The Princess Blog

If you saw my announcement on National Fairy Tale Day , you know that I've been waiting a long time to get my story, Hope and Love's Legacy ,  out into the world. In fact, it's been over 20 years since I conceptualized this book as an animated series when I was 16. Today is the day that my lifelong legacy can finally be part of your world (Yes, that is a Little Mermaid  reference, and yes, there are mermaids in this book). From a spark of imagination to a two-season series bible to pilot spec scripts to a full-length novel, this story has evolved so much since I first dreamed of starting an animation studio to produce it as a naive teenager. I truly believe that its current format is the strongest it's ever been, and I am so pleased to share it with you today. I came up with the idea of Hope and Love's Legacy in the midst of various fandom obsessions, including Disney Princesses , Final Fantasy VIII , and Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders . My passion for thes...

Slippers and Thorns  is the first book in the Roumaterra Chronicles, a series of combined fairy tale retellings by Erin Halbmaier . This book is different from other combined retellings because it takes place during the aftermath of both stories. It is a loose retelling and sequel to "Cinderella" and "Sleeping Beauty"  with similar themes to Just Ella  and Glass and Feathers . According to the author's notes, this book was intended to be a short story and was expanded into a 90,000-word novel. Regrettably, the combination of slow pacing and frustrating character decision detract from the extended length of the book. This book begins after the events of "Cinderella." Princess Ella's marriage to Prince Mike is on the rocks. Similar to the Disney sequel , Ella has a difficult time adjusting to palace life due to having more experience as a maid than as a princess. Meanwhile, Mike is overwhelmed by his princely duties and doesn't have time for his...

Legacy of Roses  by Melanie Cellier  is the first in her newest series of fairy tales called Kingdoms of Legacy , which takes place in a world where people are forced to live out the fairy tales of the past. After completing her extensive Four Kingdoms books , which ran for many years and expanded through many series, it would not have been possible to keep doing fairy tale retellings without trying something new. This is her second "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, and I have to admit that I preferred the first one, which was a more literal adaptation of the fairy tale. Following up  A Tale of Beauty and the Beast   with  Legacy of Roses  reminds me of Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter , her attempt to retell "Beauty and the Beast" in a new way that failed to gain the same appeal as her first adaptation, Beauty . Legacy of Roses  begins when a stranger named Dimitri moves to a small village to take residence in his family's manor, which happens to be a ...

A new season has begun, which means there are tons of new anime shows available from Japan. Going over the long lists of new shows every three months can be overwhelming, so I'm here to curate the most princessy shows each season for you. This Spring brings us two unique princess shows and two villainess shows ,  which is a popular princess-adjacent genre with new offerings for every anime season. For me, the standout series of the Spring 2026 anime season is Always a Catch , which places a unique spin on the broken engagement trope . What makes Always a Catch unique is that it subverts the trope of modern princess anime shows that start with a wicked prince breaking off his engagement to a noble lady, resulting in her winning over a different prince. In this show, Prince Renato attempts to break off his engagement with Lady Aida, but he hasn't seen her in years and confuses her with her outspoken cousin, Mimi. As an apology for the mistake (and because he finds Mimi charming),...

I signed up for an ARC of The Secret World of Briar Rose  by Cindy Pham on NetGalley because it looked like an interesting take on "Sleeping Beauty."  The book was more or less what I expected. It was a unique and creative take on the fairy tale, but like most modern books from traditional publishers, it lacked the heart that makes that tale such a beloved classic. I saw it described in some spaces as a  queer  story, which is debatable. While there were descriptions of queer feelings in certain characters, there is little to no actual romance, giving the book an overall feeling of loneliness and melancholy. Going in, it's important to know that this book is primarly an allegory for depression, and the fairy tale aspects are secondary. The "Sleeping Beauty" elements, while present, are not the primary focus of the book. The story alternates between two different timelines. The "future" timeline focuses on the dystopian kingdom that resulted from the ...

