McRobbie's compilation gives just enough information to make these bite-sized sketches delicious, and she provides good sourcing and further reading. Despite some of the section and chapter headings, this is decidedly not a salacious or trashy treatment. Selection of subjects includes some diversity. Fun reading.

This was such a fun romp through badass girls in history, I really enjoyed it. I would have liked a smidgeon more detail but they packed in so much stuff I enjoyed what was there

Among the numerous collections of this kind sprouting up lately, this one caught my eye first because it was about princesses, and second because it promised the truth behind these women’s stories. It did turn out to be a collection of numerous stories about the real princesses and their, sometimes, gruesome and difficult lives, but the line between fact and fiction is very blurry here. The author often cites sources, both reliable and not, but more than often she tries to weave fictional stories around these women’s lives, with no evidence to support her claims.

It seems that the author couldn’t decide whether she was writing fiction or nonfiction. I expected the latter, since the book is marketed as such, so it’s no wonder I was annoyed at McRobbie’s constant interference with unsupported facts, bad jokes and overly colloquial terms.

“She also didn’t take any crap – she once beat her half brother Mbandi bloody after he stole her beaded necklace…” -I was kind of expecting a ‘woman need no man’ kind of line to show up.

Okay, I don’t really mind the crap, but this is just one of many examples where the author: 1. Doesn’t write consistently with the rest of the book, and 2. Seems to push a female empowerment of the totally wrong kind on her readers. In multiple stories I stumbled on similar lines, where a princess in question is doing unimaginable, disgusting things, and she is praised by the author. Is that what feminism is? Were these stories about men, and many men of that kind did exist throughout history and they still do, would we praise them or condemn them?

“It’s unlikely that she was ever initiated formally into the tribe, a gruesome ritual that involved the murder of a child.” –This is the author’s note on the same woman from the previous quote, concerning an initiation to Imbangala, a vicious band of mercenaries, concluding that this woman wouldn’t be involved into a murder of a child simply because she was a woman, when that same lady killed her 8 yo nephew on the previous page.

I’m digressing here, since it’s clear from the introduction that McRobbie’s main goal is to crush the princess myth; the fact that Disney Company glorified that title and turned it into something it almost never was, something little girls today look up to. Throughout the history, being a princess was rarely a lovely, beautiful thing, and the author successfully proved that point. It’s just that she did a very poor job of conveying it, and I cannot ignore that.

There are too many stories here to check the validity of each one, but the ones I did check were only half true. Some details are obviously added to interest or shock the reader, even some subtitles have a form of click-bait, trying to make the story more interesting, and when you do read it you will realize that the title was either exaggerated or false. She also states multiple times that what you’ll read is probably not true, because the patriarchal historians weren’t too keen on female rulers, but what about the facts she added herself, without any kind of indication? What is true here and what is not is on the reader to decide.

“That Edward (II) had a lover wasn’t shocking, nor was it a big problem that his lover was a man.” -Ummm yes it was. Homosexuality used to be called sodomy, and it was condemned by the church, which equated it with heresy, even I know that much.

Throughout this collection, McRobbie tries to be funny, and she failed in that area too. Maybe it’s just the type of humor I don’t like, but it certainly feels unnecessary and simple.

“T-III, now in his mid-twenties, was more than ready to rock.” -The person here referred to as T-III is Tuthmosis III, how is this even funny?

On the brighter side, I actually did like this collection, as I would have liked an online article on the subject: “30 fierce and dangerous princesses that kicked ass, read all about it!!!!”, which I would have forgotten the very next day. If it was written better, I would immensely enjoy it and buy it, but as it is I’ll just thank Netgalley for the advanced copy of the new and illustrated edition.

The main thing I liked was that it provided a peak into these women’s lives, collected in one place, and that some of my favorite women from history were mentioned, like Hatshepsut, Boudicca, Lucrezia Borgia, Queen Tomyris, Erzsébet Báthory, etc. I’ve also heard of some of these princesses for the first time, which will certainly lead me to more research and some better books on the subject, like I hope the Bygone Badass Broads by Mackenzi Lee is.

My favorite new discoveries are: Catherine Radziwill, the stalker princess; Sarah Winnemucca, whose autobiography was the first memoir written by a Native American woman; Caraboo, the fake princess who fooled the whole England; Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, still very much alive, who turned a personal tragedy and crisis over its head; etc. There are 30+ princesses (or not) in this collection who deserve being mentioned and read about, but hopefully next time in a book that’s written better.

