The Princess Blog

With the Hope Ever After series  about to retire its two-year run, I decided to check out one of the books I haven't read yet. A Charming Hope  by Ashley Evercott is a cozy retelling of "The Frog Prince" with a fun twist. The book reimagines the prince, Devon, and his princess, Annelise, as childhood friends who had a falling out. Instead of agreeing to kiss the cursed frog right off the bat, Annelise asks Devon to be her wingman to win over another potential suitor and offers to kiss him as payment. The book has a light romcom feel that matches the hopeful vibes of the series. Prince Devon is devastated to learn that his brother is marrying the woman he loves instead of him. In a fit of jealousy, he performs a disrespectful act at a sacred ceremony and is punished in the body of a frog. The only way to break the spell is a kiss from a woman who can understand him. However, Princess Annelise is unwilling to comply so easily after he had already broken her heart. When h...

This is it. As of this post, The Princess Blog now has 1,000 reviews, stories, and guides about all things princess! I never could have gotten this far without the support of my readers, so I've prepared something extra special for this milestone: a PSA about how crows should have more respect for princess animatronics . Just kidding. But isn't it crazy what happened to Rapunzel in Tokyo ? The truth is, I'm hosting my very first giveaway! I've produced so much creative work this year outside of just my blog that I wanted to share some of it with the people who have been there for me since the beginning. On National Fairy Tale Day , I revealed the cover for my upcoming book, Hope and Love's Legacy . This book is such a huge deal to me because it's the reason I decided to become a writer when I was 16. I conceived it as an animated series inspired by all of my favorite things and chased my dreams of producing it all the way to Hollywood. Now I can finally share it...

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie  is a direct sequel to 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie  and the first cinematic introduction of Princess Rosalina, a lesser iconic character than Princess Peach , but just as beloved by fans. This movie inspired many cosplayers  to create their own versions of Rosalina's famous blue dress, and all the ones I've seen so far are stunning! Though the cosmic princess is absent for much of the film due to her capture early on, not a second of her screen time is wasted. She delivers a beautiful maternal presence that exudes both power and femininity, and her personality shines through her story. Although I have not played Super Mario Galaxy, I found this movie to be a thoroughly enjoyable and fantastically whimsical experience that follows the spirit of its predecessor without feeling like a carbon copy. It mirrors the original by having a character rescue a sibling from an evil spiky turtle. Although Mario and Luigi are still present in this fil...

In case you missed it, there was a huge info drop today on social media about the upcoming sequel series, Sofia the First: Royal Magic . Over a month after the initial trailer dropped, Disney has provided some crucial details about the show, including the release date, platforms, theme song, and princess guest stars. We also got an official poster and several cute promo animations. Let's dive back into the world of Enchancia  and explore! The new series poster features Sofia up front and center with her new friends, Layla, Zane, and Camila in the background, as well as her old animal sidekick, Clover, and her new pet, Pepper the puppycorn. Though many of these faces are new, it has been confirmed through the teaser and the new theme song that Sofia's family will be returning for the new show, including King Roland, Queen Miranda, Prince James, and Princess Amber, along with her reformed nemesis, Cedric. The theme song is a remix of the show's original theme with a few upda...

To Betray a King  by Annette K. Larsen  is one of the books I hadn't read yet from 2024's Shattered Tales series . Having recently completed Tangled Sails , her contribution to Displaced Fairytales , I was eager to read more from her. This book is such a loose retelling of "The Frog Prince"  that you'd have to be very familiar with the original fairy tale to catch all the references. The story contains no magic and revolves around a tactical espionage plot to prevent a series of murders by a dastardly villain. It fits well with the themes of The Shattered Tales and transforms "The Frog Prince," which is traditionally a light and rather silly story, into a suspenseful thriller. Princess Faelyn's life turns upside-down when her family escapes her tyrannical fiancé, only to be terrorized further by her wicked cousin, who rules a neighboring kingdom. King Jeshua blackmails Fae to disguise herself as a peasant "Fraug" and poison a man she's ...

