The Princess Blog

Ice and the Elves  is the latest book in  Anabelle Raven 's Elves & Legends series. Like the other books in this series, it is an extremely loose fairy tale retelling that is essentially an original story. This particular book draws inspiration from "Sleeping Beauty"  by incorporating themes of dream magic. It takes place in the same high fantasy world as the other Elves & Legends books, in which there is a rivalry between humans and elves. This book directly follows the events of Nolan and the Elf , in which an elf and a human fall in love, and explores the fallout of their actions. It is a dark story centered around a war setting, which may not be every fairy tale fan's cup of tea. Ice and the Elves  is a second-chance romance that begins after a lot of important events have already taken place, which requires the reader to catch up through expository dialogue and description. Kendrick is an elf prince seeking revenge for his parents' murder by a king a...

When I first heard there would be a new anime about singing princess  Magical Girls , I was stoked. I love all of those things, so how could combining them  go wrong? I couldn't wait to write about Princession Orchestra . I waited with baited breath for the first episode to air. Then I watched it and realized I had very little to say about it. Now, I am 20 episodes in, and I still don't have a lot to say. The series fulfills its promise on a most basic level. However, the majority of its charm comes from aesthetics and very little else. Despite what the title would lead you to believe, Princession Orchestra pays more homage to Alice in Wonderland  than it does to princess stories. In fact, there are so many Wonderland references peppered throughout the show that I personally think Wonderland Orchestra would have been a more appropriate title. The show takes place in a beautiful fantasy world called Alicepia, which is powered by an app that only girls can access. When the...

The first time I saw preview footage from Bye Sweet Carole , I thought it had been rotoscoped from Disney's Beauty and the Beast . It wasn't, but this perception was a result of the game's distinct look that is reminiscent of hand-drawn films from Disney's Renaissance and Golden Age eras. The nostalgic aesthetic  is a huge selling point for the game. It is difficult to find anything in the modern era  that recreates this style so perfectly. The game's protagonist, Lana, bears features that are similar to the character models for both Belle and Snow White. It is not unheard of for a video game to use hand-drawn animation. Dragon's Lair  and Cuphead are some examples of this. However, it is an exceptionally rare medium for interactive storytelling due to the amount of time it takes to animate every possible player scenario. Few people are willing to put this amount of time and effort into modern games because of how much easier it is to take advantage of new tec...

Abigail Manning  is one of the most prolific fairy tale authors in the market right now, so I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of the latest book from her inspired Once Upon a Rhyme series. Twinkle Twinkle Little Scars  is a clever princess-themed interpretation of my favorite nursery rhyme that adds layers of depth behind the innocent childhood jingle. Set in a world where magic jewels  are a hot-button issue, this original fairy tale features a princess who is not what she seems and a rogue who hides behind numerous identities to prevent the world from seeing his true self. Princess Lyra has a big secret. By day, she's a model royal, following all the procedures her high status requires with grace and dignity. By night, she is the inventor, a mysterious supplier of magical tools powered by enchanted stones that are highly coveted on the black market. Her dealer is Stirling, a boy she met as a child when he snuck into the castle through her window and continued to do...

World Princess Week  is almost over, and Disney decided to go out in a big way. In honor of the 70th anniversary of Disneyland Park , a star-studded princess concert was held in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, complete with princess character performers  and several of the original Disney Princess voice actresse,s  including Jodi Benson , Paige O'Hara , Anika Noni Rose , and Auli'i Cravalho . The event was hosted by the incredibly talented Susan Egan , of Broadway and Hercules  fame, and Ginnifer Goodwin , Once Upon a Time's Snow White . I've heard many of these sirens of the stage and screen  perform live at several events , and it was nothing short of magical. For last year's World Princess Week, Disneyland hosted a performance from a brand new girl group  introducing the new Disney Princess anthem , "Create Your World." Although the slogan stuck, the anthem itself was never heard again, despite this concert being a perfect opportunity to perform ...

