The Princess Will Save You is the latest novel from Sarah Henning, the author that brought you Sea Witch. It's a classic retelling, one that takes the beloved tale of The Princess Bride, and turns it into something new.

Princess Amarande has never been the type of princess to cower behind her guards and hope for the best. She learned to fight, and fight well. Now she's willing to fight for those she loves – and her kingdom. No matter the cost.

“Beware of be dead.
Make the first mark.
A warrior made is a warrior alive.”

The Princess Will Save You is a retelling of The Princess Bride – but with a few twists. I won't say that the entire story is a genderbent version, as that would be far too clear cut. What is found within these pages is fairly more complex than that. Characters and plots are split up and spread around in sometimes unexpected ways, but that makes the telling more thrilling if you ask me.

I'm going to say a couple more things about the retelling nature of this story, before diving into the rest of my review. First, you can clearly tell it for what it is right off the bat. A few chapters in and fans will know right away what they're seeing. Some elements are subtle, while others are outright obvious. If you're not a fan of retellings, odds are pretty good you're not going to enjoy the latter parts all that much.

I do like that Henning worked hard to make much of the story her own. Yes, there were parts that read strongly as The Princess Bride, but there were other parts that reminded me of Sarah Henning's personal writing style (think Sea Witch). It was a solid blend, all things considered.

I honestly loved the whole 'girl power' vibe I got from The Princess Will Save You. Even the title tells the story of a strong and confident princess. It may not be a new concept, but it's still fun and refreshing to see.

Amarande is an interesting character, one who is determined to stand up against the rules of her nation, especially when they are biased and unjust. I enjoyed seeing that part of her story talked about with such candor.

Her journey takes a dramatic turn partway through the story, as the inevitable kidnapping (Stable-boy napping?) occurs. What follows is in stark contrast to the politics of the earlier parts of the story, but not in a bad way. All of these parts merged together to tell different sides of the same story.

On the whole I found The Princess Will Save You to be a quick and fun read. It is everything that it promised to be, and then some. If you're looking for a bit of a comfort read, or something that will make you smile (or feel empowered) this is the book for you. Conversely, if you don't want to see a beloved story retold, then you're going to want to give this one a hard pass. It all depends on how you feel on the matter, really.

When Amarande’s father, King Sendoa, collapses suddenly and dies, the kingdom and Land & Sky is left in turmoil. All of the neighboring rulers come to make a bid for the Princess Amarande’s hand as doing so would unite their country with Ardenia’s legendary army and make them the most powerful ruler in the kingdom. What the competing rulers do not anticipate is that the Princess Amarande possess the spirit of a warrior and will not be a sacrificed for the political gain of Ardenia’s political advisors. When Amarande’s true love Luca, a stable boy at her palace, is kidnapped, Amarande shows just how unconventional she is by setting out to save him on her own. As Amarande faces the world outside Ardenia for the first time, not everything is as she expected. She will have to use all of her warrior skills and political knowledge to try and rescue both Luca and her kingdom before it’s to late.

VERDICT is that this is an extremely satisfying fantasy addition to YA literature. I loved the fast pace and compelling characters. I think this book will be a big hit. I was a little frustrated with the end because about three chapters out I could tell things weren’t going to be wrapped up but being set up for a sequel….but this is a good problem to have as I will be keeping an eye out for book two!

It tries hard, bless its soul, but it's just a bit too... I don't know, it's just trying too hard. That said, I think young people will like it, and I think I've just read a few too many things that rework the narrative in such a straightforward way. Killer cover, though.

I am very torn over this book. This was one of my most anticipated books because it was supposed to be a gender-bent retelling of The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride is one of my all time favorite movies. This book did not give me any Princess Bride vibes until the last quarter of the book and then it smacked me over the head with references repeatedly.

My main quarrel with this book is its marketing though. If I had not been expecting The Princess Bride then I would have enjoyed this story more, which is why I gave it 4 stars. The story is fun and I enjoyed the characters quite a bit (especially Ula). The romance is sweet and was done well.

The first half of the story was slow for me but I read the second half in less than a day. I will absolutely be reading the sequel when it comes out to find out where the story goes.

The Princess Will Save You was a wonderful fantasy where the Princess is the hero, which I loved!

I think it had a great romance, and the writing was well done.

It was a little slow at times, but overall very enjoyable!

I first heard about The Princess Will Save You when the first chapter and cover was revealed (and what a cover it is!), since then I’ve been eager to read it in its entirety so I was elated when I was sent an eARC. However, I ultimately ended up being on the fence about it. Because even though I loved more than a few elements of the story, after the first half I kind of slogged through it.