So if you like interesting (I will not say powerful as it is not true for all of them) women from history, and if you don’t mind the gossip-column style and unsavory jokes, I think this collection could be an interesting and quick read.

I loved this book! I thought this book was both fun and interesting. The princesses in this book are definitely not your typical fairy tale princesses. I enjoyed getting to read about princesses who broke the rules and did it well!

A detailed but not too in-depth biographies about women in history. It isn't a serious history book but manages to give insight into various women in history while maintaining an air of mystery and fun.

History! Women! History about Women! Three of my favorite things!

I knew about some of the women mentioned in the book; Wu Zetian, Tomyris, Hatshepsut, Caraboo, and Christina. I knew a little about Wu Zetian from the video game Civilization V and Tomyris from the sequel Civilization VI. I knew a lot about Hatshepsut, the Egyptian Pharaoh. I even knew about Princess Caraboo from the 1994 film Princess Caraboo. It was an utter delight to to read about all the other princesses in this book and find out about their lives and even deaths. Princess Olga is my new favorite and I can only aspire to be that badass if the time comes.

I read a few of the other reviews on Goodreads, and no, this book is not a serious history book. There are plenty of those. This book gives you enough information to make you learn something, but allows enough to be left behind that it makes you google them to learn more. (I did anyway.) I'd recommend this book for a budding historian, a history lover who perhaps doesn't know all of these AMAZING women, or even someone like me; an author who now has a whole multitude of new ideas floating around in my head.

Luckily, if you want to know more and wikipedia is failing you, there is a bibliography at the end of the book that has plenty of material to keep you occupied for a long time. I know I'm going to check out a few of the sources and see what else I can learn about these astonishing, historical princesses.

3.5

I really enjoyed this collection of notable princesses from the roughly the 4th century to the present. The collection was a good mix of bite-size bios of notable princesses (some real, some crazy, some warriors, some destitute, etc). I enjoyed the snarky tone but would have liked a little more research or sources for each princess.

When I first read the synopsis for the book, I was really, really excited. I love Disney princesses as much as the next person but reading about real women who were legends in their own right is something else entirely. Sure there might have been one or two who might not have existed but whose stories still resonate in the memories but hey, I don't mind that at all.

Luckily I wasn't expecting anything too deep, I mean with that many princesses' stories to go through in so small a book might have been too optimistic, however, I was pleasantly surprised. Every princess got her own story, the one that historians gave us, the one that might have actually happened. And the author made sure that it was all goody two shoes, that I truly appreciated. She showed that yes, maybe these princesses weren't legendary for the 'right' reasons but they were worth remembering. It gave agency to women of that time and that's what I liked about it.

I also liked that the author included even the truly badly behaving princesses because it just showed that women, like men, are just human beings. They can be great in their own way, terrible or otherwise.

On top of that, there were mentions of two princesses from India that I wasn't expecting to see, I was perhaps overly pleased to read about them in book of awesome princesses. Maybe. If I had one complaint then it's that the author tried to make feel guilty about liking Disney princesses, sure there are all sorts of problematic things in those stories but the thing is...even Disney has learned the lesson. (So, let me enjoy my Disney princesses, please.)

Overall, it's a quick and lovely book to read if you wanna be entertained and learn about some truly awesome women, then this is the book for you.

This book was great to read! It was fun to see so many princesses that the public doesn't know about.

This was a fun, creative collection of fairy-tales without the predictable endings. Some stories were better than others, but overall, a solid anthology.

This book is the perfect book for Women’s history month; filled with amazing women who achieved much from taking back the throne which was rightfully hers, went to war against the enemies, to the ones who refused the marriage of convenience arranged for them or fought hard to keep her family together. What I love the most about this book: they humanize the princesses. As the introduction tells us, princesses are idolized because of the “happily ever after” expectations; they are thought o have this happy and perfect life and we refuse to acknowledge that they have their problems too. Another reason is because of how laid back the writing style is so that it fits everyone instead of feels like reading a text book, and how it gives the context of the era so we understand better the princesses actions.

3,5 stars

I thought this was an interesting book featuring various women from different time periods and cultures. I enjoyed learning things about these women.I just wish we had more of their stories.I felt like what I read wasn't enough!Also it has many errors and I hope they will fixed before the release!

