公主贵性 What’s Your Gender, Princess?: Book Review

Having read Ze Mu‘s Unrepentant, which I absolutely adored despite its numerous flaws, I decided to embark on What’s Your Gender, Princess? due to the rave reviews that it has received. It’s a pretty comical book, and Ze Mu manages to maintain the hilarious tone throughout the entire book by ensuring that all the conflicts and obstacles are easily resolved. That said, although the book was an extremely enjoyable read, I was unable to truly adore the book in the same manner that I adored Unrepentant – perhaps because tragic stories tend to leave a deeper and more lasting impression on me.

Rating: ★★★

Synopsis:

With a heart full of determination to sacrifice myself, I decided to assassinate the Crown Prince from the neighbouring country. However, when I woke up the next day, I discovered that I had transformed into him, and he me.

Besides the feud between our countries, we had to confront numerous other problems – for instance, how we intended to bathe, how we intended to use the toilet, and most importantly, every morning, when I woke up, I always feel slightly embarrassed.

He wasn’t awkward in the slightest, just that he frequently forgot that I am a woman.

Review:

This is a hilarious book written by Ze Mu, who adopts a comical tone from start to finish in this tale of how the Princess and Crown Prince from warring countries switched bodies, married each other, and eventually fell in love. Thus, for those who are looking for a more book which explores serious issues or recounts a more gripping tale, this book is not for you.

The female lead, Princess Chang Yi, gets freaked out rather easily in learning how to use the Crown Prince’s body due to her unfamiliarity with the male anatomy, which results in her being rather awkward when she possesses his body. That said, there are times when she too, forgets the she’s a ‘male’, and thus she gets mistaken (on more than one occasion) for being a homosexual as she sends looks of admiration to other males. Conversely, the male lead, Prince Wu Min, is much more at ease in the Princess’s body, and often uses the Princess’s to commit childish acts and other wacky acts. Through this process of body-swapping, the two gradually fall in love with each other, and develop a romance from thereon.

Due to the comical tone of this book, all the problems are easily resolved, and there’s no angst in this book. It’s a really easy read, and would be suitable for those who are looking for comical books to pass the time.

Snippet:

To give a preview of what the tone of the book is like, I have translated one of the scenes in the book. This scene occurred when the Princess Chang Yi (in the male lead’s body) was about to poke the forehead of Prince Wu Min (in the Princess’s body), but got stopped by a gentleman on the street.

I was stunned for a moment. The other party probably thought that I had realized the error of my ways, and continued, “Sir, do you know that ladies are like jade? They have to be gently treated and carefully pampered – only then would they be able to shine and glow in the future. You must never ever treat them roughly.”

“That’s right, that’s right!” I agreed with his viewpoint entirely, and nodded my head vigorously. Even if I’m just an unremarkable rock, I still hope that someone would learn to treat me gently and carefully as well.

“Chi.” At the same time, Prince Wu Min snorted in disdain.

“…” The atmosphere became slightly awkward.

The gentleman was probably unable to understand why, despite my concurrence with his viewpoint, I was nevertheless about to “bully” Prince Wu Min. He released my hand in confusion and turned to Prince Wu Min, politely asking, “The lady here… Perhaps you disagree with my viewpoint?”

“Yes, I’m just a cheap concubine who loves to be hit and kicked by people! I want people to cruelly abuse me, hopefully with a whip! If people actually pamper me my whole body would feel extremely uncomfortable – don’t you agree, Husband?” Prince Wu Min chattered to the gentleman expressionlessly before raising his voice nearing the end of the sentence and turning to me to give me a flirtatious look.

Me: “……”

The gentleman clothed in white: “……”

“AHHHHHHHH!!!!” I was about to go crazy, how could Prince Wu Min destroy my reputation like that! Who wanted to be abused, who wanted to be whipped?!?! Ahhhhh!

I couldn’t control my urges and started to punch and kick Prince Wu Min. Prince Wu Min didn’t dodge, and instead stretched his arms out wide, “Hubby, you’re definitely the one who loves your cheap concubine best!”

“……” The entire street of people have already gathered by our side, and glanced at Prince Wu Min with disbelief in their eyes.

……

…… Heh… heh…