The Princess Blog

The Glass Gate  by Hanna Sandvig  is a lovely portal fantasy from her Faerie Tale Romance series of fae retellings about characters from the real world who enter gateways to the land of the fae where they live out classic fairy tales. This book is similar to others I've read  from this series and includes a few fun cameos. Hanna's books are unique because they all feature modern protagonists who are relatable to us as readers, allowing us to vicariously live out their fairy tales. This story draws inspiration from "Cinderella,"  though it has many unique elements that stand apart from other retellings. Ella is an aspiring fashion designer who wants a break from her daily grind of helping out her stepfamily. Her mixed Japanese heritage has always made her feel like an outsider in the real world. It seemed like a no-brainer when her bestie Amber took her out for a nighttime getaway to the hidden land of Tír Na nÓg  to party with the fae and finally have a chance t...

It's been a rough decade for faery princess media . With the exception of the upcoming Winx Club reboot , the hyperfeminine fae aesthetic  has all but faded away into a lost relic of the 1980s and early '90s. Hidden in the depths of cinema history is a treasure trove of lost media that has been sealed away in the depths of old memories. Most studios don't have the motive or budget to reintroduce their old franchises to new audiences the way Disney does . One animated fantasy movie from the '80s that made a comeback a decade ago is The Last Unicorn , which premiered in 1982 with its tragic story, moving soundtrack, and beautifully dark imagery that came straight from the pages of Peter S. Beagle 's novel. On the Eastern front, a tonally similar anime movie came out in 1981 that I only learned about recently. Sea Prince and the Fire Child , also known as Legend of Sirius , is a visual and emotional spectacle of epic proportions from a time when creativity was celebrat...

I've read roughly half the books from the Hope Ever After series , leaving a good handful of them on my TBR list. The latest one I got around to is A Gracious Hope  by Robyn Sarty . This charming retelling is a surprising combination of "Sleeping Beauty"  and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  with fae lore in the mystical land of Tír na nÓg . It's an interesting combination that makes for a lovely and whimsical story with beautiful visuals. Few people probably would have the imagination to combine two such different stories as these. There are also some fun twists and turns encompassing a unique read that's full of surprises. This book picks up right in the middle of Disney's 1959 animated classic, Sleeping Beauty . For that reason, it is probably necessary to watch the film before reading the book, which is unlikely to be an issue for its target audience. Alora is a peasant girl living with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. On her nineteenth birthday, she learns that s...

Can you believe I've been blogging about princesses for the past eight years? How time flies! I like to do something special each year for my blogiversary. A few years ago, I filmed a special music video . This time, it's something I haven't done in over five years . I wrote a new book ! That's right, folks. We're finally getting a new fairy tale novella. Titania's Reflection  is a combined retelling of "Fairer-than-a-Fairy"  and Shakespeare's classic  A Midsummer Night's Dream . It's currently available on Amazon in ebook, audiobook, and paperback formats. If you've enjoyed my other works in the past, you should absolutely check this one out! It's like nothing I've ever done before. Titania's Reflection  would not exist if it weren't for all the princess-related research I do for my blog. I first discovered "Fairer-than-a-Fairy" when I spent a winter reading all twelve of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books lookin...

Rose Crown  by Nina Clare  is a retelling of "Snow White and Rose Red" from the multi-author All That Glitters series. Although I've lost track of how many books I've read from this series, this one was a lovely addition. It covers a lesser-known and rather odd story that doesn't get adapted frequently, and turns it into a beautiful, dream-like tale. The book takes place in the faerie and human realms and includes some of my favorite tropes, such as a lost princess  and mermaids . It borrows just enough content from the original fairy tale to feel like a true adaptation while adding enough original elements to feel fresh and new. The cottagecore and fae imagery throughout the book gives it an overall sense of wonder and nostalgia. Lily and Rose live in a cottage in the woods at the edge of the gateway between the faerie and human realms. Their mother has an unprecedented amount of magical knowledge for their humble upbringing and provides guidance to keep them ...

I don't read a lot of retellings of "Little Red Riding Hood"  because they usually change the wolf character into a werewolf  and eliminate the theme of trusting strangers (which is why I wrote my own version ). However, since I enjoyed The Rose Gate   by Hanna Sandvig  because of the unique modern-day setting and fae worldbuilding, I decided to check out its prequel, The Wolf Gate . This book contains the expected werewolves, but it also does a good job of conveying the theme of trust and stands out from other fairy tale adaptations due to its modern high school setting. It reminded me of Twilight  due to its teenage target audience, so I think I would have enjoyed it more if I read it at a younger age. The last thing Audrey expects after getting chased in the woods is to be rescued by her ex-boyfriend who abandoned her at prom. Nor is she expecting to learn that he is a werewolf from the fae world and that he abandoned her due to his magical responsibilities. ...

