The Self-Sufficient Princess

by Sanguine Addams

Overview

A princess named Nightingale may be the only princess to lock herself away in a tower. Just shy of her eighteenth birthday, a dragon arrives to inform her that suitors from faraway lands are coming to ask for her hand in marriage. According to tradition, she is to be engaged on her eighteenth birthday and become a fully empowered princess. Nightingale wants none of this. With the help of her new dragon friend, the princess wrestles with the annoyance of moronic men trying to woo her and the struggles of being thrust into adulthood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781961075337
Publisher:	Amazon Book Marketing Pros
Publication date:	05/08/2023
Pages:	370
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

The author is a real estate title agent currently living in Pennsylvania. She is the mother of three daughters and the grandmother of one grandson. Her husband of thirty-five years is a railroad conductor.

Editorial Reviews

2023-07-14
Addams presents a modern YA fairy tale in which a princess deals with suitors, dragons, and approaching adulthood.

Sometime before her 18th birthday, Princess Nightingale—“Gale” for short—of the land of This-and-That chose to move to a tower at the edge of the woods. She needed her own space to stay up late playing an online game called Scabs of Destiny and then sleep until noon—or whenever her magic mirror, Reflexa, awakens her. The idea of becoming a responsible adult was already daunting, and then Wrathnarok, Harbinger of Doom, shows up. The large dragon lets Gale know that she’s about to receive several suitors hoping to win her hand. Gale doesn’t take this news well: “You OK, kid?” asks Wrathnarok. “You look like a puppy trying to bite a football.” Traditionally, a princess presents her husband-to-be to the court at her 18th birthday celebration. Gale’s not sure if she wants to be a princess anymore, and she isn’t looking to get married any time soon—especially not to the sad specimens who show up at her tower. Dragons also make difficult roommates; they eat everything in sight—even, on occasion, people. Can Gale make choices about her life without letting her kingdom down? Addams delivers a delightful tale that subversively values the independence of its protagonist above all. Gale effectively learns to find her joy in self-reliance with the help of her support network; her friends and family prove to be so understanding, in fact, that it takes some of the conflict out of her decisions. However, the novel more than makes up for this slight drawback with its sharp humor, as expressed by an exhausted narrator trying their best. The fantasy world, which not only features dragons but also the social network Gracebook and royal pizza makers, is entertaining, but the banter between Gale and Wrathnarok—who agrees to be called Mittens and shrink down to the size of a dog when off-duty—is the highlight of the story.

A novel that’s sure to be a hit with everyday princesses who like junk food and video games.

Kirkus Reviews