Quick Synopsis

A princess with a mostly useless magical talent takes on horrible monsters, a dozen identical masked heroes, and a talking lion in a quest to save a kingdom—and herself—in this feminist fairy tale satire.

Publisher’s Synopsis

Someone wants to murder Princess Melilot. This is sadly normal.

Melilot is sick of being ordered to go on dangerous quests by her domineering stepmother. Especially since she always winds up needing to be rescued by her more magically talented stepsisters. And now, she’s been commanded to marry a king she’s never met.

When hideous spider-wolves attack her on the journey to meet her husband-to-be, she is once again rescued—but this time, by twelve eerily similar-looking masked huntsmen. Soon she has to contend with near-constant attempts on her life, a talking lion that sets bewildering gender tests, and a king who can’t recognize his true love when she puts on a pair of trousers. And all the while, she has to fight her growing attraction to not only one of the huntsmen, but also her fiancé’s extremely attractive sister.

If Melilot can’t unravel the mysteries and rescue herself from peril, kingdoms will fall. Worse, she could end up married to someone she doesn’t love.

Book Review

This Princess Kills Monsters is an enchanting feminist retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ The Twelve Huntsmen that also borrows bits and pieces from all your favorite fairytales. Princess Melilot spends her days going on nonsensical quests and solving annoying puzzles amidst her two stepsisters. When her stepmother commands Melilot to marry a king, she must set off on a journey to meet her husband-to-be in a kingdom far away. However, before she arrives, Melilot encounters some truly bizarre obstacles that leave her fighting for her life. 

I was looking for a novel that would provide a break from reality without weighing me down with reminders of all this world’s issues. And This Princess Kills Monsters was the perfect book to read for this purpose!

This Princess Kills Monsters is a delightful, low-stakes story set in a fairytale world filled with silly magic and intriguing characters. To give you an idea of this wildly unserious and hilarious book: Princess Meliot is a relatable protagonist whose magical powers primarily consist of growing her hair. Her biggest nemeses in this narrative are spider-wolves. This novel is filled with fun, flawed characters – heroes and villains alike. I quickly devoured this queer story, reveling in its sartorial feminist spin on stories we have heard a million times. My only wish is that Disney will hire Ry Herman to remake all of its classic movies to be funnier with strong, kickass female protagonists.