When it comes to concept, this book shines. You can tell that Bayron put a lot of love and care into how she told the story for a modern audience.

I found myself reading through the book quickly, and I just couldn’t put it down. I’ll be honest—it took a few chapters to love the story, however the writing is fast-paced enough to keep momentum. I’ll admit that I originally envisioned the setting to be somewhat akin to Far Far Away in the Shrek universe, but only in the way that the kingdom seemed to have fairy-tale paraphernalia everywhere. ANYWAY, that notion faded away once the story kicked into gear.

Some have claimed that it’s heavy-handed in its theme of smashing the patriarchy, but I ate it up. I wouldn’t even call it heavy-handed, because the themes ring so true. Additionally, I predicted much (though not all) of the twists—I still loved it. Predictability, as I’ve said in other reviews, isn’t a deal breaker for me, as long as those predictions feel like moments of triumph upon being right. This book checked that box for me.

What I loved:
* unapologetically queer black protagonist who was empathetic and took no shit. I loved Sophia.
* imaginative retelling of a classic story. Raises the question: what would the aftermath of any of our “beloved” princess stories be? It even seems like there may be room for more of this premise in the same universe
* fast-paced and engrossing
* Constance. Also a great character (and the relationship between her and Amina was great)

Things That Could Have Been Better:
* world-building. Again, I went from thinking we were in a tongue-in-cheek, Shrek-sequel setting, to realizing it was more of a gritty world. Some more grounding would have been so interesting. I feel like it also would have improved the movement through space. I kept scratching my head at how they were moving from place to place when the descriptions seemed contrary. I love book maps