This Princess Kills Monsters is an enchanting feminist retelling of the Grimm Brothers' The Twelve Huntsmen, not that it exactly sticks to only one fairy tale, mind you … this book borrows bits and pieces from allllll the stories. It's heartwarming and hilarious and action-packed, and I loved pretty much every moment of it. It is fairly heavy on the romance which isn't normally my thing, but overall the lovey-dovey stuff isn't too distracting and takes a backseat to the sorcery and saving the kingdom bits.

And there is a whole lot of sorcery. There are multiple sorceresses doing sorceress-y things. I mean, people get turned into geese, you guys. And would any fairy tale be complete without an enchanted spinning wheel??

And the characters? Fantastic. Melilot is a witty and likeable protagonist, but in my opinion Gnoflwhogil, Meliot's brave and slightly … aggressive fairy sister-in-law, is absolutely delightful and the real MVP of this book. For some reason she reminds me of Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (or a considerably-more-violent version of Anya, anyway), and Anya was my very favorite character from Buffy so I guess I have a type? Even the villains are multifaceted and not entirely hateable, and, I mean, the reasonings behind their misdeeds aren't entirely without merit, so …

Oh, and there's a dragon. And spider wolves. And grumpy enchanted mirrors. And an epic battle à la the Battle of Winterfell. And also I'm probably going to get so many hate comments from Game of Thrones fans regarding that comparison, but whatever.

So, yeah. Fantastic book. Definitely read it if you're into feminist fairy tales with humor and heart and sorcery of all sorts. My rating: 4.55 stars, rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is June 17, 2025.

For Princess Melilot life threatening danger is just apart of everyday life. The step daughter to a powerful sorceress Queen who likes to send her daughters on quests filled with peril on a constant basis. However she has just been given her worst assignment yet, marry the new king of a neighbouring kingdom. But someone doesn’t want the wedding to happen and is willing to end Melilot’s life to ensure it doesn’t. With twelve eerily similar huntsmen, one who has caught her eye (an entirely unhelpful complication for the kings fiancee to have) , and the kings sister (who Meiliot is also finding extremely attractive) on the case and at her back she might just have a chance to save her new home.
This book is based on the fairytale The Twelve Huntsman and has nods and references to countless beloved fairytales. I cannot express how much fun I had reading this book. I loved the witty and sarcastic writing style. I loved how Ry Herman pokes fun at while also paying homage to fairy tales, especially some of the more absurd and abstract ones. This was a quick read for me because I refused to put it down. The only downside is if this sounds like your kind of book it won’t be released until June 17, 2025, but it is well worth the wait.
Thank you so much to @thedialpress and @netgalley for letting me review this fabulous book.
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If you haven’t read The Grimm’s Brothers Fairytale, The Twelve Huntsmen, you should read it first then jump into Herman’s book. The story focuses on the main character, a sort of sorceress princess, Melilot, from the mountain kingdom, Skalla. This princess and her two sisters are regularly sent on magical quests to search for odds and ends, such as: a dragon’s toenail or finding a way to plow a field with teeth and complete these tasks for their mother/Melilot’s stepmother, the evil sorceress queen of Skalla. The evil queen continuously sends her daughters on these crazy scheming quests, which ultimately leads to one more task for Melilot: she must leave their home in Skalla, travel to a faraway kingdom, and marry a king she has never met.
Overall, some of my favorite parts of this engaging story was the wonderful vocabulary that had me searching the dictionary for words like “bycocket”. I thought the author’s inceptive use of storytelling within this book was a neat way to broaden the characters backstories out. Despite liking the story within a story, I did think that some of the huntsmen in the story could have been fleshed out a bit more and not been so two-dimensional. Another kind of letdown was not being able to delve into the storybook world as much due to what I felt was a lack of descriptions of the landscapes and architecture.
This was a whirlwind of a story that kept you constantly guessing what would happen next. This Princess Kills Monsters was not only hilarious, whimsical and full of magical creatures and objects, but was nostalgic with its world based around the fairytales that we all grew up reading. It is worth the read!

Surprisingly weird, deeply funny, and entertaining from the first page to the last. My only complaint was that the villain was a little lackluster and didn’t have much depth. Otherwise, this is a gem.

This book was truly a treat to read! It's a melting pot of so many fairytale stories that most of us have grown up hearing, reading, etc. The story is seen through the eyes of Melilot, a young sorceress who only has one meager magical talent.
She is told she is to wed a King in another land and sets out!
Things go awry before she can arrive safely at the castle! I could not put this book down! It had me giggling all throughout!

This book was so good! I loved the idea of retelling a fairytale from a first person point of view. The off hand mentions of other classic fairytales and folklore really added to the story and made for fun Easter eggs. A princess is sent on seemingly impossible quests by her evil stepmother only to be saved by her sisters. The next demand is that she is to marry a man in another kingdom. Before she reaches the kingdom, she is met with magically enhanced creatures and twelve identical huntsmen. She then hides her identity in order to gain information about her new groom which ends up leading her into many predicaments. Soon she is battling a mysterious evil, hidden identities and her own personal misconceptions. The book is really a compelling story of personal growth, love, and inner strength. The story includes beautiful queer representation while also having an enticing magical element. I really enjoyed it and fell in love with many of the characters while also understanding their flaws.

I had some trouble at times visualising what was happening in the book but that could be due to the magical element and me needing to use my imagination more. I think the pacing was done well and can’t wait for it to come out next year!

Wow! I had such a great time with this book! When I wasn't smiling- well I think I smiled the whole book. Every corner of this book oozes with cleverness and wit that I can't get enough of. Also a sizable amount of weird magic BS for good fun. All the characters are nice, and Melilot manages to be likeable and reasonable despite her many qualms with the world. I'd say my only complaint is the lack of happy resolution for one aspect in the end, but I understand why. Thank you so much to Penguin Random House and Ry Herman for this wonderful experience! Such a unique read.

This was fucking phenomenal. It was so enthralling and I loved all the lore that was into it, I didn’t even notice it was closed door and that’s saying something lol

What an interesting tone for a fairy tale retelling! This will perhaps be best appreciated by those with a familiarity with the Lang Fairy Books and with no reverence for canon.

absolutely enchanting romantasy with some amazing hat-tipping to fdairy tales and folktales ranging from Cadmus and of course the Twelve Huntsmen to Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. Great queer rep all throughout, and a very fun protagonists. 5 stars. tysm for the arc. would recommend.

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.