Cybils Review: PRINCESS PRINCESS EVER AFTER

HOW CUTE IS THAT DRAGON AAAAAH

Synopsis: This is not your average damsel-in-distress princess story. For one thing, the rescuer of the princess stuck in the tower is...another princess, a brave and determined one with cool hair on her own quest to prove herself.

For another, the princesses end up being the ones to go on and rescue a prince. But really: who needs a prince at that point, right? Don't worry, he has a role, too; just not the one you might expect from the old-school fairy tales. Princess Princess Ever After was one of the Cybils finalists this year for Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novels, and it's a fun and funny story that overturns the traditional fairy-tale tropes. Almost all of them, anyway--everyone still lives happily ever after, but the take-away here is that not everyone has to have the SAME old ever after.

Observations: Not everyone is into princess stories or fantasy adventure, but this one is definitely action-packed enough to please readers who do enjoy a good fantasy.

Warning: spoilers ahead...(though the title of the book already hints at the ending anyway...so maybe the spoilers aren't that spoilery). 

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Young readers will enjoy the humor and hijinks aspect, and the little pudgy dragon who saves the day is adorable. It was a cute twist to have the princesses rescue the prince, and then marry each other in the end—empowering and LGBT-positive as well as body-positive (the two princesses are different shapes and sizes), with a main character of color, so bonus points for diversity. It wasn't an incredibly deep story, but it was fun.

In terms of the graphic storytelling, I noticed a few minor issues with pacing and readability here and there, but the art was colorful and cute, especially if you are a fan of the manga style of character art (I'm really not, but I don't necessarily hold that against a perfectly entertaining book :)).

Conclusion: This is a great title to hand to young people who like fairy tales, and I can see it having reluctant-reader appeal, too, with its bright colors and silly humor.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. You can find PRINCESS PRINCESS EVER AFTER by Katie O'Neill at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!