The Princess Protection Program #2: After Ever After

The Princess Protection Program #2

by Alex London, Deva Marie Gregory (narrator)

What happens when a princess accidentally fractures her fairy tale by fleeing to the real world? Bestselling author Alex London turns classic fairy tales on their heads in this fast-paced, funny fantasy about friendship and facing your fears. For fans of The School for Good and Evil and the Never Afters series.

Princess Rana loves her friends (all fellow fairy tale escapees), loves her school (the HEA, an academy for fairy tale royalty), and loves punk rock (the best music genre). But she does not love frogs . . . especially demanding frog princes who follow her home. Rana fled her story because of one frog prince in particular, and she has no plans of ever going back to that stuffy place full of rules. But then her frog prince shows up at the academy’s gate. And he’s not alone. Dozens of duplicate frog princes have followed him to the real world. Worse still, a shadowy monster is in hot pursuit, one that dissolves fairy tale characters into nothing, erasing their stories. To save everyone she cares about, Rana will have to do the one thing she vowed she'd never to do—return to her Once Upon Time.

Acclaimed and bestselling author Alex London weaves together several beloved fairy tales in this fast-paced, funny, and slyly subversive adventure about figuring out who you want to be. The daring escapes, sinister monsters, familiar friends, and surprise twists will keep even reluctant listeners glued. The Princess Protection Program is for fans of the Never Afters and the Descendants series, The School for Good and Evil, and the Fairly True Tales series.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Audible Audio

Published February 11, 2025

About the author

The Short Version:

Alex London writes books for adults (One Day The Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War), children (Dog Tags series; An Accidental Adventure series) and teens (Proxy). At one time a journalist reporting from conflict zones and refugee camps, he is now a full time novelist living in Brooklyn, NY, where he can be found wandering the streets talking to his dog, who is the real brains of the operation.

The Long Version:

C. Alexander London grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He's an author of nonfiction for grown-ups (under a slightly different not very secret name), books for teens (as Alex London...see above), and, younger readers. He once won a 12-gauge skeet-shooting tournament because no one else had signed up in his age group. He's a Master SCUBA diver who hasn't been diving in way too long, and, most excitingly, a fully licensed librarian. He used to know the Dewey Decimal System from memory.

He doesn't anymore.

While traveling as a journalist, he watched television in 23 countries (Burmese soap operas were the most confusing; Cuban news reports were the most dull), survived an erupting volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a hurricane on small island in the Caribbean, 4 civil wars (one of them was over by the time he got there, thankfully), and a mysterious bite on his little toe in the jungles of Thailand. The bite got infected and swollen and gross and gave him a deep mistrust of lizards, even though it probably wasn't a lizard that bit him.

Although he has had many adventures, he really does prefer curling up on the couch and watching some good television or reading a book. He enjoys danger and intrigue far more when it's happening to somebody else.

He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

See also C. Alexander London and Charles London

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the frog prince from Rana's story returns to ask her to come back to her story, Rana refuses and the darkness that tried to take her friends returns for them both. Will they be able to vanquish it? Read on and find out for yourself.

This was a pretty good installment of this fairytale series. Definitely check this out at your local library and wherever books and ebooks are sold.

[Stephanie Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 2nd in the Princess Protection Program about Princess Rana is who is from The Frog Prince and she runs away before she has to marry the prince but her frog follows her to the real world and decided to stay at the academy with her until she decides to return with him but then a bunch of frogs show up all from versions of the frog prince who have lost their princess. Rana and her frog must go back to her story to figure out what is going on. This was a fine installment to this series but I really enjoyed the world building and the story more in the first book. I didn’t really enjoy Rana as a character as much and the story wasn’t as interesting to me but it was a fast read and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Thanks to Greenwillow Books and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

[Therearenobadbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love this series. It is always fun to read something humorous but with great life lessons and great values.

Princess, don't get startled, don't flinch don't laugh loudly, or belch. .. too many rules for a princess who wants to let her emotions explode with her punk rock music. Good thing that in the real world, at school, she gets challenged to think and rethink her actions. Knowledge makes questions bloom.

I love the humor that balances well the serious themes explored in this quick-read middle-grade awesomeness. Rana jams with a dragon teacher who teaches her that she should learn the basic rules first to be able to break them with purpose and artistry.

This is not the only lesson I loved:

Some women changed the world in pretty dresses. They loved pretty dresses. It's not the clothes it's what you fight for.

