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A review by monetp
The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning
4.0
"Beware or be dead. Make the first mark. A warrior made is a warrior alive." ~ [b:The Princess Will Save You|43603825|The Princess Will Save You (The Princess Will Save You, #1)|Sarah Henning|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573761894l/43603825._SY75_.jpg|67844925]
I highly recommend this book to fans of The Princess Bride (1987) movie. [a:Sarah Henning|14671253|Sarah Henning|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507686095p2/14671253.jpg] does an extraordinary job merging this new retelling with the original film. What I love is that there are just enough references to the original film, but not so many that this book feels like the same story. I love the genderswapped storyline! In Henning's version, her "Buttercup" is Princess Amarande, a warrior and brave leader, who suddenly has to take charge of her kingdom. However, in Amarande's words, the patriarchy is always in the way! I was impressed with how Amarande stood up for herself right away. As soon as the book began, she quickly knew what she wanted and what she hoped to achieve. My favorite aspect of Amarande's character is how confident she is in her own abilities; she's never conceited or selfish, but fully aware of how powerful she is.
The story was wonderfully immersive, detailed, and fast-paced. All of the dialogue felt meaningful and intentional and that's rare to find in any book. There were a few aspects of the original film that I wish Henning has incorporated: Magic Max, Fire Swamp, and more pirates. Specifically once going back and reading, I realized Henning did make some allusions to the Fire Swamp but I guess I expected the Fire Swamp to be in a dark and dangerous forest - not a desert? I think I was just thrown off because I expected the film parallels to be more direct. There were a couple references to pirates and their ships, mostly from the kidnappers. However, since the Dread Pirate Roberts is central to the film's story, I expected pirates to play a more substantial role. I really hope there are more pirates in the next book! Finally, one of my favorite aspects of the film is the character Magic Max. He saves the day and really brings the story to a happy conclusion. In a lot of ways, the introduction of his character saves the plot. Unless I missed it, there's no allusion to Magic Max in this book. After *spoiler* gets tortured in the dungeon, he's rescued rather quickly and somehow he survives? I wish that scene had been more clear and it would have made sense if Magic Max (or an updated version of this character) saved him.
Overall this book was in every way a pleasant reading experience. I can't wait to read the next book, especially after that cliffhanger I did not see coming! I have no idea where this series will go, but I'm excited to read more!
I highly recommend this book to fans of The Princess Bride (1987) movie. [a:Sarah Henning|14671253|Sarah Henning|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1507686095p2/14671253.jpg] does an extraordinary job merging this new retelling with the original film. What I love is that there are just enough references to the original film, but not so many that this book feels like the same story. I love the genderswapped storyline! In Henning's version, her "Buttercup" is Princess Amarande, a warrior and brave leader, who suddenly has to take charge of her kingdom. However, in Amarande's words, the patriarchy is always in the way! I was impressed with how Amarande stood up for herself right away. As soon as the book began, she quickly knew what she wanted and what she hoped to achieve. My favorite aspect of Amarande's character is how confident she is in her own abilities; she's never conceited or selfish, but fully aware of how powerful she is.
The story was wonderfully immersive, detailed, and fast-paced. All of the dialogue felt meaningful and intentional and that's rare to find in any book. There were a few aspects of the original film that I wish Henning has incorporated: Magic Max, Fire Swamp, and more pirates. Specifically once going back and reading, I realized Henning did make some allusions to the Fire Swamp but I guess I expected the Fire Swamp to be in a dark and dangerous forest - not a desert? I think I was just thrown off because I expected the film parallels to be more direct. There were a couple references to pirates and their ships, mostly from the kidnappers. However, since the Dread Pirate Roberts is central to the film's story, I expected pirates to play a more substantial role. I really hope there are more pirates in the next book! Finally, one of my favorite aspects of the film is the character Magic Max. He saves the day and really brings the story to a happy conclusion. In a lot of ways, the introduction of his character saves the plot. Unless I missed it, there's no allusion to Magic Max in this book. After *spoiler* gets tortured in the dungeon, he's rescued rather quickly and somehow he survives? I wish that scene had been more clear and it would have made sense if Magic Max (or an updated version of this character) saved him.
Overall this book was in every way a pleasant reading experience. I can't wait to read the next book, especially after that cliffhanger I did not see coming! I have no idea where this series will go, but I'm excited to read more!