BLOG TOUR --- Bad Princess: True Tales from Behind the Tiara by Kris Waldherr [Review + Giveaway]

Title: Bad Princess: True Tales from Behind the Tiara
Author(s): Kris Waldherr
Edition: Harcover, eBook; 128 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Publication Date: January 30, 2018
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Buy: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - iBooks

Tour Schedule

Week One:
1/22/2018- Novel Novice- Interview
1/23/2018- History from a Woman’s Perspective- Review
1/24/2018- Bibliobakes- Review
1/25/2018- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt
1/26/2018- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Review

Week Two:
1/29/2018- HauntedByBooks13- Review
1/30/2018- Wandering Bark Books- Excerpt
1/31/2018- Eli to the nth- Review (Me)
2/1/2018- BookHounds YA- Guest Post
2/2/2018- The Books You Read- Review

The Summary

Forget everything you thought you knew about princesses...

Welcome to Bad Princess by Kris Waldherr (author of Doomed Queens), where you'll discover what really happens after "Happily Ever After." From the war-torn Dark Ages of Medieval Europe to America's Gilded Age, and all the way up to Kate Middleton, Bad Princess explores more than 30 true princess stories, going beyond the glitz and glamour to find out what life was really like for young royals throughout history. 

A mix of royal biography, pop culture, art, style, and pure fun, Bad Princess is a whip-smart, tongue-in-cheek spin on the traditional princess narrative, proving that it takes more than a pretty crown to be a great leader. 

(Goodreads)

My Review

Bad Princess is a super cute and fast read!  I don't know about some of you, but I have been obsessed with princesses since I was little, both of the real and make-believe variety.  That's the premise that Waldherr works off of, girls (both young and old) and their obsession with all things princess.  But then she puts a spin on it, looking at some of the more "rebellious" or "risqué" princesses throughout history.  

Along the way, she also adds in explanations of different royal terms/ideas, like where did "blue blood" come from? And what the heck is the diff between an Earl and a Duke?  And were "Disney Princesses" like Ariel and Aurora based on real life ladies?  The mix of pop culture and historical explanations makes this book jam-packed with interesting tidbits!

But what I feel really makes this book stand out is the diversity that Waldherr includes.  While the majority of the royalty/aristocrats explored are European, Waldherr does include more Modern-day examples of royalty like Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini of Swaziland and Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai, showing that a girl doesn't have to be white to be a princess.  I think this is an important point, and one I wish was slightly expanded on throughout the whole book.

Both fun and informative, Waldherr strikes a great tone between the historic and the modern, the realistic and the fantastical.  I think this is a great book for a mother/daughter pair to read, and is a gateway into more in-depth historical fiction and biographies.  In stores now, go grab a copy of Bad Princess: True Tales from Behind the Tiara by Kris Waldherr, or enter below for your chance to win a finished copy!

Final Rating

About the Author

Kris Waldherr is an award-winning author and illustrator whose books for adults and children include Bad Princess, Doomed Queens, and The Book of Goddesses. The New Yorker praised Doomed Queens as “utterly satisfying” and “deliciously perverse.” The Book of Goddesses was a One Spirit/Book-of-the-Month Club’s Top Ten Most Popular Book. Her picture book Persephone and the Pomegranate was noted by the New York Times Book Review for its “quality of myth and magic.” 

As a visual artist, Waldherr is the creator of the Goddess Tarot, which has a quarter of a million copies in print. She has had illustrations published as greeting cards, book covers, and in calendars and magazines. Her art has been exhibited in many galleries and museums, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Waldherr's debut novel The Lost History of Dreams will be published by Touchstone Books in early 2019.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Goodreads 

Giveaway

3 winners will receive a finished copy of BAD PRINCESS, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Waiting on Wednesday - Isle of Blood and Stone

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme, started by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming/recent releases that we seriously can’t wait to read

Here's my pick for the week:

Isle of Blood and Stone

written by Makiia Lucier

Publication Date: April 10, 2018

Ulises asked, "How can I look at these maps, see this riddle, and do nothing? They are my brothers."

Elias reached across the table and flicked aside two shells with a fingertip. The map curled into itself. "It's bound to be a goose chase. You know that?"

"Or a treasure hunt," Ulises countered, "and you've always been good at those."

Nineteen-year-old Elias is a royal explorer, a skilled mapmaker, and the new king of del Mar's oldest friend. Soon he will embark on the adventure of a lifetime, an expedition past the Strait of Cain and into uncharted waters. Nothing stands in his way...until a long-ago tragedy creeps back into the light, threatening all he holds dear.

The people of St. John del Mar have never recovered from the loss of their boy princes, kidnapped eighteen years ago, both presumed dead. But when two maps surface, each bearing the same hidden riddle, troubling questions arise. What really happened to the young heirs? And why do the maps appear to be drawn by Lord Antoni, Elias's father, who vanished on that same fateful day? With the king's beautiful cousin by his side-whether he wants her there or not-Elias will race to solve the riddle of the princes. He will have to use his wits and guard his back. Because some truths are better left buried...and an unknown enemy stalks his every turn.

