Rogue Princess by B.R Myers // Gender-bent Cinderella sets in space

Rogue Princess

by B.R. Myers

eARC, 304 pages

Expected publication: January 21st 2020 by Swoon Reads

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A princess fleeing an arranged marriage teams up with a snarky commoner to foil a rebel plot in B. R. Myers’ Rogue Princess, a gender-swapped sci-fi YA retelling of Cinderella.

Princess Delia knows her duty: She must choose a prince to marry in order to secure an alliance and save her failing planet. Yet she secretly dreams of true love, and feels there must be a better way. Determined to chart her own course, she steals a spaceship to avoid the marriage, only to discover a handsome stowaway.

All Aidan wanted was to “borrow” a few palace trinkets to help him get off the planet. Okay, so maybe escaping on a royal ship wasn’t the smartest plan, but he never expected to be kidnapped by a runaway princess!

Sparks fly as this headstrong princess and clever thief battle wits, but everything changes when they inadvertently uncover a rebel conspiracy that could destroy their planet forever.

I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss Plus in exchange for an honest review

Retellings have always been my favorite genre, but they are also the most unpredictable as the chance of being a hit or miss are equal for me. With the promise of gender-bent cinderella set in space, will Rogue Princess live up to its fantastic premise?

When we’re talking about Cinderella, of course we think of a prince looking for a princess to marry and fairytale ending that followed. In this book, it’s the princess Delia that has to choose a suitors to save her planet. I really wish the arranged marriage is not a life-and-death situation and instead, just a normal arranged marriage as Delia insistence of escaping it feels so selfish. I get how scary it is to spent your whole life with someone you don’t know, but it’s also to save her whole planet. She’s not the first royal that went through it either. Not to mention how naive she is, how easy she fell for Aidan’s lies even though he basically answered nothing!

Talking about Aidan, I found his character is really bland. He doesn’t have any other characterization other than the typical Cinderella characterization. Sure, he’s witty, but that’s the end of it. He’s kind. He’s treated poorly by his family. And he’s hung up on his mother. I really hope the author add something more.

There’s also Shania, which is Delia’s sister. I’ve read plenty of books with the “vivacious and feisty” little sister trope, but this book just brings her characterization to a whole other level. And not in a good way. Instead of sympathizing or encourage her sister in other ways, she drools over abs, smile, and butts. Isn’t this objectification? It’s not funny at all and make me really uncomfortable because I know if it’s the other way around, there will be anger. Even without the objectification, her insensitivity for her sister’s fears or the problems the kingdom faced (and why her sister had to do it) are just not good.

The retelling aspect, for me did not offer anything new except for the gender-bent concept. Sure, the world building could be interesting if only it was developed more. But as it is, I feel like it’s a mix of Cinder and Cinderella, and the author made a new story using the elements. Which works well, in some parts. I love reading about the technology they have and the divide between the Dark District and the rest of Astor. And how the Dark District came to be. But other aspect didn’t really mix well. For example, the mythology, which is my main dislike but unfortunately is the basis of their political system and geography. It’s like reading some pure, naive fairytale that did not seem to match the levity of the story at all.

In a way, the whole book felt really juvenile. Sci-fi, especially those who set in space, is really something I do not reach often. No matter how fascinated I am with space, the depiction of them as this harsh and cruel environment where human escape or forced to go did not paint the prettiest picture for me. Yet Rogue Princess has the opposite problem: the world building felt so childish. I couldn’t find myself interested in the politics, geography, and mythology of Astor. Furthermore, plot wise there was too much going on. The twist was very easy to spot and I didn’t see the function of the pirates as their role could be filled by existing characters.

I really hoped to like Rogue Princess, as Cinderella retellings have always been a miss for me. Unfortunately, Rogue Princess offered nothing new to the table and did not pull me in with bland characters and straightforward plot. There are aspects of the world building I really enjoyed, but ultimately some parts also didn’t really deliver. Ultimately, I didn’t connect with any of the characters, nor interested enough with the plot to really enjoyed the story.