The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

by Deya Muniz

A nobleman with a secret and a princess on a mission find love—and lots of grilled cheese sandwiches—when they least expect it, in this funny, heartfelt graphic novel rom-com.

Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert.
 
But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she able to keep her secret?
 
A romantic comedy about mistaken identity, true love, and lots of grilled cheese.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Romance, LGBT, Young Adult, Fantasy, Queer, Lesbian

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2023

About the author

Deya Muniz was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they grew up watching Pride and Prejudice and reading copious amounts of shojo manga. In 2017, they moved to the United States to pursue a master's degree in sequential art, where they met and fell in love with a wonderful girl who makes delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m here to more or less scream at you that you NEED TO DROP EVERYTHING AND READ THE PRINCESS and the GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH by Brazilian author and artist Deya Muniz. This sapphic tale of princess courtship and fashion in a modern day setting is so adorable and heartwarming that this was me the entire read:

For real though, this is so unbearably cute and comes alive in such gorgeous artwork that can seamlessly shift between realism and comically cartoony to capture the extreme emotions and fun that it is just as lovely to look at as it is to read. Also literally everything is cheese puns. This book has a kinship with The Prince and the Dressmaker that I loved a few years back for the focus on fashion and confronting outdated laws on gender and marriage in a queer tale of disguised identity. Here we follow Lady Camembert who, following the death of her father, must disguise herself as Count Camembert (Cam for short) in order to not lose the family fortune since she is not attracted to men and will not marry one. But she has too much energy to lay low in her new city and everything gets tangled up when she attends a fashion activism event hosted by Princess Brie and the two are instantly drawn to each other.


I loved this, it was a joy from start to finish and has a really great pacing with plenty of story to keep you hooked. Everything is fashion and cheese and it's unstoppably sweet. The secondary characters are wonderful too, especially Zola (short for Gorgonzola) who is a fashion designer finally out of the shadow of her late husband who became famous taking credit for her work. It becomes an intricate web of emotions running high as Cam and Brie fall in love, but Cam is scared of being found out and Brie tends towards elevating drama when upset. It’s ADORABLE though and you’ll be rooting for their sapphic love the whole way through and laughing along with all their mishaps.

The way cheese is persistently involved in all the names and the characters love of grilled cheese actually comes from Deya Muniz’s real life relationship with her wife, and her story following the book is just as cute as the actual graphic novel (she provides some quick cartoon panels to help tell it as well). Muniz’s attention to details in all the outfits is gorgeous and I said AWWWW when I learned the wedding dresses were based off the dresses she and her wife wore at their own wedding.

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich is a sheer delight and I highly recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars, its perfect.

[Claudia Lomelí · Rating 4 out of 5]

qué bonito libro, lloro :’)

[Dahlia]

Cannot be reached right now as I have absolutely died of The Cute

[len ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i’m not an avid graphic novel reader, and those i have read haven’t always been a winner for me, but the princess and the grilled cheese sandwich was a delight! if i could find more comics and graphic novels like this one, i would be indulging in them.

it follows lady camembert who disguises herself as a man (her father’s idea, by the way) in order to inherit what her father left after his passing. she wants to live her life without marrying a man, but without finding a husband, she is unable to get a single penny from her father. she moves to the capital city of fromage, now as count camembert, where she befriends princess brie, after bonding over their love for grilled cheeses and fashion. as time passes, the two spend more and more time together, but cam’s constant fear of being found out still nags at her, and it’s only a matter of time before she’ll have to come clean about her identity.

it’s the amazing artwork that makes the story come alive. it’s as vivid as it is colorful, and never once did i find a moment of it dull. the artwork itself gets praise from me separately than the story, as i found myself amazed at it in an entertaining way. the characters are bright, amazing, and delightful. i loved the trio between brie, ricotta, and gorgonzola, or zola for short (yes all the characters are named after cheeses and the story has a lot of cheese puns). the relationship between brie and cam is wholesome and cute. there’s a blossoming friendship that turns to more, and it’s incredibly easy to root for the two women together. the story isn’t necessarily historical fiction but it still has a somewhat historical setting, with conservative vs progressive mindsets related to gender, sexuality, rights, and political overall. there’s dukes, princesses, kingdoms, royalty and nobility, counts, law making, servants, etc. but don’t worry, the story never gets overly political to the point of favoritism and bias; it’s just the setting of it.


both main protagonists, cam and brie, were captivating. i loved brie’s sense to change the world with her animal activism (oh the irony of cheese sandwiches though), her need to uplift rights, and her sweet heart. and i loved cam’s determination to live her life how she wants it, even if she had to hide her identity a little. she was an endearing and adorable character.

read this for the sapphic love. read this for the cheese references. read this for the dog named gouda.

