The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
Genre: Graphic Novel; Romance; LGBTQIA+
Reviewed by Rebecca C., 10th Grade
Rating: 10/10
Being a devoted fan and hopeless lover of grilled cheese sandwiches, romance, and books featuring queer main characters, The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich was an automatic addition to my ever-growing must-read list. A little mistaken identity to heat up the drama makes this extremely cheesy graphic novel everything I could ever need. When this beautiful cover graced my eyes from the “new” bookshelf, I knew I had to read it because, as mentioned above, I’m a sucker for cheese and romance. What a perfect equation! Who knew cheese, forbidden romance, mistaken identity, and a dog named Gouda could make a book that much more refreshing and creative?!?!
Lady Camembert refuses to marry a man–does no one get that she likes girls? How can she ever be happy with a man? Every single one her father picked for her is…disgusting. However, when she finds out that her father is very sick and might not have much longer to live, she makes the reluctant choice to disguise herself as a man in order to receive her inheritance without a marriage. The only catch is that she can never, ever tell anyone her secret. Lady Camembert, now Lord Camembert, is whisked away to the kingdom of Fromage with her caretaker, Feta, as her only companion–and the only one that knows her true identity. Camembert knows she has to “lie low” in order to be convincing, but is bored to pieces trapped in her townhouse with nothing to do. When she sees that Princess Brie is hosting a No Furs Ball at the palace, she is convinced that this is her chance to make a statement in front of the princess she always wanted to meet. As Brie and Cam grow closer through their shared passions of fashion, grilled cheese, and making a difference, Cam finds it harder and harder to keep her true identity at bay. After all, she is lying to the princess. And what if she’s kind of falling for said princess? All’s fair in love and cheese.
Why I am obsessed with this book is because it gets me! Someone finally understands how wonderful and angelic cheese is!! I mean, there are so many cheese puns, and all the characters have cheese names. Plus, there’s fashion, meaning every fashion house has a fancy cheese name. Like Maison de Gorgonzola! Who knew cheese could sound so…fashiony? It’s official, someone has to make Maison de Gorgonzola a real store!! Besides all this cheesy chaos, the author’s own love story inspired this one! How cool is that?? Imagine falling in love with someone over your mutual fondness of grilled cheese. Sounds like heaven. The art, the creativity, the characters, and the whole world being literally built on cheese were all so refreshing. It’s not every day that you find a special book like this one where someone took their love for cheese and made it into a story. The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich is officially one of my favorite books now! Readers will (obviously) be left swooning, grinning, and wishing they had a grilled cheese sandwich to satisfy their unhelpful drooling. This was a super fun read, and I hope you’ll consider reading it!!