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Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, & Heretics Kindle Edition

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 906 ratings

Blending the iconoclastic feminism of The Notorious RBG and the confident irreverence of Go the F**ck to Sleep, a brazen and empowering illustrated collection that celebrates inspirational badass women throughout history, based on the popular Tumblr blog.

Well-behaved women seldom make history. Good thing these women are far from well behaved . . .

Illustrated in a contemporary animation style, Rejected Princesses turns the ubiquitous "pretty pink princess" stereotype portrayed in movies, and on endless toys, books, and tutus on its head, paying homage instead to an awesome collection of strong, fierce, and yes, sometimes weird, women: warrior queens, soldiers, villains, spies, revolutionaries, and more who refused to behave and meekly accept their place.

An entertaining mix of biography, imagery, and humor written in a fresh, young, and riotous voice, this thoroughly researched exploration salutes these awesome women drawn from both historical and fantastical realms, including real life, literature, mythology, and folklore. Each profile features an eye-catching image of both heroic and villainous women in command from across history and around the world, from a princess-cum-pirate in fifth century Denmark, to a rebel preacher in 1630s Boston, to a bloodthirsty Hungarian countess, and a former prostitute who commanded a fleet of more than 70,000 men on China’s seas.

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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

100 women from the pages of history, literature, and folklore. Fearless, bold, fierce, these are the Rejected Princesses.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01BBPVID0
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dey Street Books; Illustrated edition (October 25, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 25, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 38.2 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 383 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 906 ratings

About the author

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Jason Porath
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In a past life, Jason Porath used to work on animated movies such as How to Train Your Dragon 2, Megamind, and The Croods. Upon leaving the animation industry, he started Rejected Princesses: a blog celebrating women of history and myth who were too awesome, awful, or offbeat for the animated princess treatment. It went viral, there's a book, and the rest is history.

Jason lives in Los Angeles, enjoys exploring abandoned buildings, and sings a lot of karaoke.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
906 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the artwork beautiful and vibrant. They appreciate the complex, rich stories about interesting women from history that are relatable and engaging. The entries are informative with dedicated research and provide insight and inspiration. Readers enjoy the humor and wit, which doesn't feel dry. They appreciate the maturity level guide and the parental guidance provided for each entry.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

119 customers mention "Artwork"116 positive3 negative

Customers enjoy the artwork in the book. They appreciate the vibrant imagery, creative portraits, and dynamic artwork. The stories are accompanied by full-page colored drawings and a maturity rating.

"...I also really like how dynamic a lot of the artwork is...." Read more

"...Each entry is illustrated with a portrait in an animated-princess style, though the subject matter isn’t necessarily Disneyesque...." Read more

"...Not only is the book a beautiful piece of art, it is in perfectly digestible pieces in its large format pages with each woman occupying 2-5 pages...." Read more

"...Plus, each entry has a beautiful illustration of the lady therein, rendered as a kind of Dreamworks/Disney princess...." Read more

101 customers mention "Story quality"91 positive10 negative

Customers enjoy the complex and rich stories in the book. They find the entries interesting, relatable, and inspiring. The illustrations help make it an adventure from start to finish. Readers appreciate that each story has a maturity rating and trigger warnings. Some of the last few entries are intense, but most of the stories are true.

"...I also really like how dynamic a lot of the artwork is. I like reading the art notes and trivia that the author has included with most of the entries..." Read more

"...of history and legend (some smudging that line) who were powerful, cunning, determined, inventive, deadly, ambitious, righteous, and altogether..." Read more

"...The comprehensive, complex stories are presented without judgment in a beautiful book that can easily be read in self-contained 5 pages each day...." Read more

"...the entire book, and I will be quite honest that the last few entries are extremely intense...." Read more

88 customers mention "Female content"88 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's female content informative and interesting. They appreciate the stories of women from history that they've never heard of. The women are complex, with their successes and flaws on display. Readers mention it shows that women are powerful, brave, and fight for justice.

"...There's also a look of great fodder for writers if you're looking for inspiration for your next story or new character :)..." Read more

"...The result is a book of nearly 100 women of history and legend (some smudging that line) who were powerful, cunning, determined, inventive, deadly,..." Read more

"...The women are complex and full with their successes and flaws on display without judgment...." Read more

"...Most stories are about real women from different time periods and walks of life...." Read more

71 customers mention "Information quality"71 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's information quality. They find the entries informative and entertaining, with dedicated research that provides insights and inspiration. The content details are interesting and well-thought-out, dangling just enough information to encourage further research. The artwork is detailed and nuanced, providing a significant level of detail for readers. Overall, customers find the book intelligent and creative, without being clichéd.