This book. I’ve not read any book recently that has left me in such turmoil the way this has. I’ve been of two hearts about how I feel. The crowning jewel is the characters and their interactions. Amarande is one of the most likeable YA heroines I’ve read in a while. She has got serious backbone, is unapologetically herself and is adamant she’ll never be a damsel in distress.

The weaker parts of the book were its world building and magic system. The world building left much to be desired; I wasn’t left daydreaming about being whisked away and I couldn’t effortlessly envision the Kingdoms. Not only did I feel like the world building wasn’t developed enough, I got the impression it’s as if the reader was meant to already know (or at the very least assume) what the world and magic was like without it being illustrated in the actual book. All in all, the setting and magic wasn’t fully explored enough for me.

This is a decent novel that has set the stage for what I hope will be an enthralling sequel that answers all of the leftover questions and ultimately blows readers away. Here's hoping.

When you start off by comparing a book to something as iconic, beloved, and well known as The Princess Bride... you're starting off in hard mode.

This book wants to catch that magic, and it just doesn't. It's trying just a little to hard, pushing a little too much, and it just lost me. It's sweet, and it's earnest, and I really want to like it. I hope it finds it's reader.

That title is perfection! It alone had me. Luckily the words inside the book were just as powerful and engaging. I love the cover artist. I see her work all over these days and it is beautifully done. I can’t wait to share this one with students and my daughter one day.

I could not put this book down and read it in under a day. I was in a reading slump and this book completely got me out of it. I loved the Princess Bride easter eggs. this book was however completely original even though it was a retelling. The princess has been pretty sheltered but still knows how to kick butt. She is fierce and determined. I also enjoyed that there was no insta-love in this book.

If you are looking for an adventure with a kick butt MC, swoon, and a whole lot of action then this is a must read! Hands down my new favorite read and I am giving it 5 out of 5 stars.

Fine. Just not super Princess Bridey.
Very straightforward. Lukewarm characterizations. Beautiful cover.
Maybe good for a middle school audience where the plot and tropes are still new.

Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the Advanced Reader Copy.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I wanted to like this book sooooo bad! I mean, a 'The Princess Bride' retelling? That's what dreams are made of! And, even better, it was a bit of a gender swap. Amazing! But, my excitement only lasted through the first few chapters. Let me tell you why.

The beginning was so good. It's written in 3rd person so we get to hear the thoughts of lots of important characters. It got a little confusing sometimes because it almost felt like we were hearing a few characters' thoughts at one time, but I let that slide. At first.

Princess Amarande and Luca both started out as strong characters. In fact, I was already half in love with Luca after one chapter. His love, dedication, and total faith in Amarande had me swooning. He never doubted her for a second. Amarande won me over a couple of chapters in when she came out, fists swinging, about how she should be treated as a woman and future ruler of the kingdom. It was such a good speech and I was like, "Yes! That is YOUR kingdom. You rule it, girl!"

Then things started going downhill. As I mentioned before, some of the chapters were a little confusing because we would hear the thoughts of multiple characters at once instead of just one. One of the benefits of 3rd person writing is that it's easier to jump between characters, but it was just confusing when the jumping was happening in the middle of the chapter.

The biggest thing for me though was that it was boring. *sigh* I hate calling books that, but it was. There were a few action scenes that I thought would carry me through, but they didn't. There's usually even a bit of humor to break things up, but this was pretty serious the whole time.

And at the end, the characters began feeling a little wishy-washy. Like Luca, all of a sudden, felt weak and bland. And Amarande seemed like she didn't even care about the most important things in her life. Her fire was gone. Maybe this is part of the character set up for the next book? I'm not sure. But whatever the case, it wasn't translated over to me.

Overall, I expected so much more. This book really just fell flat, in my opinion. I'm really so disappointed that I have to give this a bad review, but it's the truth.

A beautiful princess' father dies, and several kings and princes in surrounding kingdoms want to marry her in order to gain power. But this Princess practices with a sword daily and just told the kingdom she isn't going to marry just anyone. Amarande has always been in love with the stable boy that she grew up with, Luca, and this isn't an ordinary love, its True Love. When a trio of pirates kidnaps Luca in order to force Ama to marry a Prince, Luca knows one thing - his Princess will come for him. And when she does, everyone better watch out.

Inspired by The Princess Bride, which is one of my favorite books ever, this is a fun new take in which The Princess is the dashing sword fighter and the stable boy is the damsel in distress. While the Princess is cool, the girl who is basically Inigo is fierce, the male characters, especially the stable boy are kind of bland. I wasn't sure why someone as cool as Ama would be that into Luca.

