Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.21 AVERAGE
4.21 AVERAGE
Skyrim reference FTW! Love this series so much! Definitely subscribing!
**Editing this review now that I'm sitting at a computer and not trying to type on my phone.**
So this novel already had five stars before I even got to the Skyrim reference, but the Skyrim reference made me want to take a picture of the page and share it with everyone.
There's also a WonderWoman joke, an Xena Warrior Princess joke, a Red Sonja joke and probably a half-million other pop culture jokes in just this one novel. It's like the Deadpool movie, but about princesses and their trials and tribulations.
The entire thing is brilliant.
**Editing this review now that I'm sitting at a computer and not trying to type on my phone.**
So this novel already had five stars before I even got to the Skyrim reference, but the Skyrim reference made me want to take a picture of the page and share it with everyone.
There's also a WonderWoman joke, an Xena Warrior Princess joke, a Red Sonja joke and probably a half-million other pop culture jokes in just this one novel. It's like the Deadpool movie, but about princesses and their trials and tribulations.
The entire thing is brilliant.
I LURVE IT! Girl power and POC and humour and taking down the patriarchy and metaness and just bundles of awesome are contained in this book. Also I really want to give Sparky a huge hug because that is the cutest dragon I've ever seen. Please, authors, may I have some more? :)
"The story Disney should've been telling for the past twenty years." -- Comics Alliance
I can't agree with this observation enough. This is indeed the princess story I've always wanted.
Princeless tells the story of Adrienne, one of seven sisters locked in towers and guarded by mythical creatures waiting for their princes to come and rescue them. Adrienne was never too thrilled with the idea of being locked in a tower, and even less thrilled with waiting for some strange guy to "rescue" her. So she teams up with the dragon guarding her and sets off to save her sisters.
Adrienne is wonderful. She's tough, smart, and wants to buck the patriarchy. She has always hated the standard princess tale, and so she saves herself. The writing is smart and funny, and the characters are a lot of fun. The story is also set apart from it's Disney counterparts by the fact that Adrienne is not the typical "fair" princess. She certainly gives Tianna a run for her money.
My favorite scene has to be when Adrienne goes to find better armor. The commentary on armor for "Warrior Women" is spot-on and delightful. It also gives us the introduction to Adrienne's new friend, Bedelia.
I can't wait to continue this series and see how Adrienne and Bedelia save the day, sans any princes.
I can't agree with this observation enough. This is indeed the princess story I've always wanted.
Princeless tells the story of Adrienne, one of seven sisters locked in towers and guarded by mythical creatures waiting for their princes to come and rescue them. Adrienne was never too thrilled with the idea of being locked in a tower, and even less thrilled with waiting for some strange guy to "rescue" her. So she teams up with the dragon guarding her and sets off to save her sisters.
Adrienne is wonderful. She's tough, smart, and wants to buck the patriarchy. She has always hated the standard princess tale, and so she saves herself. The writing is smart and funny, and the characters are a lot of fun. The story is also set apart from it's Disney counterparts by the fact that Adrienne is not the typical "fair" princess. She certainly gives Tianna a run for her money.
My favorite scene has to be when Adrienne goes to find better armor. The commentary on armor for "Warrior Women" is spot-on and delightful. It also gives us the introduction to Adrienne's new friend, Bedelia.
I can't wait to continue this series and see how Adrienne and Bedelia save the day, sans any princes.
I really enjoyed the subversion of fairytale princess tropes in this, as well as the flipping of gender expectations. (I loved that Adrienne's brother was terrible at fighting and had a soft heart for his sisters)
Initially I thought some of the message was as subtle as a 2x4 but my wife reminded me of the intended audience for this story, and that younger children would be better served by non-subtle messages.
I definitely liked the book and look forward to picking up and reading the rest and discussing them with the kids.
Initially I thought some of the message was as subtle as a 2x4 but my wife reminded me of the intended audience for this story, and that younger children would be better served by non-subtle messages.
I definitely liked the book and look forward to picking up and reading the rest and discussing them with the kids.
Princeless follows the quest of Princess Adrienne to free herself and her sisters from their fate of waiting for a prince to save them from their towers. From the beginning Adrienne has rebelled against the idea of princesses being passively saved by princes, asking her mother, "Who has the kind of grudge against this beautiful princess that they would lock her in a tower?"
Adrienne decides, after finding a sword after another failed rescue attempt by a prince (one who didn't even know the definition of fair, at that), that she is going to save herself. She doesn't need a prince to save her--no princess does. She decides that not only will she save herself, but her sisters as well.
This is a cute story, for sure, but it's so much more than that. Adrienne questions a world where women are expected to be second class citizen. They're not expected to rule or hold jobs that traditionally are for men (such as Bedelia secretly smithing in her father's place). They're expected to wait for their prince and depend on men to take care of them. A very touching moment came at the end when Adrienne's mother confides in the prince that she's treated her own daughter like currency rather than the child she loved. She's been groomed to behave this way.
