What happens to princesses who leave their fairy tales for a different life? This book tells the story of fairy tale princesses who transfer to the Princess Protection Program, a sort of school in which they learn how to survive in a non-storybook world. Humor, monsters, disguises, pizza, fashion and of course royalty form a key ingredient of this story. Middle school kids will find all the key ingredients for a reading experience that is fun and entertaining while keeping their interest and poking some fun at the modern world, as seen through the eyes of fairy tale characters.

I received this book from the Publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions in this review are my own entirely.

The Princess Protection Program is a fun romp for middle grade princesses (and princes!) who are looking for something a little more unique than a standard "happily ever after." Part school story, part fairytale/modern mash up, this novel will keep kids engaged with its witty writing and fun characters.

This is a lower middle grade book, so the plot is a little simpler and there's some gross-out humor. While that may be off-putting for some adult MG enjoyers, I think it will definitely be well-received by the target audience of elementary school kids.

4 stars = Great! Might re-read.

This is a fun fractured fairy tale with excellent world building. I liked the characters, and the themes in the story (identity, fate and destiny, personal responsibility, choice, etc.) are great. If there are more stories to come from this world, I will definitely be checking them out! (LGBTQ+)

This was a really unique MG novel, with an interesting take on fairytales!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

The Princess Protection Program by Alex London is about princesses getting a second chance.

Will the Royals from HEA make their own decisions about their stories?

The Royals
Princess Rosamund finds Home Educational Academy, set in the real world, when she flees from her story, opens a Door of Opportunity. While there Rosamund encounters, Rana, Sirena, Cindy, Charlie, and countless others that have fled their own stories because they didn't like what was happening. Rosa is a curious princess that has been asleep for a hundred years because she pricked her finger on a spindle and now she has been awakened by a kiss that makes her run away. She ends up at this school where she meets the other royals, and I love them all. I have to say that Mr. London had a great idea, and how he spun each one to work within this world is amazing.

Rosa, our main character, is so curious about everything that I admire her for everything that she has done throughout the book.

The Story
Rosa ends up making a lot of friends throughout this journey and her curiousness makes her a great character as she is able to ask the questions that none of the others ever thought about asking before. Rosamund, after being asleep for a hundred years, just wants to understand a lot of things, especially about what they are teaching them at the school. Although, something is sinister underfoot at this so called Princess Protection Program with one of the princes.

I have to say that Mr. London had me at the edge of my seat throughout the entire story.

Five Stars
I am giving a five star rating to The Princess Protection Program by Alex London and recommending it to anyone that loves a good middle grade fantasy book. It has the right amount of fantasy while also allowing people to use their imagination to figure some things out. The underlying message is great as well.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Princess Protection Program by Alex London.

Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out Baroness Book Trove.

As an avid fan of fairy tales and their modern interpretations, I couldn’t wait to dive into The Princess Protection Program by Alex London. The book not only met but exceeded my expectations.

London begins the story with a familiar rendition of Sleeping Beauty, introducing the slumbering princess and her destined rescuer, the prince. However, the familiar narrative quickly takes an unexpected and entertaining turn. London’s imaginative flair propels the plot in fresh and unpredictable ways, ensuring that readers remain engrossed throughout the book. With each twist and turn, London keeps the surprises coming.

The story is a delightful mix of magic, intrigue, and deception. As the plot unfolds, readers are treated to a cast of evolving characters, each harboring their own secrets. The author skillfully builds suspense, leaving readers eager to uncover what lies ahead. Through its engaging narrative, The Princess Protection Program imparts valuable lessons. It emphasizes the importance of critical thinking and seeking the truth rather than accepting things at face value. Additionally, it highlights the power of teamwork and overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

The book explores thought-provoking themes such as the pursuit of true happiness and the courage to challenge expectations and fears. While action sequences may not be a central focus, they are strategically placed to keep readers on the edge of their seats. The Princess Protection Program is a captivating read that will resonate with anyone who enjoys a good fairy tale reimagined. Alex London’s imaginative storytelling and exploration of profound themes make this book a must-read.

