3 Year Blog-oversary Q&A

To honour the three year anniversary of BPR, Mandy and I pledged to sit down and shed more of our onion layers for y’all. Soon we’ll be nothing but a tiny core that you can’t even chop with a knife for fear of giving yourself one of those paper cuts so small you barely shed any blood, but it still really, really stings somehow.

Which if you think about it, makes us pretty strong and well-defended onions.

Thanks to everyone who submitted Q&A questions!! We had a ball answering every one of them, except that one question that we didn’t include. How dare you ask that question!! How DARE!! The absolutely GALL.

I’m totally kidding, we included all the questions.

Giveaway Winners

The 3 Year Anniversary Giveaway has officially closed! This section will be updated with the names of the winners once they respond to the congratulations email.

Q & A

❓ Who is your most read author? And how many books you have read by that author?

MANDY: Rick Riordan. That man is a machine, and keeps cranking them outtttt – and I will devour them all. I’ve read 23 of them. Dear gosh.

SHA: My most read is Meg Cabot. I’ve read all her YA series and most of her stand-alones. Around 36 books? I don’t follow authors that closely anymore.

❓ You may have answered this in the past, but why princesses? And what made you want to start a blog together rather than your own blogs? Oh! And I bet you’ve answered this … but who’s your favourite Disney princess (both of you) and WHY 🙂

MANDY: I have loved princesses basically my whole life, but a few years ago, I had a full resurgence in the Disney princess love. It was a little before the blog was started, I fell back down the rabbit hole. When trying to come up with a name, I was so stumped, and my dad had jokingly thrown out princesses in there. “Book Princess Reviews” was what was settled since Book Princess itself was taken. The princesses themselves were added into the theme and the rating a few weeks later when I read an article on how to grow your blog that said I needed something to make it unique and set it apart from the others. I figured I already got princesses in there, so why not fully add in my loves??

SHA: I was going through a rough time back in December 2017, kind of asking myself what set me out from everyone else in the world. Like, why was I chosen to exist? What did I contribute to the world? Mandy has been my best friend for a long time, and she was no stranger to my darker periods. I brought up joining the blog—having a space to reach others with my passion for books, and a project we could share—and it went from there. I never thought about having a blog by myself.

MANDY: Ugh, I’m honestly not sure I can pick just one. Moana, Tiana, Mulan, Aurora, and Rapunzel are for sure my top leading ladies. I just love them so much. If I had to choose just just just one, I would probably pick Moana. She shows so much strength – mental, emotional, and physical – and she honestly just embodies hope and a journey. I’ve rewatched her movie so many times in the past few years, and it’s so good. Plus, it showcases plantonic friendships, and really showcases that you don’t need a romance/man to save you at all.

SHA: I usually say Rapunzel (except my answer is based on the Disney version, to be clear). She was trapped in a horrible situation, misled about the world by a manipulative person who was supposed to care for her, but she remained kind and willful. 

❓ What book would make your co-blogger read right here, right now?

MANDY: Oh no. I hate recommending books to Sha. I feel like we have not shared a brain space on a book in a while, and I hate disappointing her in the reads. I think she would like I Wish You the Best by Mason Deaver. I think it takes such an important look and take on mental health while showcasing a non-binary protag, which I know are things that might appeal to her. And it’s written so so so well.

SHA: I want her to finally read The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, which I recommended last year.

❓ What do you wish you would have known about blogging three years ago?

MANDY: It’s okay to take breaks! I almost completely burned myself out right before Sha came on board. I had gone so hard for so long, and I never let myself take a break – mentally or physically. I literally almost quit blogging period, and I wish I would have known it was alright to not be one with the blog for every waking second.

SHA: That it existed.

❓ What’s your fav book villain? Is there a villain you liked more than the hero? Also whats your fav bookish couples/ships??

