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A review by spiritedfaraway
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
The Prince and the Dressmaker is an absolutely beautifully drawn book. Sebastion loves wearing gorgeous dresses and sometimes feels like a princess instead of a prince. Frances is a struggling dressmaker that has always dreamed of making wonderful clothes and of being recognized. When Prince Sebastion sees one of Frances' dresses he falls in love with it immediately and offers her a job. The only problem is Sebastion isn't out and Frances can't take create for the stunning designs without the risk of outing him.
This is an amazing tale of identity (Sebastion is gender nonconforming and it is also heavily implied that Sebastion may also be genderfluid or genderqueer) and of learning to be true to yourself no matter what anyone else says and I wish I could give in 5 stars. I really wish I could because I loved it so much.
Unfortunately, I can't. I think many of the problems that I had with this graphic novel would have been erased if this book had been set in a fantasy world, or even just in an unspecified time and country, or even just a made-up country. Because my biggest issue is that the king in this book, the Prince's father, is historically this guy.
Yeah, the guy who colonized the Congo. The guy who used the forced labor of the Indigenous people to make money and ignored the horrible and brutal conditions they were forced to work in. The guy whose administration was rife with torture, murder, and other brutalities. The term crimes against humanity was coined to describe the practices of this guy's administration. Millions of people died. This was not a good man; this was a very evil man.
So, I'm not sure what to rate this or even if I do rate this.
This is an amazing tale of identity (Sebastion is gender nonconforming and it is also heavily implied that Sebastion may also be genderfluid or genderqueer) and of learning to be true to yourself no matter what anyone else says and I wish I could give in 5 stars. I really wish I could because I loved it so much.
Unfortunately, I can't. I think many of the problems that I had with this graphic novel would have been erased if this book had been set in a fantasy world, or even just in an unspecified time and country, or even just a made-up country. Because my biggest issue is that the king in this book, the Prince's father, is historically this guy.
Yeah, the guy who colonized the Congo. The guy who used the forced labor of the Indigenous people to make money and ignored the horrible and brutal conditions they were forced to work in. The guy whose administration was rife with torture, murder, and other brutalities. The term crimes against humanity was coined to describe the practices of this guy's administration. Millions of people died. This was not a good man; this was a very evil man.
So, I'm not sure what to rate this or even if I do rate this.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
Forced public outing and queerphobia