Just because you’re cursed doesn’t mean you’re not special.
Gwendolyn, the youngest of the King’s three daughters, is living proof that princesses don’t always have it all. She isn’t like a typical fairy-tale princess, or other princesses in the Pastel Kingdom. Gwendolyn, with her big heart and love of baking, isn’t particularly attractive. Unlike her sisters who have woodland creatures do their hair and makeup, or have flowers blossom wherever they sleep, Gwendolyn is a bit…different. So when her father proposes marriage for her and her sisters to make an alliance with the Plaid Kingdom, it breaks Gwendolyn’s heart to hear that Prince Frederick thinks she’s “really ugly.” Overwhelmed and ashamed, she runs away into the forest and encounters the twisted world of the Cursed Princess Club, where her life will never be the same.
The Cursed Princess Club are a ragtag band of outcasts, misfits and cursed princesses who have created an incredible friendship circle. It is among these friends where Gwendolyn learns to embrace her uniqueness and find her people.
In this second book of the series, we learn low self esteem isn’t just for girls! Meet the Princels―princes who have shunned society not because of curses (although one has to wonder…) but because of their own insecurities about their physical appearance and their inability to find romantic partners. And then we have Prince Frederick, who starts to worry if he even deserves Gwen. Plus, you too can learn to be as pretty as a Cursed Princess!
LambCat is a small, omnivorous, and easily frightened creature who has burrowed deep into the Pacific Northwest to draw comics and make music. They can be lured out by Bill Evans records and frosted animal crackers.
In a Nutshell: As excellent as the first season in content, art, and themes. An amazing book for challenging those stereotypes that you have and those that you don’t even know you have. Can’t recommend this highly enough! Not just to teens but to everyone who would enjoy a story that looks like fluff but is absolutely not it.
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NOTE: I'm reading this book on the WEBTOON app, but as Goodreads doesn't have that option, I'll be updating my progress against the graphic novel entries. This second volume of the graphic novel series is based on season 2 (episodes 30-61, plus four bonus shorts) of the webcomic.
The plot continues from the events of the first season, and should NOT be read as a standalone work. No plot preview, as I don’t want to go into spoilers.
All the feedback I wrote in my review for the first book is valid for this second book as well. In the first review, I focussed on the themes. In this, I’ll talk about some of my favourite characters and why they are so impactful. Each of these characters has something to teach us.
✨ Gwen: The youngest princess of the Pastel Kingdom dealing with low self-confidence and mental health issues. Has plenty of love for others, but none for herself.
✨ Maria and Lorena: Gwen’s older sisters who are exceptional beauties but are portrayed to be so much more than their appearance. They are Gwen’s biggest champions along with Jamie, and with their well-rounded personality, shatter the usual unidimensional detailing of beautiful girls in typical princess stories.
✨ Jamie: The only prince of the Pastel Kingdom, and always valued for his looks and for what he can offer as a food critic, than for his other traits. Uses his talent honestly, without bothering about others’ opinions.
✨ Frederick: The youngest prince of the Plaid Kingdom. Overshadowed in every way by his two elder brothers, he is trying to stand up for himself, but realises that change is neither easy nor instant.
✨ King Jack: A loving father who takes his ‘protective parent’ persona too far. Proves how helicopter parenting suffocates children.
✨ Prez: The president of the Cursed Princess Club, who uses her past to improve not just her future but that of many others. Shows the beauty of working for others.
✨ The other princesses (and prince) of the CPC: Each with their own quirks, and yet so supportive and accepting of each other. Demonstrate how true friendship is balanced rather than blind.
✨ Laverne the llama: Should be the model for L’Oreal because she knows “she’s worth it” and doesn’t settle for less.
Basically, no one and nothing in the book is stereotypical. So many a time, I felt my mind jumping to cliched perceptions about a character, only to have the plot set me right.
The storyline is amazingly intricate, and each subplot questions our notions and challenges many social perceptions. I love how beautifully it highlighted the importance of self-love and familial support.
I am so glad teens today have access to such a brilliant series, but I wish some older readers would also pick this up. Many of us need to be more openminded about people and situations, and this book offers this lesson brilliantly, along with many other life lessons.
Kudos to the creator of this webcomic! I am truly impressed. Till season 1, I was reading this for my daughter. Now, I am reading it for myself.
Strongly recommended to one and all. This is one of those YA works that has appeal beyond the target age group.
4.5 stars.
My thanks to the WEBTOON app for this free access to the story!
Es todo tan adorable!!! Amo todoooooooo La segunda temporada de El club de las princesas hechizadas va desde el capítulo 30 hasta el 61
Y amamos!!!! 🤩🤩🤩 Los personajes son hermosos y aprenden muchos valores importantes. La historia es muy divertida y todo el tiempo te dan ganas de más! Claramente ya me metí con la temporada 3 🙈🙈 Realmente recomiendo mucho este webtoon! Les va a encantar, van a reír y emocionarse y para distraerse un rato es lo mejor!