Sleeping Beauty is rudely awoken by a kiss from the valiant, yet somewhat naive Prince Phillip. But instead of love at first sight, she runs from the tower and finds herself pulled into the real world. Sleeping Beauty has been transported to an academy for former princesses(and princes) who wish to choose their own story instead of fulfilling the fairy tale laid out for them by their fairy godmother. Sleeping Beauty is given a new name ( Rosamund) and meets other beloved fairy tale characters including Cinderella, (Cindy) Snow White,(Margaret) Prince Charming (Charlie).... etc. At first the academy seems to be a great place and the fairy godmother in charge of the school is really nice. Then the plot unfolds, and the princesses find that there is more to the academy and its founder than meets the eye.

There was a lot of crude humor and corny jokes that started to grate on my nerves coming from three characters I found annoying. These characters are honestly the reason for my lower review.

I did like the main story and premise. Fun, fast paced, and mysterious.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced reader's copy.

Unique story about a princess who's story doesn't exactly fit. It's a quick read with a variety of characters from some known and some little- known fairy tales. Seems like it's setting up to be a series (although things are wrapped up enough it could be a stand alone). The book as a whole was a little haphazard, although I don't think students will mind.

Notes- everyone chooses for themselves theme, a few LGBT characters, some peril

This was so cuteeeeee! I loved the whole idea of this and felt like if this book was around when I was a kid I would have ate it up. I was not totally locked in reading it so it lost some fun for me, but I would definitely recommend this to middle grade readers.

When Rosamund is awoken from a hundred year sleep by a stranger's kiss, she runs from him - and escapes into a strange school to join other fairytale princesses (and a prince) trying to avoid their futures. But all is not as it seems, and the headmistress may be keeping a sinister secret.

At some point in the 2010s fairytale retellings seemed all the rage. I enjoyed them generally until they started blending together, but that doesn't mean I'm not always up for a new variation! In this middle grade book though, we get more of a metafiction twist than a straight-up retelling.

This is a fast-paced adventurous story which stars Rosamund, aka Sleeping Beauty, who upon awaking runs out of her story into the safety of the Princess Protection Program. She's an adorable lead, full of curiosity and with a penchant for asking hard questions fearlessly, which serves her well throughout the book. I appreciated the not-so-obvious lesson that the students learn by the end of the story of how to handle their storybook problems.

However, the humor was a little hit-and-miss, combining sly humor about fairytale tropes that seemed aimed for older readers with the kind of gross-out humor that would probably entertain a younger audience. I also thought that the middle of the book lagged a little, and that I would have liked to have seen a stronger foundation established for Rosamund's friendship with Rana, Sirena, and the other students toward the start of the story.

This was a fun start to a middle grade series. Here we follow Rosamund aka Sleeping Beauty who is ‘rescued’ by a prince but finds herself at a school for runaway princesses like herself that teaches them all the things they need to protect THEMSELVES. But something is a little off, a little sus. I can totally get behind a fractured fairy tale like this with a twist. It was really cute and definitely one to look out for whether your young or older.

Princesses have a path they must follow and there is no straying. What if that princess does not want that fate then she goes to the Princess Protection Program. The program may be more dangerous than their fairy tales. The Princess Protection Program tried to give voice to traditional princesses in fairy tales but did not succeed. London missed the mark when constructing the world and why the princesses came to our world. There was little depth or plot when it came to the princesses and little drive for the plot to move forward. Many of the themes are disjointed and do not flow together.

I adored this fairytale retelling. I’m a sucker for fairytale women and girls getting to rewrite their own stories..

I loved the premise of this novel. It was such a great idea that got a little lost when it came to execution. It was an enjoyable read, I just felt like it didn't quite fulfill its promise to the reader.

Princess Rosamund isn't very happy about being woken up from a long sleep by a kiss from a stranger. A Door of Opportunity opens, allowing her to find the Princess Protection Program. This school helps fairy tale princesses escape the challenges of their stories. However, the longer Rosamund is in the program, the more questions she has. Why doesn’t anyone remember former students, and what happens to them when they graduate? What happens if a princess gets caught by her Uponatime, monsters determined to put the princesses back where they belong? Is it possible to change your story instead of simply escaping it?

