The Princess Blog

I requested an ARC of  Castle of Broken Dreams  by A.R. Kaufer when I saw that it's a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty" and The Last Unicorn , which seemed like a whimsical and creative combination. This book absolutely delivers on its premise, though I wish it didn't contain spice so I could recommend it to the closed door community as well. Although I felt that the three brief spicy scenes interfered with the innocence of the overall story, it was a well-written book full of nostalgia for childhood stories and animation. What girl doesn't want to read more stories about faeries  and unicorns ? Aurora Rose is a powerful fae princess whose birth is celebrated throughout the land until she is cursed by the wicked sorcerer, Maleck, to prick her finger and die on her eighteenth birthday unless she agrees to marry him. The faery Alyssa (which is not a very faery-like name) amends the curse so she will fall into a death-like sleep instead, only to be awakened by true lo...

As soon as I saw the previews for Netflix's new animated series, Unicorn Academy , I couldn't get over how similar it looked to Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders . Teenagers forming magical bonds with unicorns to save the world from evil? Yes, please! With a Jewel Riders graphic novel on the horizon, this is the perfect time to revisit that premise. Unicorn Academy is loosely based on a book series of the same name  that got picked up by Netflix and recently aired its first season. The premiere movie and successive eight episodes follow six unicorns and their riders on their quest to protect the magical realm from the evil Ravenzella, who performed reprehensible acts to previous generations, including the father of the main character, Sophia. The show contains a lot of teen angst and drama as well as rainbows, sparkles, and magic. Although Unicorn Academy features an entire school full of unicorn riders training to be protectors, it only focuses on the six students liv...

This movie is a bit of an enigma. The animation is more beautiful than it has any business being, but the script feels like something that came straight out of a 1980s marketing team solely for the purpose of selling toys. And that appears to be exactly what it was . It has the look and feel of a Barbie Fairytopia movie  from a bygone era . While it's nice to know that there are still movies like this being made, would it be too much ask for them to be made better? The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn  is an extremely misleading title. The movie was not about a single fairy princess but, in fact, many winged elf princesses, most of whom were sisters. A unicorn appeared in one scene for about ten seconds and had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. The movie was apparently renamed from the more fitting title of Bayala: A Magical Adventure , which would have been a perfect fit for it. I guess their marketing team was worried that a movie named after a world no one has ever...

Unicorns of Balinor is a series of children's books by Mary Stanton , who was one of the writers for my favorite cartoon,  Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders . I learned about it after reading a review on the Jewel Riders Archive . The unfinished series consists of eight short chapter books about a girl named Ari who leans she was once a princess from a magical land called Balinor. The story contains elements of Anastasia , Jewel Riders, and Wicked . Though it helps to read them in order, any of the books can easily be enjoyed on its own. Each one tells a complete adventure story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. This is not the only Jewel Riders-inspired book series from the turn of the millennium. Avalon: Web of Magic  by Rachel Roberts  was another series of chapter books about girls from the real world who also learn that unicorns and magic exist in a different realm. Her books incorporated lyrics directly from the original Jewel Riders soundtra...

The Entwined Tales  book series introduced me to many authors I had been previously unfamiliar with. Of them, Shari Tapscott  was far from a favorite of mine. Still, I couldn't resist when her novel Audette of Brookraven , was being offered for free along with several other books from the Entwined Tales authors as a holiday promotion. Since I didn't have very expectations for it, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy of a read this was compared to the sample novellas from her mailing list. This was largely thanks to the quirky antics of the main character, Princess Audette (not to be confused with Princess Odette ). The plot, on the other hand, left much to be desired. Audette of Brookraven  is the fourth book in Shari Tapscott's Eldentimber series, which consists of tales about various princesses from various lands. It's difficult to properly summarize this book because the story is all over the place, which is an issue I've had with all of the work I've...

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic  recently began its eighth season, making the unfortunate decision to focus more on the plot of the sub-par movie  than the epic new characters that were introduced in the season finale . Even though this colorful series about winged unicorn princesses has been losing some traction over the past few years, the incorporation of unicorns into everyday life has not. Within the past month, I have seen promotions for a unicorn cereal , unicorn ice cream , and even unicorn nail art . There have also been many unicorn-themed makeup kits that popping up over the past few years. Who can forget all the fuss last year over Starbuck's limited edition Unicorn Frappuccino ? When it comes to unicorns, you either get it or you don't. There is no in between. If you're wondering why does this generation seem to leap at the chance to add some sparkly pastel-colored magic to their everyday lives, please read on. For many, it simply comes down to feelin...

"The Unicorn Princess" Once upon a time, there was a lovely young girl who lived in the middle of the woods. She had no family that she knew of. Though there were no other humans for miles, she had the unique ability to communicate with animals. The creatures in the forest were her only companions, but for her, they were enough. She never felt lonely or scared. When she was cold, she would sing a strange lullaby and beautiful clothes would appear before her to keep her warm. When she was hungry, she would sing a different song, and fresh food would appear. The birds taught her to sing, though her song was foreign to them. The older the maiden got, the more powerful her song became. Soon, she possessed the ability to heal dead plants and trees and sprout new life all around her with the sound of her voice. When she turned sixteen, word spread of the girl's miraculous abilities. Many brave knights journeyed through the woods to find her so that she could use her magic...

Today is the day! Everyone's  favorite unicorn princesses  are finally out on the big screen. Based on the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic reboot series that began in 2010, Hasbro has finally released its biggest franchise to theaters. Does it live up to the cartoon? I have to say I was a little concerned when I noticed that the movie's trailer and promos seemed to focus more on star power than plot. Now that I've seen it, I can safely say that my concerns were justified. The movie introduced a ton of new characters voiced by big-name actors with very little time to get to know them. It was a whirlwind of magic, morals, and songs, with very little meaningful or memorable content. Let's start with the positive. The movie looked gorgeous. It brought together everything great about traditional animation and computer animation. Everypony was consistently on model, and the shading was gorgeous. It looked like the colors were going to be eye-piercingly bright bas...

I'm not a huge fan of talking animals. To me, most animal stories come off as silly or out of place. However, there are some stories that do such a great job at building full-fledged animal societies that I can't help but appreciate them. Of course, it helps if they also manage to incorporate some princess mythology. The best show to do this that I've seen is  My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic . Unicorns are the next best thing to  faeries  and  mermaids , and no one does unicorn princesses better than Hasbro Studios . The vast world of Equestria is just as beautiful and magical as any fairy tale princess kingdom. The My Little Pony franchise began in the 1980s as a toy line for girls. I even had a couple of them as a kid, myself. The  My Little Pony 'n Friends  cartoon ran for two seasons in 1986 largely to promote the toy line. It was a bit of a mess, with inconsistent characters and stories. There were a few decent specials, but it wasn't until...