This Princess Kills Monsters: The Misadventures of a Fairy-Tale Stepsister: A Novel (The Minor Character Chronicles)

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.
“The Princess Bride meets Shrek.”—Susie Dumond, author of Bed and Breakup
“Exactly the sort of queer fairy tale for grown-ups that I have yearned to read.”—Ryka Aoki, author of Light from Uncommon Stars
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Autostraddle, Fangirlish, Reactor, Book Riot, Reading Glasses Podcast, Denver Public Library
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.
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Community Reviews
I always enjoy fairy tale adjacent books, and I'm glad to say this was no exception!
Melilot had such a distinct voice, which is definetly a strengh of the book. Catching the nods to different well-know stories, and the focus on storytelling made for a delightful reading experience
Melilot had such a distinct voice, which is definetly a strengh of the book. Catching the nods to different well-know stories, and the focus on storytelling made for a delightful reading experience
This ARC was witty and absurd in the best way.From the ancient talking lion with his crazy gender based tests, the oblivious and heartbroken prince, and those damn spider wolves that grossed me out. I had to laugh at the names of some of the monsters she faced because they were so random.I loved the concept of the 12 identical, masked huntsmen all being women and having to hide it from the annoying lion advisor. I've never read The12 Huntsmen by Grimm Brothers' so it was an interesting tale to watch play out this way. Melilot has to try to save her home and herself from someone who is out to kill her, but makes some interesting connections along the way, my favorite being with the Prince's sister. This is Tangeled, The Princess and the Pea, and a few other Princess stories + the Grimm Brothers' tales wrapped into one good satire/parody. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.