This book was so much fun! I was smiling by the second paragraph and giggling by the second page. I loved all of the characters (even the villains) and thought the plot was a wonderful retelling of an underrated fairy tale that added just enough of its own elements. The overall feel of the story is incredibly charming and atmospheric. It reads like someone recounting their pear-shaped road trip (while maybe going on tangents related to their origin story) while still packing the emotional punch of hearing a fairy tale and absorbing all of its life lessons. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys fairy tale retellings, or anyone who is looking for a light, fast read with lovable characters and plenty of support all around (whether friends, family, or found family).

Rating: 2.5

Everything about this was just ok at best. It was sort of interesting in the beginning. But the more it went on, the less I cared. I didn't care about the romance,.the humor was not for me, and the plot felt all over the place.

I’m a bit confused why this was labeled lesbian anywhere, but this was delightful queer book! Fundamentally a novel about finding your voice and steeling yourself against your own self doubt, this was whimsical, hilarious, and charming. LOVED IT

rep: queer characters, trans man LI, disability rep

spice: none

I enjoyed reading this book. What stood out to me was how interwoven various well known fairytale stories kept showing up in the story. The familiarity of various fairytale stories and how they were span into Merillot's story felt more like a cocktail something familiar more than a retelling.

Melilot was a joy to hanging out with, what I would have like is to explore more of her relationship with her stepmom. Throughout the story Melliot shares her grievances has about her relationship with her stepmom. However when she reunited with her stepmom, it felt short for me. I would have appreciated their reunion to be explored more. Since, Melliot does share a couple of times throughout the story, how her stepmom has influenced her life and who she is as a person.

Merlilot Stepmom was my favourite. In the few moments that she shows up in the story I wanted to know more of her. Who she is a person, how she rules her kingdom, how did she end up on the throne.

The reason why the villain did what they did, at first I was like "seriously, you did all that to get this". They did feel like an archetypal villain and the more I let the story meld after I had finished reading it, I appreciated them for just being evil. Even though they never saw what they did as being villainous. (Kinda remind me of being focused on your mission that you might end up not being aware of other atrocities you might cause for accomplishing your goal).

I would recommend this book if someone is in the mood of a story with low stakes, soft romance, hints of mummy issues and a collage of familiar fairytales.

Rating: 3.5

Thank you Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. And thank you Netgalley.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the arc of This Princess Kills Monsters. This was hilariously unserious and fun to read. A new take on fairytales with LGBTQ+ representation and the hint of the Brothers Grimm’s darkness.

⭐️3.75

First off, I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group-Random House| Dial Press Trade Paperback and author Ry Herman for allowing me to read this book, This Princess Kills Monsters, via Netgalley. All opinions following are my own.

Before really getting into the nitty gritty of this review, I would like to preface it by saying this novel is SATIRE. If readers go into it with a mindset that this is going to be a "normal" fairytale, they will be SORELY disappointed. This novel satirically mocks EVERY generalization about fairytales. Now, with that out of the way....

This fairytale begins with a prologue setting up the premise of the story to come. It explains the premise of the original fairytale and then explains how the whole story isn't known, and now someone from the inside is going to tell their story as one of the main characters.

The fairytale's main character is the narrator, Melilot. She is a princess and amateur sorceress who is being commanded to wed King Gervase by her stepmother, the Queen of Skalla. Melilot is not your average princess, though. On her journey to the Kingdom of Taillaz, her enchanted carriage falls to ruins, and she is attacked by monsters who look to be half-spider and half-wolf. She is saved by a group of masked huntsmen, who are all identical, but each seems to have a different power. They don't trust her, but they still accompany her to the castle. On the way, she gets to know a huntsman named Sam and develops an attraction to him. Knowing she can not act on the attraction, though, she attempts to bury her feelings.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, King Gervase is confused because prior to his engagement to Melilot, he was betrothed to his one true love, Jacqueline. However, he promised his father, on his father's deathbed, that he would marry Melilot to protect their kingdom, as they had been suffering from attacks that killed both his older brothers, and eventually his father. Knowing Skalla to have magic, that was the only way he could think to protect Taillaz.

What could go wrong (or right) in this contemporary fairytale?

🌟3.5 Stars🌟
This comedic twist on Grimm’s The Twelve Huntsmen is perfect for lovers of Ella Enchanted and other fairy tale reimaginings. My favorite part of this story was by far the off the charts absurdity. The banter between all of the characters was executed so well. I especially loved the dynamic between the sisters and their spouses.

