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bearystarry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
At least when he shuts the hell up the actual story is sometimes thrilling and interesting and romantic. But the sexism especially creeps into the main narrative as well, unfortunately. I definitely think the movie is better in most ways, but mainly in the framing device. Would've been awful to see some weirdo middle-aged man trying to cheat on his wife in LA instead of a child sick in bed listening to his lovely grandfather read him a story. Also was very surprised to read a racial slur. Extremely weird.
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Torture, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Ableism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Confinement, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Transphobia, and Animal death
Minor: Animal cruelty
alvolj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Death, Alcohol, Addiction, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Torture
lauramcc7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: War
sweetchocolatez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Addiction, Kidnapping, Blood, Alcohol, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Fatphobia and Suicide
howdyjordan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Animal death and Alcohol
snazzysie's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Violence, Torture, and Murder
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Animal death
rgraham's review
- 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
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
lycheejelly's review
- 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
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Torture
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexism
kelseyr713's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Body shaming, Torture, Fatphobia, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia