Very fun and cute! A great change up from the darker fairytale retellings that are out there. Enjoyed myself while reading immensely.

I LOVED THIS STORY!

This was hilarious and amazing from the very start! The way various fairy tales are woven in to the backstories and plot is brilliant. The balance of magical, sweet, and casually violent was perfect. The narrative voice is funny and smart and a little sarcastic. The vibes reminded me of Terry Pratchett.

Melilot is a wonderful character. Her journey is fantastic and I enjoyed every step. The queer tones, both subtle and overt, in this story and her characterization make my heart sing.

The mystery of who was attacking Tailliz was simple but still managed to surprise me. I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't try to puzzle it out before it unfolded.

The chapter titles are HYSTERICAL The cover is gorgeous. The title is just right.

This is easily one of my favorite reads of the year. I've already pushed it on so many friends and colleagues.

<i>Many thanks to NetGalley, The Dial Press, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

A fun and enchanting book that pulls ideas from multiple different fairy tales and combines them all into this one story. Melilot (it took me a while to get used to her name, not going to lie) didn't start off the greatest with me, but I grew to love her pretty quickly, along with all of the other characters as well. Almost every page was filled with fun ideas that were just so unserious and it made reading this such an enjoyable experience.

Thank you to Ry Herman, Random House, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

An enjoyable, very funny twist on some classic fairy tales! It took me a little while to get into it, but once I was invested I didn’t want to put it down.

This was a campy romp through didactic fairyland with themes of sapphic love and queer liberation all wrapped up in humor and adventure. I loved it!

I was not a fan of the writing style. Couldn’t get into the story. Usually a fan of fairytale retelling but I’ll have to pass on this one. DNF

The fairytale vibes were strong in this one, and done so well. The definition of cosy fantasy with just enough stakes to keep the plot moving, laugh out loud humor, and characters I would die for.

HELLO THAT WAS SOO FUN??? It's like multiple classic fairytales mushed into one, but the main inspiration is from "The Twelve Huntsmen".

It's about a mediocre adopted middle-child princess who's sent to marry a neighboring king, but his kingdom has been constantly under attack by abominable monsters and she got caught in the middle of it all. Also she felt like she's falling for one of the king's twelve huntsmen instead.

Many things make little to no sense to me just like classic fairytales usually are, and the plot felt like a total whirlwind. However the characters were SO uniquely bold & high-spirited, there's not a single boring moment with anyone. Everyone has their own charms and their dynamics were very satisfying to read. I especially loved their witty banters and sarcastic remarks!

Scattered bits of Grimm's Fairy Tales reverences could be found all over the story. Hermann successfully took those elements and turned it into a fresh, entertaining brand new story, like how Melilot is clearly inspired by Rapunzel, Calla by Snow White, etc. etc. but they're not exactly like them.

I highly recommend this for fairytales lovers because believe me, it's a delightful TREAT.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Dial Press Trade Paperback and NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good fairytale and this book pulls inspiration from mainly The Twelve Huntsmen, but also see bits of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and many more. This book has wit, spark and simply put, fun. This book was a fun time that had be giggling a gaggle or three or four.

Melilot is the stepdaughter of the great queen. Her and her sisters are sent on quests. Her powers go as far as low level magic and making her hair grow long. Along her quest she encounters some huntsmen but wants to keep her identity hidden in case they may be hunting her.

This book was a fun time but I wanted a little more character development and felt the title was a bit off for the content. Overall though I had a good time with it!

This was a good time, humorous, and the style of narrative was fun. I think this would be easy to recommend to just about anyone. Unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me but I know this book will appeal to many with its jaunty writing style and play on the more obscure folkloric tale and the change to the regular narrative readers typically find.
If you are excited to read a shorter standalone fantasy book that defies the current expectations held for the genre, you will be well entertained. Do not expect a great deal of depth but humorous entertainment for a lovely evening.

This Princess Kills Monsters is a whirlwind of fairy tale mayhem mixed with heart. The book pulls inspiration from stories like The Twelve Huntsmen, Rapunzel, and Sleeping Beauty, but reshapes them into something playful, unpredictable, and laugh-out-loud funny. The humor is constant, the fantasy world is full of bizarre creatures and wild magic, and yet the story manages to ground itself in themes of family, loyalty, and self-discovery.

The cast of characters is a huge strength—everyone, even the villains, is entertaining to follow. Melliot’s arc in particular stood out, as she struggles with feelings of being less important than her sisters, only to find that they are her greatest source of love and encouragement. That message of support and belonging was surprisingly touching beneath all the silliness.

I also really appreciated how inclusive the book was. Queer joy, feminist energy, and relationships built on acceptance made this feel like the kind of fairytale world I’d want to live in. It was refreshing, affirming, and creative in ways that kept me hooked.