With the recent announcement of not one , but two upcoming movies about Cinderella's stepsisters, I thought it would be fun to make a post about princess footwear. This was also suggested by a reader some time ago, but I put it on the back burner because I hardly consider myself an expert on shoes. Still, no princess outfit is complete without the perfect pair of shoes, and no princess knows her shoes better than Cinderella . It's thanks to her famous glass slippers that I decided to wear clear rhinestone-encrusted shoes to my prom. To me, shoes don't look good unless they have something extra on them, like bows, gems, or silk rosettes. When it comes to princess-inspired shoes, there is a fine line between fashion and comfort. Most royal shoes that accompany ballgowns don't look authentic without a heel, but large heels can be uncomfortable, especially for cosplayers who are walking all day around convention halls . I like to find a happy compromise by wearing flats wi...

If there's one fairy tale that's been adapted more times than most people can count, it's "Cinderella."  With a rumored Disney spinoff on the way , this timeless rags-to-riches story has even more film adaptations than "Snow White." That's not even counting books , musicals , television , and other media ! Therefore, I thought it would be fun to rank ten different movie interpretations of the beloved tale, including some you might not be familiar with. In fact, I just learned about my number ten spot earlier this week! As always, my rankings are subjective and may change based on my mood, so don't take them too seriously if you don't agree with all of them. 10. The Glass Slipper (1955) The Glass Slipper  is a lesser-known Cinderella adaptation, and for a good reason. This film lacks many of the qualities that make Cinderella movies great. There's one mediocre song, and the main actress was cast more for her ballet abilities than for her...

Do I still think ten years is too soon for Disney to make another Moana  movie ? Yes. Did I get excited to watch today's trailer drop anyway out of pure curiosity? Also yes. What can I say? I'm a sucker for all things Disney Princess . Although the new trailer had a lot more footage to offer than the initial teaser did, it was still extremely reminiscent of the 2016 animated classic and contained hardly any music or dialogue that wasn't pulled from it directly. You can check out the full trailer for the upcoming July 10th release below. Hearing "The Rock" quote Maui's famous line, "You're welcome," is a good indicator of the irony behind Disney making this film. Like Maui, they are blissfully ignorant to the fact that nobody asked for a beautifully animated movie to be blandly replicated with live actors, not even a full generation after its premiere. Hearing the nostalgic notes and lyrics from the song "I Am Moana" did bring a wave ...

The Dozen Damsels  by Abigail Manning is part of the Fairmyth Chronicles , which combines popular fairy tales with Greek myths. This book blends "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" with the 12 labors of Hercules  to create a new adventure that is both thrilling and unique. I received a copy of this book on National Fairy Tale Day  and was eager to dive into another book from this talented author now that I'm caught up on ARCs . The story is perfectly suited to my tastes, with a strong balance of romance, action, and magic. I fell in love with the characters from the first page and couldn't wait to see how it would turn out. Inspired by Hercules, Prince Hawthorne is half mortal and half divine, meaning he doesn't truly belong anywhere. His lack of self-worth makes him the perfect target for his brother, Aaron, but it also motivates him to do something great with his life. This opportunity arrives sooner than he expects when he meets a woman locked in a prison cell wh...

There's no symbol more representative of a princess than a tiara . It's even the logo for my blog! Yet, a large number of iconic and beloved princesses do not feature them in their most iconic looks. Even Cinderella , the most famous princess of all, is best known for her animated silver ball gown with which she sports a matching headband instead of a crown. The first Disney Princess to be literally crowned was Aurora, who had a magical golden tiara created just for her by the Three Good Fairies in the 1959 adaptation of Sleeping Beauty . Since then, crowns have evolved with changing animation techniques  and have been used sparingly for films, based on their context and symbolism. It would be quite some time before another Disney Princess would get a tiara with her iconic look. Although Ariel's wedding dress included a veiled crown, it was only featured briefly and is far from one of her most memorable looks from the film. Jasmine followed in Cinderella's footsteps wit...