Personajes favoritos: Jamie, Gwen, Azafrán y Presi ⭐
Yo leyendo El club de las princesas hechizadas: ❤️✨😅🙈👀⭐🥺✨😏🤩🥺⭐🥺🥰❤️✨😍⭐
I’m always amazed at how LambCat is able to balance humour and being heartfelt all at once with this series.
This volume didn’t shy away at all from the deeper issue of self-esteem. And seeing Gwen grapple with her self-esteem really impacted me. I can identify so deeply with how she felt. At my lowest times, I could barely bring myself to look into the mirror, and when I did, all I could do was focus on every single little imperfection, I wasn’t seeing myself as a whole person, inside and out at all. The way this struggle was likened to Gwen seeing herself with her reflection cracked was absolutely genius.
The humour was great. In this volume we have the Princels (took me a while to get it, but I did!), acidic saliva, frogs coming out of the mouth, the return of that witch who thinks Gwen is one of her sisters (I LOVED it when she said that’s my witch!). I would say the first volume is funnier, but this one has much more emotional depth. But I absolutely still laughed because this is LambCat!
I also liked seeing Gwen’s relationship with Frederick evolve. His redemption arc is underway. I find his relationship with Gwen to be even more powerful than the ones Gwen’s sisters have with the other plaid princes, as theirs isn’t built solely on physical attraction (which is important, but not the only thing).
I can’t wait to read volume three! The Argyle Lord being straight up attracted to Gwen is going to be an absolute game changer!
Thank you, NetGalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group, for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest opinion.
I got my paperback and did the necessary reread. I actually tabbed my favourite scenes because I needed to. There is so much to love in this volume. It also has more in it than I remembered, which was great. Very excited to reread volume three.
Old review: Oh my gosh, this second one was even better than the first one. I’m screaming right now. Also…Gwen is like my all time favourite character. She’s just amazing.
Can’t wait for a cover reveal so that this won’t look so ugly 😂 Edit: love this cover so much more than the cover for book one
This book marks two big milestones for me! By finishing it, I completed my reading goal for this year! AND the review I wrote is the 25th one I’ve submitted to NetGalley!
I started reading Cursed Princess Clubearlier this year, and I enjoyed this second installment! This series is equal parts corny and charming and poignant. While it isn’t a comic that takes itself too seriously, it does take on some serious and culturally relevant topics—class, gender norms, sexism, consent, normalizing conversations about periods, incels, and above all, self-acceptance. More than anything, the characters in this series are learning to trust themselves and to listen to what they truly want.
In volume 2, Princess Gwendolyn continues her journey of self-discovery, gets more involved with the Cursed Princess Club, and attends a ball as a part of the arrangement between the Pastel and Plaid Kingdoms.
One of the most engaging parts of this book is when the club president tells the story of how she came to be cursed and how/why she formed the CPC.
The ending sets us up nicely for the next volume which is set to come out in early 2024! I’m here for it!
Thanks to WEBTOON Unscrolled and NetGalley for this ARC! The physical copy of Cursed Princess Club, Volume Two by LambCat came out on July 4, 2023.
Another fantastic season of the Cursed Princess Club!
5 stars!
Feeling lost and struggling with self image is especially tough when you are suddenly plunged into the real world and find people judging you at the first glance. They are not your family. They feel no obligation to make you feel comfortable or loved. Thus, you start becoming uncomfortable in your own skin. That's what Gwen is forced to endure. I am in love with this story. The emotions pierce you and leave your heart bleeding.
I was touched by Prez's story. Her drive, efforts and grit inspires me. She made a safe place for these ostracized princesses and makes everyone feel welcome.
I am glad that Gwen is learning that her self worth is not defined by others. Only she can decide that. Despite everything she is facing, she doesn't lose her kindness. Her gentle and loving persona (and the baked goods!) win over everyone.
I hate the fathers in this series. The Plaid father is awful to his sons and the Pastel father, despite loving his children, treats them unequally. He shelters his girls so much that they have never met anybody outside a select few people and are restricted to the umpteenth level. They have no freedom. On the other hand, the son has visited several kingdoms. This unequal treatment and several decrees forced upon them in the guise of love felt extreme. They too need a breathing room.
I understand Frederick's pain but it doesn't absolve him. His confusion is hurting Gwen. So while I sympathize with him, he needs to get it together.
Overall, an entirely pleasurable experience. I highly recommend!
Oh so Goodreads has separated it by seasons! that's nice
I just finished S2 and it was amazing! Such a heartwarming and funny story. The characters are all so amazing, I'm glad we got some more insight into Gwen's sisters, along with Fredrick's backstory. I might not hate Fredrick as much now, but he still needs to go a long way before being redeemed in my eyes. The best part of this season was probably Gwen's journey to self-love and acceptance. She is such a wonderful person, yet people fail to see beyond her looks. The close second best part was Prez's backstory! It wasn't what I expected, and I wish LambCat would do a spinoff on how Prez founded the Cursed Princess Club. I don't like Leopold's character so much, he seems shady and creepy. The plot twist at the end wasn't a big shock to me, I always wondered why Jamie and Gwen didn't look alike if they are twins. Something sinister happened, which might explain the unequal division of "beauty" among the siblings. Anyways I can't wait for the 3rd season to come!
