

I received an ARC for Thorns of Gold  from Celeste Baxendell pretty quickly after the disappointing cliffhanger ending from  Dreams of Roses . After reading it, it became clearer why this story needed two books. While Dreams of Roses  was about Rosalia, the "Sleeping Beauty" character from the Bewitching Fairy Tales series , this book was the conclusion of Aerona's story from Celeste's "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, Beasts of Beauty . Though it is promoted as the conclusion of the Bewitching Fairy Tales series as a whole, I was pleased to find that it ended with a teaser for a continuation called Enchanting Fairy Tales that begins with an adaptation of my favorite fairy tale of all time . It may not be the end of a storytelling era, but it does provide a satisfying conclusion to Dreams of Roses . Many books from fairy tale adaptation series can be read as standalones. Thorns of Gold  is not one of them. At the very least, readers of this book must read