In a lot of ways, the book feels familiar. It easily sits with stories like The School for Good and Evil, Ever After High, and the Descendants. It’s a familiar take on “fairy tales in real life going against their original trope.” And by familiar, I mean that most of the execution isn’t particularly memorable in a world full of vivid, exciting fairy tale retellings. That doesn’t mean it won’t find fans — young fairy tale lovers hungry for stories of princesses taking charge and being the heroes of their stories will still enjoy this book. But as someone who has always read every fairy tale variation I could get my hands on, I have to say this one doesn’t stand out as special.

Part of the problem is that it doesn’t seem to have a firm grip on its audience. It feels like a book for slightly younger readers (7-10 maybe) because of its lack of depth and occasional bathroom-type humor, but it also has concepts like consent for a kiss or even rebellion that seem slightly older. There’s also a character who is heavily implied to perhaps be gay, but the book doesn’t dare say for sure. I wish it were written a little older to make it a good choice for middle school instead of feeling like an upper elementary school read.

The dialogue felt unnatural, especially from the teenage characters from the regular world. In fairy tale characters, I could understand if they talked a little strangely, but all the characters do, whether they have an “I’m from a different world” excuse or not.

The story develops and has a lot of twists quickly, but unfortunately it doesn’t necessarily help make it more interesting because it actually makes it so that the other characters and general concept of the world they are in don’t have time to develop. There are too many characters and not enough time or effort to get to know them besides, "Oh, that's Cinderella." The ending will either thrill people or leave them confused because a decent amount of it feels like it came out of nowhere.

Those don’t mean it wasn’t fun. It just wasn’t as fun as a story about princesses trying to take care of their happy endings probably should have been.

I appreciated that the author has clearly researched the fairy tales he is working with. There are small references to variations of the stories in different languages, and writers like Perrault and more modern favorites are referenced.

The general moral is that the princesses (and one prince) should be able to make their own choices in their stories. They end up in the real world through a Door of Opportunity that appears because their story doesn’t consider their wants and needs. I like that concept, but I wish the princesses had more influence because it still feels like many characters are not doing much to find their happy endings.

Some young fairy tale lovers will love this, but I wouldn’t recommend it as one of the great books in the category. I wish it had more depth and development to take the interesting levels to that level.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy focussing on alternate HEAs for the princesses. Tries a bit too hard, but encompasses some thought-provoking themes and valuable life lessons. I found it somewhat repetitive and haphazard, but it might work better for the right age group.

Plot Preview:
When “Sleeping Beauty” Princess Rosamund awakes from her hundred-year sleep to a sloppy kiss from a stranger who calls himself her prince and wants to marry her, she runs. Without consciously realising it, she bolts through a ‘Door of Opportunity’ and reaches the premises of The Home Educational Academy, or HEA.
Under the leadership of fairy godmother Verna, HEA runs a Princess Protection Program, to allow princesses to escape their destinies and choose their own happy ending. Rosamund soon adjusts to life in this strange new world, along with a few other princesses (and one prince) as her fellow students. However, not everything seems to be right at the academy. Will it truly provide all its royal inmates with an alternate HEA of their choice?

Note: Children will enjoy this story better if they are familiar with the original fairy tales that the characters are taken from, but this isn’t a prerequisite.

