Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower
2020 • 146 pages
Ratings25
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings25
Average rating4.1
When the witch built the forty-flight tower, she made very sure to do the whole thing properly. Each flight contains a dreadful monster, ranging from a diamond-scaled dragon to a pack of slavering goblins. Should a prince battle his way to the top, he will be rewarded with a golden sword--and the lovely Princess Floralinda. But no prince has managed to conquer the first flight yet, let alone get to the fortieth. In fact, the supply of fresh princes seems to have quite dried up. And winter is closing in on Floralinda...
Reviews with the most likes.
this was badass - absolutely adored this, so happy I took a chance and purchased a physical copy from the limited print run
My first foray into audiobooks; I'm glad it was this novella.
3½ stars for cleverness despite the redundancy.
I really liked this little novella for its take on traitional fairy tales and its reversal of expectations/roles. The princess saves herself instead of waiting around helplessly, which is a nice change of pace. I was a bit on the fence about the random scenes of violence and gore, but I see how they were used to shape (and harden) Floralinda. Cobweb was a cute yet fiesty companion throughout and, even though I'm not too sure about the 'romance' between the two, they did make a formidable pair when faced with all manners of creatures, mythological and otherwise.
I feel that the narrative was repetive in places, and the use of the same ‘trick' to slay the beasts over and over again lacked excitement. The fights could have been more interesting if Floralinda had used different ways for defeating the creatures, but the parade of beasts on each floor was fun to read about, nevertheless. I'm also not so sure about the conclusion; I expected Floralinda to go on her way as a changed woman, not remain in the tower that had kept her prisonner for so long. In a way, it's as though she can never leave her captivity even though she changed tremendously.
Overall, this was a fun, subversive read!