[Jesse (JesseTheReader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly wholesome graphic novel that deserves more love!

[Brooklyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m in love with both of them, your honor

[Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

AMAZING. WONDERFUL. DIVINE. FANTASTIC.

THIS MADE ME CRY, SCREAM AND SCREAM EVEN MORE. I LOVE THIS. I RECOMMEND THIS. I’M CRAZY FOR IT. GOODBYE.

[Flo Camus · Rating 5 out of 5]

[5.0⭐] 𝙇𝙖 𝙋𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙖 𝙮 𝙚𝙡 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙬𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙙𝙚 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙤 es una novela gráfica de fantasía que ha sido escrita por Deya Muniz. La historia contempla a dos protagonistas: lady Camembert y la princesa Brie. Camembert se niega a casarse con un hombre ya que le gustan las mujeres, pero la ley estipula que para poder tener acceso a la herencia tiene que estar casada con un hombre (porque la fortuna no puede ser heredada por una mujer). Cuando su padre muere, Cam decide hacerse pasar por un hombre y utilizar el vestuario de su difunto antecesor. Para poder comenzar desde cero, la muchacha estando vestida de conde se muda a la capital junto a Feta (una mujer que ha servido a su familia durante mucho tiempo), ahí nadie tendría sospechas sobre su nueva identidad. Por desgracia, se le hace muy complicado mantener un bajo perfil y estar encerrado en su nuevo hogar, así que decide asistir a un baile real, en donde capta la atención de todos los presentes y de la princesa Brie. Desde ahí, Brie lo va invitando a brunchs, juntas y a eventos junto a sus otras dos amigas (Ricotta y Gorgonzola). Poco a poco, estas dos protagonistas se irán enamorando, lo que provoca un problema para lady Camembert ya que no quiere que su identidad sea revelada o la podrían mandar a prisión. ¿Lady Camembert será capaz de admitir su verdadera identidad ante la princesa Brie? ¿Podrá la princesa aceptar la realidad de Cam?


Me leí esta novela sin tanta fe, pensé que sería una versión más pedestre de 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳, pero me ha dejado sin palabras.
Se me ha hecho realmente original el que todos los personajes tengan nombres de quesos, hasta me ha causado bastante gracia. En la parte de las consideraciones, la autora explica que el queso ha sido un elemento significativo en su relación con su esposa y que encontraba muy simbólico el crear una historia que se enfocara principalmente en este lácteo. Considero que es un elemento muy divertido, original y sencillo.
La novela es corta y es muy fácil de leer, no se hace para nada tediosa o pesada, me demoré como una hora o menos. En ningún momento me aburrí y no se me hizo monótona ya que, al tener una trama tan sencilla, uno se engancha de inmediato y quiere saber cómo terminará esta mentira que lady Camembert se ha montado.
También, quiero destacar los dibujos que tienen: son ilustraciones realmente preciosas y muy detalladas, en especial a la hora de hablar sobre la vestimenta de los personajes. Los colores son realmente agradables a la vista y armoniosos, están llenos de vida.

Recomiendo la novela a cualquier persona que quiera algo ligero y fácil de leer, hasta a las que tienen bloqueo lector.

[Fanny Reads ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Supeeeer linda la novelita!!!
Literal me la leí en 1 hora y sin intención de terminarlas no quería dejarla, las ilustraciones son preciosas, los dialogos literal sonaban en mi cabeza como una caricatura, fue toda una experiencia leer algo tan sencillo que al mismo tiempo tiene un gran signficado.

Adore a Feta, siempre tiene que haber un personaje que sea como ella, ocupo una Feta en mi vida
Y algo que se me hizo de lo más curisoso es que todos los personajes tienen nombres de queso jajaja tan solo de pensarlo me dio hambre pero es bastante ingenioso.
Gouda me encantó (es un perrito precioso)
Impresionada con todos los gestos y facciones dibujadas, me parece de las emocionante cuando un libro se vuelve una película en tu cabeza y esto me sucedió con este.

Ya esta en español, publicada por VR Editoras
Muchas gracias a VR por el enviarme una copia <3

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in LOOOOOOOVE.

I have been chasing the high I got from The Prince and the Dressmaker for YEARS, and I have been waiting for this book to come out for...I shit you not...three years, ever since I first read that delicious title.

This book. OMG.