The world-building and characterization really made this an enjoyable read. The ending was a bit abrupt, even for the first of a series, but i definitely want to read more about these characters.

<i>The Princess Will Save You</i> was such an interesting take on the damsel in distress trope. It was magnificent in many ways (and that ending!!!) because it took the idea of being a Princess and did something more with it. Yes, the Princess wears dresses but she can also fight! I really loved the components of this book and how they all meshed together. I will admit, this was one of my most anticipated reads and I was seriously worried that it wasn’t going to live up to my expectations, but it really was a brilliant book and I very much enjoyed reading it.

I really love Henning’s writing. It helps the book shine and stand out. Her writing is easy to read, and flows beautifully. I get sucked in and it works well. This book is a bit less prose-filled that <i>Sea Witch</i> was, but it also has a completely different tone as well. This book in fact impressed me with all the dialogue. There were some amazing dialogue scenes throughout this book that really popped to me, especially some of the ones that were in the beginning. I think that Henning’s writing really helped with the pacing as well.

One of the few issues I had with this book was the pacing wasn’t for me. The beginning was very engrossing and I was desperate to see what happened next, and yet, we get towards the middle of the book, and I feel like it lost steam. There are points in the book in which the pacing felt a little off overall to me, and while it wasn’t a big thing, I did feel it felt off for me. I was never thrown out of the book by the pacing, but I did have a few moments where I was tempted to skim the book.

The plot was a little more complicated than a damsel in distress story. There are other underlying factors as well. And I think that is where some of the pacing got a little confused. You’ve got several different plot strands all running at the same time, and there was a bit of bouncing back and forth, which I really think was the main issue. They do work together, and I did like seeing how everything was coming together, I just felt better transitions would have helped smooth out some of the problems I had. Anyways, I really enjoyed the plot and I was rooting for Ama the whole time and screaming the other half of the time.

I will admit, I loved Ama as a character. She was a good mix of characteristics that I felt made her feel “real” to me. You also have several sets of adversaries in this book, and you want them all to fail so that Ama can triumph. Or at least, that was the way that I felt when I read the book. I liked that I hated all the “bad” characters because I was practically shouting the whole time in my anger at them. Henning did a good job crafting the bad guys. She made them totally unlikeable. Overall, I didn’t mind the romance in this book, but I do wish it had been a bit more developed!

The world building in this was just enough to give you a taste, but not so overwhelming that you were getting all worldbuilding and nothing else. I felt that it did what it needed to do to push the story forward.

My last thoughts are: I THOUGHT THIS WAS A STANDALONE. But that ending makes me think otherwise, and now I have to wait for another book? I don’t want to!!! Anyways, I really did enjoy this book, and it was cute!

This was a sweet, nice read. But it wasn't as amazing as I was expecting, I'm afraid.

I love the Princess Bride. This was billed as a gender swapped retelling, but it's more loosely adapted. The Buttercup character is a born princess, the Westley is still a stable boy, but he's the one who's kidnapped. But he's also still the one who gets tortured.

It's fun figuring out who everyone was in the actual Princess Bride, but this doesn't have the humour of that one, and I didn't really follow all the politics. Hopefully the second book will clear up some of my questions, because I did enjoy this and I do want to see what happens next. It's just not quite what I was expecting, with the summary we were given.

Read this. It is a good read. Just ignore the summary and go in with an open mind.

The Princess Will Save You is one of those books that grows on you after reading. Upon reflection I love how Henning manages the original story, while bringing a new light and expanded world to the story we love. At the same time, Henning brings such joy to The Princess Will Save You. Amarande's fierce spirit and passionate heart, her bravery to call out the sexism and patriarchy in the world. The ways her concerns are dismissed not just because she's a teen, but also a girl. In a world and system where men protect the status quo and where they protect the rules that protect them.

The Princess Will Save You has a fabulous world of laws and back stabbings, provisions and clauses with not a shred of truth in sight. It's a story that may begin like a familiar echo and takes off in a dazzling explosion of color and depth. I finished this book in one day because I couldn't stop reading! There were so many of my notes that began with, "OMG" because Henning weaves a fabulously twisty plot.

A fun and engaging gender-swapped adventure story. I loved that Amarande got to be so many things - beautiful, smart, strong, determined - and that Luca liked everything about her and didn't try to take over or change her in any way. He's just respectful and and so certain of her and they make a really great team on a quest. As a huge fan of The Princess Bride, I also loved all the nods to the movie! I recommended this one to my teen book group at our recent virtual meeting and have already ordered it for my library's collection.

