DNF @ 30% because apparently instead of being INSPIRED BY The Princess Bride this is instead LOOSELY INSPIRED and comes across as claiming to be whole milk but is, in fact, 2% milk which tastes really nothing like whole milk at all.

I'll try to pick this up again when I can get my hands on a physical copy, but consider me highly disappointed, staring sorrowfully at the wreckage of my ruined expectations.

DNF @ 30%

I am not vested enough in these characters. They are flat and lacking. I was expecting a Princess Bride vibe from this book, but there is so little humour. Not at all what I expected.

Thank you thank you thank you Tor Teen for sending me a copy of this!!!

The Princess Will Save You was a wonderfully done retelling of the Princess Bride. It had all the elements of good storytelling for me: wonderful writing, ship-worthy romance, political intrigue, and action.

Lets just jump right in. Spoilers ahead.

So this book took me completely by surprise. If you see reviews of the books I’ve been reading, you know that I just haven’t cared about any of them really, which sucks because they all deserved better (I will be rereading them later). But anyways the point is that I was cavernously deep in a slump. Like, I didn’t even want to read. I was forcing myself through books that all felt entirely mediocre until I finally decided to quit and immerse myself heavily in animal crossing for like 2 weeks. Nothing was grabbing me or helping me out of this slump.

But this one did.

I’m not sure what it was, but The Princess DID save me. Amarande was a wonderful heroine who honestly made me swoon. We stan a queen who doesn’t take any crap from anyone and she did NOT. Not ever. She never faltered. It was her way or the highway. I loved it. How many protagonists actually speak their mind every. single. time. Without holding back? Not many. She was an insta-love for me and honestly Luca just step aside, I’LL marry her. She’s got me wrapped around her royal fingers.

Now moving onto the romance, I enjoyed Luca and Ama. They had a precious bond that was rooted from childhood and had grown throughout the years. I will say my one issue was that I wanted it to feel more ALIVE. Their bond wasn’t as impactful as I wanted it to be, but I still felt it, especially later.

Now Luca as a character felt a little bit underdone in the beginning. He barley spoke and I wasn’t able to gage his personality like I wanted to. Not like my wife Ama. But I will say as the story grew, so did he, and in the end I definitely came to care about his journey.

SPOILERS FOR REAL NOW.


Him being the son of Oxtana...or however you spell it...whoa. Didn’t expect it. Wasn’t ready. Also was ready. I’m intrigued with how Sarah will weave the second book now that we know he is the ruler of Torrence, and how that will affect Luca as a character.

Back to my love, Ama. Her killing Renald like the boss she is made me almost clap. One thing I love about her is her ability to talk big and back it up with actions. Sarah actually gives her an opportunity to show how talented and ruthless she really could be if pushed to be so. God I just SWOON.


Anyways my fingers hurt so I’ll end the review here, the princess Will Save You is 100% worth the read.

Amarande is not a traditional princess. Raised by a warrior King to be strong and independent, she faces a difficult decision when her father dies and she is forced to marry before she can ascend the throne.

The cast of characters is brilliant, especially Ama who is fierce and driven. The pirates are fantastic fun, whilst the the villains have enough depth to be believable.

I wasn't blown away by the romance - for a lot of the book, I thought Luca was quite a boring character. He grew on me towards the end, but was still probably the only let down in the book.

This book is an action packed adventure with real heart, and I adored it!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review has been posted to Goodreads and will be submitted to Amazon after release.

Holy wow. What a great book! The fantasy setting, a princess who takes no prisoners, and a love story that is defended. This was such a great read! I was pretty much invested from the first chapter. I loved how Amarande would act and speak. It was easy to root for her and want her to get her love back. It was also so refreshing to be able to hear from so many different perspectives. It made the entire story feel like it had so many different levels and schemes. I will say, that the only thing I struggled with was the epilogue. I'm sure (now that I know there will be a sequel) that it will all be resolved, but it was kind of a killer with all of the female empowerment the book showcases. That was the best part though!!! A princess who is so empowered and believed in feminism without ever mentioning the word in the book. So well done and I know I have a lot of students who would enjoy it. The Princess Bride feeling was so strong and so well done.

The Princess Will Save You
coddled and not as good in a fight as she was hyped up to be
Starts referring to Luca as her love
Irrelevant names dropped periodically

The Princess Will Save You is a gender-bending retelling of The Princess Bride. Our heroine Amarande is the daughter of the Warrior King who has the strongest army in all the Skye & Sand (?) and has been trained her whole life to be a deadly warrior. After the death of her father though, she is informed she cannot be Queen unless she marries? It was so weird that her father left this archaic law in place but believed women had the right to fight and not conform to societal rules.

