SRP Review: Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Disclaimer: The reviews I post on The Self Rescue Princess won’t be the usual style of book review that talks about all the points and elements of a novel. My intention is to focus on heroines that I believe exemplify the spirit and character of a self-rescuing princess or are on their way to achieving that status.

And now to the review:

I am so glad a blog reader recommended this book (and series) to me. I absolutely loved Princess Cimorene. She was a strong-willed heroine who refused to allow anyone to order her about. Much to the annoyance and shame of her parents. She wasn’t content to be just a princess and well-behaved. She wanted adventure. She wanted a challenge. So, Princess Cimorene (with a little encouragement) set off to find her adventure before she was forced into an ill-suited marriage. After making a brash proclamation about what she’d rather face than marriage, Cimorene finds herself facing that scenario but instead lands up a princess to a dragon.

To dragons, princesses are their housekeepers and cooks. They are revered for their skills of organization, housekeeping, cooking, and the bragging rights of having a princess of your very own. Princess Cimorene takes on her role whole-heartedly. She is content and happy to be a princess to dragon. I found it interesting … and funny … that a ‘traditional’ woman’s role that is usually seen as a negative was a job that Cimorene enjoyed. She liked having a job and not just being taken care of. Cimorene also befriends others that are in the caves and helps them find their strength and fulfill their purpose.

What I loved most about the book, and Princess Cimorene, is showing that it’s okay to have different plans for your life. What is good for one person isn’t always best for another but that doesn’t make one choice right and the other wrong. I can’t wait to read the next adventure of Princess Cimorene.