Note: The title of this book has been translated into English by me for the reading comprehension of this blog's viewers as the book itself isn't available in English (yet). The original title reads Principesse del Regno della Fantasia #1: Principessa dei Ghiacci. I used the Dutch cover image because it is of a higher quality than the Italian one I could find.
Okay, so, fun fact, I used to love reading the Geronimo Stilton books. I used to not be a super big reader as a kid before I got introduced to those books. For those not in the know, they're (originally Italian) books written by the fictional pen name of a mouse and are about his misadventures. The Geronimo Stilton books are generally very playful tone-wise and visual-wise.
Later on, they also started to make spinoff books (supposedly) written by his sister, Thea Stilton. She wrote some of the same light-hearted books taking place in their mouse world but with the target audience being more-so girls than children in general. And later, spinoffs of the Thea (and Geronimo) Stilton books followed in various series, including the Fantasia/Kingdom of Fantasy series (more fantasy-oriented), which this is a spinoff off, and some historical literal classics (such as The Call of the Wild by Jack London and Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne) "re-written" by Geronimo Stilton to take place in the mouse world.
This is a lot of lead-up, but believe me when I say there's a lot of books to the Stilton name, both taking place in the mouse realm and spinoffs that take place in Fantasia or elsewhere. This is one of these spinoffs, and the first book in the Princesses of Fantasia series. These peaked my interest when they first came out as a teen, but I never ended up reading them because I was over reading the Stilton books at that point in my childhood. But now that I can read them with my library card, why not have a look? Spoilers ahead.
Within Fantasia lies the Ice Kingdom, which is currently being ruled by a countess and the princess, the orphan Nives. She lives a mostly carefree life, being protected by the royal guard made up of wolves, with her best friend Gunnar the white wolf being the captain of the guard. However, as she comes of age and tradition demands she marry someone of royalty, a mysterious prince known as Herbert shows up on her doorstep to ask for her hand in marriage. Aside from being disgusted by the prospect, Nives and Gunnar also really don't trust the seemingly do-gooding prince. And the rising threat of a creature known as Calengol makes things all the more difficult.
Okay, so this book has some aspects I really really like, and others that don't work. So I'm going to start off with the negatives so we can get to the good stuff later. First, the characters...were not amazing. Nives is a very, very bland protagonist and I didn't particularly connect to her well. The only moment where I really liked her character is where she pitied Calengol after his death despite him being (supposedly) evil. But aside from that, these characters generally had the depth of paper and usually had only one or two traits each.
Herbert also wasn't that great of a villain. They're kind of trying to pull a "Prince Hans" (from Frozen, though before the movie came out of course), and while Herbert is a decent villain he still had a lot left to be desired. Not a lot of depth and he was kinda suspicious from the start. It'd have been cooler if they'd dropped more subtle hints of him being not what he seems, rather than him being kind of on-the-nose evil from the start. I can still buy Nives instantly being suspicious of him, I mean she's forced against her will into marrying him so it makes sense that she doesn't like him, but more subtlety would've been nice.
The book was also kind of rushed and I feel like if it had more depth and more of an ending I'd have liked it better overall.
The reveal of Gunnar the wolf being a cursed person trapped in a lupine form is also quite interesting, however the final reveal where he turns back into a human wasn't good if you ask me. He almost dies in his wolf form and literally by Nives' magic tears he is not only healed but also turned back into his original human form. And after that Nives, instantly declares her love for him and not much later they're married in the epilogue. I mean, sure, this could work, but the reveal is rushed as hell and Nives just instantly being in love with him feels...wrong.
It's not like these characters don't know one another; Gunnar (in his wolf form) has been Nives' best friend and protector for years up until this point. But after he turns human (without any explanation given on how, mind you) she just instantly falls for him and that's just a bit weird. It's not that their relationship wouldn't be healthy or anything, Gunnar clearly is a good and loving partner for her. But also like...it's rushed as hell and there's also the fact that Gunnar was a literal animal for years. Nives isn't even all that surprised once he turns into a human, it's just BAM instalove and soon thereafter they're married.
I'd have liked to see more time spent on Gunnar getting used to life as a human again, guided by his best friend Nives. Over the course of this, they'd fall in love with one another and finally get married, defying the countess' orders for Nives to only marry royalty. It would've solved how rushed it is and it also would've gotten rid of the whole kind of awkward aspect of Gunnar being in love with Nives while in wolf form and Nives instantly being into him as soon as he's human. Just let the two slowly bond romantically and thereafter fall in love with one another. The book is generally pretty rushed, but the ending really took the cake.Now, for the positives. First: the illustrations. There's quite a few and they're all very pretty. Not the most intricately detailed or anything, mostly just outlines with a few tones of blue for coloring, but I still really liked the style they had going on.
Secondly, I unexpectedly liked Calengol as a villain and character. To be honest, more so as a character than a villain. He's somewhat underwhelming as one, but still. Okay, so his deal is that he is the last of a once-teeming population of forest creatures that existed before the Ice Kingdom was founded. Most of the forest (except Calengol and his birds) was wiped out, though not by Nives' father like he thinks. He blames the royal family for this and also uses magic (which is forbidden in this part of Fantasia), so with him being out for revenge the people of the palace obviously fear him and try to keep Nives safe from him, with her being the last royal in this kingdom.
But Calengol is actually kind of sympathetic. I mean, his entire race was wiped out, his forest where he once lived is gone, and while he technically isn't right to blame the royals, he doesn't know any better than that they destroyed his home. He repeatedly tries to get at Nives but eventually joins forces with Herbert in hopes of rewards once he ascends to the throne by marrying Nives. But, of course, Herbert is an assdick and throws Calengol to his doom. So Calengol essentially spent the rest of his life trying to get revenge for the loss of his kind and home which was destroyed, and then when it almost seemed like he got what he wanted, he was just killed off instantly. God, I feel actually bad for this guy.
Imagine being the last of your kind, your cultural practice of magic banned, your home forcibly colonized and you try to get some semblance of vengeance and you're instantly just cast aside because you're worthless to the only guy you ever trusted. I don't even really blame Calengol for taking out his frustrations on Nives. Yes, her family wasn't responsible for the genocide and destruction of his homeland, but they did colonize it thereafter, banished practice of magic and rejected Calengol because of how he looks and his magical powers. The dude was just acting out of true desperation and while that of course doesn't excuse all of his actions, I really feel for him. Heck, even Nives, the one who was supposed to be his victim, sees how he wasn't all bad and is mostly just a result of the circumstances that happened to him.
So Calengol is essentially the best character and also a decent underplayed villain, but he just gets cast aside like he's nothing and that honestly hurt. I just wish the other characters had this much thoughts and feelings poured into them.
Overall I liked this book okay. Some really good aspects, but also some holding it back. Judge for yourself if you think the book would be worth picking up or no.
Rating: 3/5
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