World Princess Week  is back, and that means fun new surprises from Disney! This year's princess treat was more of a throwback to 2023  when Disney launched an adorable LEGO special on Disney+ called The Castle Quest . In honor of World Princess Week, a sequel premiered on their exclusive streaming service called LEGO Disney Princess: Villains Unite , which is within the same vein as its predecessor. However, the new special is only half the length of The Castle Quest , falling at a paltry 23 minutes. This is a surprisingly short runtime considering that it took two years to create the star-studded sequel. Villains Unite  picks up where The Castle Quest  left off, with the LEGO versions of the iconic Disney Princesses working together to protect a sparkly pink castle that they share. When Snow White comedically eavesdrops on Gaston in the marketplace, she overhears a plot in which he assembles four other classic Disney villains—Jafar, Ursula, Kaa, and The Evil ...

I've read roughly half the books from the Hope Ever After series , leaving a good handful of them on my TBR list. The latest one I got around to is A Gracious Hope  by Robyn Sarty . This charming retelling is a surprising combination of "Sleeping Beauty"  and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz  with fae lore in the mystical land of Tír na nÓg . It's an interesting combination that makes for a lovely and whimsical story with beautiful visuals. Few people probably would have the imagination to combine two such different stories as these. There are also some fun twists and turns encompassing a unique read that's full of surprises. This book picks up right in the middle of Disney's 1959 animated classic, Sleeping Beauty . For that reason, it is probably necessary to watch the film before reading the book, which is unlikely to be an issue for its target audience. Alora is a peasant girl living with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. On her nineteenth birthday, she learns that s...

It's been a little over a year since Jewel Riders  was revived from the nostalgia archives  with a new graphic novel  from Maverick . Today, I am pleased to announce that the series has not been forgotten , and the second volume is about to make its debut. I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC from Maverick's mailing list and was able to read the new Magical Girl adventure in advance. The new  Jordie Bellaire and Koi Carreon  graphic novel is similar to the first one in the series, with beautiful manga-like illustrations, lots of nostalgic references to the '90s cartoon, and an erratic plot that jumps around from page to page. People who enjoyed the first volume of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders will probably enjoy this one as well, and vice versa, as little has changed. The second volume of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders picks up after the cliffhanger ending of the first graphic novel, which implied that there was some sort of secret sche...

When I received an ARC of The Storm Dancer  by Valia Lind , I was eager to read a new retelling of "The Little Mermaid."  This book contained the same romantic themes and strong characters that I enjoyed from her other Skazka Fairy Tales , along with some of the series' signature Russian mythology . However, the story lacks many of the elements that make "The Little Mermaid" such a dramatic and fantastical story, and doesn't incorporate enough new ones to make up for it. Thus, it is a strong love story like her other books, but not the ideal "Little Mermaid" retelling. I've seen the 1976 Russian film adaptation of "The Little Mermaid," Rusalochka , which followed the original fairy tale very closely, as well as its downright depressing Czech adaptation , Mala Morska Vila , which turned the merfolk into an aquatic species of water people like this book, but still followed the basic plot of the fairy tale. Roksana is a Rusalka princess ...

Tainted Beauty  by Alesha Adamson is the first book in the All That Glitters series and the last book for me to complete after receiving ARCs of every other book before I got to it. Ending with the beginning, this series has now come full circle for me. Tainted Beauty is a combined retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" and "King Midas."  Both stories are blended together equally with no bias toward one or the other. It is a sweet romance with lots of magic and dragon lore. Among the All That Glitters series, this story shares the most similarities to  Rapunzel's Gambit  by Mary Mecham , but it still stands out as a unique and original dual fairy tale adaptation. Aurelius seeks the aid of a dragon to restore his family's fortune. The ability to turn anything he touched into gold sounded like a great idea at first, until he accidentally froze his own mother in a gilded prison, turning the blessing into a curse. Soon, he realized that he was a threat to anyo...

