A review by lawbooks600
The Runaway Princess by Johan Troïanowski

adventurous 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

3.0

Representation: N/A
Score: Six out of ten.

I never heard of The Runaway Princess until a few days ago, when I saw it in a public library shelf and picked it up. I glanced at the blurb, making it seem intriguing, although it's targeted at a younger audience. I picked it up and read it, and when I closed the final page, it was a unique reading experience.

First, The Runaway Princess is not one cohesive novel. It consists of three separate stories, cohesive by themselves but unrelated to each other, and incohesive when combined. They all start with the first person I see, Robin, escaping from her castle to go with her friends, other minor protagonists. I thought based on the blurb that The Runaway Princess would be about breaking stereotypical gender roles, but no. Instead, it's three long stories exploring this high or whimsical fantasy world meeting other characters and discovering new places as seen on the maps before every narrative begins. It gets repetitive over time but sometimes I get to interact with The Runaway Princess when it tells me to do certain actions or complete puzzles, which is a unique touch. The art is all in aesthetically pleasing watercolour, but the characters are only okay and lack depth, which is a shame because there are others in other compositions that don't. At least it was enjoyable.