Review: The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang || Thick book with a short story

The Prince and the Dressmaker

Jen Wang

Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!

Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend? Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart. 

Publisher: First Second

Published: February 13th 2018

Forced Outing, Transphobia, Sexual Harrassment

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Would you be surprised if I said this was adorable? Well, you shouldn’t because THIS WAS REALLY CUTE.

Sebastian is a prince who likes dressing up as a girl. Frances is a young dressmaker that Sebastian hired to be his personal seamstress. We have cross dressing and deconstruction of gender norms and love ❤ . I don’t really want to say anything about this one, because it is truly better if you experience it on your own.

The art style was adorable to look at! Nothing too complex, but it matches the story and its tone really well. And the dresses! Look at it! I’m not much into fashion, but I wouldn’t mind buying about 10 of them. Despite this book being thick it’s thicker than I thought, I was shocked, it was too short. Not an exaggeration— the end came sooner than I thought.

The characters honestly made this story shine. They were both going through their own trials, yet were so supportive of each other and nonjudgmental. I’m not really one to give my thought on the rep, but having a cross-dressing main character was great! Having moments where he was celebrated in a gender that he thought they would never be celebrated in was heartwarming.

The only reasons I rated this a four and not a five was the ending. Everything wrapped up too nicely. And the romance, though barely there, kind of popped up out of nowhere. Well, not out of nowhere, but it happened really quickly; I would’ve loved if this stayed at just a friendship. I mean, I am 100% down for a sequel to, because that ending has me wanting more nights on the town with Frances and Lady Crystallia.