AHGTSYK has a Princess Bride tone and humor to it with lots of The Three Stooges thrown in. Only it has four stooges, or rather Princes Charming, and one of them, Duncan (Snow White’s Prince Charming), is completely insane, bonkers. These are NOT the princes you would choose to have around when you’re in need of a rescue. The only one who’s any good at rescuing, Liam (Sleeping Beauty’s Prince Charming), is going through a popularity crisis. He’s always been quite beloved of his people and popular, but the waspish Princess Briar Rose, who’s a spoiled brat, has spread false rumors about him ever since he said he wouldn’t marry her and become her slave. Now she says Liam dumped her (true), threw rotten eggs at the royal family’s prize poodles, and drew a mustache on the queen’s portrait (or maybe on the queen, depending on who’s telling the story). Everybody hates Liam for spoiling the royal alliance. The other two princes, Frederic (Cinderella’s prince) and Gustav (Rapunzel’s prince) have their own issues, and the resulting adventure/how to manual is a laugh a minute.

Guys and girls should be able to enjoy this comedy of errors and slapstick and sarcasm, but the humor may lean toward the guy-side. As I said, Three Stooges, slapstick, ridiculosity (should be a word, even if it isn’t). The book does tend to be on the long-ish side,436 pages, but those who like it will want more, and those who don’t will quit.

Other voices:
There’s a Book: “Within the pages of The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom readers find characters that leave you in stitches and have you begging for more. This is a story about friendship, one in that ensures readers will never look at their favorite classic characters the same way and may even have young readers looking for what’s beyond the stereotypes in the people around them.”
The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia: “Healy combines the traditional stories of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rapunzel and Cinderella into the overall narrative, and from there things go haywire, sideways, and explosions feature prominently. It’s fun, silly, outrageous and a really good time.”
Small Review: “I’m contemplating bribery so I can get my little hands on more because I want more Frederic, Liam, Gustav, and Duncan (a.k.a. Prince Charming) right now.”