Filled with cheese puns, darling illustrations with anachronistic touches (love it), a little cross-dressing (and playful gender expressions), forbidden love and lots of fashion, this book has it all, including my whole heart.

[Esme · Rating 5 out of 5]

6/5⭐

IM OBSSESED. This was cheesy (in a gouda way hehehe) I just adored it so much. The cheese puns were just perfection, THE DOG was everything and the art was stunning. Just a perfect LGBTQIA+ graphic novel inspired by the author and their partners relationship. I simply cannot rave about this enough. Go get this book and a grilled cheese and enjoy!

[๑ seungchaccomin ๑ · Rating 4 out of 5]

in cinderella, if the shoe really fits, you will married a prince and live happily ever after. but in this graphic novel, it's the same thing. but this time, it's grilled cheese sandwich.

everything about this book is cute. from their awkward first interaction, to their friendship with zola and ricotta, to her author's note of how is this title created. and the ending is so funny 😫💞

ps: i must say i like zola's optimism 🤭

───────────────────────

pre-read:

i should just reading the tags first before reading the description. i thought this is a full-length novel. but it's a graphic novel 🤦🏻‍♀️

but at least it's sapphic! 🤭

[lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulously illustrated sapphic romance! I really loved how the characters were drawn—there’s a maturity to their features and historical costuming that makes for a fun contrast with the silly moments of exaggeratedly-drawn emotion. And the color work is really sweet and soft, definitely perfect for romantic blushing.

The only way this let me down was by having nothing to do with cheese. There’s never any explanation for why all the characters are named after cheeses, and nothing else is themed that way. I wanted cheese dresses, cheese buildings, a cheese kingdom! Aside from that, the setting is pretty fun with its modern-historical fusion. This is a land of gentry and carriages but also, completely uncommented upon, such modern affects as a nintendo switch?? More funky contrast for lols, I guess!

And I don’t mean this in a tragic way, but I really appreciated the period-typical heteronormativity here. I struggle to connect with queernorm worlds, because to me queerness is inherently counter-cultural, inherently an act of resistance—forming boundary-defying relationships, identities, and community in the spaces society has othered us to. By preserving that dimension of queerness, this story allows for a really lovely portrayal of historical lesbian masculinity and an impactful, radical romance. But because it’s not The Real World, there’s some sweet tangible hope at the end about political reform and using one’s privilege to affect social change.

[em · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to The Novl for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review! 2.5 stars. The highlight of this was ABSOLUTELY the art and character design! Every panel was absolutely gorgeous and the character design and every single costume were designed so well! My main complaint was the story. The general vibe would be a fantasy world with some modern elements (like grilled cheese), but I didn’t expect it to be so modern that there are things like Nintendo Switches. Also, I wish that it was longer so that we could have more time to get invested in the story and characters. Overall, this was cute, but ultimately forgettable (except the art, which was phenomenal)

[Jan Agaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a freakin cute story, art style, and sapphic romance! with the goofy title, i didnt expect it to be anything below surface-level, but it actually touches on a couple deeper topics!

[Lamaleluna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completamente hermoso y se lleva mi puntuación más alta 🥰😋🤭

La princesa y el sánguche de queso es una novela gráfica, que en un solo tomo y menos de 300 páginas nos presenta una historia hermosa, bien construida, con personajes muy bien desarrollados, sean protagonistas o secundarios.

Nuestra protagonista Lady Camembert, detesta la idea de casarse con un hombre, a ella le gustan las mujeres y su padre que ya lo sabe, desea idear un plan. Si Cam no puede casarse con un hombre, será un hombre.
Así es como se presenta en sociedad como Lord Cambert y descubre un incipiente interés por la princesa Brie. Poco a poco se conocen, nace una gran amistad que se les escapa de las manos y termina siendo algo más.
Pero Cam sabe que en algún momento le tiene que contar la verdad a la princesa, y capaz... Un sánguche de queso pueda ayudar.

Me gustó todo, la historia, los personajes, las ilustraciones (bellísimas), el desarrollo, como se toma su tiempo para ciertas cosas y para darle lugar a cada sentimiento. Y además, está inspirado en la vida real de quien ilustra y crea esta historia. (No es acaso un plus?)

Lo súper recomiendo, creo que es mi favoritas y no puede faltar en tu biblioteca de novelas gráficas.

Yo leyendo La princesa y el sánguche de queso: 😋🥺🥰🤭😱

[Muffinsandbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'AI KIFFÉ ! C'était trèèèès drôle, hyper touchant et très addictif. J'ai aimé autant les dessins que les personnages, que l'histoire et l'ambiance, que le style et les messages... parfait du début à la fin, c'est validéééé ! 🧀

[Brend · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best thing that happened to me this year

For the Lover stans!