Amarande was so freaking fierce, never afraid to speak her mind or standup for herself or her kingdom. She never faltered in putting her kingdom first and considering what would be best for her people. I do have to say she was overhyped in her skills as a warrior though, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Her father had her trained and while skilled with a weapon she really was coddled in her training which we see in her journey to save Luca. I’m un-ideal conditions she realizes just how much her training was lacking and falters at the idea of actually killing someone. I saw the journey as humbling her rather than disappointing me that she wasn’t this magnificent warrior we were first sold on. When push comes to shove she does pull the trigger though.

The romance was a bit lacking. Luca is captured right at the beginning of the story though so we don’t get to spend much time with them together. We are instead told how Ama and Luca have been childhood friends that shifted into more and that everyone knew but them that they were in love with each other. I would have like to have gotten that feel for myself since it felt very insta-love even though it was a friends to love situation. When they are reunited though we get to see that affection in action though and by the end of the book it was believable.

Luca himself deserved better though. He came across as this sweet little cinnamon roll with no real personality beyond being incredibly kind and handsome. I wanted to see what Amarande did and understand why everyone that came across him liked him. He just felt like this weak love interest, a plaything of Ama’s which wasn’t fair to him at all. As the story grew so did his personality but it still wasn’t much. I’m hoping he gets more page time in the next book to help fill him out more as a character but think that definitely should have been handled in the first book.

The pacing of the book felt a little off. The beginning and end were the best parts of this book. Action-packed and engaging, really making you think and figure out just what the heck was going on that Ama didn’t know about. The middle seemed to drag on as endlessly as the desert Ama and Luca were trekking through. This is a decent sized book and I think the middle could have been utilized better. Ama does face challenges that change her during this time, but it was only her parts I looked forward to.

The ending blew the rest of this book out of the water and is definitely the reason why I’ll be picking up book two. Twists and turns, some that I was expecting and one that just completely shocked me. I know there are many more to come too just based off of the questions Ama herself brought up and the breadcrumbs scattered throughout the story.

Listen, I heard that it was inspired by the Princess Bride and genderbent and came RUNNING. This was such a fun reimaginging and I’m still shook because I really didn’t realize this was a duology and I literally screamed “WHAT!” at 3 AM after finishing the book because I didn’t realize it was the end.

I loved how fierce and passionate Amarande is. She’s constantly underestimated and she’s constantly proving everyone wrong and I LOVE THAT FOR HER. I especially loved her relationship with Luca and the lengths to which she went to save him and how HE KNEW THAT SHE WOULD COME FOR HIM! *sobs*

I especially loved the side characters and how funny they were. it was very reminiscent of the story it was inspired by but it never felt like a copy/paste situation. It was unique and fun in its own way. I definitely enjoyed the adventure, especially with the royalty and political marriage subplot. As I’m writing the review, I notice more and more the inspirations from the original story which is definitely really cool! I love retellings and this one is no different. It takes the story and makes it its own. The parallels were really interesting and literally I’m JUST now realizing them!

I haven’t read something quite like this in a while so it was definitely refreshing and I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel! I was definitely thrown off the trail with every little twist and turn this story took and the ending was a BEAUTIFUL SURPRISE. Every time I tried to think about what might happen I was thrown off and it was AMAZING.

You should check out this book if you like fun reimaginings, fierce princesses that can sword fight in gowns, fighting for your right to marry anyone (and not just royalty) AND rule the country, twists and turns, having to deal with slightly incompetent leaders, and lots of wit and charm!

Love a strong, savvy woman character! This is a fun Princess-to-the-Rescue fantasy - love story! A little sappy at times. There was a little bit of world building set during a time when horses and ships were the main modes of transportation. I would have enjoyed a bit more exploration into setting, the realities of the time. Very enjoyable read.

Digital copy provided by NetGalley. Thank you!

