I’ve read Shane McKenzie’s work before, but it’s been either
horror or bizzaro. If that’s what you’re expecting, Pretty Pretty Princess, his
latest from Blood Bound Books is not either of those, though there are some
hints of them here. Instead, it’s a fairy tale, and as the cover says, it’s a
twisted one.
Prince Francis was banished from his home for not being
“manly” enough for his father. Now he travels the land with his best friend,
the talking pig Gavin, spreading word about his movement, the Princes for
Ethical Treatment of Princesses (or P.E.T.P for short). See, he’s tired of the
kings and queens locking their daughters away in towers and caves and dungeons
then sticking monsters outside to guard them in the hopes that some brave
knight will come and save them, thereby inheriting both the princess and her
kingdom. Francis believes the Princesses should be free to choose for themselves,
and wants everyone else to come around to the same way of thinking.
Then he gets himself swept up in one of the very quests he
thinks abhorrent, and winds up meeting Pretty, a Princess, who’s undergone the
traditional abuse. His hope isn’t that he’ll become her brave knight, but
rather that she’ll help him spread the word about his cause, and change the
world in the process. Naturally, things don’t exactly go according to plan.
Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way up front: this
book does not take itself seriously.
If you need any proof of that, you need look no further than Francis’s penchant
for falling into a “song trance” where he sings about whatever’s on his mind at
the time. And it’s not just him; when a tavern full of brutish soldiers does
the same, you immediately see where’s McKenzie’s going with this. And it’s
brilliant.
Every fairy tale trope you can imagine is on proud display
here, from the Prince who’s too good for his own good, to the snarky animal
companion that talks, to the wicked fool of a prince who ends up being the
antagonist, to a final battle fought between men, goblins, a dragon, unicorns,
flies, rats, and ducks. There were many points where I had to put the Kindle
down so I could wipe the tears from my eyes as I laughed at the ridiculousness
of it all, and felt safe doing so because I can’t imagine this was being played
straight. When your tagline is “Disney on acid”, it’s kind of obvious where
you’re going with it.
For all of that, the story is well-told, and the mental
movie that played as I read was even animated in keeping with the theme. I
don’t know about Disney on acid, but I can definitely see a bunch of
disgruntled animators holed up in a room that reeks of pot smoke, hammering
this out as a big middle finger to their bosses. And for the record: I would kill to see this as an animated feature
one day. Just make sure to watch after the kids are in bed. No need
to send them to therapy too soon!
All in all, this is the perfect thing to help you forget
about your worries and stresses for a few hours, and left me hoping to see
McKenzie do more in this strange style—or even world—sometime in the future!
5/5 Stars
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