On Princess Lizzy’s thirteenth birthday an unexpected invasion occurred by trolls kidnapping both Princess Savannah and Princess Tammy Lee. With the Princes out on a quest and the Kings & Queens waiting and debating on what should be done, Princess Lizzy & Princess Ruby take things into their own hands. Escaping their kingdom they embark on a dangerous journey with a fairy named Blake to save the Princesses whilst confronting multiple dangers along the way!

This book reads more like a Disney screenplay bringing to life the scenes in the reader’s mind. Sometimes this was a lovely addition, but sometimes I felt it was slowing down and dragging the story. It covers quite a lot of fairytale characters and references as well as the theme of friendship and overcoming one’s fears.

One thing I disliked in this story and possibly what made me give it the rating I did was how Ruby was treated. Ruby was clearly not the main character but from chapter one it felt like she was an equal to Lizzy. I was looking forward to reading about two Princesses adventuring together and defeating a dragon. But all I read was Blake almost using the girls by hiding information while subtly ignoring Ruby. I understand Lizzy had a more mature personality and was Blake’s friend before Ruby, whereas Ruby’s was embodying her age, but I didn’t like the subtle special treatment. I found even some of the other characters were talking mainly with Lizzy instead of with both so I wonder if this story was ever meant for two female leads. I wish the story gave both an equal chance to be fearless and heroic with Blake guiding both girls equally instead of just one.

Overall, I think this book had a good concept but it possibly just wasn’t for me. I enjoyed reading about the two Princesses and their bonding as well as them supporting each other. I liked the adventure although it felt too simple, but I disliked Blake for hiding things since she was throwing them into danger just to make them stronger and realize their capabilities.

On her thirteenth birthday, Princess Lizzy’s friends get kidnapped by trolls. And because in this world, princesses start war training at thirteen and everyone else is on a different mission, Princess Lizzy and her best friend, Princess Ruby, set out to rescue them. Accompanied by a fairy, they face many obstacles that prepare them for the big fight with the trolls' dragon.

This book had a lot of potential. It seemed very feminist: badass princesses taking control of their fates and fighting evil forces. Unfortunately, right at the beginning, I was questioning if the author understood what it meant to be a feminist. It started with the characters' introduction. When the princesses and queens were described, it seemed very important to the author to embellish how stunning they were, as if that was important for the story. It was not. Their perception of beauty also was very one-dimensional. This lack of empowerment continued throughout the book. Consistently the two princesses were used by Blake and had no own control over their journey. And it even ended with them doing all the hard work and rescuing the other princesses, yet, everyone celebrates the princes - who arrive half an hour later - as the heroes.

But this was not the only thing that turned me off. Ruby was terribly annoying - she is basically a 12-year-old with the temper of a toddler. And when it is mentioned that a 14-year-old prince has feelings for her, it just made me wince.

The writing needs some serious editing. There were a lot of repetitions that made everything really frustrating. The author let the thrill rise with every obstacle and then lost it with how easy it was to overcome them. The final fight was completely anticlimactic and bored me more than anything else. Considering that this is not their first book, I expected more.

Overall I feel like I wasted my time with this book.

I liked the concept of another world with concepts from our fairy tales in it. I thought that was a cool way to kind of retell common fairy tales. The story of a princess trying to save other princesses was also very unique to me and intriguing.

However, this specific story was not very well written, in my opinion. There was too much telling, not showing. There was so much repetitiveness, it was frustrating to read. Also, the way the story played out just did not make sense to me.

There were many times I wanted to just DNF this, but it's a short read and I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. I think with a more thought out story line and character development, plus some professional editing, this story could be really cute.