Princess Princess Ever After

The premise is great: Progressive feminism with characters who don't conform to hetero-normative standards of society. Themes of pro LBGT+ without being preachy or judgy, and children can interpret the extent of their "friendship" how they want. A princess meets another princess; one princess is brave and masculine. The other is plus sized and more feminine. They resolve their conflicts with the outside world not with violence and bloodshed as in typical fairy tale books, but with ingenuity and kindness. There's basically something for everyone here.

So what's the problem? Well these two princesses also encounter a prince, who doesn't fit into gender normative roles. He's weak and frail, meek and cowardly. He's not the macho hero that everyone expects him to be. So what do these to princesses do when they find a fellow traveler off the beaten path of society's expectations?

They pick on him! They tease him and torment him relentlessly. He doesn't even get a real name, they just call him "Butthead" for the entire book. It's confusing and frankly unnecessary to the story. Feminism can be about raising women up without stomping men down in the process; unfortunately this book misses that point by a mile.

Other than that part, it's a great children's book. In the same way that other than the shark, Jaws is a great children's movie.

Was a great book, until they met the prince and called him butthead the entire book. I thought this book would be good for my 7 year old daughter, until I got half way through the book and realized that the princesses become bullies and the book really teaches kids that it is OK to pick on others that are different from them.

I truly wanted to like this book however at the end of the day, it's teaches the same thing most of us are trying to avoid.

I had high hopes for this to be a great little fantasy book my nieces and nephews could enjoy that would give them new perspectives. Of course I had to read it first to be sure it would be suitable. The illustrations are pretty good, but that's about it. The story is meaningless, merely a vehicle to carry the agenda. It's far too transparent and there isn't really a message beyond inclusivity. The alternative haircut and all-too-convenient plot make it a very dull read. It's a shame, because I am gay myself and my nieces and nephews are very religiously sheltered and don't know anything about it, so I was thinking this could be a good book for easing them into the idea. But I don't think they could make it past the first few pages, honestly. If you're not intensely into queer theory and that whole pride parade lifestyle, I don't think you'll really find much to enjoy about this book. If you are, you'll probably love it and should buy it. Heck, buy it anyway, we need to support work like this even if it's mediocre so more LGBT works will be published. Just don't expect much from this one. Hopefully the author will produce better quality works in the future.

Sweet story of 2 princesses who are strong and competent in different ways. A cute, non-pushy way to show kids that strong independent women, mixed racial couples, and two girls falling in love are all normal.

Loved this for my little 4 yr old. She is a huge fan of princess stories and I have desperately wanted to show her a princess story that I can identify with. It was beautiful.

I look in the reviews of this book and see rather extreme view points. I feel as though the positive reviews stem from the fact that this is story about two lesbian princesses and sadly doesn't seem to praise the book for any other reason. On the other hand I see the negative reviews and mostly see mostly see raging homophobes who judge for the same reason but with a more negative effect. What I am trying to say is people are judging this book's concept rather then as a book, and as a book it is pretty bad. (Granted me giving it a 1/5 is a little extreme, but I just thought it would have been the best way to share my thoughts on the book.)

To understand this book it is important is to remember the genre of the "Meta-Fairy Tales". The meta fairy-tale is a popular genre that not a lot of people seem to notice, even though everyone knows. From the popular broadway musical Into the Woods, blockbuster film franchises like Shrek, hit TV shows like Once Upon a Time, and even other comic series like Fables. Princess Princess falls into that same genre as those works of taking classic fairy tale tropes and telling or warping them into a different perspective.

Princess Princess is a bad meta-fairy tale, and you can see that on about the first page. Sadie is trapped in a tower hoping someone will rescue her and that is when Amira comes riding up. Sadie is mistakens Amira for a prince, and immediately turns her down. It's pretty clear that the author thinks that because Sadie and Amira are both girls that is a clever subversion of trope, but it isn't. Amira is a classic fairy tale prince, in every conceivable matter. But it just so happens that she is a girl. In recent years there has been a resurgence of female characters being more capable, and a lot of time these female character adopt masculine traits that they are just men. Amira is just filling the catalyst for the prince in a fairy tale.

