This wasn’t my favorite of the Princess in Black series, but I still would let my early reader have it. The story isn’t as clever as the first Princess in Black story, and the ending isn’t as satisfying. The princess ends up sort of losing it in a bit of a temper tantrum at the monsters, and the monsters end up giving her some pink rocks she gives out as party favors to her friends who are waiting at the party.

I liked book 1 (The Princess in Black) , book 3 (The Princess in Black and the Hungry Bunny Horde), and Book 4 (The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation) much better, but nevertheless I’d let this one on my bookshelf if I was given a copy or something. I will add that this one does have a moment when the princess spanks a monster with a scepter. Most of the monster fights are pretty tame without any hitting, but this one actually has a hit in it, which might be an issue for some families and I wanted to make sure parents know about that potential issue.