The Frog Prince by Jenni James Review

"A prince disguises himself to find true love—

Prince Nolan has had enough of Princess Blythe—the woman to whom he has been betrothed since infancy—and her simpering letters. Does the princess truly not have a brain in her head? Never before has he communicated with someone who seemed so childish and spoiled. It was time he met her for himself, to decide if he could actually follow through with this marriage. But to do it right, she must not see how handsome he is. He needs a disguise—something that would show him her true nature.

Nolan asks an old herb woman to transform him into a creature that is disgusting to any female—a frog. The spell will last thirty days unless the princess does the impossible and kisses him. Now the true test begins. Will Blythe prove to be as monstrously annoying as he believes she is, or will he learn to see past his judgments and find a loving princess waiting for him?"

This retelling of The Frog Prince is more reasonable than the original tale of "The Frog Prince." Now we understand why frog prince is cursed. It's not because "the mother of the prince insulted..."or "the father says..." or "the witch hated the mother so she..." or "the prince insulted..." Instead it's because of his dimwitted betrothed Princess Blythe, the girl who writes all these boring, shallow letters.

I got to love the plot. The hilarious twists and turns will always delight readers. I have to admit, some of the twists simply leaves me a simple headed, mental, laughing, and cheery Harley Quinn, the girlfriend of the archenemy of Batman. (Archenemy is the Joker. Who else would be the archenemy of Batman?)

I wish the author expand a little more on the time and setting. There isn't a lot of details on when did this book take place and where did this book take place. (And don't say it's in a kingdom that existed "once upon a time.")

The ending is a true "Happily Ever After." I can't help but love the beautiful yet also cheesy ending, even though happy endings don't exist in the real world. Younger readers (around 10-12) will enjoy it and devour the words and sentences, paragraphs and the tiny last chapter/epilogue.

To make it more interesting, the author probably added switching POVs between Princess Blythe and Prince Nolan. It's a nice touch to The Frog Prince and it's nice to see the events and occurrences in the eyes of the two Royals.

Characters:

Princess Blythe is smarter than Prince Nolan, I think. She's more active and funnier than Prince Nolan, too. She has the classic sweet heart of Cinderella. She is clever, yet sometimes a little slow on times in the book.

Prince Nolan is dashing, alright. I don't like him as much as Princess Blythe, though. I thought he is too arrogant, bold, and headstrong. 

Rating: Four out of Five.