A review by gee_reads_books
Cursed Princess Club Volume One by LambCat

5.0

"You never read about the princesses whose curses don't get mended completely... Or about when there are no known remedies for their curse."

Originally published on Webtoon by @LambCat, "Cursed Princess Club" tells us about Gwendolyn, the youngest princess of the Pastel Kingdom. Gwen has always felt loved by everyone around her, and her sisters, brother, and father, are extremely fond of her due to her kindness, sweet spirit, and gentleness. But when the time comes for the three Pastel princesses to meet the Plaid princes, with whom his father has marriage agreements for the three girls, Gwen overhears his fiancé, prince Frederick, saying how ugly he finds her, and how little he wishes to be anywhere near her. Upset, Gwen flees the palace and runs into the Cursed Forest..., where she stumbles upon the Cursed Princess Club, an association founded by several princesses (and one prince) whose Happy Ever Afters were disrupted by curses.

With bright colours and a very slice-of-life plot, this first volume of "Cursed Princess Club" reads like some of the best shojo mangas out there. Gwen is a darling, whose sweetness and innocence won me over from the very start, and I really loved how her family, far from rejecting her or acting distant due to her appearance, cherished and treasured her. It was really endearing to see how she wasn't being judged for her looks, and how these weren't even deemed strange or ugly by her family. Her sisters explicitly tell her that they think she's beautiful, which warmed my heart. A 10/10 for the Pastel family, in that regard!

The CPC is also an interesting group that I hope we'll get to see more of soon. Each of the members has had a different curse cast upon them, and each of them is eager to have it removed... Except for Prez, the president of the club, whose curse is anybody's guess and whose aim is to teach these young people to accept themselves as they are. I'm admittedly intrigued by her backstory, since it promises to be quite interesting! Hopefully we'll find out about it in future installments of the series.

Every episode is quite comedic, even if very important messages are being presented. First and foremost, this tells us to not judge people by their looks, and to look beyond appearances; as well as that conventional beauty isn't the only kind of beauty that exists, and that one is beautiful thanks to what they do rather than due to what they look like.

Overall, this comic tries its hardest to subvert cliché fairytale tropes, and provides an excellent story with really important messages in a light-hearted, cheerful way. Absolutely recommended!

*

Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Wattpad Books via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated here are my own.