[ashes ➷ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Has anybody told the author that the last thing we need in 2023 is for a butch to wear a wedding dress?

Actual review: I came here for butches, obviously, and I grant that the story doesn't necessarily present this as true. But I'm still sad that the big reveal has to be Brie and Cam in wedding dresses, which... well, c'mon. Like, if we're going to use the word "activism" on the back cover, the literal least we could do would be to not present two conventionally feminine women in dresses and makeup in wedding dresses in a church as revolutionary. It is literally 2023. You can let go of Obergefell, I promise.

look how they massacred my boy:


I know that the story is based on the (nonbinary!) author and their wife, which is really cool! But that felt like kind of a cop-out to not tell, y'know, a real story, and to give the romance the time and space it needed. I never use the phrase instalove, but I'm using it now, because it is deeply unclear what causes Cam and Brie to fall for each other (outside of the meetcute). Things progress way too quickly to really get invested in either the romance or its outcome, and the emotional resonance is undercut by the speed of the plot.

I also had a lot of trouble with the politics of this book-- they paint the princess as an "activist" but she is literally a princess, and she HAS SERVANTS. Every important character is upper-class to the point of having servants, barring Feta, who IS COUNT CAMEMBERT'S SERVANT. It was so grating watching Cam do her thing about how she'd "rather starve" than marry a man, how it sucks she has to pretend to be a man to inherit the Family Fortune, etc. etc., while she LITERALLY HAS A SERVANT. FETA IS A SERVANT. SHE'S STANDING RIGHT THERE. mfw my employer starts complaining about how she has to jump through 1 single hoop to wear her luxury Guccheese vests

I know I'm being mean and I do FEEL mean because 1) everybody I know ADORES this book, and I was really looking forward to it 2) the art IS gorgeous. nobody can deny that 3) the cheese puns zomg!!

...but like... at a certain point, even if I DO give the bonus star for the (GORGEOUS!!) art and the cheese puns... yeah, I had a rough time with this one, just because it is legitimately bile-raising to have to read about a princess holding a ball to raise awareness of... cruelty in the fur industry? Followed by plotlines about brand clothing and smallfat servants being recruited as models for ~inclusivity~. Like, it's just grating. It's hard to read. It makes me sad because I don't inherently mind reading about princesses... this was just, politically speaking, a mess. It reminds me of all the issues with how liberals understand power, feminism, and politics generally speaking. Like either completely ignore all of politics or actually do something with the monarchy, y'know?

So ultimately this did not impress me. I do deeply understand why people love it-- it's a classic Rose of Versailles-inspired yuri situation! with GRILLED FUCKING CHEESE!! and the art is stunning!!!-- but it personally did not fill me with joy. It did, however, distract me from a lot of stress, and was easy to read and silly. So I would recommend with all of the above caveats if you don't mind them, or don't mind them enough for it to deter you-- but I probably wouldn't recommend this personally to any of my friends, because I think our bar's a little higher than that. No offense meant.

EDIT: I think I reviewed this book in a way which was a little rushed and kind of unclear. It sounds like I hated every second, which is absolutely not true. I really enjoyed the vast majority of the premise: the art style, the character design, the cheese puns... I would have been at 3 stars had I not had to put up with the very obvious classism involved in asking your reader to simply ignore that the main character is complaining about her money troubles to her servant. The skinny MC is asking her (fat) servant to be a model in some venture she's on so they can have "body diversity." There is a literal servant we are expected to see as more of a figure than a human being because of her class status while sympathizing with the MC's potential poverty, and that is truly insane. I wanted to lift the rating, but I just couldn't.

[Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Camembert is the only child of Count Camembert, but as a daughter she cannot inherit unless she marries. She refuses, and after her father's death takes up a different life in the capital city, far from her hometown: she pretends to be the male heir to her father's title. This feels like the perfect solution, except then she meets Princess Brie, and as feelings begin to develop between them, Cam despairs that her secret identity means she can never be anything more than friends with the Princess. This is a beautifully drawn book, sweet and silly, full of cheese puns and historical anachronisms.

[₊ ˚ ale ࿓ ♡ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

── ᝰ .ᐟ read.
this was super cute and adorable, i loved the art

[may ➹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

silly ridiculous romances but lesbian <3

3.5 stars

[Ewa Cat Mędrzecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐, cheesy & adorable.

