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A review by eliza_dannie
The Secret Princess by Melanie Cellier
5.0
The Secret Princess:
I love The Goose Girl, and Cellier’s latest fairy tale retelling is beautifully done. We’re back in Arcadia, where we meet plenty of old characters from the previous two series, which made me so happy, plus plenty of new intriguing characters. This might be Cellier’s most plot heavy book in the overall series yet, but the characters are what it make it happen.
-The Plot: The plot moved at a really nice pace, so that I was always interested and taking in new information without feeling overwhelmed or bored. The story followed the plot of the original fairy tale while still keeping me plenty surprised at the different twists throughout the story. And the villain (I’ll count them as part of the plot here) might be Cellier’s best villain; they were definitely well-thought out.
-The characters: Giselle was a great protagonist. I enjoyed that she was determined without being annoying and resourceful even when she was in a tough situation. Arvin, her horse, was a great personality who I enjoyed every time he appeared, and the plethora of side characters help make the world building of the castle really come alive.
-The world building: The world building here is mainly focused on Arcadia, and I really loved how Cellier included little details from the previous books that helped make the plot and the world building very convincing.
-The romance: Giselle and Philip seemed like they went together well. The mystery of Philip’s identity fit the plot of the Goose Girl well.
Overall, I enjoyed it immensely and would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fairy tale retelling with well-done world building and a very likeable protagonist. 5/5 stars.
I love The Goose Girl, and Cellier’s latest fairy tale retelling is beautifully done. We’re back in Arcadia, where we meet plenty of old characters from the previous two series, which made me so happy, plus plenty of new intriguing characters. This might be Cellier’s most plot heavy book in the overall series yet, but the characters are what it make it happen.
-The Plot: The plot moved at a really nice pace, so that I was always interested and taking in new information without feeling overwhelmed or bored. The story followed the plot of the original fairy tale while still keeping me plenty surprised at the different twists throughout the story. And the villain (I’ll count them as part of the plot here) might be Cellier’s best villain; they were definitely well-thought out.
-The characters: Giselle was a great protagonist. I enjoyed that she was determined without being annoying and resourceful even when she was in a tough situation. Arvin, her horse, was a great personality who I enjoyed every time he appeared, and the plethora of side characters help make the world building of the castle really come alive.
-The world building: The world building here is mainly focused on Arcadia, and I really loved how Cellier included little details from the previous books that helped make the plot and the world building very convincing.
-The romance: Giselle and Philip seemed like they went together well. The mystery of Philip’s identity fit the plot of the Goose Girl well.
Overall, I enjoyed it immensely and would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a fairy tale retelling with well-done world building and a very likeable protagonist. 5/5 stars.