But this story doesn't just point out the pressures that females are expected to adhere to. The male perspective is shown through the prince, Wilcome, who tried to save Adrienne. There's a brief look at how he went to Prince Charming school when he really just wanted be a kid. He was ripped away from that to become a Prince Charming and shown how prince's act--only to find out that being a prince was harder than it was made out to be, especially when he still felt like a kid. He says no one comes to save a prince when he's locked up.
Adrienne's brother Devin presents another view. His father pretty much says that Devin isn't fit to rule his kingdom because he's soft. He expects one of his daughters to marry a strong prince who will take over. He laughs away any talk of one of his daughters ruling because that isn't their place. Devin isn't good at sword fighting, preferring poetry to fighting. And he's never allowed to forget how much of an heir he's not by his father. And I appreciate this balance being added to the story.
Yes, this is a story about gender binary, but it's not preachy. It's a cute story whose moral simply is girls can be strong and boys don't always have to tough, that boys and girls aren't boxed in by their gender. This is exactly the kind of story I want to read to my daughter. I love comics, but it's often hard to find something age appropriate. And if it is age appropriate, it's very hard to find one where the lead is a character of color.
I posted a couple of the panels on Tumblr where I had a brief exchange with the author who expressed excitement that I was reading this with a friend and because I wanted to share it with my daughter. I mentioned that she was one-part princess and one-part tomboy, and I see my daughter in this story. I did a Google search on him after that and read an interview where he said he wrote this comic for the exact same reasons that I expressed in my post (he wrote it for his daughter when she gets older). I can't wait to read more of this story.
Adrienne decides, after finding a sword after another failed rescue attempt by a prince (one who didn't even know the definition of fair, at that), that she is going to save herself. She doesn't need a prince to save her--no princess does. She decides that not only will she save herself, but her sisters as well.
This is a cute story, for sure, but it's so much more than that. Adrienne questions a world where women are expected to be second class citizen. They're not expected to rule or hold jobs that traditionally are for men (such as Bedelia secretly smithing in her father's place). They're expected to wait for their prince and depend on men to take care of them. A very touching moment came at the end when Adrienne's mother confides in the prince that she's treated her own daughter like currency rather than the child she loved. She's been groomed to behave this way.
But this story doesn't just point out the pressures that females are expected to adhere to. The male perspective is shown through the prince, Wilcome, who tried to save Adrienne. There's a brief look at how he went to Prince Charming school when he really just wanted be a kid. He was ripped away from that to become a Prince Charming and shown how prince's act--only to find out that being a prince was harder than it was made out to be, especially when he still felt like a kid. He says no one comes to save a prince when he's locked up.
Adrienne's brother Devin presents another view. His father pretty much says that Devin isn't fit to rule his kingdom because he's soft. He expects one of his daughters to marry a strong prince who will take over. He laughs away any talk of one of his daughters ruling because that isn't their place. Devin isn't good at sword fighting, preferring poetry to fighting. And he's never allowed to forget how much of an heir he's not by his father. And I appreciate this balance being added to the story.
Yes, this is a story about gender binary, but it's not preachy. It's a cute story whose moral simply is girls can be strong and boys don't always have to tough, that boys and girls aren't boxed in by their gender. This is exactly the kind of story I want to read to my daughter. I love comics, but it's often hard to find something age appropriate. And if it is age appropriate, it's very hard to find one where the lead is a character of color.
I posted a couple of the panels on Tumblr where I had a brief exchange with the author who expressed excitement that I was reading this with a friend and because I wanted to share it with my daughter. I mentioned that she was one-part princess and one-part tomboy, and I see my daughter in this story. I did a Google search on him after that and read an interview where he said he wrote this comic for the exact same reasons that I expressed in my post (he wrote it for his daughter when she gets older). I can't wait to read more of this story.
So everyone I know of who's read Princeless has LOVED it. Now, I'm right there with them! Princeless vol 1 lives up to the hype. It's smart, funny, sarcastic, and makes obvious how ridiculous and harmful things like sexism and stereotypical gendered behaviour can be. More people have been writing twists on fairy tales recently, but Princeless's presentation is flawless. It's accessible to younger audiences while offering even more amusement to adults.
Brilliantly written and playfully illustrated, this is a must-read. No hesitation on the five star rating.
Brilliantly written and playfully illustrated, this is a must-read. No hesitation on the five star rating.
This is one of those ideas, that's the classic diversion of the classic fairy tale trope. But this series does it incredibly well. My only wish is the issues were longer, because this felt more like a prologue arc than a first arc. But otherwise - its great art, a great story, and great characters!
Read for the "all ages comic" category of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. Pretty cute; I'm glad kids at my library are checking out a book about a black princess who takes down sexism.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes