In a far away land, populated by were beasts and surrounded by a powerful forest, lies a kingdom about to be sent into chaos. On his deathbed, King Tyran divides his land, leaving half to each of his two children-so they'll rule together. However, his son, Albrecht, is not satisfied with half a kingdom. And even though his sister, Ursula, is the first born, he decides that as a girl and were bear, she is unfit to rule. So he invades her land, slaughtering her people and most of the were beasts, and claims it for himself. As King Albrecht builds his iron rule and an army of beasts to defend his reign, Ursula is gathering the survivors and making plans to take back the kingdom. Not just her half-the whole thing. Because Albrecht should have never been allowed to sit on the throne, and Ursula is going to take his crown. And if he's not careful, he might not get to keep his head either.
This book contains examples of:
- Abomination Accusation Attack: To secure his claim to the throne and give his subjects something to fear and rally against, Albrecht paints the werebeasts as a savage army hellbent on revenge and led by his sister, convincing the kingdom that they must be wiped out.
- Agony of the Feet: Albrecht peels the skin off Greta's feet to punish her for humiliating him during their wedding. This proves fatal.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Albrecht kidnaps Greta with this in mind, though she refuses unless he shows mercy to her brother and the other werebeasts.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Albrecht regularly performs often fatal experiments on rats.
- Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: Greta is cleaned by the maids after being captured by Albrecht to look more presentable for him.
- Beauty Is Bad: Albrecht is considered quite handsome by the kingdom. He's also a sadist, misogynist, and genocidal xenophobe.
- Cain and Abel: Albrecht has long envied Ursula for being firstborn and thus heir to the throne, feeling she's unworthy of the throne due to being a girl and a werebeast. This resentment doesn't cease even when Tyran announces that both siblings will rule equally, and as soon as his father is dead, Albrecht launches an attack to dethrone and murder his sister and her subjects.
- The Caligula: Once Albrecht takes over, he burns his own people's crops in an attempt to kill his sister, sends his soldiers on suicide missions, and attempts to institute a genocide of werebeasts.
- Childhood Friend Romance:
- Ursula and Sabine. They meet in the woods in their youth, remain close friends for years afterwards, and end up falling in love in adulthood.
- Capella meets Hans in his wolf form, with him becoming her only regular companion outside of her mother. Their friendship is cut short when Hans is taken by Albrecht, only for them to reunite years later as begin a romance.
- Cruel Mercy: Greta's spirit saves Albrecht from falling to his death so that he'd be forced to live eyeless and mutilated, with nothing left but his voice and memories.
- Disney Villain Death: Subverted. Albrecht falls out of the tower window, seemingly to his doom, but is revealed to have been saved by Greta's spirit as a Cruel Mercy, forced to live out the rest of his days blind, mutilated, and stripped of his kingdom.
- Emperor Scientist: Albrecht fashions himself an inventor, and schemes to create metal men flying soldiers with which to conquer the world.
- The Evil Prince: Prince Albrecht, unwilling to share rulership with his sister, attempts to kill her and her subjects to claim sole rulership of the throne.
- Eye Scream: Esme gouges out Albrecht's eyes with his own bladed fingers.
- Fallen Princess: Ursula is driven out of her kingdom by her vicious brother and forced into the woods with a few dozen survivors.
- Fantastic Racism: Werebeasts are looked down upon by the rest of the kingdom, to the point they're forced to live in cages, with not even the princess exempt. When he takes over, Albrecht has little difficulty convincing the citizens to wipe them out entirely.
- Fantastic Ghetto: Werebeasts are separated from their parents and sent to live in Cage Row, where they spend their lives in cages forced to perform for the amusement of humans.
- Fantastic Slurs: Werebeasts are sometimes referred to as "frissers", particularly by Albrecht.
- Fantastic Underclass: Werebeasts spend their lives in cages, separated from the rest of the kingdom except to perform for their amusement. Ursula, herself a werebeast, seeks to rectify this once she becomes queen. Albrecht, meanwhile, seeks the opposite and plans to wipe them out.