This was my second consecutive year attending Sherwood Forest Faire , the annual Renaissance Faire in Central Texas. Many things remained the same, but not embarking on the scavenger "quest" granted more time to relax and enjoy the shows. This event is themed after Robin Hood , with an ongoing series of shows featuring Maid Marion, Prince John, and many other colorful characters, including the famous bandit himself. The little I saw of them was the same as last year's, allowing returning guests to focus on other performances during those time slots. Food vendors had tongue-in-cheek names that matched the theming, including "Ramen Hood," which was a popular lunch stop at this year's faire. One show I caught this year that I only saw in passing last time was Merlin the Wise, a magic show featuring the renowned wizard of Arthurian lore and his pet owl, Archimedes, which was essentially a talking muppet controlled by an actor shrouded behind black robes. Archime...

I received an ARC from T.R. Sherring for A Tale of Cursed Tides , which is a reimagining of "The Little Mermaid" with a twist. As we all know, I'm a sucker for "Little Mermaid" reimaginings , so I was excited to dive right into this one (pun intended). Before I begin my review, I know there are a lot of readers on my blog who prefer closed-door romance books. Although this book is technically closed-door, there are descriptions of sexual desire, implied spice for future books, and explicit language. Because of that, I don't think this book would be appropriate for closed-door readers. However, I did not find it distracting from the main story overall. Alara is a princess from a mermaid kingdom that was cursed by a powerful entity called The Crow due to her mother falling in love with a human prince. Because of this, none of the merfolk can leave their kingdom, separating them from family and friends. Alara makes a deal with The Crow to break the heart of a...

A little over a month ago, I shared my desire to create an original album of princess songs inspired by the original fairy tales, giving the songs darker and more melancholic vibes than the Disney versions. I'm pleased to announce that I finished recording the final track yesterday, and the Locked Tower album is available on SoundCloud  with full  lyric videos on YouTube . I also submitted it for streaming on Spotify and other music sites. This was a really exciting project for me as a beginning piano player . I had no idea I'd be able to begin composing original songs within less than a year of learning to read music. I've been working with a talented instructor who's been a huge help in the process. Locked Tower contains ten songs, each based on a different fairy tale featuring a princess character. Since I'm still learning about chord progressions, most of the melodies are fairly simple, drawing inspiration from other famous princess melodies. This is the most o...

Falling for the Huntsman  is the final book in To Win a Dark Heart and the last ARC I have left to review in the series. After being introduced to Leialoha Humpherys 's heartfelt writing in Transformed Tail , I had a feeling they were saving the best for last. This book has everything you could possibly want in a fairy tale retelling, from surprising twists on familiar characters to swoony romance with just a touch of magic. This book combines "Snow White" with "Hansel and Gretel"  in a new and creative way, bringing back the characters from both for an unexpected epilogue to their tales. Alaric is not the typical forest-dwelling huntsman. Instead, he is a whaler who spends most of his time at sea. When he is rescued from a near-death experience by a healer named Malia, he begins to question his life choices as her kindness guides him onto a new path. Malia is not without secrets of her own. The townsfolk view her as a witch who tried to eat two innocent child...

We all know that theme parks  are the best place to find real-life interpretations of classic animated princesses in glamorous gowns. In the modern age , however, it's become more common for princesses to hang up their ballgowns in favor of more comfortable looks . Disneyland Paris  has taken note of this for their Regal View Restaurant , premiering princesses in their more casual looks from their respective films, many of which have never been seen before at the Disney Parks. With Disneybounding and cosplay  becoming more popular and accurate than ever, is it a good idea to feature costumes that are so easy to replicate? Let's explore. The four princesses that have been previewed for the parks are Aurora in her Briar Rose forest dress, Ariel in her Tour of the Kingdom dress, Belle in her village dress, which she frequently wears for meet'n'greets at Epcot, and Mulan in the dress she wore at the end of the film. Aside from Belle, all of these costumes are new to Disney ...