The pacing occasionally leaned a little too chaotic, which is why I landed on four stars instead of five, but overall this was an imaginative, cozy fantasy that left me smiling long after the last page.

I love a good fairy tale retelling, and this book covers a lot of them in a fun, feminist way. IIt focuses on The Twelve Huntsmen, but we have hints of Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and a lot more.

The language of the book occasionally made me laugh out loud. I knew I was in for a great time when the title of chapter four (“Going Places is Bad, and You Shouldn’t Do It”) came up. The story is very tongue-in-cheek while having some voice of a traditional fairy tale. The book doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s an irritable magic mirror, dragons, a talking lion trying to be the expert on humans, and other elements that add humor and heart. I laughed out loud several times.

The book is full of delightful characters, including lots of queer representation (what I wouldn’t give for a fairy sister-in-law like Gnoflwhogil making things interesting). I loved how the sisters are involved and caring about each other, and I love the chemistry and light romance elements. Some of the characters were hard to connect too because they were there more out of necessity than anything else (you have to have twelve huntsmen, for starters), but I generally enjoyed them even if most didn’t have depth.

Overall, this is a silly, delightful adventure with tongue-in-cheek humor and fairy tales around every turn. I loved the twist on the evil stepmother concept, and I adore that the sisters stick together. If you want a fairy tale retelling that is just plain fun, you might like this one.

4.75 🌟

In This Princess Kills Monsters, we follow the side character in the original Grimm's Fairy tale The Twelve Huntsmen, Melilot. She, herself, is a side character in her own life. She has two step sisters who are far better at sorcery then her and a powerful sorcerer step mom who sends her off on ridiculous quests all of the time and locks her away in a tower with no escape when she fights back. Once again, she gets sent away, but this time to marry a far away king. This is the story of her journey to the far away kingdom and her meeting of the twelve huntsmen.
This book was so much fun. It was such a silly good time. I loved that it references so many different fairytales. The side characters really stood out and had great dialogue.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Princess Melilot has been sent off to be in a political marriage by her wicked stepmother. (Who is basically a hybrid of every disney evil queen.) There she finds herself tangled up in plots, huntsmen, a pretty princess and so on. She needs to figure out who wants the king dead and why, as well as HOPEFULLY avoid getting stuck in a loveless marriage.

Really good fantasy in the stule of Malice and Misrule. Interesting characters, good plot and well written. I like Melilot's sisters too... hopefully we get a spinoff on them too.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ry Herman, and Random House Publishing for a copy of this book.

Content Warnings: Death, Murder, Minor Gore, Blood, Injuries, Animal Death, Animal Mutilation, Misgendering, Dead Naming (kind of), Discussion of Pregnancy and Miscarriage, Discussion of Stillborn Infants, Discussion of Dismemberment, Discussion of an Underage Relationship, and Depictions of War.

"This Princess Kills Monsters" is an interesting premise. It is a mash-up of many different fairy tales, using one as the main plot with the others sort of feeding into it, like how many streams feed into a greater river. All of the different nods, no matter how large or small, to other fairy tales was fun to see. It is something that has been overdone in media ever since the first "Shrek" film, but author Ry Herman was able to keep the idea fresh by going with an often forgot classic--"The Twelve Huntsmen."

Melilot is a princess by marriage, her wicked stepmother having married her doctor father when she was just a little girl. She has an older step-sister and one young half sister, but all three of them love and care for one another. Thick as thieves, as the saying goes. The problem is with her stepmother. The woman is a sorceress, and a queen to boot. What she says, goes, and Melilot finds herself thrust into adventure after adventure, task after task, in an attempt to please her stepmother or die trying.

Her most recent task seems simple enough; she is to be married to a foreign king, thus becoming his queen. There is no love in the marriage, but if it means getting rid of her evil stepmother, Melilot is happy enough to oblige. Just outside of her new kingdom, however, Melilot's carriage is attacked by horrible, twisted monsters. What follows is a story about stories; a fairy tale about fairy tales and sometimes not-so-happy endings.

There is a lot of queer representation within the pages of "This Princess Kills Monsters," and a love for feminism. In this day and age, I am appreciative of authors who refuse to back down on those fronts. There are plenty of LGBTQIA+ characters to fall in love with.

The writing reminded me a tiny bit of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams in tone. There is a lot of dry wit written here, a lot of at-the-moment nonsensical happenings. Although I absolutely love this style of writing, I feel like here, it was a tad bit over used. I felt at some spots that the plot was dragging on, littered with these quips and banter that was tripping up the overall story.