"...Each of these entries are short, sweet, and dangle just enough information that I want to dive into research to learn more about these fascinating..." Read more

"...Not only is the book a beautiful piece of art, it is in perfectly digestible pieces in its large format pages with each woman occupying 2-5 pages...." Read more

"...Many include anecdotes and details that bring them to life as real people who existed. This is not a research/reference book...." Read more

"...He combines vivacious writing, beautiful artwork, and extraordinarily wide-ranging research to retell the stories of kick-ass women often left out..." Read more

65 customers mention "Humor"65 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's humor. They find it amusing, entertaining, and laugh-out-loud funny in many places. The author's storytelling and wit make the book relatable and engaging. It makes learning about history fun and exciting for them.

"...Each of these entries are short, sweet, and dangle just enough information that I want to dive into research to learn more about these fascinating..." Read more

"...Sounds grim at times, but Porath has a flair for storytelling and a sassy wit, in the footnotes as well as the text...." Read more

"...This is not a research/reference book. It's entertaining and informative like The Daily Show or CGPGrey or Extra Credits...." Read more

"...It's laugh-out-loud funny in many places but doesn't stint on the humanity in the stories...." Read more

39 customers mention "Maturity level"39 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's rating system for each entry. They find it helpful for censoring content according to age recommendations. The book is organized by maturity level and provides content warnings for appropriateness. Readers mention it would be great for teens as well as adults.

"...As other reviewers mentioned, I appreciate the maturity levels and the other guide markers...." Read more

"...story is accompanied by a full page colored drawing as well as a maturity rating so you can decide how much you are comfortable with...." Read more

"...The rating system is a nice addition, and seems to go from lower ratings to higher in the book, so it's easy to cut off a younger reader if..." Read more

"...There is a maturity level scale from 1 to 5 for each story, plus another little icon that warns whether a story has sex, violence, or other themes...." Read more

22 customers mention "Value for money"22 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a good value for money. They appreciate the character traits like love, courage, strength, and perseverance. They also mention it's a great starting point for more reading.

"...Anyway, this book is definitely worth the money to buy it. I'm even debating if I want to get a class copy and keep a personal copy at home...." Read more

"...insight and inspiration for a wealth of character traits - love, valor, strength, perseverance, innovation, and more. There are no boring tales...." Read more

"...of the women within should be role models, but all of them are worth reading about, especially given that women tend to be edited out of history..." Read more

"...It's shocking that they aren't more mainstream. This is definitely worth the read...." Read more

22 customers mention "Ages"9 positive13 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's age range. Some find it suitable for young kids and older teens, while others say it's not suitable for young children or those delicate and genteel.

"...But even the tamest wasn't appropriate for kids under ten (IMHO)...." Read more

"...It's a nice addition I hadn't considered that makes the book accessible for a younger crowd. And finally - of course, the stories...." Read more

"...Unfortunately, Porath's descriptions usually start with a bang, and peter out before you get a good climax...." Read more

"...at the beginning of the story that (as far as I can tell) is appropriate for children...." Read more

Amazing book
5 out of 5 stars
Amazing book
This book is fantastic, apart from the new condition as expected I love reading through this book and learning so much
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2016
    I've been reading through this book during my time off since I've gotten it in the mail yesterday. I've always enjoyed reading historical accounts. Royal Diaries and the Dear America series used to litter my bedroom floor. And wow. This book presented a motherload of historical and the occasional fictional characters to learn more about.

    As other reviewers mentioned, I appreciate the maturity levels and the other guide markers. I've been ignoring them, but I know how they can be helpful to other readers. I also really like how dynamic a lot of the artwork is. I like reading the art notes and trivia that the author has included with most of the entries. Wish they could be with all of the entries, but if you are curious, you can always check out his website.

    I'm also super excited to show this book to my ESL students because it's so rare to see stories and history from other countries published in America. I'd like for them to be able to read about their own countries' heroines in English. Each of these entries are short, sweet, and dangle just enough information that I want to dive into research to learn more about these fascinating women. Of especial interest for me were Kurmanjan Datka, Josefina Guerrero, Wilma Randolph, and Mary Bowser. There are so many others that it's hard to list them all. I'm also not even halfway through the book either. I highly recommend this book to both history lovers and book lovers. There's also a look of great fodder for writers if you're looking for inspiration for your next story or new character :)

    One other thing that I thought was pretty cool was that I remembered reading about a writer who had a middle-aged woman as a pirate in his book series once. I thought it was kind of interesting but never really thought about if it had ever happened before or not. But reading through Rejected Princesses, there's Grainne ni Mhaille, or Grace O'Malley! That was pretty cool. And I also liked hearing about a lot of the war heroes like the Night Witches that I had never heard about before.