I've always loved PattyCake Productions'   high quality princess content . Today, they surprised me with a new video to pay some respect to classic Disney princes . Animated princes have regressed over the years due to a rise in feminism and have returned to their roles as mere accessories to the princesses. There was a period of time during the Disney Renaissance in which the male leads in Disney movies expanded their roles to fully developed characters equivalent to the princesses themselves. However, in the live-action remake era , Disney has been pushing the trope of princesses saving themselves, causing them to even outshine the male leads in their own movies  on occasion. This shift has taken us back to the classic Disney Princess era , in which the princes played very small roles. The music video, which was released today, is called "Charming,"  not to be confused with a subpar 2018 animated film of the same name . It focuses on the three golden age princes: T...

With the Hope Ever After series  about to retire its two-year run, I decided to check out one of the books I haven't read yet. A Charming Hope  by Ashley Evercott is a cozy retelling of "The Frog Prince" with a fun twist. The book reimagines the prince, Devon, and his princess, Annelise, as childhood friends who had a falling out. Instead of agreeing to kiss the cursed frog right off the bat, Annelise asks Devon to be her wingman to win over another potential suitor and offers to kiss him as payment. The book has a light romcom feel that matches the hopeful vibes of the series. Prince Devon is devastated to learn that his brother is marrying the woman he loves instead of him. In a fit of jealousy, he performs a disrespectful act at a sacred ceremony and is punished in the body of a frog. The only way to break the spell is a kiss from a woman who can understand him. However, Princess Annelise is unwilling to comply so easily after he had already broken her heart. When h...

This is it. As of this post, The Princess Blog now has 1,000 reviews, stories, and guides about all things princess! I never could have gotten this far without the support of my readers, so I've prepared something extra special for this milestone: a PSA about how crows should have more respect for princess animatronics . Just kidding. But isn't it crazy what happened to Rapunzel in Tokyo ? The truth is, I'm hosting my very first giveaway! I've produced so much creative work this year outside of just my blog that I wanted to share some of it with the people who have been there for me since the beginning. On National Fairy Tale Day , I revealed the cover for my upcoming book, Hope and Love's Legacy . This book is such a huge deal to me because it's the reason I decided to become a writer when I was 16. I conceived it as an animated series inspired by all of my favorite things and chased my dreams of producing it all the way to Hollywood. Now I can finally share it...

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie  is a direct sequel to 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie  and the first cinematic introduction of Princess Rosalina, a lesser iconic character than Princess Peach , but just as beloved by fans. This movie inspired many cosplayers  to create their own versions of Rosalina's famous blue dress, and all the ones I've seen so far are stunning! Though the cosmic princess is absent for much of the film due to her capture early on, not a second of her screen time is wasted. She delivers a beautiful maternal presence that exudes both power and femininity, and her personality shines through her story. Although I have not played Super Mario Galaxy, I found this movie to be a thoroughly enjoyable and fantastically whimsical experience that follows the spirit of its predecessor without feeling like a carbon copy. It mirrors the original by having a character rescue a sibling from an evil spiky turtle. Although Mario and Luigi are still present in this fil...

In case you missed it, there was a huge info drop today on social media about the upcoming sequel series, Sofia the First: Royal Magic . Over a month after the initial trailer dropped, Disney has provided some crucial details about the show, including the release date, platforms, theme song, and princess guest stars. We also got an official poster and several cute promo animations. Let's dive back into the world of Enchancia  and explore! The new series poster features Sofia up front and center with her new friends, Layla, Zane, and Camila in the background, as well as her old animal sidekick, Clover, and her new pet, Pepper the puppycorn. Though many of these faces are new, it has been confirmed through the teaser and the new theme song that Sofia's family will be returning for the new show, including King Roland, Queen Miranda, Prince James, and Princess Amber, along with her reformed nemesis, Cedric. The theme song is a remix of the show's original theme with a few upda...

