Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

26 reviews

bookish_bry's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed The Princess Bride. The framing of the narrative as an abridgment of some huge classic novel was pretty fun (though it could be a tad annoying at bits). It's a fun story and I loved most of the characters. It was also pretty quick to read despite the fact that it was 400 pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Torture

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

elizlizabeth's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Conflicting thoughts because the cynical approach of the "annotations" contrasts so heavily with the plot that it made me lowkey hate the annotator and wish Princess Bride were a real unabridged book I could read. As a satire it works really well and ages fantastically, I legit felt that a bitter little twitterman was commenting on an age old classic and ruining it in the process.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death of parent, and Confinement

snazzysie's review

adventurous challenging funny inspiring lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

4.75

I've loved the movie "The Princess Bride" ever since I was little, but the book has been on my shelf for a while. I suppose I was almost scared to read it as I had such high hopes considering the influence the movie had on my childhood. I can say it certainly lived up to my expectations for it. The fast paced, action, romance, and even humour-filled pages made for an enjoyable and nostalgically comforting read. Although I was at first a little confused by the narration choice, the satirical 'abridgement' was soon not lost on me. 
The couple we were supposed to be rooting for was more insufferable in text than I had expected, their conversations and Buttercup's inner monologs often leaving me cringing. However, the entertaining plot points and the storylines of and friendship between Inigo and Fezzik kept me invested. This is a cleverly written book and it has all the ingredients to make for a perfect classic story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Violence, Torture, and Murder

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Animal death

jacob_dion's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, and Misogyny

abbyluvsfrogs444's review against another edition

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.

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Torture, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Gore, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Moderate: Body shaming, Classism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Grief

rgraham's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Torture, Ableism, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

tangleroot_eli's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

I haven't read this book in over 10 years, and my take on it is very different now. It's surprisingly mean-spirited in a lot of places (especially the frame narrative), and the fatphobia and body-shaming are really relentless. And for all I remember it as a sweeping love story, it's actually super cynical about romantic love. But in other ways it's still as funny and surprising and just plain fun as it was the first time I read it more than 2 decades ago.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Moderate: Torture, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Animal death

samchase112's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I will just say this: I am glad I read it because I can say I have, but from now on I think I’ll simply stick to the film.

The story was fun, an exciting adventure, and certainly could have gone without the constant abridgment-interruptions or the maddeningly long introduction. It just got the point where after I’d finished the main story, I just didn’t even bother with Buttercup’s Baby. But I just give props because the story itself is, generally, a good one. It just happens to work better as a film, where Golding’s writerly shortcomings aren’t an issue. Ah, as I said, I’m glad I can say I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Confinement, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Blood

reneetrinket's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Kidnapping, Torture, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Sexism, and Misogyny

candycain's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Abandonment, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence