This Princess Kills Monsters is a clever reimagining of classic fairy tales, blending them into a modern, adventurous story. It’s reminiscent of The Princess Bride with its mix of whimsy, fantasy, and playful absurdity. Princess Melilot, pushed by her sorceress stepmother to prove herself, embarks on dangerous quests and faces numerous challenges, including an arranged marriage to a king she’s never met. The story goes beyond surface-level fairy tale tropes, exploring deeper questions about heroism and heart. A fast-paced, heart-pounding read, this book is a must for anyone who enjoys fresh takes on traditional tales. Highly recommended!

this book was…. how do i put this into words? this book was beautiful, it was fun, it was lighthearted, but didn’t try to stay away from the big stuff.

the whimsy and humor in this book about knocked me off my feet. it was FUN! It didn’t take itself too seriously at ALL. This book felt like watching the princess bride does. if you’re a fan of fairytales, A.K. Caggiano, lighthearted humor, or a downright good time, this is the book for you. A retelling of a fairytale (with so many other classic fairytale easter eggs sprinkled in) unlike any other.

You can expect:

💛 found family
🩵 (whimsical) political intrigue
🩷 sorcery
💛 she saves him
🩵 secret identities
🩷 arranged marriages
💛 stepmothers and stepsisters (not derogatory)
🩵 only one bed
🩷 closed door (romance isn’t the biggest storyline)

thanks netgalley, i ADORED this book!

I was taken by surprise at how much I loved this book! Hilariously witty, a fairytale retelling of epic proportions and so many amazing characters! Melilot is so much fun and her inner dialogue is just so quippy I loved it!

This was everything that I wanted from this type of book, it uses the fairy tale element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of the world. The characters were everything that I wanted and loved the way it changes the genre. The plot worked well overall and was glad everything was so well done. Ry Herman has a strong writing style for this genre and glad I read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

This Princess Kills Monsters was an absolutely enchanting story, using several fairy tales as its source but bringing all of them together in an absolutely wonderful and more modern take on those adventures.

I would liken this more to The Princess Bride in how the story reads, including the reader in the ridiculousness and fantasy of so many fairy tales. A story wholly of its own (despite the inspiration) this goes past the surface level of many fairy tales and strives to answer the questions that may have come up for many of us as young children hearing them. It’s both heartfelt and heart pounding. It is far too complicated to explain past this short blurb - Princess Melilot has been driven by her sorceress of a stepmother to prove herself and finds herself on the brink of death many times due to the quests she’s tasked with. When she’s told to marry a king, sight unseen, she finds herself in a real adventure, one that also tests her heart in many ways.

I highly recommend this to all readers, it’s absolutely amazing.

i’m sorry, i devoured this. a queer fairytale that’s fun, folkloric, and romantic? SIGN ME UP. i will say, for as much as this book does attempt to subvert fairytales, i found the villain reveal to be overdone and disappointing— i also would have liked more of the huntsmen to be openly trans/nonbinary. however, i had too much fun with this book to give it anything less than five stars.