The Princess Blog

Falling for the Crystal Fae  by Anabelle Raven  is the most recent ARC I read from To Win a Dark Heart , placing me about halfway through this multi-author series. So far, every book has been a completely different experience, even though they all follow the same format of combining villains from two different fairy tales. This book combines the villains from "Aladdin" and "The Snow Queen" in an original fae fantasy realm. It takes place after their classic tales have completed, making it an original story about two villains on a quest for revenge against the heroes who took away their happy endings. The story begins similarly to Once Upon a Time in Wonderland , in which the female lead, Khiona, finds a lamp with a handsome genie inside, who offers her anything her heart desires. She agrees to free Andar, the genie, in exchange for a chance at revenge against the people who overthrew her. Andar has experience with overthrowing those in power since he once tried to...

Diamond Wishes  by Abigail Manning  is the next of many ARCs I have received from the All That Glitters  multi-author series of fairy tale retellings. This gender-bent retelling of "Aladdin"  gives a fresh new take on the story, and not because it's about a female thief . It follows a similar premise to many other gender-bent retellings of "Aladdin,"  in which a thief is transformed into a princess with the help of some magic and joins a group of potential royal prospects for a prince. However, the third act takes the story in an entirely new and surprising direction that I never saw coming, much like Abigail Manning's other retellings . Kya is an orphaned thief who has been dodging the guards her whole life with a combination of skill and luck, as well as a mute guard she nicknames Jean, who was always looking out for her. Her pet parrot, Kipu, occasionally provides assistance as long as he can keep his beak shut. One day, Kya is propositioned by a mysterio...

The mermaids have arrived! It's been a slow and painful wait, but the first trailer has finally dropped for the highly anticipated Mermaid Magic animated series . Rainbow SpA 's foray into the underwater world is set to premiere on Netflix August 22nd. The show gives off strong H2O: Just Add Water vibes with the three heroines transforming into humans on dry land and mermaids in the water.  H2O's attempt at its own animated series  left much to be desired, allowing this show to kick it up a notch for mermaid fans everywhere to enjoy more exciting animated mermaid adventures. The teaser was launched alongside additional previews of another upcoming mermaid show,  Disney Junior's Ariel , an original take on the classic character. Ariel has a series of ten recently released shorts called Mermaid Tales that give us a taste of what's to come. If you're more of a bookish type  (and who can blame you?), there's also a great new mermaid story out on Wattpad! The...

A Spark of Storms  by Susannah Welch is a gender-bent retelling of "Aladdin."  This is far from a new concept for me, so the obvious Disney influence on the cover was what first attracted me to this book. The Disney version of Aladdin  is very different from the original fairy tale. The author uses that story as inspiration and makes it her own in a clever way while building a female-empowered fantasy world that gives a strong start to her Heart of the Queendom series. Though the feminist messaging of this book is a little overstated, it aligns perfectly with the archetype of Princess Jasmine feeling trapped by her culture  and its treatment of women. In this case, it's a prince named Jaemin who feels trapped in a world where only female heirs can ascend the throne. Alanna is a street rat who uses her charms to manipulate those around her for her own survival. Her life takes a surprising turn when she is rescued by a mysterious pink-haired woman. Geeni, her rescuer...

When I heard that Disney was building a new ship called the Disney Wish  with three princess shows, a Frozen restaurant, and princess-themed staterooms, I just knew I had to find a way onboard. Last weekend, my wish came true at last! I embarked on a magical three-night cruise with stops at Port Canaveral in Florida, Nassau in the Bahamas, and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, and I'm here to tell you everything you need to know about the Disney Wish. Make sure you have plenty of time to read because this will be a long one! For your convenience and mine, I've divided this post into five sections:  The Ship, Shows, Dining, Characters, and the App,  including a new onboard game called Uncharted Adventure . I will not be discussing the ports of call in this post because they did not have any princesses nor did I spend much time at them, but I would be happy to answer any additional questions that I didn't cover in this post in the comments. The Ship The moment I ste...