The people we love make us human

We should be daring, taking risks, being loud, and making and writing our own story. Very motivating, inspiring, educational, towards knowledge, seeking answers, admitting mistakes, and making amend, inclusivity by protecting those who need female or male. Sometimes, friendship is stronger than anything else.

Loved how they broke the curse. Focused on Frog Prince story with Rana, a punk princess with spunk ready to help. Of course, after all of these adventures, the students who may not just be only female students at the end of this book should enjoy some pizza.

Parents give their kids the tools for them to find their stories, and some may be sad they don't follow the path the parents wanted to but should support them. Communication is essential among peers, family, or friends.
Support your children.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

After ever after is the second book in "The Princess Protection Program" series that encapsulates Princess Rana from the famous "The Frog Prince" fairytale.

Princess Rana doesn't want to follow her supposed happy ever after and she certainly does want a frog prince to follow her to the one place that offers her peace and friendship. The HEA, the extraordinary boarding school that helps princesses (and one princess) escape the happy ever after and let them learn about the real world.

Princess Rana loves punk music and wants to excel in that. But the frog prince follows her to her academy and becomes a student there in order to win her over. Well, that's not going to be easy considering Rana doesn't love him and when a dozens of duplicate frog princes arrive as well, it indicates that there is more to this story than what was initially conveyed.

Another masterpiece by Alex London. This story captivated me with themes of friendship, ambition and hope. I liked that Princess Rana defied everyone's opinions and judgements for her and forged her own true blue path. There were familiar princesses from the first book and enjoyed their interactions and roles in this book too.

I'd highly recommend this book series.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

I love London's writing, especially his Battle Dragons and Dog Tags series. The Princess Protection Program books are a lot of fun, and Rana (which is frog in Latin!) is a great character. This is perfect for readers who have aged out of Mlynowski's Whatever After series or Vernon's Hamster Princess books, or who enjoy the slightly fractured fairy tales by E.D. White. If you have fans of nontraditional princess tales, make sure you have After Ever After to hand to students along with White's Bean Stalker and other Hilarious Scary Tales, Lairamore's Ivy's Ever After, or the work of Diane Zahler.

I reviewed the first book here:
https://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/...

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know those Disney movie sequels that were just a few pilot episodes for a tv show that didn't work out? That's the best way I can describe this book. I truly like what the author was going for but too many parts felt rushed while others seemed thrown in to make the book longer. I also have a problem with two of the new characters. Skylar and Sebastian somehow falling in love in less than a day goes against everything that the series is trying to represent. They're not even in the same room together for more than a couple hours at most. I was already on the fence about if I liked the first book or not, but after reading the sequel I can definitely say I don't recommend this story to anyone.

[Heather Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me by HarperCollins for my honest review. Princess Rana runs away to the real world to escape her fairytale. What an adorable chapter book for approximately third to six graders. This book is a delightful read with a great spin on a fairytale. I found this book to have humor with a great message that you don't have to be the expected and you can make your own story. A solid four stars.

[Haram]

Princess Rana fled her fairy tale because of one frog prince, and when he shows up at her school followed by a monster, Rana must return to her Once Upon a Time and face the frog and the fears she thought she left behind.

Appeal: fast-paced, likeable characters, thought-provoking, upbeat, witty
Subject: epic heroines, fairy tale-inspired, escapes, magic, multi-verse

[Shauna Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that this book makes us look at the other characters in the fairytales and how stuck they are in the story. This is a fun series and I hope there are more books to come.

Deva Marie Gregory did a great job narrating the story.

[MBenzz · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF'ing this at 38%. I don't like Rana, and I'm not enjoying this story, so I'm moving on. It's a shame because I really enjoyed the first book in the series.

[Charlotte Diver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this just as much as the first one, it was fun getting to see the different parallel fairytales!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

charming and funny

[Flyingzebras · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun new twist on fairy tales and how they turn out. Love a good fractured fairy tale the end was a bit confusing and convoluted but I enjoyed the premise

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 11 year old didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first. She said it wasn’t as interesting.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My girls really enjoyed this one.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

After being presented a frog for marriage, Rana escapes her fairy tale and enrolls at the Princess Protection Program. She learns all about the “real world” including educational studies and intro to snack food. Pretty soon, however, her fairy tale life catches back up to her, while all she wants to do is play punk rock.

This is such a fun and charming story. I loved Rana as a main character, especially her resistance against all things princess! The frog(s) were hilarious!

Thank you @harpercollins @theshelfstuff for the gifted copy for me to read and review