The Princess Blog

The Jabberwocky Princess  is a book from The Forest Tales series  by Cece Louise  that I received from a promotion. It takes place right before Mazarine , another book I reviewed recently from the same series. The title suggests that it could be a new interpretation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . Yet, aside from the presence of the Jabberwock and a few superficial literary references, the story is a generic fantasy adventure. This book does not hold a candle to the creativity and emotional intensity of ABC's Once Upon a Time in Wonderland , my favorite interpretation of Alice. In a way, it is even a bit disrespectful to Lewis Carroll by having the characters interpret direct quotes from his work as the rantings of a madman. Like Mazarine , the chapters alternate between two different perspectives. However, instead of swapping between two love interests, it focuses on dual female protagonists who, while different in their motivations, have simi...

I had seen some Facebook ads in the past for Mazarine , a mermaid fairytale romance by Cece Louise , so when it came up in a recent holiday promotion, I decided to check it out. Though it is not exactly a retelling of "The Little Mermaid,"  this book has a strong love story with lots of fantasy and adventure. It is part of the Forest Tales series , which contains many fairytale-inspired stories set in the same world. Even though this was the only book I've read so far, I saw several references to characters who were clearly from earlier books. Mazarine  is not named after the main character, but after the Mazarine Sea, which is the area the two protagonists travel through for most of the story. Unlike most mermaid stories, this book follows the "road trip" archetype in which two unlikely heroes must go on a long journey and get to know each other intimately along the way. I did not care much for the male protagonist at first, but like in  Tangled , the heroine s...