The Princess Blog

Where Infinite Shimmer , the last visual novel in Time Princess , encompasses everything romantic and girly in a seemingly misplaced cyberpunk setting, The Underground City: Stirring Shadows does quite the opposite. Although the dystopian world of The Underground City is so similar to Infinite Shimmer that it could have easily been a spinoff about a different character living a different life, Sera's circumstances are not nearly as appealing as Aurora's. This visual novel takes everything a player would expect from the genre instead of twisting it into a Barbie-like setting . While this is great for fans of dark gritty dystopian worlds, it feels out of place for such a bright girly game as Time Princess that features a fairy who gives the protagonist the power to become anyone. While not appealing to my personal tastes, this novel demonstrates the game's versatility to players who enjoy all types of stories. Underground City players are transformed into Sera, a tragic figur...

Today is International Mermaid Day , and it comes with big news for mermaid fans. I recently shared a leaked promo video for Disney Junior's Ariel that was taken down shortly after. Today, in honor of International Mermaid Day, an official teaser was launched containing only footage from the show without any of the interviews from its creators. There was also an update from Rainbow SpA 's upcoming animated series, Mermaid Magic , which is scheduled to release around the same time period as Ariel. Finally, my friend Kae-Leah Williamson's Wattpad book, The Siren Queen , was recently completed along with a lovely romantic prequel set in a fictional mer-universe called The Servant Girl and the Sea Prince . Though it does not have a specific release date yet, the first official teaser for Disney Junior's Ariel took the internet by storm today. It is reported to premiere sometime this summer on Disney Junior and Disney+. The teaser featured new footage of characters that ...

I was late to the party with my review of Super Princess Peach , so I decided to be more timely with her latest installment, Princess Peach™: Showtime!  for the Nintendo Switch that launched last Friday. The game is a mix between the dress-up elements of Time Princess  and the gameplay elements of Disney Princess Enchanted Journey / My Fairytale Adventure . Although it provides more of a challenge than the Disney Princess games of the past as one might expect of a Super Mario Bros.  title, it can easily be completed in a full day, which makes the steep price tag questionable. Still, Princess Peach's newest title is visually pleasing, entertaining, and fun to play. The game begins with Princess Peach entering a large theater run by the Sparklas, generic muppet-like creatures  that populate the Showtime! worlds. As soon as she arrives, a magic tornado blasts her tiara off her head. A talking star named Stella appears and replaces it with a magic hair ribbon that a...

A Spark of Storms  by Susannah Welch is a gender-bent retelling of "Aladdin."  This is far from a new concept for me, so the obvious Disney influence on the cover was what first attracted me to this book. The Disney version of Aladdin  is very different from the original fairy tale. The author uses that story as inspiration and makes it her own in a clever way while building a female-empowered fantasy world that gives a strong start to her Heart of the Queendom series. Though the feminist messaging of this book is a little overstated, it aligns perfectly with the archetype of Princess Jasmine feeling trapped by her culture  and its treatment of women. In this case, it's a prince named Jaemin who feels trapped in a world where only female heirs can ascend the throne. Alanna is a street rat who uses her charms to manipulate those around her for her own survival. Her life takes a surprising turn when she is rescued by a mysterious pink-haired woman. Geeni, her rescuer...

There are so many retellings of "Cinderella"  that one would think it would be impossible for a new version of it to be fresh and original. Yet, Abigail Manning  proves that it is possible with Framed in Florals , a lovely and suspenseful adaptation of "Cinderella." This book is most similar to Amazon Prime's 2021  Cinderella  jukebox musical  only much better. Both adaptations feature Cinderella as an entrepreneur who attends the ball to pursue her career ambitions with the handsome stranger she'd encountered previously as a bonus perk. Both Cinderellas are enchanted so their stepfamilies won't recognize them, but the prince knows exactly who she is.  Framed in Florals  goes a step further by throwing some truly devious and fearsome villains into the mix for a thrilling climax that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. As far as wicked stepmothers go, this book really takes the cake. Sapphira is the most horrible and abusive woman any orphan ...

A year and a half after Hulu's  The Princess , a film about a generic fairy tale princess picking up a sword and saving herself, is owned by Hulu, Neflix decided to take on their own version of the trope with  Damsel , a film about a general fairy tale princess picking up a sword and...saving herself? Though these two films share similar themes, the primary foe in Damsel  is a mythological dragon instead of a greedy conqueror, giving Netflix's take on the overdone plot more of a fantasy feel. However, the sweet taste of magic is as fleeting as the film's promise of happiness to its sacrificial brides. Like The Princess , Damsel  is a gritty action flick with little levity. I found The Princess  enjoyable enough for what it is, and Damsel , though generic, has its moments as well. The first act is particularly eye-pleasing with breathtaking imagery of castles, gowns, and indulgence in the royal life before the film's visuals and plot plummet into a dar...

