Silly and full of spunk.

Princess Pulverizer is sick of finishing school; she wants to be a knight. Her father finally relents, but first she has to prove her worthiness by doing eight acts of kindness. She picks up a small entourage of sidekicks along the way. Funny and full of spunk.

2. Worse, Worser, Wurst
3. Bad Moooove!
4. Quit Buggin' Me!
5. Watch That Witch!
6. The Dragon's Tale
7. Gotta Warn the Unicorns
8. Yo-Ho, Yo....No!

See also: Hamster Princess series by Ursula Vernon, The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale ( )

I was hoping for something in the vein of [b: Giants Beware|12159923|Giants Beware! (Chronicles of Claudette, #1)|Jorge Aguirre|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1317068387s/12159923.jpg|17130936] when I picked this up, and while there's a little thematic overlap it's not quite what I wanted. It's extra silly, and maybe a good read aloud, but as an adult reader there wasn't much there for me. With books like Giants and [b: Harriet the Invincible|23281892|Harriet the Invincible (Hamster Princess, #1)|Ursula Vernon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1412529734s/23281892.jpg|42819799] there's plenty there for me to laugh at or connect with, but with this one I was mostly just annoyed by the characters. There isn't anything wrong with them, it's just not for me or the age groups I usually work with.

Princess Serena (or Princess Pulverizer, as she prefers to be called) hates having to learn ladylike manners and would much rather go to knights-in-training school. Her father consents to this arrangement if she can first complete a series of tasks to prove she is worthy of taking on knighthood.

This is the first book in a series, which is increasingly obvious as the princess must complete eight tasks and barely finishes one by the end of this novel. In theory, I wanted to like this book, but I just felt like it fell a bit flat for me.

I'm getting more than a little sick of the idea that girls and women can only be a "strong female lead" if they take on male characteristics. This easily could have just been a book in which a child has to complete eight tasks before starting knight school; there was no need to make a big stink about how Serena/Pulverizer is the only girl to ever attempt this, blah blah blah. On the flip side, it was sort of refreshing that Serena/Pulverizer isn't a nice child and is continually having to learn a lesson about being a better person.

The story also relies a bit too heavily on flatulence and other such jokes to be humorous. I'm sure the target audience of elementary school-age children will enjoy that, but it wasn't for me. This book series already has other titles and given the author's popularity with other series, I imagine this one will continue to do well with its young audience. I, however, am not interested in reading more of these.

The illustrations reminded me of an animation style, which makes sense when I saw the illustrator has done work on numerous children’s movies. ( )

Like a few princesses before her, Princess Serena...err, um, I mean, Princess Pulverizer, doesn't want any part of BEING a princess. She desires to be a knight and that's that. None of this dancing about, learning to curtsey, deciding which fork to use and when. No siree, she's rather be in the thick of things and she's not afraid to let anyone know, including dear old dad, the King. Thing is as silly/sweet as her "special face" is, even he won't let her have it that easily and so, she's sent on a Quest of Kindness. How and when it ends rests entirely on her shoulders, but if this adventure was any sign of what's to come, it's gonna be good...

If you're a fan of spunky girls, shivering knights, dragons with chef intentions, and mighty stinky ogres, this ones for you!


**copy received for review ( )