I have to admit the cover pulled me in and then when I read the title? I knew I had to read this book.

Surprisingly, this is written very casually. While it full of history, opinion is also thrown in, along with explanations on the lack of information regarding the woman and how what is available might be biased by the male authors/historians. This was a very different feel than the true crime novel I read recently which felt super bogged down and dry. This book was still interesting. Sure, I still had a difficult time binge reading it, but I did want to go back to it and read a little bit here and there throughout the day.

Now, as the title says these stories do not have a fairy-tale ending. They are realistic, since this is a realistic book. In fact, many stories end badly for our princesses. There are so many factors against them that when they actually get a somewhat good ending, I ended up really cheering for them. There are many princesses which I rooted for, which made their sad endings...well, sadder.

So, don't go into this hoping to read awesome, strong women come out on top. Read this is you want to know the obstacles and trials in front of women who became princesses (or pretended to be). I do recommend this, though. I think it is a great book with lots of interesting facts!

OH! Also should be mentioned: This author DOES recognize some historical figures as gay, lesbian, bi. So, read to find out about some LGBT+ royalty :)

A collection of mini biographies of real princesses who were/are a bit more daring or naughty or crazier than the average story book princess.

Linda Rodríguez McRobbie sure knows how to make history come alive. She also knows how to do her homework. I was impressed with the obvious level of research she did. I liked how she dug deep enough to distinguish between the myths and the most reliable historical points. And I really liked that she pointed out where there is doubt. She rides that fine line of providing just enough witty commentary to make the reader smile, but not so much that it overwhelms the history or makes it seem less reliable; it's just the right touch. But what I liked most about this book is that the women are from all over the world. It isn't just European princesses; there's plenty of ladies from the rest of the world throughout time. If you like fascinating little tidbits of history or are a random facts sponge, you'll probably gobble this up. Due to the structure, you can also pick and choose which kinds of princesses you prefer to read about. If you just want read about the crazies, then skip to the Madwomen section. If you just want the warrior maidens, then read the first part and close the book. You won't miss anything by skipping around, except the bios you might want to skip. The sections of the book are as follows: Warriors, Usurpers, Schemers, Survivors, Partiers, Floozies, and Madwomen. At the end of each section are 1-2 paragraph bios of women who didn't get the full 4-6 page mini bios, but who still managed an honorable mention. There were several women in here I had never heard of before and I'm now curious to find a longer bio about. Probably the hardest part of the book is reading about so many women who were neglected, emotionally abused, or unloved, and either they were damaged by that or acting out was the only way they knew to get attention and that's why they ended up the way they did. It's an important reminder to care for those around you. Due to some content, I'd recommend knowing the reader before handing this out.

Notes on content: Three or four mild swearwords. No sex scenes. The Floozies section is all about princesses who were naughty sexually. Facts are laid out as they would be in a history book. Each individually is not explicit or detailed but there are a fair amount of princesses who had affairs while married or were scandalous for sleeping around. Occasionally this comes up in the bios of women in other sections. The Warriors and Usurpers and Schemers all had a bit of violence in them with battles mentioned, murders, etc. As mentioned, a lot of emotional abuse and neglect went on in these women's lives.

Thank you to NetGalley and Linda Rodriguez McRobbie for allowing me to read and review this book. I agree with the NetGalley reviewer that called it a 'snack book'. That's the perfect way to describe it. I enjoyed reading this book when I needed downtime from serious suspenses and texts that I was reading and reviewing. It was a fun read.

While I enjoyed the brief biographies of the lives of various royal women who behaved...well, badly, this felt like a rehash of the several dozen other books that attempt to do the same thing. The chatty, gossip-rag nature of the writing was fun and silly, although the never-ending stories of women who were spendthrifts, wastrels and overly frustrating got old very quickly. While the majority of the focus in the book is European royalty, there are some tidbits of royal or royal-like women from around the world—although this quickly diminished about 60% through the book.

Additionally, the author makes the statement that all of the lives of the women depicted are factual—and then opens the book with a mythical character. I'm not adverse to reading about myths, but don't claim to be 100% factual and then dive straight into legend.

The book does live up to one claim: not a single woman listed had a happy ending.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

This book combines two of my favourite things: women and history. I've been a history nerd since my childhood and was lucky enough to spend many days out at museums, castles and abbeys that my parents took me to. Looking back, it makes me sad that the only women ever really mentioned in my history lessons at school were Boadicea, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. All amazing women in their own right, of course, but what about all the other women who contributed to the world's history who have been completely overshadowed by their male contemporaries?