I think what kept this from being a four star read was the relationship with Angelique being underdeveloped. The book is marketed like we’ll have romance with both her and one of the huntsmen, but Angelique is only in like three scenes by the time it’s pretty obvious that the huntsman is endgame. If you go into the book knowing that this isn’t a queer love triangle then I think you won’t be as disappointed.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cute and funny fairytale mashup. Melilot is likable and the side characters while numerous do stay consistent in their motivations. There’s a solid happily ever after for all if you are looking for a light read.

This book had so much potential, and I was really excited to start it! The premise drew me in right away, and I genuinely loved the main character—her sarcasm and humor were standout elements that kept me engaged even when the plot lost a bit of steam. Unfortunately, the story tried to juggle a lot of different elements, and in doing so, didn’t fully develop most of them. Some of the emotional beats and romance felt rushed, and the ending—especially involving her stepmother—wrapped up a bit too quickly for my taste. Still, the voice of the protagonist and her wit were definite highlights, and I’d love to see more of her in future stories with stronger pacing and development

This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman was a super fun time.
I was hooked from the beginning!
It was amazing and engaging. 
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style. 
The characters were all very well developed . 
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

This had really great bones.

I think that it was doing many good things, and the queerness of the book is delicious is I want the loveliness of the queerness of the book to be highlight.

However, it does kind of get bogged down with a few bits of the world building, since it's told in fairytales, and makes jokes and references to some fairytales, sometimes its hard to pinpoint the hard limits of the world and magic. The writing style keeps the reader at arms length the whole time, which I feel is by design. It was to keep the "teehee haha fairytale things are so ridiculous, aren't they?" and the commentary on societal norms, but with the addition of sarcasm, it was really hard to dig into the characters and really connect with them. So with all that said, I want to enjoy the queerness of the book, and the relationship that the characters are having, but it's really hard to do that when I don't know the characters enough to even feel like we're invested in their relationships.

There will be some who will really love this writing style, and will absolutely love this, but I acknowledge that it was a little muddy for me.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for an e-copy.

This was chaotic fairy tale goodness in the best way. It’s technically a fairytale retelling, littlebit of evefrythin woven in there with dragons, enchanted mirrors, goose curses. All of the good fairytale stuffs!
Melilot was a great snarky FMC, and her unhinged fairy sister-in-law totally stole the show.
The humor landed for me, and I loved the queer joy throughout (trans love interest, sapphic vibes, no big deal). Romance wasn’t the strongest part—it felt undercooked. But overall, if you like your fantasy unserious, feminist, and full of weird little creatures, this one’s a blast.

4.75⭐️ This was such an amusing read! I will say it is an overload of fairytale borrowings, but in the best way. I love how the author was able to modify and make certain stories work into the plot but also the chaos of having nearly every little nod to countless fairytales was such a fun ride. The humour or satire definitely gives The Princess Bride, Shrek, and Ella Enchanted vibes.

All of the characters in this book were so unique, in my opinion too. I love how Melilot’s stepsisters were not actually evil and genuinely loved and helped each other. The LGBTQ+ representation was also a cool twist to the classic fairytales. Especially Gnoflwhogir. What a character and juxtaposition to being a fairy princess! I loved her and she needs her own book asap 😂 The reluctant yet endearing found family Melilot also made reminded me of the seven dwarves in Snow White!

My only critique is that it took a while for there to be a real ‘conflict’. There was the mystery of trying to find out who was trying to assassinate Melilot, but I felt like things got sidetracked a lot with all the ridiculous (yet amazing) fairytale satire.

I did love the ending and the relationship Melilot realizes with her mother. It rounded out the story so well.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and The Dial Press for this eARC!

Princess Melilot is used to danger after being sent on many an impossible quest by her somewhat wicked stepmother. However, when she is engaged to a king she has never met, she finds herself the target of various assisnation attempts enroute to meeting her husband to be. She is rescued by a group of twelve almost identical masked huntsmen dressed in green during the first attempt and then finds herself wrapped up in the political machinations of her fiance's kingdom. As she attempts to discover the identiy of her assasin, Melilot begins to fall for the nicest of these odd huntsman which is a problem because she is still engaged.....

'This Princess Kills Monsters' is based on a lesser known fairy tale called the 'Tale of the Twelve Hunters' and fear not, you do get a brief summary of the original tale at the beginning of the book. I like that we have a fairy tale retelling of a lesser known story and one that is hilariously irreverant with the use of fairy tale tropes. Its reminds me of 'Little Thieves' in the best way possible but with less emotional trauma haha.

Honestly, this book was an absolutely fun and delightful read. The plot is a bit chaotic and the world is very chaotic. Yet Herman makes it all work while still giving the story a lot of heart. The main romance between Melilot and Sam was super sweet and wholesome. The spice was closed door which honestly I am perfectly fine with. All of the side characters really enhanced the story (including the antagonist) and it was obvious that Herman was having fun with riffing on the supporting characters from the original fairy tale. I do want to shout out Melilot's sisters and in-laws as a highlight because having a protagonist with a loving and supportive family is so nice. Also they were all hilarious and uniquely eccentric.