Am I rating this too highly? Possibly, the art isn't great and the kingdom names make me cringe internally every time. But the story itself is just so delightful, with some very serious themes given actual consideration underneath the fairy tale farce. The main theme, that everyone should get to be treated with respect and loved no matter what their "curse," is vibrantly drawn in almost every interaction Gwen has with other people, and the revelation of Prez's curse is also handled very well - knowing why she founded the club and what she's working towards adds a lot. But mostly this is just a warmhearted, funny fractured fairy tale (I just lost it at the "princels"), and more than worth the price of admission.
Every character is this story is a gem. I keep actually laughing out loud and I am so invested in everything that is happening even though it’s all so very silly. But there are also so many great messages :)
--- Bumping this up to 5 stars on this re-read because I love this series so much!
Yeah I think I'll drop it after 61 chapters because the jokes dried out quickly than imagined and the whole is not really taken seriously so yeah unfortunately pass on this one.
I received this book from the publisher/Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
😍 While of course sad, I did love how Gwen saw herself in the mirror as it really felt so relatable. My self-image is also terrible. And so I could also relate to the princels (sorry, which I always read as incels). I don’t see my face breaking, but I do see a lot of fat. A whole lot of fat. Everywhere. So I just wanted to hug Gwen. Tell her she was not alone. That it wasn’t a curse, well, OK, in a way it is, but you know what I mean. I do hope that Gwen is able to fix her self-image, and I hope that one day I will be able to do the same. She at least got a lot of advice and love from people around her. Advice that I will definitely take in consideration as I try to fix my self-image. 😍 I loved finding out more about the Cursed Princess club, how it started, what is in the shed/barn, what is up with the boss/who started the club. I loved that we got so much backstory. 😍 I loved the princes and then especially the prince destined to be with Gwen. I loved that they got a bit closer with each chapter and that they shared something together. 😍 Jamie was such a gem! I love him so much, he makes me laugh, and I love how he tries to help out his sisters (though his efforts this time just made Gwen very uncomfortable). I love how free he is and doesn’t care what he wears. 😍 I loved seeing the Cursed Princess club and loved seeing the girls (and boy) get together and do fun things, learn about life, and more. 😍 The art was stunning again! 😍 And yes, are we going to figure out what is up with Gwen? I mean, she may not be cursed, but hello? She looks totally different from her sisters + she has pointy ears. Something is up and I have been curious about it since the beginning. Hopefully in the next volume we get to it! 😍 I loved Gwen’s sisters, they were both hilarious, but also supersweet and I love how they are there for Gwen. Help her out. Like when there was that ball and the people there just sucked with making Gwen feel good and her sisters just took it over and boom, stunning! 😍 I just love a girl who bakes and reads. Gwen is really fab! 😍 Plus, it was so sweet of her to help out the people in the castle! 😍 That fanclub, good lord! They were mean, but I just couldn’t help but laugh as their plans kept being foiled and one of them even found the princess all OK.
😶 The mystery of the letters, on the one hand I loved it a lot as I was curious who was writing them and what was up with them, on the other hand, ARGHH! How could they do that? 😶 Dad, please stop smothering your daughters, it is just creepy now.
But all in all, I had so much fun reading this one! And I cannot wait for the next one.
Tinha amado o primeiro volume desta comic, mas este...este superou em muito a beleza do primeiro e rebentou com as expectativas que tinha 😍 foi absolutamente lindo!!!
Esta comic é para todas as idades e para todos os leitores. As mensagens de amor próprio, de aceitação, de carinho...são sublimes, soberbas, toda a gente devia ler, ouvir e entender no seu coração estas palavras ❤️
Não leio apenas pela arte maravilhosa, leio pela história incrível que aqui descubro. E sim, já conto os dias para poder ler mais.
Neste volume vemos um aprofundar de temas apresentados anteriormente, vemos também mais do mundo e descobrimos segredos 👀 a minha personagem preferida finalmente revelou a sua maldição e digamos que o capítulo dela foi perfeito 🫶🏻 eu adoro a Prez (sim, ela é a melhor).
Ler isto foi um aconchego ❤️ amei. Tem os seus momentos mais leves e divertidos, tem os seus momentos mais introspectivos, tem os seus momentos tristes, e tem os seus momentos de amor e doçura.
And I finally was able to finish this wup wup It took me quite a few days because: 1) the episodes are pretty long and to create one of these books there are A LOT os episodes to read. V2 includes episides 30-61. 2) I'm not used to read on screen, so every now and then I start to lose concentration and I have to stop to fully enjoy the story because my eyes get tired pretty easily.
Said this, the second volume is super eventful and there are some big revelations in it, for princesses, princes and CPC members. Kudos to the music that gets much better and suits the situation perfectly!
This picks up right where the first leaves off. I love how cozy the story is and how relatable it feels even with the whimsical and fantasy vibes. The art work is beautiful and adds so much to the story. I am so glad I found this. I'm really enjoying it.