I absolutely love these get to know the Disney Princes books. For so long we had beautiful cool princesses who fell in love with bland personality guys who happened to save them, but now we're getting to see the context behind the men they fell in love with and that is dope.

Sleeping Beauty was a favorite film of mine as a child but sadly as I grew older, the characters seemed a little less magical due to the simplicity of the story. The beautiful, cursed princess. The dashing but stereotypical prince who always said the right thing. Linsey Miller has reincarnated Disney’s Once Upon a Dream masterpiece of artwork for a new generation and brought to life new perspectives on beloved characters in a dazzling way, while seamlessly, one might even dare say, magically, introducing many new characters, good and bad, into a more intriguing and intricate plot that the original story first seemed to tell. I loved it, and was instantly drawn in head over heels for this much more interesting view of Prince Phillip in all his individuality, often second guessing himself, pretending sometimes to be selfish or callous but always painfully earnest and vulnerable just beneath the surface of his facade. Aurora, also known as Briar Rose, too, here is brought to a new and sparkling life, no longer a hapless victim but a strong willed and witty, often playfully sarcastic and curious young woman who seeks out her own destiny with a fiery passion and does not wait to be saved, but in many ways works with her destined true love to bring about their happily ever after. Likewise, the fairies, good and evil, are fleshed out in endearing ways that make you enjoy them even more and Maleficent is back to her old classic wicked Mistress of Evil self in her full velvety dark glory so richly illustrated by her words and actions you can hear every evil cackle within your mind and it’s delicious. I can’t honestly do this book justice with my review because I want to go back and reread it all over again. Also, I painfully I want to see the newest trio of fairies, Eris, Poena, and Phrike, in illustration form, as they were a marvelous addition to the story and each unique and intriguing. Really a first rate retelling that stands alone as a fresh, exciting, whimsical adventure with a slow burning romantic undertone. Awesome.

#PrinceofThornsNightmares #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-Arc copy of this novel. Great novel from Disney.

I am really enjoying this Princes series! These books bring so much personality to the age old fairy tales that we know and love.
Prince of Thorns and Nightmares is a Sleeping Beauty retelling from Prince Phillips POV. The original Disney movies focus on the princesses, so we never see much of the princes. I loved reading the "other half" of the story. This was a fun adventure that felt new, even though we all know the story.
Highly recommend for Disney fans and all fairy tale lovers.

Thanks to Netgally and Disney Publishing for an early copy to review.

Miller has managed to take two characters that really didn't have much personality to begin with and create a fantastic retelling that still stays true to the original. The focus of the story is prince Phillip, who does not feature much in the movie despite being the leading man, so there was a lot of wiggle room with his character. Here Phillip is someone who is hesitant to go along with what he has been told is his destiny, he's brave and prone to action, but he's not the standard Disney Prince/Hero that we typically see. In fact, he's actively avoiding his fate of marrying Aurora for as long as possible. Things change however when he's approached by three fairies telling him he has magic and needs to use it to help defeat Maleficent. Briar Rose is also incorporated really well, for a story that focuses on Phillip I was concerned what her role would be, but she is a constant presence throughout thanks to the dreams the two share. She's also given a much stronger personality, and takes a lot of agency back that wasn't afforded her in the original. I thought these two characters were great, they paid homage to the original while still being their own. I also enjoyed the new characters added, especially Phillip's friend Johanna.

I'm absolutely loving this series from the Prince's perspectives. Miller does a great job at incorporating traditional elements from the films and making them feel fresh and new. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Disney's other series - and definitely recommend for those who have always wished that the Disney prince's had a bit more depth. Absolutely loved.

Thank you to Disney Publishing Worldwide and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. I have read the other book in this series as well, about Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid, and found it very similar. An enjoyable read, that calls back to moments from the original movie, but there are also things that happen that I didn’t quite believe could have happened right alongside the events from the movie, if that makes sense. Still a fun read, though. Learning more about Prince Phillip was very interesting, and we got to see a lot more of him interacting with Briar Rose/ Aurora than I would have guessed going in. Overall a great read!