A review by paradoxically
Nobody's Princess by Esther M. Friesner

2.0

Nobody's Princess is a cute story. Shallow, a wandering plot, meh-ish characterization... it's still cute. That's pretty much all you can say about it. Helen is an interesting character as she grows up, but she comes off rather selfish (which isn't all that bad), and she always gets her way. All of the female characters are rather strong, which isn't a bad thing to see, but it was rather... hm. Like instead of being equal with men, they're written as better, only with added bonus of the men beating them down. Which I get, I really do, but it just rang very shallow to me.

The plot wandered. The first half is about Helen growing up and being cute and spunky and oh so very determined to be able to beat her brothers into the ground (well, learn how to fight, heh). The second half was about her journey to Mykenae, meeting Atalanta, and trying to participate in the hunt for the Calydonian boar. Then it's about the Pythia and sailing off to her next adventure. No central plot line other than Helen wanting to go on adventures like her brothers.

Ah, another thing that bothered me, the glamorization of these adventures. Yes, they're exciting, but they're also hard and dirty and people die. Seems like the author just sort of skips all the bad bits and goes straight for fun and exciting. There are some hard moments, but it never happens to Helen. She pretty much just leads a charmed life.

All in all, shallow. It's cute, but shallow. 2 stars.