This Princess Kills Monsters by Kristen Sieh

This Princess Kills Monsters

The Misadventures of a Fairy-tale Stepsister: a Novel

Kristen Sieh, Ry Herman, Random House Audio

Random House Publishing Group · Print & ebook · June 17, 2025

A princess with a mostly useless magical talent takes on horrible monsters, a dozen identical masked heroes, and a talking lion in a quest to save a kingdom—and herself—in this feminist fairy tale satire. “The Princess Bride meets Shrek.”—Susie Dumond, author of Bed and Breakup “Exactly the sort of queer fairy tale for grown-ups that I have yearned to read.”—Ryka Aoki, author of Light from Uncommon Stars A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Autostraddle, Fangirlish, Reactor, Book Riot, Reading Glasses Podcast, Denver Public Library Someone wants to murder Princess Melilot.

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Who it’s for
Fairy-tale satire pairs comic peril with a princess tired of being rescued.
Genres
Fantasy Romance, LGBTQ+ Fiction, Humorous Fantasy
Published
Random House Publishing Group, June 17, 2025

About this book

A princess with a mostly useless magical talent takes on horrible monsters, a dozen identical masked heroes, and a talking lion in a quest to save a kingdom—and herself—in this feminist fairy tale satire.

Continue reading

“The Princess Bride meets Shrek.”—Susie Dumond, author of Bed and Breakup “Exactly the sort of queer fairy tale for grown-ups that I have yearned to read.”—Ryka Aoki, author of Light from Uncommon Stars A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK: Autostraddle, Fangirlish, Reactor, Book Riot, Reading Glasses Podcast, Denver Public Library Someone wants to murder Princess Melilot. This is sadly normal. Melilot is sick of being ordered to go on dangerous quests by her domineering stepmother. Especially since she always winds up needing to be rescued by her more magically talented stepsisters. And now, she's been commanded to marry a king she’s never met. When hideous spider-wolves attack her on the journey to meet her husband-to-be, she is once again rescued—but this time, by twelve eerily similar-looking masked huntsmen. Soon she has to contend with near-constant attempts on her life, a talking lion that sets bewildering gender tests, and a king who can't recognize his true love when she puts on a pair of trousers. And all the while, she has to fight her growing attraction to not only one of the huntsmen, but also her fiancé’s extremely attractive sister. If Melilot can't unravel the mysteries and rescue herself from peril, kingdoms will fall. Worse, she could end up married to someone she doesn’t love.

Fairy Tales, Unraveled

Fairy-tale satire pairs comic peril with a princess tired of being rescued.

Come here for

  • Fairy-tale conventions turned sideways with monsters and romantic entanglements

Expect

  • A feminist spin on quests, masked heroes, and rescue

Where it sits

Fantasy Romance66%
LGBTQ+ Fiction57%
Humorous Fantasy37%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Humorous Fantasy
  • Cozy Fantasy
  • Fairy Tales & Myths
Authors
Kristen Sieh, Ry Herman, Random House Audio
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published
June 17, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Humorous Fantasy