Review--The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning

 

When a princess’s commoner true love is kidnapped to coerce her into a political marriage, she doesn’t give in—she goes to rescue him.

When her warrior father, King Sendoa, mysteriously dies, Princess Amarande of Ardenia is given what would hardly be considered a choice: Marry a stranger at sixteen or lose control of her family’s crown.

But Amarande was raised to be a warrior—not a sacrifice.

In an attempt to force her choice, a neighboring kingdom kidnaps her true love, stable boy Luca. With her kingdom on the brink of civil war and no one to trust, she’ll need all her skill to save him, her future, and her kingdom.

The Princess Will Save You is a YA fantasy adventure inspired by The Princess Bride, in which a princess must rescue her stable boy true love, from the acclaimed author of Sea Witch, Sarah Henning.

 

Sarah Henning’s The Princess Will Save You is the proclaimed gender swap of The Princess Bride in the YA world and as a huge fan of the movie/book I can say that it is all that and more! This has all the fanfare and excitement you would experience from the cult classic movie (and the book too in some ways) with a few added twists! This is a fantasy read not to be missed! And in more recent news, Sarah has announced it’s no longer a duology, but a trilogy!

Princess Amarande is best friends with the stable boy, Luca, whom she grew up with as a child. They spend their days practicing sword fights in the fields and life is pretty good all around, until the day her father, the king dies mysteriously. Ama believes he was poisoned but no one really wants to look into it, they write it off as a tragic accident and they are anxious to get her married asap so she can be on the throne, for yes, we are in those times where a queen does not rule the kingdom on her own. With three other neighboring kingdoms there are three potential suitors, but none rub her the wrong was as Renard.

When Ama finds Luca missing and a note that tells her to marry Renard or else, Ama knows exactly what she has to do. She has to save he best friend. Though we the reader will learn the error of her ways, as the story is told in multiple third person point of view, and we soon learn just how far Renard will go to get his crown.

Luca is kidnapped by a trio of thieves who are determined to collect their money by delivering him to the meeting point. Luca is a very carefree sort of guy, very sweet and humble. He soon becomes almost friends with one of his kidnappers, but never fear, there’s no romance in that area.

Meanwhile we watch as Ama fights tooth and nail to overcome obstacle after obstacle and enemy after enemy to get to her friend.

I have to say, Sarah did an incredible job of giving this book all The Princess Bride feels! It very much has that same air and tone to it that the movie and book did. There’s still some differences, such as the bonafide born-a-princess is riding out to rescue her farm boy. There are pirates/thieves acting as the kidnappers, two boys and a girl, all from different walks of life and you’ll be surprised by what happens with these guys. We have a prince who is very much the Six-Fingered Man in some ways.

The pace to this one was just the right speed. If you’re familiar with the movie you kind of know where the path will take you, as it does follow that storyline in its own way. The ending though is something else entirely! I had thought I was devising a similar theory as Ama was, but the ending totally threw that theory out the window and now has me absolutely baffled! I love it when an author does that! Luckily, I’m ready to dive into the next book but I fear what sort of cliffhanger I might encounter there as well. We’re in new territory after this book and I am all for exploring it!

There was still a bit of romance in this one with Ama and Luca. For year, they’ve fought their feelings for each other and now they’re going all out with them. Perhaps it’s not as an intense love as the proclaimed couple before them, but it’s still just as sweet as there’s nothing either of them wouldn’t do to keep the other one safe. I’m hoping Sarah will deepen their relationship a bit more as the series trickles along!

The Princess Will Save You is one of the first retellings I’ve encountered for The Princess Bride and I positively loved it! I cannot wait to see what Sarah is going to do with this series. It’s fast-paced exciting adventure with mystery, betrayals, intrigue and more. It’s a page-turning kind of read for sure and should not be missed!

 

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars