The Princess Blog

I recently had the exciting opportunity to review an ARC of The Cursed Beauty , the newest fairy tale adaptation by Valia Lind . This book is part of her Skazka Fairy Tales series , which is about a Russian-inspired fantasy world with a heavy focus on romance. As the first full-length novel I've read that takes place in this world, I found it refreshingly sweet. The Cursed Beauty  is a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty"  that places more focus on the love story than the magical elements of the fairy tale. It's a straightforward romance about a princess and her bodyguard and the class differences that stand in their way. I liked that the book didn't use unrealistic feminist standards  and gave an accurate representation of how this type of relationship could have played out. The Cursed Beauty  starts out exactly like "Sleeping Beauty." Princess Alyona was cursed by an evil fairy at her birthing ceremony to fall into a death-like sleep that would affect the w...

The Time Princess app  recently added a new type of visual novel that has gotten a lot of pushback from players. Traveler's Notes stories are quite possibly the most unanimously disliked new feature in the game. These stories contain fewer clothing items and no companion relics, which have enhanced the player experience in Time Princess since it began. Although I played the first Traveler's Notes visual novel, I didn't bother writing about it because there was nothing in it that piqued my interest. The new one, Alice: Ideal Wonderland, is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland , a story that is often considered a fairy tale and sometimes even a Disney Princess  story. Although it isn't one of my favorite fairy tales, the Once Upon a Time in Wonderland series  that it inspired in 2013 is one of my favorite television shows of all time. There are so many different ways to interpret this story that there's usually something in it for everyone. Like many A...

I don't read a lot of retellings of "Little Red Riding Hood"  because they usually change the wolf character into a werewolf  and eliminate the theme of trusting strangers (which is why I wrote my own version ). However, since I enjoyed The Rose Gate   by Hanna Sandvig  because of the unique modern-day setting and fae worldbuilding, I decided to check out its prequel, The Wolf Gate . This book contains the expected werewolves, but it also does a good job of conveying the theme of trust and stands out from other fairy tale adaptations due to its modern high school setting. It reminded me of Twilight  due to its teenage target audience, so I think I would have enjoyed it more if I read it at a younger age. The last thing Audrey expects after getting chased in the woods is to be rescued by her ex-boyfriend who abandoned her at prom. Nor is she expecting to learn that he is a werewolf from the fae world and that he abandoned her due to his magical responsibilities. ...

Over the past several years , I have reviewed various princess media . The majority of the shows, books, and movies I've discussed have been rooted in fantasy with a few exceptions . Historically, princesses were the daughters of real-life monarchs and other leaders , but most of their appeal is rooted in legends, myths, and fairy tales . Sometimes, the lines between fantasy and reality can become blurred when using real historical figures as protagonists. In the case of media like Anastasia , Reign , or Six , audiences understand that the primary function of these presentations is to entertain them while throwing in some historical nuggets to do their own research on later if they so choose. It has recently come to my attention that there is a stigma revolving around Disney's Pocahontas , a movie I greatly enjoyed as a child, due to its numerous historical inaccuracies. Is it inherently immoral to enjoy a piece of historical fiction that colors the character's lives in a ...

 One good "Cinderella" retelling deserves another. The Soulless Slipper  is the second of three "Cinderella" adaptations by Abigail Manning . They say you shouldn't tell the same story twice, but when you can do so in such a unique and masterful way, then why not? The Soulless Slipper  is part of Abigail Manning's Fairmyth Chronicles , which seamlessly combines classic fairy tales with famous Greek myths. This book gives the story of Hades and Persephone a romantic fairy tale flair. When I was in a creative writing class years ago, I wrote a short story that retold this myth with the twist that Persephone was secretly in love with Hades and ate the pomegranate seeds of her own free will so she could stay with him. The Soulless Slipper  reinforces my girlish romantic fantasies and takes them a step further by weaving in the elegance and majesty of "Cinderella." Priscilla has been forced to spend most of her life toiling away in the fields for her ...

It's been ten years since LoliRock  first took the stage on Netflix, and rumors of a potential third season  inspired me to watch the show again as I did with Winx Club , which recently previewed its upcoming reboot in Italy . LoliRock is a French  Magical Girl show about a lost princess  who must master her new powers while trying to liberate a mysterious faraway kingdom. It hits all the right plot notes to fit the Magical Girl algorithm, but poor writing prevents it from being a memorable entry in the genre. One thing that makes LoliRock unique is its focus on music. The three main characters aren't only magical princesses from other worlds but members of a hit rock band that performs full-length music videos at the end of each episode. Unfortunately, the overly synthesized sound of these songs is not very appealing to me, and I ended up skipping over them during my rewatch. The main character in LoliRock is Iris, a beautiful girl who loves to sing that was r...

Yesterday was the last day of World Princess Week . The week itself was mostly uneventful. Instead of celebrating squarely within the rigid August 25th-31st timeline, Disney had pop-up events throughout the month in anticipation of it. However, they topped the week off with a grand finale in mind by drawing attention to a short YouTube series that may have otherwise fallen under the radar. The series, aptly titled after the new Disney Princess brand campaign, is called "Create Your World: Making a Disney Song." As you may have guessed, the title of the new song is "Create Your World." The web series released a 10-minute webisode once a week for six weeks leading up to the final performance in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland on the last day of World Princess Week. I was not particularly invested in this web series when it started, so I "binged" all six webisodes on the final day. They portray an enthusiastic performer named Riley group...