MANDY: I’m currently reading Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, and there is a sort of villain (who has a bit of a redemption arc), Gum Baby. Gum Baby is a total morally grey character, and she is hilarious. I love how she talks about herself in the third person, and she is so full of spark/craziness that I just adore.

SHA: The villain in The Deceivers, whom I cannot name or else I spoil the book. I didn’t see this villain coming because they so well embodied everyday villainy — people who hide their wickedness behind manipulation and self-serving kindnesses. I can’t think of a villain I liked more than a hero. Fave bookish couples: Shazi & Khalid, Mariko and Okami.

❓ What is your favourite disney song?

MANDY: “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan. I WILL NEVER STOP SINGING THIS SONG.

SHA: “Something that I Want” by Grace Potter. Or “Into the Open Air” by Julie Fowlis.

❓ What do you find one of the biggest struggles of blogging is?

MANDY: Time! Omigosh, there is not enough time to get everything done. Besides the regular content portion of the blog, there is comments, blog hopping, and all of the socials – plus reading and so much more. I have really struggled at times to figure out how to get everything done along with regular life things.

SHA: Time. When I get into the groove on a post, I end up flying through a half dozen more. But other times, I slip into my social life and leave blogging behind. It’s a total struggle to keep a balance between blogging, and my personal life, and then engaging with the blogging community. I feel like I’m always failing on at least one aspect.

❓ What are some of your most and least favourite tropes?

MANDY: Enemies to lovers is definitely one of my least favorite, mostly due to the fact that a lot of the time I feel like the “hate” portion goes on for too long and it feels unrealistic. I especially hate it if the character is a real big jerk, because is something I am so over because I don’t have the love for jerks. As for my favorite…huh. Maybe the whole miscommunication part of the novel? I just like the big dramatic climax and then knowing they’ll get back together? Maybe???

SHA: My fave tropes are enemies to lovers, anything with assassins (is that a trope?), stories placed in societies with women in power, and power struggle/power shift books. I love books when the main characters are fierce, determined and unwilling to back down in times of hardship. What I don’t enjoy as much are friend to lover, terminal illness love stories (it feels more exploitative then raising awareness?), “bad boy” stories, and anything where there is women pitted against each other or made weak needlessly.

❓ What is your current favourite movie?

MANDY: Oh dear. It’s been a hot second since I really enjoyed a movie and that stuck with me. I’ll go with The Princess Bride as always.

SHA: I haven’t seen a new release that sparked passion in me for a while. (Not that anything was terrible, but nothing is a new fave.) I’ll stick with my top fave Into the Woods. 

❓ What is the most underrated book you’ve loved that you wish more people would read?

MANDY: Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby. It only has 400 reviews on Goodreads, but it was so much brilliance that I cannot.

SHA: Under-rated? I adore Deposing Nathan and that book sadly only has 162 reviews on Goodreads. Can y’all get on this, please?

❓ What books have you both read that you disagreed on? What has been a challenge with your blog?

SHA: We got this question in late, and Mandy was unable to answer! I can say that one massive book we disagreed on was The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. Yes. My favourite author. Mandy DIDN’T LIKE SHAZI. I won’t go on because this friendship could maybe end right here. We actually have a series (currently on hold) where we both buddy read books. Usually we disagree XD Mandy enjoys fluff, I like bite to my books.

We haven’t had too many challenges (though we have had!). There’s the obvious: we live in different countries, and need to navigate time changes and distance when planning posts. We’ve worked together looong before the blog, so we know how the other thinks. That helped us know how the other likes to work, but we do still clash on ideas/step on toes from time to time.

Mostly, it’s a pretty smooth machine though! When one of us is unable to post, the other steps in. We know each other’s strengths and challenges, and we’re always boosting the other to do the best we can.

Thanks again to everyone who submitted Qs for us to A. These past three years have been … something. I (Sha) can personally say that I’ve hit a few of my lowest lows while blogging on BPR and the support I received from the blogger community is unparalleled. This is the first home I have built for myself in the world, and I’m blessed that it is filled with such wonderful people.