The Princess Blog

Earlier this month, I was generously offered the opportunity to read a review copy of Hearts at Dawn  by Alysa Salzberg . This book is a historical interpretation of "Beauty and the Beast."  Though I've read many adaptations of this beloved fairy tale, Hearts at Dawn  is an original take that I don't think has ever been done before. The story is so grounded in reality that it feels like something that could have actually happened during the Franco-Prussian War. It offers a unique narrative style that reminds me of Lemony Snicket from  A Series of Unfortunate Events  with a narrator who almost never appears in the story despite her emotional involvement. This is a great book for history buffs, though it lacks the whimsy and mystery of other "Beauty and the Beast" adaptations. One thing that makes Hearts at Dawn  stand out from other versions of "Beauty and the Beast" is that it is told from the perspective of the enchantress , though she is not the...

If you haven't heard the news, Disney is celebrating its princesses all year long with the Ultimate Princess Celebration . They took things a step further this week with the first ever World Princess Week, a week-long celebration dripping with princess merchandise, videos, specials, and music. Disney is a master of grand finales, so the festivities conclude today with a 30-minute special called Disney Princess Remixed: An Ultimate Princess Celebration airing on Disney Channel at 7:30PM PT/ET. The special is available to watch right now on both the Disney Now and Disney Plus apps. It consists of four remixed Disney Princess songs performed by teen Disney Channel stars and ends with the premiere of the official music video for the newest Disney Princess anthem, "Starting Now." Even if you're not a fan modernized Disney remakes , there were still plenty of fun princess things released this week to brighten our day. My favorite aspect of the Ultimate Princess Celebrat...

When Disney announced this year's Ultimate Princess Celebration , they simultaneously teased a touring concert called Disney Princess: The Concert , which had way too many familiar names in it to be just a coincidence. It was later confirmed that this concert was none other than Laura Osnes's Broadway Princess Party , an intimate event that I had seen twice . I had a great deal of respect for the fact that it celebrated all princess musicals, regardless of which studio owned them, which is why I became concerned when I learned that the show had been sold to the mouse. Laura Osnes would not be the first wide-eyed innocent to sign a contract with Disney having no idea how it might affect her future and reputation. At the time, I seemed to be the only person who was skeptical about the possible negative ramifications of selling out. Now, it seems that Laura Osnes has paid the ultimate price for signing away the passion project that she started with music director Benjamin Rauhala...

The Beast and the Enchantress  by Camille Peters  is the first book in a new collaborative series of fairy tale retellings called A Villain's Ever After . Each week for the next three months, a new villain-inspired book will be released by a new author, many of whose fairy tale books I have reviewed in the past. The series follows the latest trend in which villains are treated like princesses or heroes  who made mistakes or were misunderstood. This trend first gained popularity ten years ago with Gregory Maguire's Wicked  in 2011 and its corresponding musical and has grown exponentially in  recent pop culture and animation . Though I may not have time to read every book in the Villain's Ever After series, I was fortunate to receive an ARC of The Beast and the Enchantress , which just came out this weekend. This is the second adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast"  I have read by Camille Peters. The story is quite different from Enchantment , so it didn't...

Those of you who are subscribed to my author newsletter  should have received an email yesterday letting you know that it was the fourth anniversary of The Princess Blog! I started my blog a few days after my actual birthday, so I was busy celebrating that yesterday at another enchanted maze room , which is why this post is a day late. For my third anniversary last year, I offered a special deal on the three books from The Stolen Trilogy , which I had just finished writing at the time. Since then, I've combined all three books into a digital box set on Amazon Kindle , which I am offering a special deal on for this weekend only. Instead of the normal listing price, you can get the complete Kindle edition of the trilogy for just $0.99. Today is the last day this promotion will be available, so you'll have to act quickly if you don't want to miss it! In honor of four years of princess love, here are the four Magical Girls from the anime Go! Princess Precure to cheer you on...

The latest visual novel in the Time Princess app  shares similarities with the game's first story, Queen Marie . Both are historical narratives about royal European women who made an impact on their time period. Princess Sissi is much shorter and follows a linear story path, while Queen Marie has numerous different branches the player can take based on their decisions. I learned about Princess Sissi after someone recommended the Saban cartoon  to me about two years ago. I expected the new visual novel to be similar, yet it only contained the events that were portrayed in the show's first episode. Even though I already knew everything that was going to happen, but it was still nice to play as a character I was already familiar with. This visual novel only explores an early portion of Sissi's life before she became empress. It would have been interesting to see a second chapter about her experiences trying to rule Austria and how she struggled with trying to satisfy both side...