The best time of the year is back! Every year, the Cedar Park High School Choir  gets together to write a brand-new show filled with princesses, songs, and games for its annual Princess Tea . This year's show, Ariel's Treasure Hunt , is the third one I attended since moving to the area. Many things remained the same such as the lobby set up with fairy tale photo ops, royal souvenirs, and the castle entryway, but there were plenty of surprises to be found during the performance as well. The female choral group, known as the Seasons, dominated this year's show with a wide array of Disney Princesses, while the male singing group, Pitch Black, cosplayed various Disney heroes, supported the princesses, and performed several group numbers during the intermission. I sat at the Cinderella table, which was adorned with an old storybook, an autographed note, and a clock stuck at midnight. This year's show, which is freshly written by students each year, revolves around Ariel wan...

The Net that Holds Me  by Scarlett Luna Strange is a bare-bones minimalist retelling of "The Little Mermaid" with virtually no stakes. I learned about it from the recent Valentine's Day book promotion and decided to throw in the anchor because I usually love "Little Mermaid" retellings and even wrote  one of my own . The book is innocent and inoffensive for the most part, but it mitigates the majority of the tragic themes that make "The Little Mermaid" such a classic story and comes off as disrespectful toward the original protagonist at one point near the end. As a standalone YA romance, it's a short and sweet love story that can be finished in about two hours, but as a "Little Mermaid" retelling, it doesn't hold a lot of water. Anyone who has read or seen a "Little Mermaid" adaptation knows the drill. Sage is a lonely mermaid who is bored with her life under the sea and thirsts for something more. One fateful day, she me...

National Tell a Fairy Tale Day has quickly become one of my favorite days of the year. Once obscure and unknown, February 26th has become the best day to score amazing bargains on fairy tale adaptations from all the best fantasy authors. These annual festivities started as a Facebook party  with many reader interactions. Last year, independent author and fairy tale queen  Brittany Fichter  decided to host the event as a series of linked blog posts  which, though more accessible, creates less opportunity for live interactions with the authors. However, the celebrations continue to include a vast array of fairy tale-related games, activities, and free or discounted ebooks to read throughout the year. This year's fairy tale webring, Once Upon 2024, features 13 authors of various fairy tale adaptation series. Each author made a post introducing herself, sharing some fun fairy tale-related activities, and contributed at least one complimentary ebook from her collection. ...

Ella and the Elf  by Anabelle Raven  was an unexpected treat from this month's Valentine's Day promotion . It is a sweet reimagining of "Cinderella"  set in a world of elves and magic. The human/elf romance dynamics are similar to Tara Grayce's Elven Alliance series , but the characters and their stories are very different. This is a "Romeo and Juliet" style romance about an interracial relationship between two star-crossed lovers and the obstacles they must face to be together against all odds. Though the story touches on slavery, it never gets as dark as Celeste Baxendell's Runes of Pain and Peace series . The romance is charming, and the characters are refreshingly straightforward about their feelings toward each other. Ella and Altair's "Meet Cute" begins similarly to Andrew Lloyd Webber's recent "Cinderella" adaptation  in which one lover finds the other tied to a tree and releases them. In this case, Ella discovers t...

Hazbin Hotel  is the latest craze in the world of animation fans. While it isn't the best option for people under 18, averse to profanity, religious zealots, or anyone who prefers their cartoons to have a palette of more than three colors, it has a devoted fanbase all over the world. While it has potential, I can't recommend this show due to its chaotic plot and inconsistent storylines. However, I appreciate the immense amount of creativity in its character designs and backstories and its absolutely stellar soundtrack that includes at least one toe-tapping and inspired musical number in every episode. As the show's heroine and the Princess of Hell, Charlie Morningstar should be my favorite character. However, something about her does not sit right with me, whether it's the fact that her princess-like naivety  makes little sense for someone who has grown up surrounded by corruption and wickedness or that her voice actress, Erika Henningsen , does almost too good of an im...

It's been over two years since the last double feature for the Sailor Moon Crystal anime series , which covered the second to last arc of the original anime and manga. Closing the gap between the two anime versions of Sailor Moon, a two-part theatrical release premiered in Japan last summer called Sailor Moon Cosmos , which covered the final arc of the story, Sailor Stars. The film was released in two parts, which is barely enough time to cover the expansive story and is probably confusing to people watching it if they aren't already familiar with the source material. Although there is no English release of the film planned at this time, I was able to watch a fansub that allowed me to experience the thrilling conclusion to the newest iteration of this popular Magical Girl franchise. Sailor Moon Cosmos  has the same plot as the controversial final season of the original Sailor Moon anime , but covers it in a much shorter time span. It introduces the trans-friendly Sailor Stars...

To Defy a Dream  by Mary Mecham  is a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty"  from The Shattered Tales , a multi-author series bent on deconstructing popular fairy tales and rewriting them with a twist that shatters their most defining elements. As a huge fairy tale fan, I wasn't too interested in a premise that it rips apart the foundations of what makes fairy tales so beloved. I think deconstructions work better for outdated romcom tropes such as Rachel Bloom's brilliantly executed in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend  than they do with timeless fairy tale classics. Still, I enjoyed this author's deconstructed "Cinderella" retelling , and since  To Defy a Dream  was part of a big fairy tale promotion for Valentine's Day , I thought I might as well give it a chance. Overall, To Defy a Dream  has very little to do with "Sleeping Beauty" despite being a retelling. There is a sleeping curse and a magic spindle, but the princess was not cursed to die or sleep at he...