The Princess Blog

Some days, you feel like a mermaid princess . Other days, you feel more like a kraken that wants to lash out at anything that disturbs your peace. DreamWorks' newest animated feature, Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken  finds the best of both worlds by providing a relatable kraken princess who just wants to be an ordinary girl with ordinary problems. Several years ago, I thought I was being ironic as a princess fan playing a kraken in the King of Tokyo board game . I never imagined there would be a movie someday that combines the two genres alongside a villainess who bears a tongue-in-cheek resemblance to my favorite Disney Princess . When you push the parody and jokes aside, Ruby Gillman  is a pretty standard coming-of-age teen drama that can easily compare to any other mainstream teen movie from the past few decades. Apart from her blue hair and skin, Ruby Gillman is an average awkward nerdy girl who just wants to fit in with the rest of the kids in her high school. The biggest pr...

Maiden of the Sea  is the second book I've read from Sarah Beran's Order of the Fountain series  and the third book in the series. My opinion of this series hasn't changed from what it was when I read Princess of the Beans . It uses popular fairy tale names and elements as a selling point and then removes the magic and whimsy that make these stories appealing. I've read some decent fairy tale adaptations that remove the magical elements  to create a sense of realism, but what's odd about this series is that while it still has magic in it, it removes the most iconic magical aspects of each fairy tale it retells. In the two books I've read so far, these include the magic beanstalk from "Jack and the Beanstalk," Rapunzel's impossibly long hair, and in the case of this "Little Mermaid" adaptation , the merfolk race and the whimsical undersea kingdom. Ariel is a maiden working in a temple who gave up her ability to use her legs when she went o...

"The True Princess" Mira was born with only one purpose: to overthrow the monarchy. The rebel alliance that raised her had trained her for her entire life to fight by their side. Their goal was to defeat the wicked queen and king who had abused their power with taxation and greed. The day was finally at hand for them to take down the wicked monarchs' daughter, Princess Larissa, at her coronation ceremony and claim the kingdom by force. Mira knew exactly what she had to do. She was ready. The palace looked even more beautiful than Mira could have imagined. Royal crests decorated the halls, and colorful banners were on display over every turret in honor of the princess's coming of age. Yet, she knew that all of this extravagance represented everything the kingdom had taken away from its citizens. She silently slipped in and out of passageways like a fly on the wall, avoiding the guards' notice. Finally, she found her destination. Princess Larissa was surrounded by h...

Time Princess  recently released a poll on social media asking whether fans prefer fantasy or urban stories. This provided better language for me to define the discrepancies between the visual novels they've released in the past and the ones that have come out recently . Mysteries of Zentico, the newest story in the game, falls yet again into the urban category. It is the first story that the dress-up app that was released in two separate parts. There are many other great stories  in this game that had open endings and could have benefitted more from a tiered release. Though I can understand the necessity of the extended release time for this particular story due to its length and overly complicated plot, it was not one that I was eager to complete for those same reasons. No matter how many new chapters I unlocked, I still had a limited understanding of what was going on and didn't care much about any of the characters. Mysteries of Zentico takes place on a fictional volcani...

While it may not be the first retelling of "Cinderella"  to flip the script from the perspective of the ugly stepsister , Ugly: The Stepsister's Story  by Mary Mecham is really something special. The last book I read from this author, Poisoned: Snow White's Story  was somewhat misleading because the story focused more on the dwarf characters than on Snow White. This one, on the other hand, is exactly what it looks like, a fresh new take on "Cinderella" with a tragic heroine that explores trauma in a believable and sympathetic way. I also thought the love story in this book was much stronger, possibly because the main couple knew each other for most of their lives. Between this and A Curse of Gold and Beauty , I think writing romance is one of Mary Mecham's strongest suits even though she places more focus on disabled representation , which she also does well. Truly is a refined lady of the court who lives in the castle with her parents and sister. Her m...

Several months ago, I expressed concerns about Disney retconning their version of The Little Mermaid  with the prequel novel to the live-action adaptation  and the rumor of an accompanying animated series . Today, Disney confirmed that rumor at the Annecy Animation Festival. Featuring cutesy CGI animation in the style of Doc McStuffins and Sofia the First , Disney Junior's Ariel boasts a brand new design for the character, which vaguely resembles Halle Bailey from the live-action movie , with a seashell and pearl-accented outfit that is similar to the Merroway Cove mermaids from Sofia the First. She is accompanied by a younger-looking version of the 1989 animated Flounder as opposed to the more realistic CGI one from the new film, which has raised some eyebrows due to the mixing and matching of designs between the movies. Another concern is how much younger Ariel and Flounder look in this version compared to the other three opposing narrations of how they met, which wer...

