A review by ellianamaselli
The Mystery Princess by Melanie Cellier

2.0

'"The beauty of true love is that it’s freely given. You don’t have to earn it. All you have to do is have the courage to accept it."'

It was fine. Honestly, I felt about the same way here as I felt about [b:A Captive of Wing and Feather|50838459|A Captive of Wing and Feather A Retelling of Swan Lake (Beyond the Four Kingdoms, #5)|Melanie Cellier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567770486l/50838459._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73266160]. I will now give you two good reasons why.

Exhibit A: All the characters came across flat. Especially Percy. That boy coulda been replaced with a charming brick and the story wouldn’t’ve changed (which is probably due to his character development supposedly occurring "off-screen"). And while Daria did have character development, it was incredibly similar to that of Adelaide a few books prior (except Adelaide's was handled better).

Even though I didn't care for [b:A Captive of Wing and Feather|50838459|A Captive of Wing and Feather A Retelling of Swan Lake (Beyond the Four Kingdoms, #5)|Melanie Cellier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567770486l/50838459._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73266160] (mostly because the romance felt forced), I liked the individual characters in that book much more than in this one.

"'I thought love increased the fear, but it’s love that defeats fear. Love is the foundation that lets us weather whatever storms come our way. True love sees us just as we are and loves us anyway...Our fears can take different forms. And sometimes it’s not that we fear to love others, it’s that we’re afraid of not being enough to earn their love in return."'

Exhibit B: Despite all this, I did love the moral. As I said before, it was incredibly similar to that explored in [b:A Captive|50838459|A Captive of Wing and Feather A Retelling of Swan Lake (Beyond the Four Kingdoms, #5)|Melanie Cellier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567770486l/50838459._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73266160], but I will never get tired of "love conquering fear" and "memento mori" themes.

'"Of course, death is always waiting for us, but what’s the point of preserving life if it means giving up any chance of living it?"'

All-in-all, I'm glad I read it: it was fine. (I doubt [a:Melanie Cellier|14830176|Melanie Cellier|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1550816755p2/14830176.jpg] could ever write a bad book.) But it's fair to say this was my least favorite in the Four Kingdoms universe so far.

However, I'm not really in the mood for a fairytale retelling/romance right now, which probably influenced my feelings here more than I realized. So take this review with a grain of salt.

I think I'll try reading a more complex sci-fi/fantasy for a while... just to give myself some more variety. That way, I'll be more apt to enjoy [b:The Desert Princess|58018433|The Desert Princess A Retelling of Aladdin (Return to the Four Kingdoms, #3)|Melanie Cellier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620770096l/58018433._SY75_.jpg|90921039] when I get to it.

Thank you for coming to my TED-talk.

-Elliana Maselli
Wednesday, 23 February 2022
12:06PM


reviews for books in this universe

The Four Kingdoms:
Book 1: The Princess Companion: A Retelling of The Princess and the Pea
Book 2: The Princess Fugitive: A Reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood
Book 3: The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin
Book 4: The Princess Game: A Reimagining of Sleeping Beauty
Book 5: The Princess Search: A Retelling of The Ugly Duckling

Beyond the Four Kingdoms
Book 1: A Dance of Silver and Shadow: A Retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Book 2: A Tale of Beauty and Beast: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast
Book 3: A Crown of Snow and Ice: A Retelling of The Snow Queen
Book 4: A Dream of Ebony and White: A Retelling of Snow White
Book 5: A Captive of Wing and Feather: A Retelling of Swan Lake
Book 6: A Princess of Wind and Wave: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid

Return to the Four Kingdoms
Book 1: The Secret Princess: A Retelling of The Goose Girl
Book 2: The Mystery Princess: A Retelling of Cinderella
Book 3: The Desert Princess: A Retelling of Aladdin