The Princess and the Captain (2025)

***NOTE***
Adding a small advisory to my review since I think it turns up near the top of the page.
DO NOT LOOK AT THE DISCUSSION BOARD FOR THIS BOOK if you haven't read it. Someone posted a topic title with a major spoiler (accidentally, she was trying to get it identified and posted somewhere else entirely, but it was put onto the book's page probably by me, apologies)

I've never considered myself to be someone who demands that their endings be happy, but this book's ending felt more like a betrayal. Like someone who forces their way into your life and makes you fall in love with how wonderful they are, and then just commits suicide because they felt like it.

I'm not the first to say that Part 3 should have been left out, it just wasn't consistent with the tone of the rest of the story. Perhaps a little slow at times, I really did enjoy the bulk of the story. It was a real and true adventure, not to mention that I found the strangeness of the archipelago very very appealing (reminiscent of Sinbad, Legend of the Seven Seas, the cartoon of all things) The characters were enjoyable enough and nothing about it especially got on my nerves which is uncommon.

I suppose of all of it maybe the main character, Malva, was a little less appealing but also more real than most heroines tend to be.

Anyway, betrayed is really the best word to describe my feelings at the end of this.

I knock off two stars for the ending.
I absolutely loved this book, it had a great plot, and I was curious to see how it would end. I was like, "Alright, how are they going to keep everyone happy without the Princetta returning home? Hmmm interesting" I really liked this book... until the last four or five chapters. She really could have made this book very good! But she just made the worst ending in the world! I was so upset by it. Oh! Oh well, it was good but I really do knock off two stars, could have been a four star book.

I really don't know where to start with this book... So I shall start with: I love it so much, but it also broke my heart.

The story started with the heroic, independant and rebellious heroine, Princess Malva of Galicia. She didn't catch my attention, for it seems like that every YA novel comes with the author's most ideal strong heroine. However, as the story continue on, I find that there is something that seperates her from others... An air of... Difference, I suppose.

As for the hero, Orpheus, he is even better. He is unique and exciting, not the same as the dark, dangerous bad-boy that is quite the trademark of YA novels, but a nice gentleman. And haunted by the memories of his childhood and the lie told by his father.

Their seperate journey through the Known World was fun and exciting, but what really makes this adventure special and fun is during their time in the south of the Known World, a whole new world, basically where weird things seem to happen as if they are ordinary.

((more later!))

Liked the book, hated the ending. Blah blah, she grows up and learns her lesson for running away, meanwhile the guy who was the main focus of half the story dies! His entire life was pointless, which sucks because I liked him better than the princess, who was the main character of the story. Other than that it was an okay story. A bit strange but it managed to hold my attention. Most of the characters were fun to watch (so to speak) and the plot certainly had its twists, but I don't know how much the audience will enjoy its ending. I didn't. It was certainly a much better premise than an actual story. I feel like I can sum up my review by saying, good idea, but the follow through needs a bit of work.

ZERO STARS. One of the worst books I have ever read (bottom 10 for sure, probably even makes bottom 3). Poorly written and paced, cliche and pointless. To call the characters 2-dimensional would be one dimension too generous. I had no hopes at all for the book after the first 10 chapters or so, but continued reading out of a morbid sense of curiosity (and maybe a pinch of masochism). Even with such low expectations I managed to be shocked by the incredible stupidity of the ending. I am not being flippant or sarcastic when I say I would rather have food poisoning than read this book. I'm serious. DO NOT waste your time. If you must, at the very least check it out from the library instead of wasting the $9 on this drivel. Rubbish.

My dear nostalgia
This is a childhood favorite of mine. It's an odd book for sure, its plot is kind of over the top and insane, especially at its second half, but it was a blast, and I wept at the end, as always. So i guess, objectively, it's not the best, but subjectively, I adore this.😄 I'm glad I reread

u read a book when ur young & love it then give it to ur sister to read & shes like YOU KNOW THIS HAS A ROMANCE BETWEEN A 16 YO AND A 24 YO and ur like. ah.

Hillary Chappus-McCendie Advisory: 205

1. Did you enjoy the book? Why? Why not?

Yes, I really enjoyed the book because it took place a really long time ago. It took place in the time of princesses and princes and I love reading books that take place in those times because it gives me a sense of what life might have been like back then. I love how girls wore gigantic fancy dresses all of the time, how there was a lot of royalty and how everything was just so different. I also love how there was fantasy in the book, for example, there was a place called the Archipelago, which was a faraway place that had moving islands, talking rock monsters and invisible people. I just love books that have events which could never happen in real life because it’s really interesting and amazing to see what out-of-this-world kinds of things the author can come up with.