To Betray a King  by Annette K. Larsen  is one of the books I hadn't read yet from 2024's Shattered Tales series . Having recently completed Tangled Sails , her contribution to Displaced Fairytales , I was eager to read more from her. This book is such a loose retelling of "The Frog Prince"  that you'd have to be very familiar with the original fairy tale to catch all the references. The story contains no magic and revolves around a tactical espionage plot to prevent a series of murders by a dastardly villain. It fits well with the themes of The Shattered Tales and transforms "The Frog Prince," which is traditionally a light and rather silly story, into a suspenseful thriller. Princess Faelyn's life turns upside-down when her family escapes her tyrannical fiancé, only to be terrorized further by her wicked cousin, who rules a neighboring kingdom. King Jeshua blackmails Fae to disguise herself as a peasant "Fraug" and poison a man she's ...

With the recent announcement of not one , but two upcoming movies about Cinderella's stepsisters, I thought it would be fun to make a post about princess footwear. This was also suggested by a reader some time ago, but I put it on the back burner because I hardly consider myself an expert on shoes. Still, no princess outfit is complete without the perfect pair of shoes, and no princess knows her shoes better than Cinderella . It's thanks to her famous glass slippers that I decided to wear clear rhinestone-encrusted shoes to my prom. To me, shoes don't look good unless they have something extra on them, like bows, gems, or silk rosettes. When it comes to princess-inspired shoes, there is a fine line between fashion and comfort. Most royal shoes that accompany ballgowns don't look authentic without a heel, but large heels can be uncomfortable, especially for cosplayers who are walking all day around convention halls . I like to find a happy compromise by wearing flats wi...

If there's one fairy tale that's been adapted more times than most people can count, it's "Cinderella."  With a rumored Disney spinoff on the way , this timeless rags-to-riches story has even more film adaptations than "Snow White." That's not even counting books , musicals , television , and other media ! Therefore, I thought it would be fun to rank ten different movie interpretations of the beloved tale, including some you might not be familiar with. In fact, I just learned about my number ten spot earlier this week! As always, my rankings are subjective and may change based on my mood, so don't take them too seriously if you don't agree with all of them. 10. The Glass Slipper (1955) The Glass Slipper  is a lesser-known Cinderella adaptation, and for a good reason. This film lacks many of the qualities that make Cinderella movies great. There's one mediocre song, and the main actress was cast more for her ballet abilities than for her...

Do I still think ten years is too soon for Disney to make another Moana  movie ? Yes. Did I get excited to watch today's trailer drop anyway out of pure curiosity? Also yes. What can I say? I'm a sucker for all things Disney Princess . Although the new trailer had a lot more footage to offer than the initial teaser did, it was still extremely reminiscent of the 2016 animated classic and contained hardly any music or dialogue that wasn't pulled from it directly. You can check out the full trailer for the upcoming July 10th release below. Hearing "The Rock" quote Maui's famous line, "You're welcome," is a good indicator of the irony behind Disney making this film. Like Maui, they are blissfully ignorant to the fact that nobody asked for a beautifully animated movie to be blandly replicated with live actors, not even a full generation after its premiere. Hearing the nostalgic notes and lyrics from the song "I Am Moana" did bring a wave ...

The Dozen Damsels  by Abigail Manning is part of the Fairmyth Chronicles , which combines popular fairy tales with Greek myths. This book blends "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" with the 12 labors of Hercules  to create a new adventure that is both thrilling and unique. I received a copy of this book on National Fairy Tale Day  and was eager to dive into another book from this talented author now that I'm caught up on ARCs . The story is perfectly suited to my tastes, with a strong balance of romance, action, and magic. I fell in love with the characters from the first page and couldn't wait to see how it would turn out. Inspired by Hercules, Prince Hawthorne is half mortal and half divine, meaning he doesn't truly belong anywhere. His lack of self-worth makes him the perfect target for his brother, Aaron, but it also motivates him to do something great with his life. This opportunity arrives sooner than he expects when he meets a woman locked in a prison cell wh...