Review of “The Princess Companion” by Melanie Cellier

Review of “The Princess Companion: A Retelling of The Princess and the Pea” by Melanie Cellier

I’ve decided to step into the world of Princesses and fairy tales. Author Melanie Cellier has created her own fairytale world based on retelling and reimagining classic fairy tales with a slightly more modern context but not world. As someone who enjoys classic fairy tales, I was interested in this book as a new twist on the old fairy tale of the “Princess and the Pea”. While this wasn’t what I had in mind, it turned out to be even better than I initially thought. Instead of the story being focused on a princess, it’s the story of how a commoner becomes a princess. The pea only comes into play if you’re looking for it, but it’s not fully revealed until the end. One of the things that is also implied but never fully spoken is the fact that Queen Ella, is really Cinderella from the classic story. It’s a nice little twist, and gives insight into what may have become of Cinderella after she marries her true love, Prince.

The characters in this book are fairly stereotypical but are charming and enjoyable to read. The main character Alyssa feels like a real, teenage girl that is becoming a woman and learning about politics and love. Prince Maximillian is charming and more complex than he comes off as, in terms of his feelings for Alyssa. The minor characters are also fun and charming. I love the gossip nature between Alyssa and Mathilde, who is a servant. I do wish we had got more from Alyssa’s family, and the fact that we don’t return to her aunt and cousin towards the end of the book, makes it feel like things were rushed.

Of course, a fairy tale wouldn’t be complete without a villain. I do think that the villain’s plot was not explained well and too generically evil. However, I was always intrigued by the spy plot and Alyssa helping the King to uncover the treachery.

There were a few confusions I had while reading, mainly between the use of Arcadie and ArcadiA. I thought it was a typo until I realized Arcadie is the capital of Arcadia (I had to look at the map). I think that it could have been made more clear in the text. The book could have used a bit more worldbuilding in order to really understand the political nature that was behind the whole spy subplot. As well as the geography of where everyone was traveling to and from since it takes weeks to get anywhere.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I do think that the ending was a bit rushed, and we should have had an epilogue to catch up with the new Princess. The book just ends with them getting married, which I guess is a typical fairy tale ending, but this book is supposed to be more subversive than that. Overall, I this book was a fun, easy read, and recommend it to anyone that likes Princess type stories.

My new book now on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Chimera-Prophecies.../dp/B0C4QX4RZW/

"The Chimera Prophecies" consists of eight short science fiction/dark fantasy short stories. Themes of how reality and identity shape our journey and humanity.