'Princess Battle Royale' is such a fun, mad, bonkers, hilarious, and clever picture book and comic - all about girl power and fairy tales and fairy tale princesses from all over, not just Europe - that I had to give it five shining stars.
It is about the WPW - World Princess Wrestling! Princesses wrestling is a global sport! They even have their own sports cards!
Fairy tale princesses are wrestlers, and they compete and try to overthrow(down) the undefeated reigning WPW champion, Swan Princess (literally a swan, and a boastful prima donna ballerina), for the Enchanted Championship Belt. They are: Rapunzel the Reaper, the Not-So-Little Mermaid, Sleeping "Leaping" Beauty, Badroulbadour (think Jasmine with the magic lamp), Cinderella Ninjarella, and Kaguya, the Moon Monarch of Mayhem (I love her).
Then there're the not-princesses: Little Red Riding Hood, the protagonist, and dark horse outside the ring, as a towel girl, until the final match... and Thumbelina. Er, I mean Ready-to-Rumble-ina.
The entirety of 'Princess Battle Royale' is chaotic, and funny and feminist as feathers. I'm sure it captures the exact feel of a WWE event - it's big, boisterous, and madcap enough. It is blooming great, a tiara-ific triumph! (I'm matching the book's pun quality).
The only things I don't like are the overused and bland gag of the princess Sleeping Beauty nodding off a lot (it's her wrestling gimmick, which... okay?), and the characterisation of Cinderella as a mean girl, who tells Little Red Riding Hood, "Just fetch the water, girl." Having a domestic slave and abuse victim say that to someone, especially a child, was certainly... a choice. In fact, most of the princesses are mean, and kind of bloodthirsty, until they learn their lesson from Red Riding Hood at the end. All the same, they are no less prideful and egotistical than Swan Princess.
Little Red is a sweet pea, though. So is Thumbelina.
They are all scrappy ladies in the ring, to be sure!
They don't need princes. They only wish to win the Enchanted Championship Belt.
'Princess Battle Royale' is a strong recommendation from me. It is far, far away from any other princess fairy tale picture book you've read before.
It's a whopping, whooping wrestling romp! It's a piping hot, potty, and dotty pun-omenon! A puns-travaganza! With a feminist princess twist (like Rapunzel's hair), and a lesson on not underestimating anyone based on their size, and how you don't have to be royalty to be special and win at anything. It's about hard work, training, and observing your obstacles and opponents.
A brand spanking new banger and banner!
'And they all lived scrappily ever after.'
Final Score: 4.5/5
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