Speaking of Amira and Sadie they are very annoying characters. Both of them are so smug and self-righteous to the point I wanted to stop reading. Not just because it was annoying and made them thoroughly unlikable, but it also took any sense of tension that I knew they were never in real stakes in the story. Amira and Sadie (especially Amira) feel more like vessels then they do characters. You never get a sense of depth of who they are, but rather a sense of what they are.

I'll admit, when I first heard of this book I was intrigued by the premise. When I decided to read it I had a good sense of what I hoped it was like, and also a fear of what I thought it was going to be. Sadly it checked out on everything I feared it would be. An overly simplistic understanding of meta and smug unlikable protagonists. It's clear Katie O'neill thought of the premise first, and the story second. It didn't feel like she had a story that she just had to tell, but rather a half-baked idea that she slapped together. Now if anyone would like to try again with this premise, I definitely would love to check it out. Hopefully it will be better then this.

PS, to those hating on this book for "having lesbians" in it. Get over yourselves, and understand times have changed. And to those praising it for "having lesbians" challenge yourselves more, and try to look at your art with more nuance.

My students LOVED this book. I teach 5th grade and I quietly slipped this book into the graphic novels section of my classroom library. It has been making the rounds so quickly!

Students LOVED the characters, subtle jokes and true strength shown throughout the tale. The characters are relatable, but still great examples of diversity, strength and kindness.

Just for clarification, this book is about two female princesses that fall in love and get married. Better for everyone to know this before they buy it and possibly have the same problem that we did.

This is a fun, engaging story about Princess Amira (who didn't want to be stuck in the typical Princess role, so when her brother was like "well what else are you going to do?" she runs off with her Unicorn to be heroic) and Princess Sadie (who's trapped in a tower, somewhat reluctantly, and suffers from low self-esteem and body conscious issues). After Amira saves Sadie (and they agree it was a good thing Amira did), they decide to go off and do heroic things. Their first heroic act? Saving a Prince who really didn't want to be a stereotypical damsel-saving Prince anyhow.

There's a lot to recommend this book - the artwork is bright and cheerful, with a little bit of creepy for the villain, but overall nothing scarier then what you'd see in kid shows today. Amira has a kick-butt hairstyle and looks like the dashing hero she wants to be. Sadie is fluffy and adorable, only somewhat mollified throughout the story that Amira sees her for her, not for what she looks like. The two gradually fall in love through their combined adventures, with Amira understanding that being a fluffy Princess doesn't mean you have to be weak and Sadie understanding that strength isn't always in how well you wield a sword.

The ending, in the fight against the villain who trapped Sadie in the Tower to begin with, broke my heart a little..before making me laugh because sometimes you really should be careful what you say.

The total lack of judgement in this graphic novel - which is easily for 8+ I'd say - is so refreshing. The only person who makes judgements is the villain and well its a villain, what do you expect? The Prince doesn't comment on Amira or Sadie after he realizes they won't comment on his choices in life, Amira doesn't think less of Sadie for wanting to be safe and secure (even if it meant hiding in a tower), Sadie doesn't comment on the fact Amira didn't want to wear dresses or get married for political strength. They even run across a giant who is rampaging and Sadie diffuses the situation without doing anything other then being herself.

More graphic novels need to be available for kids - they need to see that everyone has something to contribute and being yourself doesn't always mean being labeled.

Princess Princess is adorable. It's a short story in which two princesses meet and embark on an adventure to overcome their own personal obstacles. Some have made a big deal about the pro gay message, and while it is in there it's very subtle. The real strength of the book is in showing that you don't have to conform to roles that people may want for you. This is a great message for any young person.

Highly recommended.