The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: The Princess Spy

Series: Hangenheim #5

Author: Melanie Dickerson

Genre: Young Adult, Clean Romance, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Retelling

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

A new suitor. A shocking discovery.

Margaretha has always been a romantic and hopes her newest suitor, Lord Claybrook, is destined to be her one true love. But then an injured man is brought to the castle, claiming to be an English lord who was left for dead by Claybrook’s men. She convinces herself “Lord Colin” is just an addled stranger, until Colin retrieves an heirloom she lost in a well and asks her to spy on Claybrook as repayment. Margaretha knows she could never be a spy—not only does she tend to talk too much, she’s sure Colin is completely wrong about her potential betrothed. But she soon discovers her romantic notions may have been clouding her judgment about not only Colin but Claybrook as well. She soon finds herself running for her life—and it may be up to her to save her father and her family from one man’s wicked plot. – summary from Goodreads

The Princess Spy was a wonderful Frog Prince retelling that was unique and full of adventure!

I don’t think I will ever get over how historical these books are! I did not think that it was possible to write historical retellings, and Melanie Dickerson came and proved me wrong! I love all the historical aspects of the story, and how well the stories fit into this world.

I also love the Christian themes present throughout the book. I especially love the peace aspect of the story. I really liked how the characters weren’t feeling peace (something I struggle with) and they only really got peace when they gave their struggles to God. I also really enjoyed how the book handles trusting God. I will admit that these books help me feel closer to my own religion at times.

One of my favorite parts of the book, and this book series in general, is that there is no magic. Everything that happens is grounded in the realm of reality. This makes this book so much more interesting to me. If you are wanting a true retelling, then this is probably not the book for you. These retellings are loosely inspired and are really their own stories. I think this is the truest for this book. Our MMC, Colin, had one unfortunate outfit that made him look like a frog, but it really didn’t have too much effect on the story.

I loved the characters, Margaretha and Colin. I will totally admit I have no clue how to pronounce the name Margaretha, which I am not the happiest about. The characters were great! These characters were very flawed, which was a nice change from the first four books. I loved those characters, but these characters are a little more fully formed! Margaretha had a real chattiness problem, and Colin had a real drive to get vengeance. I loved how both struggled with things and overcame them but also were seen by the other. Their relationship was very cute and I really enjoyed seeing them grow. They fought against a rebellion, which added depth to their story that I enjoyed. I loved how their relationship changed and grew. I also really liked that Margaretha was teaching Colin how to speak German!

One of my absolute favorite things about Margaretha and Colin’s relationship was that when Margaretha would apologize for talking too much he would tell her he found her talking soothing. Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever?!

Colin is Annabel and Ranulf’s (from The Merchant’s Daughter) grandson! I love this little throw back!

I will also say that this book gave us a little bit of a better picture of Wilhem and Rose as parents. For both Valten and Gabe they were mentioned, but not really part of the story. They were a more central part of this story, and I loved seeing them all grown up and how they were as parents!

This book also had a very interesting storyline that was a lot of fun. It had a rebellion, forced marriage, escapees, and much more, which makes this a very intense and unique retelling for me.

The Princess Spy is a historical fiction retelling of the Frog Prince with strong Chrisitan themes, an adorable romance, a peace storyline, rebellion, and adventure, making this a truly unquie retelling!