I picked up 'Princess' after a friend insisted it would change how I view privilege—and wow, was she right. The book follows Sultana, a Saudi royal, but don’t expect fairy tales. Instead, it’s a gut punch about how wealth and status mean nothing when you’re trapped by gender. The details are jaw-dropping: women needing male permission for basic medical care, sisters scheming to protect each other from abusive marriages, and the constant fear of '
honor' punishments. What’s wild is how relatable Sultana feels—her love for her daughters, her sarcastic wit, her desperation to give them a better life.
What hooked me was the pacing. It’s not a dry political rant; it reads like a thriller, with clandestine meetings and near-misses. The scene where Sultana smuggles a friend to safety had me holding my
breath. It also made me rethink other 'oppressed woman' narratives—like 'The Handmaid’s Tale,' but real. The book doesn’t villainize all men, either; some, like Sultana’s father, are complex figures caught in the same system. It’s a messy, human portrait, not a stereotype. After finishing, I immediately googled updates on Saudi women’s rights—turns out, change is glacial, but Sultana’s story feels like a crack in the wall.