[Lia Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

me pareció muy cute, muy lindo totalmente hermoso pero han pasado unos días y la historia no se quedo conmigo. la recomiendo si están en bloqueo lector o si quieren leer algo ligero y lindo

[Celine Ong · Rating 5 out of 5]

FROTHING AT THE MOUTH

[Frank Chillura (OhYouRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCUSE ME!!!!!! This! Was! BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! and quite cheesy! 🤣 Pun intended!! I am here for all books queer and this one was flying it’s rainbow flag high, lemme tell ya!

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich made me so happy, starting with the cheesy names like Feta, Ricotta, Brie, Camembert, (Gorgon) Zola… I can’t! Sometimes tidbits like that gain an eye roll, but for this book I was LOVING IT!!!!

Camembert, Cam for short, is a woman, therefore when her father dies she’ll inherit nothing unless she’s married. So instead of finding herself in a loveless marriage when she most definitely wants to be with a woman, she moves away and starts dressing as a man. That’s the only way to get her inheritance and live in freedom.

Cam gets bored and decides to attend a party thrown by the crown Princess Brie of Fromage and promptly begins to fall hard for her. But no one can know that she isn’t a Count or a man, so she has to admire her from afar. But little by little they start to fall in love… but they can never be together when the princess doesn’t know the real her.

This was so sweet and swoony and funny and I loved it!!! While Cam was getting heart eyes over Brie, I was getting them over the artwork and story. I love that her disguise was literally sideburns and the minute she wasn’t wearing them, it was like Clark Kent becoming Superman. Her disguise was ruined.

This was perfect for me and I’ll be taking no critism on perfectly good dad jokes! 😂

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

LA ESCRITORA HIZO ESTE LIBRO POR SU ESPOSA Y LA BODA FINAL (LOS VESTIDOS) SON IGUALES A LOS DE SU MATRIMOMONIOOO🥺🌼🌻🌺🏵🌹⚘️💐🧀❤️‍🩹

THE PRINCESS AND THE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH, es una historia sobre el queso y el amor.

Me encanta que no es nada serio en su punto y que todos los personajes son irónicamente quesos jjaajajjajaa *YA LO ENTENDERÁN*

La historia es buena, divertida, random y dulce.
Nuestra protagonista tiene que convertirse en hombre para herederar sin casarse y cuando ya lo es, conoce a la princesa BRIE❤️🥺

AY, es adorable y lo terminé en nada por lo rapido que se lee.
SE LEE SOLO y me ayudó para olvidar el mundo un rato.

[Stay Fetters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"*smack*
Ow! Stop smacking me!
Stop talking about butts!
Never!!"

This book was so super adorable. I loved it.

If you’re ready to laugh, swoon, cry, and eat grilled cheese sandwiches then please read this book.

[Nenia Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably cute. THE PRINCESS AND THE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH is like the sapphic Pretty Pretty Princess version of Nimona, with a gender-bending countess who wears men's clothes to avoid having to marry a man (derogatory) and the cheese-obsessed hyper-femme princess who is obsessed with animal rights and clothes. When they meet, they both have an instant rapport with each other, but Brie doesn't know that Cam is... not actually a man.

I read the author's note and thought it was super sweet that the author based these characters off themselves and their wife (including the wedding gown!). This is fantasy lite set in a time like ours, except with cheese-themed kingdoms that should be ridiculous, but mostly just made me grin inwardly. If you want something sweet and campy that feels a little like a bizarre D&D campaign, this is your book.

4.5 stars

[Sasa · Rating 2 out of 5]

the art has such a charming, modern-day cartoon quality to it that i love and i'm glad muniz is growing as an artist. as much as i enjoyed the romance between the main characters, i couldn't stand how the bipoc characters were written. the only black woman (ricotta), the only fat white woman (feta), and the only asian woman (i thought zola was asian idk) characters—all sidekicks btw—spend all of their time expending mountains of emotional labor to solve problems mostly caused by the main characters and reserve almost none of their labor for themselves. the stereotypes were abundant like the first thing the mc says to zola is something about admiring her dragon collection and zola responds to everything with a quiet, "dragon lady"-like stoicism. it was not subtle. zola later felt the need to talk about her marital issues and traumas in order to help her extremely privileged white friend. talking trauma is fine but when a character only revolves around trauma and solving her royal friend's problems, that's the issue. ricotta only exists for brie which is such a waste of potential because her design is the most adorable of the bunch. feta is cam's maid and she was the most forgettable because she was given no personality. i had to look up her name. i'm in the camp of "write what you know" and that people shouldn't try to represent marginalized groups they're not a part of and this is a prime example of why. i'm so disappointed.