Steff Fox’s Reviews > The Princess and the Blade, Book 1: A Slow-Burn YA Princess-and-Knight Romantasy Novel > Status Update

When Jack had heard the story afterward, he had nearly fallen over laughing. Clutching his sides, he declared, “Of course he did. That’s so him.”

^Only furthers my prior point. The writing is extremely immature and these characters are not properly developed. This is supposed to be one of the most trusted and intelligent advisors to the princess and he sounds like a teenager.

“You don’t have to smile, you know? Besides, smooth human interactions are kinda important.”

"I have not been ordered to maintain smooth human interactions."

My word, this dialogue is atrocious.

“Formalities matter.”

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Not with the way this was written, they don’t. Not a single one of these characters actually speaks or behaves as though they give a damn about etiquette and formalities (pretty sure it’s an author problem, but still).

"But...he's still a man!"

...I'm sorry, but since when has a princess' guard NOT been a man? Some of the dialogue choices in this story are so deeply unrealistic that it's genuinely painful to read them. Writing like this, I've noticed, often comes from authors with two writing problems: 1) they tell rather than show, and 2) they do not trust their reader to understand the story they're telling.

But dreams were dangerous for rulers.