Bookish Yays:
🎇 The author's note at the start about what inspired this story. Quite interesting.
🎇 The feminist spin on what princesses undergo in fairy tales.
🎇 The fact that it included even princes in the topic of having a choice in their lives. Absolutely true! It is not only the princesses who need rescuing from their fate in fairy tales.
🎇 The spinoff characters from popular fairy tales, many of whom have a distinctive personality in this story. Appreciate the inclusion of even modern Disney Princesses such as Elsa, or ‘Elise’ as she is known in this book.
🎇 The amalgamation of the fairy tale fantasy world into our own, where the young people are obsessed with selfies and social media apps. A quirky but interesting combo.
🎇 Many essential life lessons and inspiring themes in the plot, which can serve as good discussion points.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🌠 The story begins in a lighthearted way but then gets dark, and a teeny bit scary. Might be a problem for sensitive or younger middle-graders. The fun scenes help a little in maintaining a balance.
🌠 The book has some magic as well as some magical beings, but not enough to make it feel like a fantasy. I expected a lot more magic throughout, and not just at the climax.
🌠 Some of the comic scenes are slapstick in nature, with even some toilet humour included. Some of these *might* be funny to kids, but I found them forced into the narrative.
🌠 The book is fairly quick-paced, as an MG book should be, but the middle section feels repetitive and hence dragged. The action is almost entirely restricted to the climax.

Bookish Nays:
🎃 The new names given to some of the characters are too similar. Names like ‘Sirena’, ‘Verna’ and ‘Rana’ are easy to mix up in our minds.
🎃 A part of the content, especially related to the feminist themes, might be better suited to teens than middle graders as they are a bit too complex for younger minds.

All in all, this is a book with a great idea and decent execution. Keeping in mind that MG fiction is one of my favourite genres, I am slightly disappointed by this experience. I wish it hadn’t tried so hard to be funny as well as meaningful, because in the process, it ends up doing complete justice to neither.

It might serve its target audience decently well, but to me, it was a one-time read with no resultant long-term fondness. Again, it wasn’t a bad book by far, just not a memorable one.

3.25 stars.

My thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Princess Protection Program”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Hello Fellow Readers,

I've read many fairy tale retellings, but this felt like a breath of fresh air. A fun new take on the princess fairy tales we all grew up with, rather than picking a story and trying to modernize it London decided to do a 'What if'. Rosamund is an interesting character whose fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty, we are all very much knowledgeable about and the side characters are all princesses (and princes) whom we've all grown up reading about so seeing them all actually gets personalities.

The plot was slow at first as, like Rosmund, we are learning about a whole other world and the HEA. It did not pick up quite how I wanted it to, but for any middle-grade child who is reading it, then the pace might be perfect. I like the message that The Princess Protection Program is trying to tell, and London did a great job conveying that you can absolutely break out of the story you think is intended for you and have a different happily ever after.

Overall, a great children's book for any kid who likes to ask 'Why?'

What would happen if the characters in a fairy tale were unhappy with the plot line? That's the re-imagining that author Alex London takes in this new book. Rosamund, from Sleeping Beauty, awakes to find a stinky prince who is demanding that they wed because his kiss (ew) woke her up. As Rosamund flees, she ends up in a school called the Princess Protection Program. This is a fun romp through fairy tales that ask the readers to overlay some of today's cultural attitudes on these traditional stories. Kids are going to like this one a lot.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for this early release copy.

I read this book with my 7 year old daughter and it was so fun. The first chapter immediately had us laughing and sucked us right in. It was a fun princess story about forging their own path, and not being that damsel in distress destined to marry a prince that most princess stories tell our kids. Such a fun retelling with lots of appearances from all the classic fairy tale princesses and characters in general. It's such a great middle grade read, but also fun to read along with a younger reader.

The Princess Protection Program is sort of an anti-princess, define-your-own destiny type of book, meaning it should appeal to a larger cross section than what the title implies.

Author Alex London employs a snarky tongue-in-cheek tone that will immediately resonate with readers. London dismantles fairy tale tropes — prince saving a princess, true love’s kiss, etc. — giving princesses — and a prince — the chance at creating their own happily ever afters.

The star of The Princess Protection Plan is Rosamund, aka Sleeping Beauty. She’s an inquisitive young woman who knows the value of a good question. And when she doesn’t get answers to her questions, she keeps pushing.

At just over 200 pages, The Princess Protection Program is a fast-moving book that is perfect for readers who may be overwhelmed by longer novels. London’s pacing is strong and kids will love the humor laced throughout.