Speaking of pace, the pace was, overall, slow bordering on sluggish. I hate to sound like I am bashing the book--I am not, I rather liked it--but there were definitely chapters that felt like they went on forever. Personally, I think it could have been about four or five chapters shorter in order to keep the flow of the book interesting and fresh.

Author Ry Herman writes characters very, very well, especially considering that there is a massive cast. Characters that had smaller roles were still interesting, with their own personalities, backstories, and abilities. The villain (no spoilers) was extremely well written, posing the perfect foil to main character Melilot. Even the evil stepmother gets her moment to shine.

Overall, I think that "This Princess Kills Monsters" is a good book. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fairy tale retelling that is a little different, a little strange, but has a whole lot of heart.

I oddly enjoyed this. And I say oddly because satirical/rom-comy books are not something I gravitate to when it comes to books in general. Sure I like a good laugh here and there, but not as the main point of the book. Goes to show I should keep my options open (albeit after really looking into the synopsis). 🤷🏻‍♀️

The story is a retelling of The Twelve Huntsmen by the Brothers Grimm, but focuses on the mountain princess’s POV. In this retelling, Meliot is no average princess since she’s gone on numerous quests for her stepmother, the sorceress queen of Skalla. I actually enjoyed her character: an average woman with a smidge of magic in her that is constantly trying to prove herself to her competent compared to her magically gifted step and half sisters. The family dynamic is chaotic at best, but you can see that they truly love each other in their own way. I really love the reveal that the stepmother had at the end of the book and thought it was quite nice to detract from the classic evil stepmother trope. 👑

The time spent in the presence of the twelve huntsmen and Gervase, her betrothed, was an interest part of the plot. While I liked the interactions with Sam and Meliot, her interactions with Jack just didn’t seem to ever really resolve themselves; it just felt like the animosity was called at a momentary true and then they worked together to solve bigger problems. I also felt like the interactions between Meliot and Angelique were rushed because their connection felt forced instead of a begrudging attraction and friendship like with Sam. Again, this is my personal thought and for others, it might not be a problem at all. 🙂

The thing that I REALLY liked the most about this book was the incorporations of other Grimm fairy tales as anecdotes in the story. I could tell Herman read a lot of them and wanted to include as much as they could to pay homage to the original source. ❤️

All in all, it was a sweet queer normative tale that I had a rather good time with in general. Thank you goes out to The Dial Press and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review; and to Herman for making such a fun story about princesses and huntsmen! 😊

Publication date: June 17!

Overall: 4/5 ⭐️

Fans of the Assistance to the Villain series...this one is for you! And for everyone else too, obviously, but if you have read that series and loved it, you need to pickup this book immediately.

This Princess Kills Monsters is a retelling of the Grimm Brothers' The Twelve Huntsmen, with sprinkled bits of more of their tales. It's heartwarming, laugh out loud hilarious and full of action and, of course, romance. There is also so much magic in this story. What is not to love?? This is the exact type of tale I would have loved as a kid, but I am glad it is out in the world and my inner fairy tale loving child can enjoy it now through these adult eyes and heart.

All of the characters were fantastic, fully written and perfect for their roles. I even got a little teary eyed towards the end with the Queen! There is a very sassy lion that kept me rolling my eyes and laughing at his words. There are Ogres and fairies and a magic mirror and they all served a purpose to the story. I was really pleased with this one and will be obnoxiously recommending it to everyone.

“This Princess Kills Monsters” is not your average fairytale. Princess Melilot has spent her life following her stepmothers orders and trying to live up to her sisters successes. Now, she’s being sent off to marry a king who, unbeknownst to her, is in love with another. When she arrives in the new kingdom, she finds many dangers and, fearing for her life, pretends to be the princesses handmaiden rather than Melilot herself, hoping to uncover the truth about her would be attackers. To do so, she works closely with the kings 12 huntsmen, who have many secrets of their own.

There were so many elements within this story that I liked. Snarky characters, a weird sort of found family in the 12 huntsmen, fairytale references as well as mockery, LGBTQIA rep…I was very excited to find it and to read it. The cover is also beautiful and eye catching! Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me. I found the chapters to be long and the story drawn out and some things seemed repetitive. Too many times my eyes glazed and I had to reread passages. The characters also seemed flat, they were what they were with no changes from start to finish - which is probably how it is in a 2 page fairytale but definitely shouldn’t be the case in a 400 page book. I still give it an overall 3.5, for creativity and representation and I’m sure there are readers who will enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

this book was so funny in an unexpected way. i enjoyed reading it quite a lot to be honest! i enjoyed the twist on a classic. It was ~close~ enough to the original to be recognizable, but unique enough to be interesting! I will say though i think my favorite part was the prologue portion! it had me laughing and i was excited to read the rest! like i said i hadn't anticipated it to be so witty so it was a pleasant surprise :)