This book wasn't for me personally. I really wanted to like this and was looking forward to reading it but unfortunately, it was disappointing in the end. The Princess Will Save You takes on the story of a damsel in distress but flips it where the princess must go after her kidnapped stableboy that she is in love with. In the end, this book is a retelling of The Princess Bride. Now The Princess Bride is my favorite movie of all time so this should have been a bonus for me but the comparisons and similarities to The Princess Bride ended up hurting this book for me more than helping. All it did was remind me of the better version of this story that I would prefer to be enjoying over this book. Normally I like retellings but this just didn't work for me. There is retelling and then there is just duplicating what already exists. If you know The Princess Bride, the scene in the pit of despair was almost exactly the same as from the movie and I'm not sure why but it really bothered me. I wish the author would have done more with the story rather than making so much of this book an exact copy of The Princess Bride. I think some people will still enjoy this but it just wasn't for me.

Thank you so much to Macmillan-Tor/Forge for access to this NetGalley digital ARC.

Do you love "The Princess Bride"? Do you enjoy gender-bend takes on your favorite stories? Then you need this fantastic book in your collection! Henning masterfully crafts a fantastic land full of politcal intrigue between kingdoms and peppers it with elements inspired by "The Princess Bride". Some details are so minute, only the most avid of fans will notice them (It's my all-time favorite movie and one of my favorite books, so I had a lot of fun trying to pick out every single reference!)

Amarande is a bold princess, daughter of a warrior king. She spends her days training alongside her beloved stableboy Luca and learning to be the next ruler of the great kingdom of Ardenia. However, Amarande's world begins to fall apart at the seams when her father, the king, dies mysteriously. Soon neighboring kingdoms begin vying for the princess's hand in marriage and her own council is trying to sell her off to the highest bidder. When Luca, her true love, is taken captive by a band of three pirates, it's up to Amarande to save him, stop her own blackmail-driven wedding, and protect her kingdom from a massive war. This story is packed to the brim with action, adventure and romance!

Character backstories and secrets crop up along the way, and will leave readers with a driving need for the next installment in the series!

This book was a wild ride! I absolutely adored the idea of a gender bent/ feminist retelling of The Princess Bride and this book delivered.

Things I liked:
- The Princess Will Save You was a faithful retelling of The Princess Bride. It had the perfect blend of events inspired by the movie and its own plot points.
- I loved all the characters! Luca was such a sweet love interest and Amarande is such a strong but also flawed character. Their love was so sweet and I loved how they always made sure the other was consenting to their affections. Luca’s a cinnamon roll, which is one of my favorite male character types. The two of them had me swooning the whole book!
- I also adored the side characters! Ula and the other “kidnappers” were so much fun and their playful arguing had me laughing! Their character arcs were super fun, and I was rooting for them the entire book.
- I also loved the cliffhanger ending! That reveal in the epilogue was super unexpected, and now I need book 2!!

Things I didn’t like:
- I wish we saw more of Amarande and Luca falling in love in the beginning. Their feelings for one another felt forced in the beginning because when the book starts, they are already in love. I wish there had been scenes where we saw them care more for each other, and have them falling more in love, but by the halfway point I did believe in their devotion to one another. Maybe having flashbacks to back when they were children would have been nice

Overall, I loved this book and will be not so patiently waiting for the sequel! If you loved the Princess Bride, you won’t want to miss The Princess Will Save You!

Review will be posted on my blog on June 12th for the blog tour hosted by The FFBC

"The princess will save you. Yes, yes, that's right. That's how all the storybooks go."

Even though the princess pretty much never saves the prince, this Princess Bride retelling is all about it. After being pressured by her council to marry in order to retain the throne, Princess Amarande's stable-boy love is kidnapped to force her hand into marriage with one of the surrounding kingdoms. Of course, this book provides us with a strong female lead who takes no shit, so she rides off after him. This unfolds into a complex story of true love, sacrifice, political ambition, and plot twists so intense readers will need a few minutes to recover as Amarande comes to blows with the obstacles surrounding her in order to save her stable-boy and her kingdom.

Going into this book, I knew it was a retelling of The Princess Bride but it wasn't until I reached the end that I pulled myself away from the story and noticed the similarities between the two. I really appreciate how this wasn't a cut-and-dry retelling that made everything super obvious to the reader. Instead, Henning snuck in elements and characters that were brilliantly placed upon my eventual recognition. The creative license Henning took with the story is superb; she crafts an entirely new world upon which to tell The Princess Bride story that is vibrant and exciting. I especially love how Amarande is the heroine of the story and is almost the complete opposite of Buttercup while still holding the story true to it's inspiration. I did think the romance between Luca and Amarande started out a little slow, but it definitely picked up pace the further we went in the story as the barriers built up by the two of them for the castle's benefit were torn down in the face of danger.