(Summary from Goodreads)

I think the mix of what sounds like historical and fantasy makes for a great story.  I like the idea of this mystery that needs to be solved, but that the background of the author is in historical fiction, so even the summary sounds like this could have really happened.

What book are you waiting for?

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Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Books We Meant To Read In 2017 But Didn't Get To

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists there at The Broke and the Bookish. They'd love us to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week they will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of their bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on their post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share.  If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. 

The topic this week is:

Ten Books We Meant To Read In 2017 But Didn't Get To

Oh, ho, ho do I have SEVERAL of these!  I am so bad at starting books and then leaving them, which I think falls into this category perfectly.  In addition, there are just some books that I got, was really excited about, then never read....so yeah, my bad!

I'm only going over 5, because these were all on my "Current Reads" shelf on Goodreads that I never bothered to finish on time.

 Everything Is Awful: And Other Observations by Matt Bellassai - This was suppose to be the 70th book I read in 2017, then oops, I never finished it.

 Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux - At least I finished the Asylum series itself, but with vacation, and the fact I wasn't driving back and forth to work, this audionovella was discarded.

 The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli - I have only read two pages of this book.  I don't know what my problem is, because I adored Simon Vs. the Homo-Sapiens Agenda.  But I'm going to get this one done, and fall in love!

 Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy - I know, I know, I know, what have I been doing!  I promise that I am going to finish this book, because Julie is an absolute peach and her books should be immensely enjoyed by all!

 Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst - I'm almost 50% done with this, and I just am "eh" about it.  I don't want to DNF because it's actually good, I just don't think it's great.  But I do want to finish it out.

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2017 Review - Looking Back on My Reading Year

This year has been pretty steady for me, but only when it comes to reading.  My actual blogging has taken a backseat, which is very much due to the year that I've had and my changing feelings on reviewing/blogging about books.  But that's for another time and another post; let's look at all the books I managed to read in 2017!

Lucky for me, (as I am lazy and bad at making graphics), Goodreads made a handy "My Year in Books":

So I read a total of 69 books this year with a total of 20,666 pages.  The average length of my books was 300.  This makes sense as I read mostly YA, which is around 300-350 pages per book, typically.

I know for some people out there, 69 (which is a horrible number to end on) is not a large amount.  But for me, and my recent spats of slumps, this was a landmark amount.  Also, it's 14 books more than I read in 2016, so I'm glad my numbers are going back up!

Here are all the actual books:

So out of the 69 books I read this is how it breaks down format wise:

 ARCs - 4

Graphic Novels - 12

Novels -15

Audiobooks - 38

Then, the age-range was:

Adult - 7

Young Adult - 62

Finally, the genre breakdowns:

Non-Fiction - 2

        Memoir - 1

        Poetry - 1

Fiction - 67

        Contemporary - 25

        Fantasy - 22

        Sci-Fi - 10

        Horror/Supernatural - 10

Some of this surprised me and some of it didn't.  I've always been a huge reader of Young Adult, but this year I didn't read any Middle Grade, which is unusual.  Fantasy has always been one of my favorite genres, but Contemporary beat it out this year.  I also read more Horror/Supernatural than I have in the past, which was due to my participation in the Spookathon (hosted by BooksandLaLa, Bookerly, and Paige's Pages).  

Overall, the biggest change in my reading this year was all the audiobooks I read.  With my move back home, I have a an hour drive back and forth to work, so I have a good chunk of time to listen to books.  I also finally got my Overdrive account to work on my phone, so I take advantage of that all the time!  It's just so much easier listening to audio, than reading a physical book because I'm so exhausted when I get home.

But I have found that the narrator and style of book makes or breaks the audio.  Not all books translate great in audio format, in my opinion (like any of the The Witchlands series by Susan Dennard; great books, too hard to listen to with the weird accent the narrator puts on).

And while I may not have given each of the books a full review, I did enjoy some more than others.  Looking at the whole list, I've managed to narrow done my top 10 favorites read in 2017.

In no particular order:

1. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
2. There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
3. Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
4. Simon Vs the Homo-Sapiens Agenda by  Becky Albertalli
5. Still-Life with Tornado by A.S. King
6. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
7. One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
8. Power Up by Kate Leth & Matt Cummings
9. Heartless by Marissa Meyer
10. The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

So that's it for my little look back on 2017.  I've set a new goal for 2018 of 70 books.  I'm going to try to add 10 more each year, until I'm back up to the 100 a year I use to read.  So far, I am two in, so I am officially one book ahead of schedule!

I hope your 2017 reading year was awesome, and that 2018 will be even more so! 

HAPPY READING!

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