A review by catlion27
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

challenging dark

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

4.5

This short novella was really well done. It's told like a fairy tale, with a tongue-in-cheek narrator (and a fabulous job done in audio by Moira Quirk). However, the overall message is not particularly "happy": it has some incisive but depressing things to say about abuse, love, and marriage.

I read it as saying that love is usually possessive and selfish, and that marriage (where you are bound to another person) is ultimately transactional and not joyful. It is a place where you stifle the other person. You can't have happiness when you are in a situation that you cannot leave. Love is presented as only pain for the lover, and something that keeps you in a harmful situation. The book also seems to say that those who have been abused often become the abuser in return once they get the power to do so.

If you know what to expect, though, it's a solid read.