I'm close to my goal of completing the Once Upon a Prince series , and I can't believe it took me this long to get to The Shoeless Prince by Jacque Stevens ! This has quickly become my favorite book in the series, encompassing everything I was expecting out of the premise. It is a retelling of a classic story with a princess that is told primarily from a male perspective and filled to the brim with magic and romance. It takes many familiar elements of "Puss in Boots" and blends them seamlessly with new lore creating a fresh take on a popular story with twists and turns around every corner. "Puss in Boots" was already a great contender for this series because it is one of few famous stories that has a male lead but still contains a love story and other elements that appeal to princess lovers.   Archie is a humble miller's son who never expected much out of life. When his father passed away, he wasn't surprised to learn that most of his family inheri...

In my quest to complete all the books in the Once Upon a Prince series , I decided to read its version of  "Snow White,"   The Poisoned Prince  by Kristin J. Dawson . With a title like that, I was hoping for a gender-bent retelling , which would have been the first I'd read for this fairy tale, but it was more of a traditional retelling . Although the roles of the main characters were not reversed, it was an original and imaginative take on the story. The story alternates between Snow White and her love interest, who is the son of the huntsman, and takes place in a high fantasy setting with fae and dwarves like the ones you would find in DnD . I found the book charming and romantic overall, though,  like others in this series, it places a lot of focus on the princess despite being called Once Upon a Prince. This is one of the most unique interpretations I've read of "Snow White," focusing on tropes that are not typically incorporated into retellings of this...

A Wingless Hope  by Sydney Winward  is a retelling of "Thumbelina" from the Hope Ever After series , which supports Operation Underground Rescue  to help fight against child sex trafficking. This is the fourth book I've read from this series and the second adaptation  I've read of "Thumbelina." One reason authors tend to shy away from this story could be that it contains more high fantasy than the average fairy tale, which makes it perfect for Hope Ever After. All the books I've read in this series so far  plant additional magic lore into the fabric of the stories they tell, and this book is no exception. Where the original fairy tale was simple and doesn't always make sense, this version creates an entire culture around Thumbelina's race including two different types of pixies to explain why she was born without wings. Briar is a lost princess  whose flower seed was stolen away by a bird before she was born, causing her to grow up alone in th...

We are closing in on the first half of #fairytalesummer  with The Rose Gate  by Hanna Sandvig . This was a new author for me. Her unique style of modern-day fae isekai stories in her Faerie Tale Romances series made for a refreshing change from the usual fairy tale retellings. This book is an adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast"  that does a good job of keeping it fresh while retaining the essence of the classic tale that we all know and love. On a personal level, I particularly liked that the main character worked in the children's section of a library  reading fairy tales to kids. That was more than a little relatable . 😉 The series follows a pattern of girls from the real world traveling through fae gates to Tir Na nOg , which is a great method of escapism that perfectly balances modern sensibilities with fantasy stories of old. Isobel is a typical modern girl who spends her days teaching kids feminism at the library for a mysterious boss who is more than she ap...

The Midnight Prince  by Angie Grigaliunas  has been on my list of #fairytalesummer  readings for a while. It is part of the Once Upon a Prince series , which is currently on sale for either $.99 or free , so I plan to read and review the rest of the books soon. I have now completed two-thirds of the series  with only four books left. The Once Upon a Prince books are retellings of well-known fairy tales by different authors told from the perspective of the prince. Some of them are gender-bent retellings , but not all . The Midnight Prince  is a retelling of "Cinderella"  that takes place in a fae world  and just might be one of my favorites from this series so far. It uses the Andrew Lloyd Webber technique  of making the two lovers childhood friends who fell in love long before the ball. The book presents an intriguing mystery for readers to solve throughout the book. It's a real page-turner that leads up to a satisfying ending filled with magic a...

Fae Away  and Fae Fractured  make up the first Fae Bloodlines duology by Rose Garcia . The title of the first book may sound like some sort of weird supernatural insect repellent, but the story is much better than its namesake. I was drawn to this series by the description of a fae princess who falls in love with a boy from the human world. It sounded like a fairy version of  "The Little Mermaid."  While it does read a little like that, Fae Away  is very much its own story with lots of worldbuilding and character development. The book is told from the perspective of both lovers, so it provides lots of insight into the human and fae worlds. I wasn't able to get quite as into the sequel, Fae Fractured . Like most epic fantasy conclusions, it focused more on war and death than further developing the protagonists' love story, but it does provide a satisfying conclusion to the two-book series. Princess Celyse grew up feeling like she never fit in among the fae ...