Can you believe I've been blogging about princesses for the past eight years? How time flies! I like to do something special each year for my blogiversary. A few years ago, I filmed a special music video . This time, it's something I haven't done in over five years . I wrote a new book ! That's right, folks. We're finally getting a new fairy tale novella. Titania's Reflection  is a combined retelling of "Fairer-than-a-Fairy"  and Shakespeare's classic  A Midsummer Night's Dream . It's currently available on Amazon in ebook, audiobook, and paperback formats. If you've enjoyed my other works in the past, you should absolutely check this one out! It's like nothing I've ever done before. Titania's Reflection  would not exist if it weren't for all the princess-related research I do for my blog. I first discovered "Fairer-than-a-Fairy" when I spent a winter reading all twelve of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books lookin...

Whispers of the Starlit Sea  is a Kickstarter campaign I helped to back for Robyn Sarty . It's an ambitious new take on "The Little Mermaid"  with several unique twists. Instead of choosing to become human, the protagonist is forced to transform due to a magical bond her kind shares when they rescue humans. I found the story enjoyable and the characters pleasant overall, but there were parts of the lore that seemed confusing or underdeveloped. Since I received a very early copy of this book due to the campaign, these issues might be resolved when it is officially released in September . Regardless, it is a thrilling fantasy adventure with a sweet love story. Sorcha has lived most of her undersea life with passivity toward humans. Some merfolk consider them dangerous, especially when many of the Watchers who travel to the surface to prevent humans from drowning during storms go missing. Sorcha never gave it much thought, unlike her aunt, Maeve, or her sister, Ciara, who ac...

There is a certain visual style associated with girly media containing soft pastel color palettes, floral motifs, and lots of sparkles. Although this style hasn't been lost to us entirely, and is still prevalent in magical girl anime  it's never looked quite the same as it did in the late '80s and early '90s when it was first introduced. Maybe this is just nostalgia speaking, but the  soft, tranquil environments  of older cartoons never feel as relaxing as imagery from back then. The sharpness of HD resolution and modern CGI gets in the way of the fuzzy, dream-like feel of older cartoons. Even the wobbly, unrefined animation of older shows added to the charm in a way that we can't get today with crisp CGI models . Pictured above is Lady Lovely Locks , a cartoon series from 1987 that encapsulates the look and feel of feminine nostalgia. Though it had short episodes with a simplistic story, the visuals of this series and others like it inspired a generation of girly g...

Realms of Caelia by Sara Farnsworth  is my favorite new series. Each book combines two well-known fairy tales to create a story filled with magic, adventure, and romance. I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her latest book, The Arrow and the Sword . Instead of fairy tales, this book combines two well-known British legends, King Arthur  and Robin Hood . It follows the popular trend of turning Robin Hood into a woman . I think I've read more books about female Robin Hoods at this point than male ones. What makes this book unique is that it combines the character of Robin Hood with Lady Guinevere, or Gwynn, as she is referred to here. As a child, I was a huge fan of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders , which loosely combined the King Arthur legends with the magical girl genre  and made Princess Gwenevere a strong leader . This book brought back many of the feelings I got from watching that show. Lady Gwynn is a master archer who can't seem to stay out of trouble. As sh...

Since I have a tendency to binge things, it's difficult for me to keep track of newer visual novels in Time Princess  when they keep getting split into two separate releases. Even though I completed the Mirror of Masks story, I had a hard time following it. Still, I have received positive feedback on my other Time Princess reviews, so I will cover this one as well. If nothing else, I love the overall vibe that Mirror of Masks gives off. Its 2D cover is a work of art, and it does a great job of creating a metaphor for espionage under the guise of  fake and pretentious  Hollywood glamour. That said, this story bit off more than it could chew by attempting to cover too many genres at once. Leila Federer is a young ingenue who just got her big break in a major motion picture. Nothing on set is what it seems when an actress is mysteriously murdered, and Leila is recruited to join a secret organization investigating the scandal. Suddenly, her ambitious quest for stardom turns i...