Regardless of how you feel about a Princess Bride retelling, this story has something for us all, and I recommend this book for readers who are ready for a little spice in their lives anywhere from the age of middle school and on!

This book started off with a hope and a promise of an enjoyable book. The characters and the plot had potential, but there was just time that it really lacked a sense of reality. I’m fine with all sorts of fantasy and worlds and such, but this seemed to stretch everything just a little too much. I love fierce strong characters, but something that seems to lack is that there can only be one fierce character and it’s either female or male. Why can’t a strong female character want a strong male character? I get weary of the strong female leads with a crying, emotional male friend or love interest. We should be teaching girls, that we can do anything, be fierce, strong, but also it’s ok to have the soft side, emotions are ok too. The balance of the story was off, and it took so long to get through periods of time and then it seemed to really jump in terms of days and weeks and all. It was ok, just not a favorite and some issues that tend to be a young adult theme of weak characters and world building. Beautiful cover art tho.

I absolutely adored this. There is no getting around it. From the beginning, I knew that I would love this book just based on the synopsis alone. I love our main characters and the ban of thieves that follow! This is my first Sarah Henning book but it definitely won't be my last! I thought the pacing was fantastic and the world was intense and encapsulating. I don't usually gravitate towards romance-y novels, but this one had me cheering and bawling. Highly recommend for any historical or romance fans!

Special thank you to Tor Books/Macmillian for sending me an early ARC of The Princess Will Save You! I absolutely adored it!

I LOVED this one! I am a huge fan of the princess bride so when I heard of retelling where the princess is the hero i had ver high expectations and this book was almost perfect! I loved the characters and the world and I can't wait to find our what happens to them next after that cliff hanger ending. I will definitely be adding this to y personal library.

This first-in-a-trilogy book about a young princess, Amarande, trained to be a fighter by her father, who is suddenly fatherless (her mother disappeared years ago) learns that her father died - somewhat surprisingly of a heart attack - before changing the rules of accession. Her only hope for becoming Queen is to marry, ruling alongside her new husband. But the choices? Ugh. Then someone kidnaps her best-friend/castle stable boy with the goal of forcing Ama's (and her Council's) hand.

If anyone thinks that's going to go well, they haven't read enough of these books. There are two fairly obvious plots to follow up on in the next book, and then there's the cliffhanger ending. It would be great if Book Two contains at least a few surprises.

eARC provided by publisher.

*Thank you to the publisher and Sarah Henning for providing me with a EARC of The Princess Will Save You in exchange for an honest review * I was do excited to read this as a huge Princess Bride fan and TPWSY didn't disappoint! I loved all of the characters,both main and supporting, but especially Ama and Lucas. (Who is a Precious Cinnamon Roll who needs to be protected at all costs.) Henning does an incredible job paying homage to the original tale, while also making it new and exciting.

there were just enough nods to the princess bride to make this one work for me. I couldn’t put it down! While it pays homage to the original work, it is completely it’s own story and I’m dying for a sequel! The ending took me totally by surprise. The writing was fabulous. Though I really enjoyed it, I still felt there was just a little something missing. I probably hyped it up in my head too much 😅 But this book was wonderful, and I would highly recommend checking it out!⁣

The Princess Will Save You follows in the vein of Henning’s previous YA blockbusters in that it is a retelling of sorts but also not. Princess has frequently been described within various bookish circles as a gender bent The Princess Bride but it’s also so much more than that. There’s epic twists, heart wrenching events and some extremely kickarse women be it Princess Ama, the evil but also not Dowager Queen or the little lady with the big sword, Ula. Each of these women has different traits and hopes for their own ‘happy ending’ of sorts but also just represents what it is to be a boss bitch (sorry for the swearing, its utterly necessary in this circumstance).

I feel like I don’t really need to mention the cover of this one because its been, well, everywhere. Its got that signature Charlie Bowater feel to it with the brooding and the staring and the all around pretty.

So, if you have read the blurb, you know it is about a princess who goes to save her stable boy after her dad dies. She needs to marry someone to take the crown because she is a woman and its some all around sexist bs to be honest. So off Ama goes to save her man. In Princess there is that deep kind of semi-obsessive love going on and I kind of dig it. While she could marry for wealth and (backseat) power, the princess is determined to get back her childhood friend and love of her life. Yes, it has the whole destined to be together thing going on but its all done in a sweet kind of way rather than simply being shoved down the readers throat.

