The Princess Blog

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...

It's been three years since the announcement  that Jennifer Lopez was working on a serial adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella . At this point, it seemed like the project was cancelled, given that nothing else was announced since then. Impossible things are happening every day, and  Disney+ has landed the rights to it after a bidding war with Amazon. It looks like the pumpkin is still fresh. When it was first announced, three other Cinderella adaptations  were released within the same year. Enough time has passed that it isn't as derivative now as it was at the time. Still, the serial format is perplexing, not to mention the fact that it has been in production for at least three years and still doesn't have a release window. There have been new developments since the project was first announced, namely that it will be the backstory of the Fairy Godmother, which is reminiscent of another series that got announced years ago. The Deadline article states th...

The transformation sequences  from the upcoming Winx Club reboot were released a few months ago with a tease of the show coming "this fall." Now, the full trailer is available along with the official release date. We can expect to see this new iteration of the 2004 Italian Magical Girl series streaming on Netflix on October 2nd. To the best of my knowledge, this is the fourth time the show has been rebooted in the last twenty years, and hopefully it will be better than the previous attempts . The trailer reveals footage that is more reminiscent of the original series with some modern updates to the animation and characters, such as the transition from hand-drawn to CGI  and the soft-spoken Flora's Spanish accent in an obvious attempt to add more diversity to the show. A lot of the footage in the new Winx Club trailer had been leaked previously over the years that the reboot was in development, but the official trailer shows the finalized animation and designs, which lo...

Gilded Locks  by Julene Johnson  is the final ARC I received from the All That Glitters multi-author series of fairy tale retellings. I was eager to read a clean retelling of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"  because the ones I had read  previously were not. Yet, the book veers way more toward an adaptation of Robin Hood  than Goldilocks, even though it is promoted as both, and the title gives off strong "Goldilocks" vibes. It is primarily a political drama with some romance and fantasy on the side. In that way, it differs from the other books in this series and may appeal to a different audience than the rest of the series. Still, it was a unique and interesting concept for the author's first novel. Grace Robbins is a Protector whose family's goal is to protect their community from a dangerous substance that melts everything it touches into liquid gold. The substance has little use outside of its destructive purposes, but it could be deemed valuable to th...

The princess lifestyle is a relaxing one that involves taking the time to admire the beauty in the world around us. Although the most obvious type of beauty is visual, which is typically  through clothing , princesses also create auditory beauty through their songs . While I've always loved singing, I've never done it professionally or at an advanced level. Non-operatic singing is generally pretty easy. It doesn't require an understanding of music theory or the ability to perform multiple notes simultaneously (which I'm pretty sure is physically impossible). Since I have recently acquired a great deal of free time, I decided to take my musical know-how to the next level by learning to play piano. My goal in learning piano is not necessarily to become an entertainer but to have a deeper and more intimate understanding of the songs I've known and loved for most of my life by being able to read and interact with the notes that comprise them. That's why I started my...

Lost Starlight  by Kayla Eshbaugh is the newest book in the All That Glitters multi-author series of fairy tale retellings. This book is a retelling of Peter Pan  that veers drastically from the themes of its source material. The author put in her end notes that she wrote it because she wanted to see a version of Peter Pan  where Peter and Wendy get together. While this made for a lovely fantasy romance, it detracts from the character's essence as the boy who never grew up. Still, this is a charming and sweet book that only touches on the J. M. Barrie play. Lady Gwendolyn is a shy storyteller who enjoys reading books to children. One day, she is hired for an important job at the castle, where she becomes the official storyteller for Prince Peter. Peter is enamoured with her upon sight and looks forward to hearing her read to him each day. After spending enough time with her, he decides he wants her with him always. His desire to marry her is interrupted when she is kidn...

With a multitude of  new anime shows  coming out every season, it's easy to spot trends in Eastern culture and observe how they differ from Western tropes . One trend that has been popular in anime for many years is the unassuming hero or heroine. This is a character who came from a life of emotional abuse, and is unexpectedly thrust into a supportive environment that they don't think they are worthy of. This is one of my favorite tropes because it often includes sweet and supportive romantic leads that blend well with the classic "Cinderella" story. It also adds more meaning to the glitz and glamour of royal life. The latest example of this trope is Betrothed to My Sister's Ex , which premiered as part of the Summer 2025 anime season. Betrothed to My Sister's Ex is the story of a mistreated noblewoman named Marie who was brushed aside by her parents in favor of her sister, Anastasia. When Anastasia dies in a freak accident, Marie is sent to marry Anastasia...

Diamond Wishes  by Abigail Manning  is the next of many ARCs I have received from the All That Glitters  multi-author series of fairy tale retellings. This gender-bent retelling of "Aladdin"  gives a fresh new take on the story, and not because it's about a female thief . It follows a similar premise to many other gender-bent retellings of "Aladdin,"  in which a thief is transformed into a princess with the help of some magic and joins a group of potential royal prospects for a prince. However, the third act takes the story in an entirely new and surprising direction that I never saw coming, much like Abigail Manning's other retellings . Kya is an orphaned thief who has been dodging the guards her whole life with a combination of skill and luck, as well as a mute guard she nicknames Jean, who was always looking out for her. Her pet parrot, Kipu, occasionally provides assistance as long as he can keep his beak shut. One day, Kya is propositioned by a mysterio...