The Princess Blog

Mission complete! The Beggar Prince  by Kate Stradling was the final book I had to review from the Once Upon a Prince series of fairy tale retellings completing my quest to finish this series by the end of the summer. This book is a retelling of "King Thrushbeard,"  which was a great choice for a series focusing on male fairy tale protagonists since the male lead in this story takes more of an active role than in some of the other stories this series has covered . Still, the source material has some questionable elements  including a husband who lies to his wife about his identity and a spoiled princess with an overly controlling father. Although this book is primarily a beat-for-beat retelling of the original fairy tale, it does a good job of humanizing both characters and handles the controversial aspects of the story with grace. If you're looking for an in-depth and accurate adaptation of "King Thrushbeard," this book is an excellent choice. Thorben is a st...

The aptly titled A Last Hope  is the final book in the Hope Ever After series. I received an ARC from the author, Verity Sandahl to read before its release date on July 17th. This book is a gender-bent retelling of "King Thrushbeard"  and contains a unique take on the story in a fantasy setting. Like all the books in this series, proceeds on sales will go toward Operation Underground Railroad  to help fight against child sex trafficking and protect children from exploitation. This book has more Christian messaging than the other Hope Ever After books I've read, but it was still enjoyable as someone from a different religious denomination. The story focuses heavily on star-crossed lovers, which is my favorite type of romance. Princess Arianna hails from the Thrush kingdom whose royalty has the ability to fly. Prince Marc, from an enemy kingdom, is an empath, who can read people's emotions by touching them. When the two take an illicit flight as children, they form a ...

The Scarecrow King  by Jill Myles  was recommended to me a while ago, and I just recently got around to reading it. It is a delightful retelling of "King Thrushbeard"  in a traditional fairy tale world where all stories are connected. Though there were few references to other fairy tales in this book, it was a clever touch that the main character was the daughter of the protagonist from "Rumpelstiltskin"  who was blamed for her mother's incompetence of being unable to turn straw into gold after becoming queen. The book plays on a lot of the questionable elements of "King Thrushbeard," which was originally a pretty messed-up story about an abusive relationship with a princess who was lied to and manipulated to teach her a lesson. Here, the book expands upon why the princess acted the way she did and forces her husband to face the consequences of his actions, making for a more well-rounded story that fixes the problematic issues of the original fairy ta...

Few authors are able to pump out lengthy fantasy novels with fantastic character and world-building as quickly as Celeste Baxendell . The latest book in her Bewitching Fairy Tales series is Sands of Deceit , an adaptation of "King Thrushbeard" and "Bluebeard," two lesser-known fairy tales that rarely get adaptations. I was pleased that this story was a direct tie-in to my favorite of her books, Cinders of Glass . Instead of a sweet, naive, and reckless protagonist like Liora, this book is about the "mean girl" who bullied her, Lady Gisele, who is equally relatable in entirely different ways. Gisele is cold, calculating, and worldly with an unexpected vulnerability at her core. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her redemption arc, especially since it reminded me of one of my own books, The Stolen Slipper . Lady Gisele has just about given up on her chances of succeeding in life. She comes from a ruined family, and to top it all off, the prince she was seeking...

Voyage  is the latest book in The Kingdom Chronicles by Camille Peters . It is a retelling of the lesser-known fairy tale, "King Thrushbeard,"  about a conceited princess who thinks she is too good for any of her suitors. Though that concept makes it difficult for the story a likable protagonist, Seren's dignity was compensated with an unfortunate upbringing. It takes place on a ship while Seren is sailing to her new kingdom for her upcoming wedding to a stranger. I can see that Camille Peter did a lot of research for this story. There are many descriptions for different parts of a large ship and how they operate, which made the world feel organic. Even though she took some liberties with the fairy tale, it was a unique and pleasant adaptation that made for a refreshing take on an old story. Like all the books from this series, the main focus was on the romance between Seren and Ronan. It got a bit repetitive at times, but the story really picked up near the end. Similar ...