The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin

Series: The Four Kingdoms #3

Author: Melanie Cellier

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Clean Romance

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

Spinning straw into gold was only the beginning of the story…

Marie, the dutiful princess of Northhelm, chafes under the rigid protocol that governs her life. Then a growing darkness threatens the kingdom and uncovers the lie at the centre of her whole life – a single pact that changes everything.

Throwing off convention, she joins Rafe, a handsome, charming newcomer, on a quest to save her kingdom. Except he doesn’t know she has a mission of her own – to discover the truth about her identity. Increasingly drawn to Rafe’s strength and good humour, Marie is torn by her double purpose. With time running out and death and destruction looming, Marie will have to unravel the bargains that surround her and choose where her true allegiance lies.

In this twist on the classic fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin, a hidden identity is just one of the things Marie will have to unravel. – summary from Goodreads

The Princess Pact was such a unique take on Rumpelstiltskin, and I loved it! I adore how Melanie Cellier twists classic tales, and this is definitely one of my favorite twists so far.

This review will have minor spoilers, but nothing too major.

This book follows Marie, who is featured in The Princess Companion. I really enjoyed Marie in The Princess Companion, so I was excited this book focused on her.

Marie is a unique character. She doesn’t quite feel like a princess, mainly because she doesn’t look like one. She is determined and liked to have fun, and she is kind. She felt real and complex, and I related with her more than I typically do with fantasy female main characters, but that has been a theme all through this series. She wasn’t a character that wanted to fight, but was willing to when necessary, and I enjoyed that.

I also liked how much Marie thought about her duty to her country. I don’t think that was as big part of the previous books, and I felt like it was given a little more consideration in this book. It also showed some of Marie’s personality in a nice way, as well as showing how she was raised influences her.

I loved Rafe! He was so much fun and very protective of Marie. He was somewhat mysterious, but also kind of transparent, if that makes any sense. I also loved how he helped teach Marie how to protect herself. He never lost his fun manners, which I also enjoyed. I loved their relationship. I will probably never stop talking about how Melanie does her romances, it is never insta-love, maybe insta-attraction, but never insta-love. Rafe and Marie built a solid foundation of friendship before becoming something more. It was maybe a little sudden, but I still loved it!

There were many side characters in this book, and they all felt real and fleshed out. The two main side characters were Lisa and Danny, and I really liked them. I hope they are in future books. They had an adorable sibling relationship and welcomed Marie as one of their own, which I loved. I also really liked Ferdy, but as he wasn’t in the book too much, I am more intrigued by him than anything else!

One of my favorite parts of the book was the exploration of adoption. It all felt very real and was handled beautifully. Marie’s response felt authentic, and I enjoyed seeing her work through her thoughts and feelings. I also loved her family members responses. All of it was so sweet. I loved that her parents loved her so much and told her as much. I also adored her brother’s response- and I thought it really showed what it means to be siblings with someone.

The adoption part of this story is actually the twist of Rumpelstiltskin. Instead of a creepy man taking a royal baby, he has the royal family raise one of his children. I think that this was such a unique fun idea, and I really loved the outcome.

There was also this really great moment with Marie’s godmother, that I just adored. Instead of telling Marie what to believe and think, instead she encouraged Marie to look at the facts, her experiences, stories she has heard, and her kingdoms history to make her decision. I thought this was really great and shows people to not just blindly follow someone, but to really look at the facts before making a decision. And it shows not to make a decision just because someone tells you to.

William, Marie’s brother, wasn’t in the story too much, but from what I saw of him, I am intrigued. He reminds me so much of my brothers- he seems to be the classic brother, so I am excited to potentially see more of him in the future!

We also got to see more of Northhelm and their culture, which I liked. All of these countries are so different from each other and have such unique cultures. Props to Melanie Cellier for doing this!

There was a different feel to this book from the other books. It was slightly more action heavy, with a rebellion and Marie going undercover. I can’t quite explain it other than there was a slight shift in this book from the other ones. A part of this may have been that this book primarily took place away from court and palace life. Maybe it was the fact that Marie was hiding she was a princess, so it didn’t feel entirely royal. It is still completely appropriate and such a fun read!

The Princess Pact was a unique twist on Rumpelstiltskin that follows Princess Marie as she determines who she wants to be. With an exploration of adoption, a sweet romance, rebellion, and finding the truth for yourself, this is a wonderful retelling!