Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - הנסיכה הקסומה

I enjoyed reading it, and it was well written, a true classic, but I can’t help feeling that in this instant, the movie is better than the book. Wesley seemed almost abusive in the book and I get that it was due to his own pain and trying to save Buttercup, but it doesn’t excuse how he treats her.

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abbyluvsfrogs444's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This would've been better without all of Goldman's stupid interruptions.

Spoiler

Obviously this is a fictional story and S. Morgenstern did not exist.

I had a very hard time enjoying this book when Goldman kept interrupting himself to add some useless fact or tell a story about his childhood. I skipped the first 42 pages cause he just rambles on. I just wanted the story of Buttercup and Westley. I don't care if you think he was a genius for how he writes this, I found it insufferable. I would've rated it two stars but I did like the story (minus Goldman being annoying).

Bottom line: THE MOVIE IS BETTER!

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candycain's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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lycheejelly's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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kelseyr713's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Second time I've read this, the first being sometime in high school so somewhere between 15-19 years ago.

The story of The Princess Bride itself is great. I think the movie version is even better, one of the rare cases this applies. The best subplots that don't make it to the movie are Fezzik's backstory and even more of Inigo's. The Zoo of Death is a little tedious.

I mostly like the commentary by Goldman, who is not himself in the book but rather another character. But I don’t understand why he portrays "himself" so unsympathetically and would appreciate more context into the parts where he talks about "his" life. Some of it is real, but he invents a different wife and a different child, among other things, and isn't nice to either of them. The asides during the book are mostly funny though, and every time Stephen King pops up is great. He clearly has a lot of thoughts on the abridgment process, and this is an interesting way to explore those.

I also think it's interesting that the overall theme of the book, which he overtly mentions a few times, is that life isn't fair. Subverting a lot of fairy tales and perhaps inserting some of his own outlook.

Content warnings: a lot of fatphobia, a homophobic slur, an ethnic slur towards a Spanish person.

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