Quick Synopsis – 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.

Song This Reminds Me Of – 1950 by King Princess

Publication Date – June 17, 2025

Bookshop Link – This Princess Kills Monsters a book by Ry Herman – Bookshop.org US (Disclosure – I get a small commission if you order using my link)

Content Notes – There is some violence against fairy tale creatures, but don’t worry they’re the bad guys. There is also misogyny and sexism with a little bit of homophobia thrown in for fun. Most of the homophobia is off page and occurs as a mention to the past. There is death of a parent (off-page) and mention of previous stillbirth and death of a child.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5 stars

Review – I love a good fairy tale re-telling and this book has a lot of different Grimm Fairytales throughout. The main character Melilot, has a sort of evil stepmother and two very not evil sisters (one step and one half). Melilot is the awkward middle child, both of her birth parents are dead, and she doesn’t have as much magical prowess as her sisters. The only thing Melilot is good at, is rapidly growing her hair. Which isn’t as useful as you think.

When Melilot is sent away to be married to a prince she’s never met, she is chagrined to say the least. Of course she’s just a pawn in her stepmother’s schemes. Melilot is traveling to meet her betrothed when her carriage is attacked by spider-wolves and 12 nearly identical huntsmen rescue her. From here Melilot learns that the kingdom is plagued by vicious beast hybrids. Melilot is determined to find her own way and she develops a sweet relationship with Sam, one of the huntsmen and definitely not her fiancé.

This book was a little chaotic at times, there was too much shoehorning of different fairytale pieces. At times it felt like a useless reference to either point out that Melilot was from a far more magical kingdom or that the author had done their research and could pull references out of nowhere. The actual plot lines of the story were good, and I enjoyed the resolution. The relationships all felt really organic, I loved the push pull between Melilot and her family. There was a lot of conflict that centered on Melilot feeling like she wasn’t good enough and I enjoyed that even though she felt unworthy, she never stopped trying. There was a layer of complexity to this novel that was surprising. I liked the queer characters and that it was normal for the most part. Though there was mention of homophobia or at least coming to terms with a character’s queerness, there wasn’t any on page bashing or outright rejection.

I also loved the tropes that were included. There was everything from only a true princess can feel a pea through a mattress to True Love’s First Kiss. It was fun to see how these were used either in a character’s favor or against them. Overall, this book was a little chaotic, but I enjoyed the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.