The Disney Princess Book Tag

Revision has fried my brain to such an extent that I almost started writing this in German, so we'd better get on with this tag, which I stole from Soudha @ Of Stacks and Cups. Because, you know, there are princesses. Let's not lose sight of the most important thing here.

Snow White - Name Your Favourite Classic

It should be pretty obvious to anyone who's read Wednesday's post, but I'm OBSESSED with the Sherlock Holmes Adventures. A Study in Scarlet might be my least favourite because Part II doesn't involve Holmes whatsoever, but it's still the first one and still very interesting.

If you've seen A Study in Pink, S1 E1 of Sherlock, then you'll probably spend most of the time squeeing at the parallels. It's maybe the best part of reading Arthur Conan Doyle.

Cinderella - A Book That Kept You Reading Way Past Your Bedtime

Um . . . all of them? I have a terrible habit of staying up way past my bedtime the moment a remotely good book comes along, so there are many stories I could tell you, but the funniest probably revolves around The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill. I wasn't supposed to be up, inevitably, and I was huddled under my duvet, reading with the light on my Kindle case, and drumming on the wall with my fingers. The closer I got to the climax, the faster my fingers drummed.

What I'd forgotten was that we were at my Grandma's house, and Mum was sleeping in the room next to that wall. At the moment a twist was about to be revealed, I practically pounded it, and she came in, bleary-eyed. It was two in the morning.

She snatched the book from me and marched it out of the room, which was probably wise. The really weird thing about that was the fact I was rereading, which either means the book is really good or I'm a bit sad. 

We'll go with the former, yeah?

Aurora - What's Your Favourite Classic Romance?

Okay, so it isn't a proper, olden-days classic, but classic romance has a tendency to get on my nerves - I'm trying to find something I like, but it's a long process - and I always felt that the innocent romance in the His Dark Materials series always felt very classical. I can't give much away, because one of the characters isn't even introduced until the second book in the series. Let's just say I ship Lyra and {censored} with a vengeance.

Ariel - Name a Book About Making Sacrifices and Fighting for Your Dreams

Hazel and Gus from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green don't fight physically, the way many people do. Cancer has crippled them: it left Gus an amputee and Hazel utterly dependent on oxygen, constantly facing death and with only one working lung. Their bodies won't let them fight, so they've found a better way.

These are two of the most determined characters of ever and I am humbled by the sacrifices they made to find their dreams.

Belle - Name a Book With a Smart and Independent Female Character

A smart and independent female character? Harry Potter is absolutely full of them! I know it's cliché, and a lot of people will be absolutely sick of my constant Rowling raving, but she's amazing at characters and most of the girls aren't obsessed with clothes and makeup. It's rare that a secondary

character - especially female - is as well developed as even the most basic of Rowling's, and . . . yeah.

That's why it's so awesome.

Jasmine - A Character Who Challenged the Social Conventions of His / Her World

Every single character in Juno Dawson's All of the Above seems to have accidentally devoted their entire lives to blowing social conventions out of the water, and that's the best thing ever. I just love these characters, from the anorexic girl who doesn't care about popularity (because everyone assumes people with eating disorders want to be 'in') to the boy who doesn't know he's gay - but everyone else does.

Don't even get me started on the relationships - every single pairing could be an OTP without even blinking, and AH IT'S SO SHIPPABLE. (And breaks expectations to the point where they don't really apply. That's amazing too.)

Pocahontas - An Emotional Rollercoaster Ending

*incoherent sobbing* All the Bright Places *sobs* The feels . . . *sobs*  Why - did - it - have - to - be - bittersweet? *more incoherent sobbing*

Mulan - A Kick-Ass Female Character

Cammie Morgan from the Gallagher Girls series can very literally kick ass, probably while negotiating a new international trade deal in Swahili and tracking you halfway across the world. She's not unusual, not for a Gallagher Girl, not for a trainee spy. 

Which means the entire series is full of kick-ass female characters, in more ways than one. Cammie and Bex might literally kick you, but Tina can put you in just as much pain through gossip blackmail; Liz and Anna regularly give everyone kicks up the brain with their smartness.

Basically, read it. Now. You need the awesomeness boost.

Tiana - A Book With A Hardworking, Self-Made Character

The girls from Dragonskin Slippers - not counting the bratty Princess Amalia, of course - are so hardworking that the amount of complaining they do is pretty much allowed. In fact, I'm surprised they don't complain more, considering how they left their families and everything they know to make their way as seamstresses, only to be confronted with a controlling boss, constant theft of their intellectual property, and a dragon war.

Surprisingly, they don't complain much about that last one. Whining takes far too long when you're running away from a thing that breathes fire.

Rapunzel - Name a Book That Features an Artist

It turns out that I haven't read many books featuring artists (not that I can remember, anyway: can you recommend some good ones?) and I just finished My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga, so I'll mention that. I just can't tell you who draws, because - um - spoiler!

[Highlight for spoiler] I love the idea of Roman's drawing so, SO much. The fact he draws Aysel so she can see herself the way he sees her . . . AWWW. [End of spoiler]

Merida - Name a Book That Features a Mother-Daughter Relationship

Leisl and her Mama from The Book Thief aren't biologically mother and daughter - Leisl was placed in foster care when she lost her mother at the beginning of the novel - but I think that made their love for each other even stronger. Yes, they struggled with each other at first, and there was some a lot of shouting within the first few chapters, but . . . 

It's very sweet and very interesting and I can't say much else. Spoilers again! It's horrid!

Frozen - A Great Relationship Between Siblings

Skye and Summer Tanberry from The Chocolate Box Girls are my favourite fictional sisters ever, not exactly because they have a great, sunshine-and-rainbows relationship, but because they are completely and utterly realistically messy. There's this whole overshadowing thing going on in Marshmallow Skye, and Skye helps Summer with her own issues, and through all of it they love each other, as well as their other sisters.

That's a real family, I think. They're not perfect, but that's fine, because they love each other even through tears, punches and screaming fits. Even as they're cursing each other for mere existence, they would protect every member of that group almost to death. Love binds the best families, even when everything else is falling out at the edges.


Hmm, that sounded good. It's a good job I just wrote it down.

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Everyone is tagged. EVERYONE! You must do this because it's awesome and if you don't have a blog, leave me the answers to a few questions in the comments. I'd love to hear about whether or not you like Disney, too, and which films I need to fanperson about with you.

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