Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - How to Find a Princess

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

16 reviews

sticky_icky's review

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emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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yaoipaddle's review

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adventurous emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book dragged on so much. I thought the romance and plot would take place in Ibarania, but it takes over 150 pages for them to even leave Makeda's hometown. Then the rest of the book is spent on some boring ass ship.

Makeda is a boring and immature romantic lead. She felt very one note. Beznaria was interesting and a far better character. I quite liked her.

The pacing was far too slow and felt like so much was just repeating the same plot point because the author wanted to drag the book out without them actually writing almost anything in Ibarania.

Boring and many times childish.

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emzhay's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was so wacky and heartfelt I loved it! The pacing is a bit weird. I wish the time at the B&B was shorter and the time on the island was longer. The resolution was rather abrupt too. I felt the end of the book didn’t clearly show Makeda and Bez being on the same page about how they felt about each other. All the same, I loved the journey and these characters and can’t wait to read about more of Alyssa Cole’s royals.

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martamae77's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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netflixismyroommate's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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morebedsidebooks's review

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slow-paced

3.0

How to Find a Princess by bestselling American author Alyssa Cole, is the second book in her Runaway Royals series and billed as a queer Anastasia retelling.

The real Anastasia is no fairy tale of course, but a 17-year-old whose life ends with revolution and murder along with her immediate family. But the question of if she could have survived, and those who claimed to be her, has sparked numerous stories in fiction over the course of the 20th century and beyond regardless of the reality. The most famous rendition probably by Marcelle Maurette. Her French play was adapted for English audiences by Guy Bolton in the 1950s, then in turn a Hollywood film, four decades later the 20th century fox animated movie, and in only the last few years back to Broadway. The US overwhelmingly has a thing for this sort of idea, but that ironically probably says more about it.

As for me I was looking for a queer romcom for a little lighter summer reading. The swoony cover caught my eye. Cole’s novel too starts entertainingly, cheeky of US pop culture and is modern. Politics are another element that often inform so many takes on Anastasia. Here segueing a history for the Mediterranean island kingdom of Ibarania among real circumstances both past and present, touching on imperialism, poking fun at monarchy and popular obsession with royals.Cole is also good at showing the interiority of her characters. Building romance with a lot of immediate belligerent sexual tension between Makeda and Beznaria and keeping to a slow burn. (Though after reading the book, I do have the question why no glasses on for the model of Bez on the cover?) The neurodivergent Bez, whose “too-muchness” is often referenced, particularly has a fun line early on in response to a personal question:

“I’m queer. I use the term pan, in part because it captures my puckish nature, but I prefer and have only dated women, with the exception of an unfortunate two-week debacle with my high school best friend Steven.”

But… and it’s a big but…beyond a tale of a lost royalty this story comes off a lot less like the comparison that is used.

I didn’t feel a strong linking with Makeda (being short, possessing a peculiar item of jewelry

Spoiler

any significance of which gets forgotten by the end

, interpretation on her name) or Beznaria (from a family with connections to the royals, an investigative agent, who isn’t entirely truthful) to characters or real figures that are a part of the mythos who have come before them. In fact, Cole seems to draw from many princess sources. Additionally, at 400 pages, near eleven hours long, the length greatly eclipses other versions of Anastasia I’ve mentioned. Typically, there is a journey with complications working the characters together with a little time plus forced proximity. Cole has a closer to two-week sea voyage starting in chapter nine which continues for just about the same number of chapters. Yet the choice is only to make a riff about any etiquette or protocol lessons. Which as acknowledged later is detrimental to Makeda who relies on careful plan making, even though her goal is to prove she isn’t royal. Instead, the ruse at play is a fake marriage. A trope I like, I recalled another wlw book featuring fake dating, a boat trip, and the Mediterranean. It too works for Cole’s characters as both have some stuff they need to work out, so a relationship push isn’t a bad development (and this also works into the twist). However, so much focus on this then leaves only two chapters for the royal mystery to really surface again with the pair finally in Ibarania. The mystery is crucial, supposed to be a hook to exploit, just like the hunt is about more than finding the truth. Usually, later sections will also involve some of the most emotionally dramatic scenes or addressing of trauma. But this goes by in a flash giving short shrift to what should be compelling aspects.

So, I completed the book feeling like I would have gotten more enjoyment out of it if the narrative had more intensity to the end. It may be inspired by Anastasia, but Alyssa Cole in drawing from the princess canon has crafted her own more distinctive contemporary queer royal fairytale.

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toffishay's review

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adventurous emotional lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was a pretty fun adventurous rom com romp. I really liked Bez and Makeda and their slow-burn romance. There is a ship journey, that honestly took up a little too much of the book for me. Their third act conflict was also frustrating, and the twist at the end fell a little flat to me.

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slayergirl3281's review

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A long lost princess, a body guard and one adventure that brings them closer then they thought they would have to be.

Makeda’s mom grew up telling her stories of how she was a long lost princess. She thought it was all fairytales. But one day Bez, an investigator from the small country of Ibarania comes to tell Makeda that it might be true.

This was a great love story with banter, forced proximity, fake dating and the bodyguard trope. Plus the slow burn leading up to the spice was 🥵

There was also wonderful rep in this book! Bipoc mc’s, and side characters. A bad ass neurodivergent pansexual investigator, and lesbian rep.

Cw/tw
Toxic parent
Toxic relationship
Ptsd
Bullying
Sexual content
Alcohol

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lola_milk's review

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lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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kharlan3's review against another edition

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(f/f, contemporary, romance). Fake marriage! Royals of fictional nations! Only one bed! A “demon” cat! A sea voyage! Hilarious grandmothers! What a fun romp this is, and delightfully narrated by Karen Chilton.

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