'Princesses Behaving Badly' aims to set this bias right, and I think it does a decent job of it; there are lots of women in here I'd heard of before, but there were plenty more I'd either never heard of or had heard of but didn't really know anything about. For example, I never knew just how tragic the life of George I's wife, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, was. Let's just say George I has quickly become one of my least favourite British monarchs.

There are princesses from all over the world in this book, from many different cultures, races and religions, which I really enjoyed. When we hear 'princess' I think it's easy for us to picture a white, European Guinevere-esque figure - someone from a fairy tale rather than history - so I admire the amount of research that must have gone into the creation of this book to make it so diverse.

I also loved that McRobbie didn't choose to only include the 'nice' princesses, or even the ones that were particularly good at their job. There are women in this book who died defending their country and others who cared more about their wardrobe than war, and by including all of them she hasn't put women on a pedestal but proved that we have been just as diverse as men throughout the centuries.

Having said that, there were some parts that grated on me a little bit. McRobbie has a rant about Disney Princesses in the introduction which I thought was unnecessary, especially as, to me, it came across as 'I'm not like other girls, I don't like Disney princesses because I'm not silly'. I'm not a fan of the belief that Disney teaches girls that they're only worth how pretty other people think they are; I've been a Disney fanatic all my life, so perhaps I'm biased, but one of the reasons I adore 'Beauty and the Beast' so much is because of the message that it's what's inside that counts.

The earlier Disney movies are certainly of their time, but from 'The Little Mermaid' onwards we've had a whole host of strong Disney heroines who are heroic in their own way. No, wearing a pretty dress and a tiara doesn't make you a princess - something another Disney film, 'The Princess Diaries', addressed excellently - but I'm not going to shame little girls who enjoy wearing dresses and tiaras if it makes them feel empowered.

There were also a few instances where people were described as 'ugly' or 'insane' that made me a bit uncomfortable, especially as these instances didn't agree with other parts of the book. McRobbie criticised Disney for making girls think being a princess is about being beautiful, and then pitied various real life princesses because they hadn't been considered attractive. She also made some excellent points about mental illness not being taken seriously or treated appropriately in the past, only to make throwaway remarks about people being insane. Hypocritical much?

All in all, though, this is a much more positive book than a negative one. This would be an excellent introduction to anyone who wants to learn more about women's history as well as anyone who wants to learn more about history but feels intimidated by non-fiction. This book is written so conversationally that it's a very easy read and there's a wonderful bibliography of further reading included in the back if you want to learn more about any of the princesses involved.

If you're more interested in history that isn't about the royal family then this book probably isn't for you, although the clue's in the title, but wherever your interests lie there are so many fascinating women in this book I think it would be a shame to miss out on learning more about them.

This was a fun 'snack book' kinda read, enjoyable but not really the most filling or engaging, which is sad since the premise promised a thrilling read for both feminists and history buffs. I almost didn't read the book because the introduction was a bit...well...much with the hate of Disney princesses, I mean I get it, but I would have been fine just skipping to the book and not having an introduction at all, granted I am not a fan of introductions in general but I mostly skipped this one.

If you like gossip rag style books about famous historical figures and want to learn about some odd the wall and off the beaten track ladies then give this book a read. If you like really in-depth history that definitely makes sure it gets its fact checking right then maybe skip this one. It was out of my normal wheelhouse, but overall I enjoyed it.

If you’re looking for an in depth look at powerful women in history with plenty of historical fact then this book is not for you. This is a light, amusing and by no means exhaustive look at historical princesses separated from the beau ideal of what a princess should be. It would probably make a good palate cleanser book or a starting point for ideas of women you might like to then go and do more in depth research on. Within its parameters however this book is a fun read. I certainly enjoyed it. Not one for the serious historian though.

A light, popular history for the casual reader or history lover, this is by no means a serious academic tome. In fact, this book reads like a friend recounting scandalous royal intrigues—like a history by Bravo or the E network.

The author kept me entertained and there were a few stories that were new to me. I wish there were pictures, I googled many of the ladies as I read.

I would have passed on the original cover, but I love the paperback cover.

For fans of books like A Treasury of Royal Scandals or Sex with Kings.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy.