Reviews

הנסיכה הקסומה by William Goldman

bookwyrmks's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

At first Goldman's interjections bothered me, but then I started to be amused by them. I still think the introductions were unnecessarily long (all the while he is complaining about how long-winded Morgenstern was), but the interjections in each chapter made me smile and occasionally laugh.

I have always enjoyed the movie. If you have seen it, you can easily tell where there are differences and similarities. I think I still prefer the movie (it is rare I say that), but the book is still an enjoyable adventure. I never knew there was a sequel in Buttercup's Baby, so that was a nice surprise!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

brisingr's review against another edition

2.0

more like 2.5 i believe; i think a lot of this book's magic, for me personally, fails because i have no special relation with the story (through the movie) as a child. of course, i know of the main plots, some iconic lines, even some details about the characters, from how massively "the princess bride" is embeded in our cultural landscape - but as i said, in my case, it fails short.

i really enjoyed the idea of a story within a story within a story, and the way the entire book is built as a satire to usual fantasy and fairy-tale tropes. as a concept, this has a lot of potential, and it's certainly what makes this book so special. but i really dislike the narratorial voice of william goldman (almost all of the comments, regarding his family, are fully mysoginistic and fatphobic, and his character as a whole is... quite gross to be fair) and i couldn't detach myself from one storyline to enjoy the other.

i liked almost all of the characters in the fantasy story, though!! even as they are caricatures and exaggerations of their tropes, they're done so well and with so much heart behind, that's hard not to like even the worst villain (maybe exactly because you can't take the tension 100% seriously bc of the way the characters and the story are built?) and i just !! love that it can fall into extremes and yet the others respect these limits and the reasons even as they are beyond belief and sometimes you just need a story that just goes BOOM in your face with disbelief.

but yeah, not my favourite thing in the world. i'm sure i would have loved it way more if i were to be familiar with it beforehand, but as it is.....

caseys927's review against another edition

5.0

I grew up watching the movie and figured it was time to read the book. And wow. If you love the movie you will love the book, I have never seen a more accurate movie adaptation of a book. (The only difference I noticed was sharks in the book where there are eels in the movie) The same plot and characters I have always loved, just exactly as they were originally written. A true timeless classic story of adventure, comedy, and love.

sparkle_klc's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

maggiegould's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

the only thing better than this book is cough drops, but of course, everyone knows that 

jdstrube's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

what_rowan_is_reading's review against another edition

3.0

can't believe i read this whole thing, probably not worth it, convoluted prick, film is so much better and fucking slaps so thank you for that i suppose

jmccarthy's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really great book! It has many cliches of popular fairy tales, but twists them around ironically until they're hilarious. Goldman weaves a classic tale of a beautiful princess, a dashing young hero, and evil villains and creatures along the way. An excellent read! This was one of the only books I've read for school that I actually enjoyed. :)

bookshelfreads's review against another edition

4.0

"Life isn't fair, Bill. We tell our children that it is, but it's a terrible thing to do. It's not only a lie, it's a cruel lie. Life is not fair, and it never has been, and it's never going to be. This book says 'life isn't fair' and I'm telling you, one and all, you better believe it. The wrong people die, some of them, and the reason is this; life is not fair."

aliriri's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0