Now I know I have already mentioned the Dowager Queen being kind of evil, but I feel like she was probably one of my favourite secondary characters. She is determined and knows what should be hers (sexist bs rears its head again) but is also willing to go to whatever ends are needed to obtain the best for her sons. Her sons who honestly need a good kick up the backside and a stern talking to. Throughout Princess, diamonds are frequently mentioned and while its kind of a cheesy metaphor for the Queen, she herself is a bit like a diamond with all her many facets. Also, she is an expert manipulator, leaving people questioning motives and whether she is in fact genuinely just trying to enact change within the world.

I also want to mention the brother princes because honestly, they are nutjobs of the highest degree. Renard, the heir to the Pyrenee throne and eldest son of the Dowager Queen is willing to go to whatever means he must in order to obtain ascension to the throne. I mean, he could wait less than 12 months but that means there’s room for a certain someone to usurp. He’s an all around jerk who cares only for himself; basically, he is like Joffrey minus the imp uncle who frequently slaps him across the face for being a twit.

Who I really want to mention though is Taillefer. The second son of the Dowager Queen and therefore second in line, this young gentleman is willing to do whatever it takes to make Pyrenee his. He isn’t below torturing and murdering to get his way, but he is also so damn charming while he’s at it. While I don’t generally like to compare characters from other series, he kind of reminded of Maven Calore from Red Queen but willing to torture other people rather than the woman he is trying to marry. He is complicated and I REALLY hope we see him in further instalments.

In Princess, Henning manages to keep the action mostly fast paced. By around 45% of the novel, there had been revelations hinted at, so much adventuring, all sorts of action and then it felt done. It was like reading a fully polished novella which was in its final pages. But then it packs another punch, coming out of what felt like nowhere to turn the tale on its head. While it could have felt strained and a little out of place, the story continues to flow in a manner that is both sensical and encourages the audience to remain engaged. The twists and turns, while predictable continued to unfold until the final pages where the epilogue plays out in a manner that made me feel so many things, mostly rage and generalised ire but also gave me the AHA! Moment I had been waiting for.

So, I’m going to wrap this one up with this. While the twists and turns felt kind of stock standard and it utilised a lot of tropes, I am trash for a good trope, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Around half way through, the tale seems to be approaching a logical end but there is a spanner thrown in the works that leads to some very interesting moments. I loved to hate Princess’s villains and really hope to see certain people back in the next instalment. While not my favourite read of the year, it is one I would gladly read again.

The Princess Will Save You centers around Amarande, a princess who may or may not be in love with her stable boy, Luca. Okay, maybe she is. But she doesn't realize it fully or what impact he can have on her future until her father, the great Warrior King dies. She suspects he was killed, though his advisors seem keen on saying it was natural causes. The only person who backs her up is Koldo, the king's right hand woman. When the advisors start pushing for her to get married, because they won't make her queen, she's resistant. She knows that's not something her father would want and it's definitely not something she would want. She makes a bold statement to the rest of the kingdom that she will not accept any request for marriage that she doesn't sign (and she's not signing any of them). When Luca is kidnapped, she begins to suspect it's Renard, a prince of another kingdom. But she refuses to marry him, even if it might save Luca. Then she realizes her training should not be wasted. Why marry to save Luca when she could do it herself?

Labeled as a Princess Bride retelling, with the Princess Amarande (Princess Buttercup) taking the lead rather than dear Luca (Westley), I had such high hopes. The Princess Bride is in my top three movies and I can quote it all day long. I love the Princess Bride so much. But this wasn't the Princess Bride and came no where close. I was first thrown off by the altogether confusing world building. There's a continent that isn't named like a continent? And she's princess of a kingdom? Made up of other kingdoms I think? Or territories? And one wing of the castle is named Itspi? Or the whole castle is named Itspi? Or it's a group of people? I tried so hard to keep everything in check, but I just couldn't. Even 30-40% in I was wholly lost. Additionally, the names are just TOO odd. They cross the line from making any kind of sense into just chaos. 2/3 of them seemed barely pronounceable. Outside of that, even the sentences and syntax were confusing. There were several lines I had to reread four or five times to understand what they meant. Clarity was lost. I came into this novel expecting so much and felt it delivered poorly. I could barely continue reading it, it fell so flat to me. It felt like it couldn't decide if it wanted to be a Princess Bride retelling or its own story and, in combining the two, lost all sense of what a novel and a story should be.