"This Princess Kills Monsters' is romantasy and fairy tale retellings done right and everyone should read it.

Reviews going live on Goodreads, Storygraph, Fable and Tiktok on 6/24.

Thank you to Random House | Dial Press and Netgalley for the eARC - I always appreciate the chance to read and review early!

This Princess Kills Monsters is a funny book for me - it is one that I've attempted to read and keep putting down, but I am being SO stubborn about it because I'm determined that this recipe will work for me: I usually love fairytale retellings or styles, with queer rep, and a lot of humor. But for some reason this was just not working for me! The funny thing is this is a book that I will still continue to recommend to other readers and friends in the hopes that it finds its audience, because we truly do need more books like this out in the world and because other readers will absolutely adore it.

I think for me the humor was just not hitting, which is a difficult thing to achieve anyway - humor is SO subjective, it's not going to work for everyone. I otherwise enjoyed the worldbuilding and the characters, I just was having a hard time staying immersed in the story.

I rated This Princess Kills Monsters 3 stars out of stubbornness (because I swear there's nothing actually wrong with this book, it's me!!!) and because I'm going to be actively recommending it to others, regardless of my DNF.

This Princess Kills Monsters follows Melilot, a low-level sorceress who is the stepdaughter of the great Queen and all powerful sorceress. It’s a mash-up between multiple fairytales such as the Twelve Huntsmen, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and speaks in parts about others.

It was a wild ride following this story, and the imagination that this author has is truly incomparable. The great thing about this book is I could vividly imagine the story while I was reading, not to mention it was adventurous and hilarious.

It isn’t just about the fairytale ending with a happy ending. It talks about family, true family, and learning more about yourself. Melilot believed she was lesser than her sisters and that they thought so too, but throughout the story her sisters stuck by her and supported her the whole way.

The whole bunch were crazy, but I loved them all. The writing of this story was extremely impressive and I found myself lost in it. It’s a wonderfully written LGBTQ+ fairytale.

I truly loved this book and it is one of my more favorite of the year. I think it hit me right where I wanted to with the perfect blend of Grimm's Fairy Tales and satire.
I was unfamiliar with the story of the 12 huntsmen but I was glad this book retold the story so we would know the background. We are then thrown into a fantastical world of sphinxes and riddles, girls with magically growing hair, and step sisters who are far more heroic and kind than other fairy tales have lead us to believe .
Princess Melilot is fairly normal unless she is stressed or anxious and then her hair can grow at an incredibly rate. Its certainly not a sought after skill like her step sister Jonquil who seems to be a fairly fierce leader and rides dragons or her other step-sister Callie who is friends with jut about all animals and can do a host of other skills too. No, Melilot is fairly normal and unassuming so it is surprising when her step-mother tells her she is to travel to a distant land to marry a king she's never met.
There's lots of fun and silly magic as well as quirky quests and puzzles to solve. As with the original Huntsman tale, we have ladies who dress as men and some very odd gender tests. I love Melilot and how relatable she is. She's not "the best" at anything but she is determined and brave. She is full of heart and humor and I am so glad I picked this up. All of the characters are really well crafted and I think if you enjoy whimsical retellings and imaginative satire, you may find some fun in this one.

I am very grateful for the ARC of this novel. However, I sadly had to DNF. I really tried to give this book a chance, especially since so many other reviews spoke so highly. But I just could not get past the writing style. It was far too casual and familiar with the reader. I found myself cringing and often sighing out loud at the humor.

If satirical, rather modern humor in fantasy is your cup of tea feel free to give this book a chance! It’s very much my personal feelings towards this writing style and story archetype.

The cover is stunning and I will always love seeing new takes on fairytales. It just didn’t click with me in this novel :,)

Unfortunately the writing style/humor was not my cup of tea at all. I do think there is an audience for This Princess Kills Monsters that would enjoy this novel more than I did.

I received an ARC from Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Dial Press Trade Paperback via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I love a twist on a fairytale, so I had high hopes going into this. This Princess Kills Monsters did not disappoint in the slightest! It was funny, it was heartfelt, it was a celebration of the fairytales we have grown up hearing with the most delightful twists. Melilot's voice as a character was so well-developed, it felt like she was sitting next to me, telling me the story. The plot moved at the best pace, keeping things interesting while spending enough time on certain scenes for readers to get the full emotional weight. Each of the side characters were well-developed in their own right, and added so much to the story. I can't wait to see what Ry Herman writes next, as I'm sure it'll be great!