Princess Bride is such a classic in my eyes; due to that, I was both excited and nervous to read this novel. With great relief, it was different enough to keep me surprised with enough similarities for me to appreciate the comparison. Princess Amarande and Luca the stable boy have grown up together and their relationship has blossomed into something more. When the king dies, Amarande is forced into a marriage by blackmailing her for the return of her stable boy, but rather than give in she goes on her own journey to rescue her love and rule as she sees fit. This sets her on a quest through perilous lands and dangerous situations.

I zoomed through this novel and eagerly followed Amarande through the plot and conflicts she encountered. Through all the tribulations and terrors she never gave up finding Luca, and he never gave up believing that his princess would come to his rescue, much to the disbelief of his captors. The author did well with the gender swap of roles from the original tale, and gave a strong, female character who was relied on to be the "knight in shining armor." The plot held a lot of depth with lots of secondary characters and their backstories that created tangents into other elements of the tale. One of which I was expecting, another that brought a huge twist for me at the end and had me going through what I read and feeling glad some of my questions/suspicions were answered. I really liked all the characters who were developed and brought interesting elements to the story and gave depth with characters who had their own lives and pasts that came into play.

I was really happy to find the novel leads to a sequel (hopefully coming out soon:) as I definitely want more. A lot happened and a sequel will help give me some closure and answer some unknowns that left me wondering.

Thank you to MacMillian-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing me a copy in return for an honest review.

"Love doesn’t know anything about class, nor should it be bound by it."

This... did not go anywhere I expected. I don't know what to tell you but dammit I need book two. Now.

The Princess Will Save You brought forth an original, unexpected tale. I was wholly invested in the story from start to finish. This was filled with action and excitement and more action and more excitement. I was so caught up in what was happening, I finished this in one sitting. Sara Henning wrote so beautifully. The plot was nothing short of addictive and exciting. The mystery and political maneuvers and intrigue and the twists and the not knowing who to trust- everything made this unputdownable. I honestly don't have anything but high praise for this wonderfully addictive book.

Amarande has got to be the fiercest, boldest, most unexpected heroine ever. I love her. Luca is just the sweetest, honestly. Ula and Osana I hope are more involved in book two. They're really kind of awesome. I don't know what the heck is happening with the Warlord, Koldo, Ines or even Taillefer (I really don't like him though so I couldn't care less if he just keels over and dies). There are SO MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. And that ending. THAT ENDING. What in the eff.

I am so ready to sell my soul for book two.

I received an e-arc via Netgalley to read and review.

It’s been several years since I’ve watched The Princess Bride, and though I’ve never read the novel, the movie left an impression on me. Sadly, I can’t say the same for this retelling from the perspective of the female love interest. Though an absolutely brilliant idea on author Susan Henning’s part, I found the execution to be sorely lacking. There was simply not enough background information, character development, or world building for my liking. However, I think die hard fans of The Princess Bride and readers new to fantasy will enjoy reading The Princess Will Save You.

“It was an open secret within the castle that Princess Amarande of Ardenia spent far too much of her time here, and with this boy, Luca. It hadn’t been anything to worry about until recently.”

I know they say not to judge a book by its cover, but in this case, I really feel I should have judged the book by its title: The Princess Will Save You. The title is not subtle and perfectly encapsulates the entire novel in its simplicity. There are countless trite phrases such as, “In a single breath, everything had changed” that is then used to cringingly segue into a man falling over dead from an actual cough. How punny.

Not too surprisingly, Princess Amarande, our heroine,does in fact spend the entire novel trying to save the stableboy, Luca, she has grown to love. Sadly, Luca does not seem to have any qualities other than loving the Princess, being kind, attractive, and well, a good stableboy with what one can assume is a knack for horses--maybe? Though the author gives him a catchphrase to match “Farm Boy” from The Princess Bride it lacks the charm of the original, as the speaker of “always”--not “as you wish”--has little to no personality or existence outside of the titular princess.

The relationship of Princess Amarande and her stableboy is equally as lacking. There is no build up of their friendship, cultivated since they were children. No scraped knees, comfort, dealing with pesky differences of birth from other bratty, noble children--nothing.  All there is, is a a bit of prose before the novel even starts to sum up the entire main relationship of the novel: 

“They met as most friends do. Right place, right age, right interests in common. Picking up sticks in the dirt, calling them swords. Bumps and bruises and shared smiles. And then when it came time to separate, suddenly it felt impossible. The newness dissolved the shared hours into the seed of something more. Something shaped in a way that forever stretched where the newness ended. Something that, later, felt very much like love.”

