The Princess Blog

After I reviewed The Stepsister Scheme  by Jim C. Hines , I didn't think I was interested in reading more until I learned that the next book in the series was based on my favorite fairy tale, "The Little Mermaid."  Though I reviewed a lot of "Little Mermaid" adaptations lately, I figured one more couldn't hurt. Or could it? I can say with some certainty that fans of the Disney movie would not enjoy this book. The Mermaid's Madness  is much darker than the Hans Christian Andersen version of the story, which is really saying something. It unapologetically dashed many of my fairy tale princess hopes and dreams, yet the book was a daring undertaking that focused on an aspect of "The Little Mermaid that often gets left out in other adaptations. This is a version in which our protagonist actually goes through with the proposition to kill her beloved prince in order to save herself. Since The Stepsister Scheme  centered around the adventures of Snow...

After years of reading fairy tale adaptations and reimaginings , I was in the mood for something a little different. I discovered The Stepsister Scheme  by Jim C. Hines  on a list of 20 modern fairy tale books . It stood out for a few reasons. First, the book takes place after the "happily ever after" part of its leading princesses' fairy tales, which gives it a similar feel to Just Ella  by Margaret Peterson Haddix , in which the princesses are more experienced and willing to fight to keep their happy endings. Instead of focusing on one princess, the book features Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty in a  girl-power team-up , giving it a Magical Girl vibe with a stronger focus on friendship than romance. It's also about a bunch of princesses teaming up to rescue a prince, and there aren't as many books out there about that as there should be. Right from the get-go, I knew this wasn't another reimagining of a story I've already heard a million t...