Fairy Tale Friday: The Bravest Princess

The Bravest Princess is written by E. D. Baker. It was published in 2014 by Bloomsbury. It is the sequel to Unlocking the Spell.

Summary/Blurb:

“Sleeping Beauty’s younger sister, Annie, still can’t catch a break!

First, Annie helped Sleeping Beauty wake up from a hundred-year curse by finding her one true love, Prince Beldegard. Then, with her amazing ability to fend off magic, Annie helped remove the spell that turned that prince into a bear. But now, trouble in the kingdom threatens her good friend: the one and only Snow White.

Annie receives a message that Snow White’s stepmother has disappeared and that her father wants her married right away. But with so many suitors, which of all those hopeful princes is the best choice? And why, exactly, is Annie being followed around by such horrible crows? Could there be an evil witch behind all this trouble? One thing’s for sure: it’s going to take a brave princess to set everything straight again.”

Thoughts:

The Bravest Princess is quite a different book than the first two, I thought. The first two were a great conglomeration of fairy tales with situational and often dry humor that made them really funny. This one had less of both. It had a few nods to some fairy tales, but most of it was using the fairy tale characters that had already been introduced in the first two books. That’s fine, but the book felt lacking because of it. The humor felt forced in places (especially Liam’s responses to the princes during Snow White’s trials) and I wasn’t as engaged in the plot. The final revelation of the villains felt a little abrupt, too.

I will say, though, that the crows were scary. When they attacked Annie in her room, I got shivers. Ugh. It was really downplayed because of the audience, but let’s face it, getting attacked The Birds-style is terrifying.

Despite the relative weakness of the plot, the characters were still endearing, and Annie especially got a lot of development due to the fact that she couldn’t rely on her magic-repelling skills to help her out. I’m sad that we didn’t get to see more of Gwendolyn and her interaction with Annie, and there wasn’t much resolution in regards to Annie’s standing with the magically-blessed people around her, but there is at least a hint that things will get better.

Rating: 3/5

Recommended Age Range: 12+

Warnings: None.

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Middle Grade

Passages/Quotes:

A shadow flashed by. Nervous, Annie tried to peer out the window. She was afraid of the crows, but she was even more afraid of what their presence there meant. The most Annie could do was negate the magic while she was touching something that had a spell cast on it, like the crow that had brushed against her when she was being lowered from the tower. If only she could see the witch face-to-face!

Overall Review:

The Bravest Princess was a little disappointing to me. I didn’t find it nearly as fun as the first two books and the humor and plot felt forced in places. I did like Annie’s development, though, even though she didn’t get much in regards to her outcast-like status, and she and Liam are cute. Also, the crows were scary.

You can buy this here: The Bravest Princess