- Final Solution: Albrecht slaughters many werebeasts during his takeover, and later rallies the kingdom to wipe out the surviving ones, including his sister.
- Fingore: Albrecht accidentally severs one of his fingers, and replaces it with a metal false-finger.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Albrecht envies his sister being firstborn and thus heir to the throne. And for all he despises werebeasts, he also to an extent resents not being able to transform into a powerful animal like his sister.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Just as Jutta believes Albrecht has gone too far and is considering defecting to Ursula's side, she's devoured by the tree containing Greta's spirit.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Ursula, especially after Albrecht takes over and drives her and her subjects into hiding. The kingdom is already wary of her due to her being a were-beast, which Albrecht exploits, spreading rumors that she's planning to raise were-beasts above the rest of the kingdom once she takes over, and later claims she plans to lead the were-beasts in attacking the kingdom, convincing the citizens to kill her.
- I Have You Now, My Pretty: Albrecht abducts Greta to force her to wed him. While in his clutches, Greta is subjected to a brutal violation courtesy of Albrecht's bladed false-finger.
- Magical Flutist: Capella uses her pipe to summon Greta's tree into the courtyard and cause the castle rats to mob Albrecht.
- Magic Music: Capella's pipe. She initially uses it to inspire cheer in Ursula's camp, but by the end, she's able to use it to summon enchanted trees and control animals.
- Malicious Slander: Albrecht spreads rumors that his sister plans to give were-beasts special privileges over the common folk if she gains power, turning many of the guards over to his side. When he takes over, he paints were-beasts as a whole as savage monsters who are a danger to the kingdom, convincing the citizens to wipe them out.
- Meaningful Name: Ursula means "bear", which is the animal she can transform into.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: There are various types of them, from were-bears to were-goats, they can transform at will, but can be compelled to transform instinctually when in pain.
- Playing with Syringes: Albrecht seeks to dissect a werebeast to learn the secrets behind their transformation and use that to create his metal army.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Albrecht is both misogynistic, viewing women as weak and beneath men, and xenophobic, treating the werebeast population as vermin to be either wiped out or experimented on. Both of these play into his loathing towards his sister.
- Princess Protagonist: Princess Ursula is the primary protagonist.
- Queer Romance: Ursula's budding romance with Sabine is one of the primary relationships in the novel.
- Rags to Royalty: Gwyneth is married to King Tyran when it is believed she can spin straw into gold (though in truth it is her sister who does this).
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: A farmer reveals the location of Ursula's encampment to Albrecht, hoping to be rewarded. However, Albrecht simply kills him instead, deeming him untrustworthy if he would sell out his sister for gold.
- Save the Villain: Subverted, then played straight. When Albrecht is hanging onto the sentient tree for dear life, Esme offers a hand.... only to gouge his eyes out with his own bladed fingers and let him fall. However, Greta, inhabiting the tree, saves him as a form of Cruel Mercy.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: Happens to Hans when Albrecht is cutting him open to try and force him to transform.
- Straw Misogynist: Albrecht looks down on women, including his sister, which is one of the reasons he feels she shouldn't be allowed to rule.
- Truly Single Parent: Capella was created from the womb that Esme had given up to the forest.
- Ungrateful Bitch: Esme saves Gwyneth's life and causes her to marry the king. However, when the king sets his sights on Esme, Gwyneth backstabs her and accuses her of being a child-eating witch, resulting in her being thrown into the dungeon to die.
- Villainous Crush: Albrecht has had his sights set on Greta for years, regularly making unwanted advances upon her. He's baffled and infuriated when she doesn't reciprocate, and later tries to take her by force.
- When Trees Attack: Esme's failed attempt to heal a dying Greta results in the growth of a massive tree semi-inhabited by her spirit. Said tree protects Ursula's encampment by devouring any of Albrecht's forces when they attempt to enter the woods.
- Wonderful Werewolf: Hans is a werewolf and part of Ursula's group, devoted to protecting his sister Greta and others victimized by Albrecht.
- Would Hurt a Child: Albrecht abducts the werebeast children to perform potentially lethal experiments to transform them into his first flying soldiers.