    Anyway, this book is definitely worth the money to buy it. I'm even debating if I want to get a class copy and keep a personal copy at home. Also hope that there will be a second volume!
    10 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2017
    One of the things I enjoy about Tumblr is that you never know what surprising new thing will cross your path. One day on my dash, amid all the posts about incarnations of Sherlock Holmes, people being thrilled by Yuri on Ice (it’s charming; I loved it) and The Science Side of Tumblr, a post about Jason Porath’s Rejected Princesses artwork came past putting some vapour-brain who claimed no woman of colour ever invented a thing or amounted to much.

    Following the links I discovered that Jason Porath had once worked as an animator for Dreamworks. The idea for his series of the women of history and legend who deserve to be better known came from Jason and his fellow animators discussing the questions: Who is the least likely candidate for an animated princess movie? (Hence the ‘Rejected’ in front of ‘Princesses’ in the title.)

    Porath kept suggesting women he’d learned about that the rest of the crew had never heard of. “I thought that should change,” he says in the forward.

    The result is a book of nearly 100 women of history and legend (some smudging that line) who were powerful, cunning, determined, inventive, deadly, ambitious, righteous, and altogether superbly badass.

    Each entry is illustrated with a portrait in an animated-princess style, though the subject matter isn’t necessarily Disneyesque. Each is coded with markers to note how graphic the content will be, from a nice good defeats evil green to warning for violence, abuse, rape and self harm, so that readers can better choose what to share with their kids.

    Sounds grim at times, but Porath has a flair for storytelling and a sassy wit, in the footnotes as well as the text. His breeziness doesn’t ignore the more troubling parts of these women’s fates (or sometimes very stabby behaviour). They’re not all good women, but they are women of note who should be better known.

    Of course, some of them are well known to me, like Ada Lovelace and (thanks to Netflix’s Marco Polo series) Khutulan, but most were new to me.

    One reviewer questioned the historical accuracy of some entries, but Porath provides a bibliography and I look forward to investigating more about these women, now I know who they are.

    I read my copy on my Kindle app on the iPad so I could better enjoy the colourful art.
    17 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2023
    Absolutely wonderful. Jason Porath is not a trained historian and that it makes it all the better. The comprehensive, complex stories are presented without judgment in a beautiful book that can easily be read in self-contained 5 pages each day. It's the sort of book you could read in a day or in a year.

    This masterwork is in my lay opinion, a perfect example of the blending of history from multiple sides. It has perfect commentary on what counts as historical fact, what should be considered questionable, and what is clearly historical fiction presented as fact.

    The author presents a feminist worldview where notable women are enshrined. The women are complex and full with their successes and flaws on display without judgment. That's simply a quality that is truly rare in accessible historical writing.

    Not only is the book a beautiful piece of art, it is in perfectly digestible pieces in its large format pages with each woman occupying 2-5 pages. The thoughtful illustrations are given a full commentary of all the meanings and historical or fictional sources that came together to produce the images. I have never read a book where the author provided several paragraphs of explanations of how their historical renderings came to be.

    Each individual entry is marked with a symbol to indicate if there is a level of mature or disturbing content in that entry.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

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  • Cliente de Amazon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente libro y presentación
    Reviewed in Mexico on August 24, 2018
    El libro llegó en tiempo y en excelentes condiciones. Las tapas son de buena calidad al igual que las páginas del interior.
    Definitivamente una buena compra para mi hermana pequeña.
  • Phoebe Chang
    5.0 out of 5 stars rejected princesses
    Reviewed in Brazil on June 10, 2018
    de un estilo engraçado, descreve histórias de mulheres que se destacaram pelas suas façanhas de todo tipo.
    é legal, bem louco, e empolgante!!! :D
  • amazone
    5.0 out of 5 stars Großartig
    Reviewed in Germany on August 24, 2019
    Ein ganz wunderbares Buch. Die kurzen Geschichten eignen sich gut zum Vorlesen oder selbst-im-Bett-lesen. Sie sind informativ, spannend, und lustig. Ich würde allerdings die Kindle-Version nicht empfehlen - die wunderschönen Illustrationen kann man hier gar nicht schätzen! (Dafür kann man halt auch ohne Nachttischlampe gut lesen...) Ich überlege, es mir als richtiges Buch noch einmal zu besorgen.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous illustrations and a wonderful read
    Reviewed in India on November 19, 2017
    I came across this book randomly surfing on amazon for something else..Ordered it on a whim..Bookcover,quality of pages is gorgeous..Must have for latent heroines in your little ones heart...M enjoying narrating some stories to my daughter
  • Leo D.
    5.0 out of 5 stars An original concept and great book printed in full colour with a huge number ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2017
    An original concept and great book printed in full colour with a huge number of summaries of interesting women throughout history. The book covers many countries and cultures, and provides a content key to judge reader appropriateness on each section.

    It's written in a very casual manner which makes it quite accessible and understandable to most, however there is not so much seriousness and depth as a more avid researcher might want. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though, as the book can be used simply as a starting place to find someone who might pique your interest so that you can research them further elsewhere!

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