When I wrote my series of fairy tale origin posts , one major story that I skipped was "Sleeping Beauty."  It wasn't because I didn't care for this story as much as the others, but instead that it had a less complex narrative of changing with the times . In fact, this fairy tale is so simple that no matter how many updates modern adaptations incorporate, it is rarely altered so drastically from its roots to the point of being unrecognizable,  except in the case of a ridiculous 2016 horror movie called The Curse of Sleeping Beauty . Of all the movies I argued against depicting the theme of "Be pretty, girls, and things might work out,"   Sleeping Beauty  is the biggest outlier. It is probably for this reason that it is the only Disney Princess movie that did not get a direct live-action remake , but instead a creative reimagining with Maleficent , which focused on the more active villain than the mostly passive princess. Determining how much Sleeping Beauty h...

Kingdom of Cinders  is a "Cinderella"  retelling from Deborah Grace White's Kingdom Tales which had been on my reading list for a while. I read the first book in this series  but wasn't as impressed with it as her original fantasy books including the Vazula Chronicles and the Kyona Legacy . I have been thoroughly enjoying her newer fairy tale series, The Singer Tales , which incorporates even more original lore into these beloved tales. While this book does focus a lot on the popular fairy tale, there are some key differences that make it unique. For instance, it takes place in a kingdom where magic is illegal with a protagonist who must hide her powers from the crown. I couldn't help noticing how similar these elements were to my own original princess trilogy  which also includes a "Cinderella" retelling , but I will try to leave any personal bias out of this review. Penny never asked to be born with magic, nor did she want it. In fact, she was so ash...

"Operation Little Mermaid" I woke up with butterflies in my stomach and eager sense of anticipation, just as any girl would have on her wedding day. Despite years of being confined to isolation in a temple, I had found my prince. Being a princess wasn't all it was cracked up to be, at least not until now. Finally, I could move into a castle and live the life I deserve. Sure, I felt a little sorry for his mute companion who was obviously in love with him, but that wasn't my problem. I leapt out of bed a twirled around with excitement to the mannequin that was modelling my beautiful wedding dress covered in layers upon layers of lace and petticoats. "Princess Helena!" I was so startled by the voice of one of my maids that I twirled straight into the mannequin. It fell directly on top of me, burying me under fifteen pounds of crinolines, petticoats, and lace. I hit my head so hard that the maid came bolting into the room to check on me. "Oh no! Not today o...

Just when I thought I'd put this discussion to rest, a New York Times article  went viral a couple days ago that did a profile on Sean Bailey , the main in charge of Disney's long-running slate of live-action remakes . According to the author of the article, Brooks Barnes , Bailey's remakes are "crucial to [Disney] remaining relevant" because the animated classics they cover "showcase ideas from another era" such as "Be pretty, girls, and things might work out."  Really? That's all you got out of these inspirational works of art?  Are we doing this again ? It looks like we're doing this again .  Let's start with the next upcoming live-action remake,  Snow White , starring  Rachel Zegler . Some might argue that this movie is  a good example  of one that needs an update because so much of the story is focused on the protagonist's physical appearance. Is that really what saved her in the end? Nope. Not at all. In fact, the queen...

After joining a review team for one of Rachel Huffmire 's upcoming books, I decided to familiarize myself with her first series, The Mirror Chronicles. Unfortunately, the fourth book in the series was probably not the best place to start. Unlike many other fairy tale series I've read, Saving Winter  does not work as a standalone at all. I've discovered in the past that the science fiction genre does not blend well with fairy tales , and this ARC was no exception. The book is loosely based on "The Snow Queen,"  but I found little similarity to it despite the quoted Hans Christian Andersen passages at the beginning of each chapter, which seemed out of place. Regardless of whether or not it followed the fairy tale, this was not a pleasant reading experience in general. While it could be because I didn't read the rest of the series, I found it exceedingly difficult to keep track of the characters and plot in this book. This would normally be the place where I sh...