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pinoncoffee's review against another edition
5.0
This fairy tale has the perfect mix of humor, inevitability, and surprise. I read this many times as a girl and it goes deep; I was very glad to read it again. That prince is quality.
If you are triggered by paternal third-person narrators, that will stress you out about it. It was a genre convention when Macdonald was writing
If you are triggered by paternal third-person narrators, that will stress you out about it. It was a genre convention when Macdonald was writing
bjr2022's review against another edition
5.0
A glorious tale of a princess who’s lost her gravity. Perfect medicine for everything that hurts. Thank you, Julie Grippo, for telling me about this. What a joy.
kaciereads's review against another edition
3.0
Listened to the full cast audio (available on Overdrive). Funny, different sort of fairy tale, but my kids weren't into it.
madamescarlette's review against another edition
4.0
A sweet, darling, light little fairytale. As with everything else in this past year, I've been having a hard time reading heavy books unless I feel ready to cry up a storm, so this was an excellent palate cleanser between Return of the Thief and my next few reads. The lightness and humor of this book are very darling, and add a great deal of character to the otherwise gossamer-light plot, and yet the simplicity of it all is absolutely balm to my soul. Good for an afternoon's read tucked up in a chair with a hot drink and time to spend on yourself.
itaril's review against another edition
4.0
Little did I know when I started to read this story that the same author wrote "The princess and the goblins" but I definitely can see the similarity between the two of them.
I really enjoyed this one, it's written in a very witty and funny way but it has all the magic of a really old fairytale. I wish this fairytale was more well-known, so I could see adaptations of it. The end nearly broke my heart, so glad to see a happy ending after all.
My main motivation was to listen to the musical after reading it, so here I go.
I really enjoyed this one, it's written in a very witty and funny way but it has all the magic of a really old fairytale. I wish this fairytale was more well-known, so I could see adaptations of it. The end nearly broke my heart, so glad to see a happy ending after all.
My main motivation was to listen to the musical after reading it, so here I go.
betsygant's review against another edition
5.0
Getting back into George MacDonald books, and this one is for children. It's witty, short, and sweet!
corncobwebs's review against another edition
Light of spirit, by my charms,
Light of body, every part,
Never weary human arms-
Only crush thy parents' heart!
Wanted to read this because Tori Amos wrote the music and lyrics for a musical adaptation of the story. Funny, I assumed that "light" referred to illumination (like the light from the stars), but it really has to do with a princess who loses her gravity and is light in terms of weight. It's a typical fairy tale, wherein a curse is issued; princess is doomed; kingdom mourns; gallant prince steps forward, risks life for princess; he saves her, curse is broken, and he manages to hang on to his own life. I guess this is why I'm not a big fairy tales person -- it seems like the basic plot is often the same, with just variations in the details. I did like that the princess saves the prince from drowning -- that was relatively feminist, and seems to defy standard fairy tale conventions. I also enjoyed Maurice Sendak's illustrations in the edition that I read. They're more realistic than what I typically associate with his style, but they're still distinctly Sendak. Now I'm hoping that they release a DVD version of the musical so I can see Tori Amos' take on the story.
Light of body, every part,
Never weary human arms-
Only crush thy parents' heart!
Wanted to read this because Tori Amos wrote the music and lyrics for a musical adaptation of the story. Funny, I assumed that "light" referred to illumination (like the light from the stars), but it really has to do with a princess who loses her gravity and is light in terms of weight. It's a typical fairy tale, wherein a curse is issued; princess is doomed; kingdom mourns; gallant prince steps forward, risks life for princess; he saves her, curse is broken, and he manages to hang on to his own life. I guess this is why I'm not a big fairy tales person -- it seems like the basic plot is often the same, with just variations in the details. I did like that the princess saves the prince from drowning -- that was relatively feminist, and seems to defy standard fairy tale conventions. I also enjoyed Maurice Sendak's illustrations in the edition that I read. They're more realistic than what I typically associate with his style, but they're still distinctly Sendak. Now I'm hoping that they release a DVD version of the musical so I can see Tori Amos' take on the story.