This is all the hints we get to Princess Amarande and Luca’s past or current feelings, as the events of the novel are thrust to the forefront and certain characters are soon in need of rescuing by their Princesses. I was dismayed that all it took was receiving a ransom note referring to the kidnapped Luca as Amarande’s “love” for her to realize she actually harbored romantic feelings for her childhood friend. And it wasn’t much of a revelation at all, more like a “it’s raining today and I will need an umbrella” acceptance. I don’t think I could have been any less invested in this relationship if the author had literally tried. Plus, call me crazy, but Luca’s blind devotion and loyalty to Amarande seemed a little insane.

Luca had 100% faith that Amarande would risk starting a war by running away from her kingdom, currently without a ruler (she has to be married in order to take the throne) and ripe for the plucking. He doesn't think about how she had countless suitors from countries seeking her hand and alliance and how such a union could save the world from the devastating results of war. He doesn't think about any of the repercussions and neither does his princess, except in passing. What great qualities in a future ruler of a country! I was also pretty horrified that Luca [spoiler] only halfheartedly tries to escape once, ends up treating the wounds of his captors, and seeing them as all-in-all good people despite them kidnapping him and using him as blackmail and wanting to sell him to unnamed figure with questionable motive! Seems smart. [/spoiler] The author really takes her gender stereotyped swap seriously, for Luca is definitely the classic pure-hearted and weak maiden in need of rescue in this tale.

“My princess won’t bow to your demands. But what she will do is come for me, which means she’s coming for you, whether I’m alive or not” 

For me, the best part of The Princess Will Save You was by far Princess Amarande. She was headstrong, intelligent, and determined. Though, for someone who is supposedly so good in battle, and a highly trained warrior-king’s daughter, she certainly needs to be saved a lot, even by those with no combat training--despite her very dreadful and constantly repeated iterations of her father’s words to live by every chance she gets, And when she needs rescuing, it's typically from the consequences of her own impulsive actions. Luckily for both her and for Luca, most of the villains in the novel aren’t so villainous after all and are happy to help the pair out. Those that are the true villains, however, have absolutely zero redeeming qualities. There is no middle ground with anything in The Princess Will Save You--you’re either good or bad, in love or not in love. Bo-ring.

You may think me too harsh of a judge for a book clearly intended for younger audiences, but as a person who grew up reading Tamora Pierce and Robin McKinley (sidenote: both absolutely phenomenal authors that I reread even as an adult, with the latter writing amazing fairy tale retellings), I think the author definitely could have added more complexities to her novel. This is especially true when one's story is trying to live up to something as beloved as The Princess Bride--a story which offers a memorable and heartfelt romance, humor, action, and drama. Sadly, this retelling offered none of those things in my opinion. I don’t recall a single time laughing aloud when reading The Princess Will Save You and found nothing swoon worthy about the romance of two people who clearly weren’t on equal footing in any way.

 If only The Princess Will Save You had taken more time building up its characters and its world, so I felt more invested in Princess Amarande risking her entire throne and its kingdom to rescue her stableboy. Also it is not enough to just be told that she rushes off to save him “because she loves him”--readers have to be shown this love and sadly, that is not something at which the novel succeeds. In fact, the novel could just as easily be titled “The Princess Will Save You Just Because She Feels Like It For Some Reason” or "The Princess Will Save You Because That's What She's Supposed to Do" and either would be just as fitting as the actual title--that’s how little development there is. Likewise, the threat of countries going to war with Amarande’s kingdom doesn’t feel quite so pressing when we know very little about Amarande’s kingdom, the other countries, what a war between any of these countries would mean for its constituents, etc. 

Despite all of this, I was pleasantly surprised by what the author managed to come up with for the ending. Though I saw one of the developments coming from a mile away [spoiler] of course Luca was a long, lost heir to a different throne, how else would he marry Amarande?[/spoiler], I did not see the other coming [spoiler] that of Amarande having a half-brother who is fit to take her place on the throne[/spoiler]. I hope the sequel will test Amarande’s battle merits and wits more and Luca’s capability at anything other than being in love with his Princess. In all honesty, I would read this sequel just to fulfill some mild curiosity at what happens, but would not spend any money on future installments in order to do so, because I know the Amarande and Luca will, without a doubt end up living happily ever after they deal with a few minor bumps in the road.

If you like guaranteed happy endings and extremely straightforward stories, or heck, even just want to gobble up anything related to The Princess Bride, The Princess Will Save You is perfect for you. Just don’t expect The Princess Will Save You to be on the same level as The Princess Bride--at all. Sadly, I think the bar was simply set too high for this book. But it could still be just right for middle grade readers just getting interested in fantasy or romance. However, if you like a lot more substance to your novels, like character development and growth, world-building, this is not the book for you.