2. Were the characters realistic? Would you want to meet any of the characters? Did you like them? Hate them?

In a way, the characters are both realistic and non-realistic, for example, Malva was a princess locked up in her kingdom of Galnicia who wanted nothing more than to escape and explore the rest of the world and to have an adventure. I’m sure most people can’t relate to that, since most people aren’t royalty and they don’t live in a castle. On the other hand, I think a lot of people can relate to her desire to get away and to have some sort of adventure faraway that they’d remember for the rest of their lives.
Orpheus, on the other hand, was a boy with a father who was a famous sailor, causing Orpheus to get many privileges in the sense that he got everything handed to him, meaning he didn’t have to work for anything. Orpheus wanted nothing more than to accomplish something in his life that would give him his own name so he wouldn’t have to live in his father’s shadow. Most people wouldn’t be able to relate to the fact that he has a famous father since that’s not something everyone has. On the other hand, I think a lot of people can relate to his situation, being judged based on their family’s name and their reputation and not on whom they are as an individual.
I would definitely like to meet Malva and Orpheus because I really liked both of them since they seemed like really nice people who would do anything for those whom they loved, even if it meant putting their lives in danger. For example, when Orpheus rescued Malva from Temir-Gai’s prison, it was very dangerous in the sense that Orpheus could have lost his life if he was caught, but he attempted to save her anyways. This was because she was his friend and he didn’t want her to loose her life.

3. What about the plot? Did it pull you in; or did you feel you had to force yourself to read the book?

The plot was amazing because the whole story was packed with a bunch of unexpected twists and turns. For example, when Malva, Orpheus, and the rest of the crew of the Fabula (the ship on which they were supposed to ride home), ended up in the Archipelago. There they were presented with either the choice to live there forever or to go on a crazy and nearly impossible quest where each member of the ship must first face their deepest and darkest fear and then proceed to find the exit in a limited amount of days. On top of that, if they failed at the latter choice, they would be doomed to the Immuration, a place of suffer and torture for the rest of their lives. The crew had already gone through so much: finding Malva, helping Malva escape from Temir-Gai’s prison and fighting off the Archont (an evil man out to get rid of Malva and to take over her country), to name a few. The fact that they would have to face another huge challenge was just unthinkable because they had already gone through so much. It got to the point where I wondered how the author kept coming up with these crazy ideas to keep the book going. The only reason I say that is due to the fact that so much happened during the whole story. What was amazing is that I couldn’t put the book down. It was just so interesting! Everything was just so unexpected that I just had to know what happens next.

4. Did the book end the way you expected?

I am a firm believer in happy endings. Unfortunately, this ending was anything but happy. After Malva and Orpheus discovered they loved each other, the Archont came again and tried to kill Malva. While Orpheus was trying to save Malva, he got stabbed, and died. This was devastating, because I expected that it would be a happy ending, where Malva and Orpheus defeat the Archont and proceed to bringing the kingdom of Galnicia back after its great depression. Instead, Orpheus died, leaving Malva all alone. What was nice was that the death of Orpheus didn’t stop Malva from saving Galnicia. After a while, with Malva’s help, Galnicia was on its way to getting back to normal. As a way to commemorate Orpheus and the others who died on their journey, Malva wrote the story of her journey with Orpheus and the rest of the crew of the Fabula. The ending was sad because Orpheus died but the ending was also kind of happy in the sense that there were many possibilities for the future that lied ahead.

5. Would you recommend this book to other readers? To your close friends?

Yes, I would definitely recommend this to other readers and to my close friends because it is extremely interesting, suspenseful, and unexpected. Sometimes it gets dark and sad, but I think it’s definitely worth reading because it is a great story of adventure, friendship, magic and love, and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t like adventure and magic. Something that’s amazing about this story is that you feel the emotion of what’s going on in the story. For example, when Orpheus died it almost brought tears to my eyes because it was so sad. That has never happened to me while reading a book before and I think it’s truly amazing when a person can actually feel the same emotion of the situation in the story.

6. What was your favourite part/scene of the book?

My favourite part of the book was when Philomena, Malva’s former chamber-maid, and her husband Uzmir returned to Galnicia to visit after Malva after Orpheus’s death. The way I describe it makes it sound like it’s one of the more sad times of the story, but it really isn’t because Malva meets Hainur, Philomena and Uzmir’s son. It was such an amazing part of the book because it had some complex feeling to it. It was just such an overwhelmingly happy but somehow melancholy moment. The only reason that it was a slight bit sad was because Hainur gave Malva a Chibuk, a gift normally meant for married women as it represented eternal love, but it was nice because it reminded her of how much she loved Orpheus and all of the good times they had together. It was just so sweet of Hainur to give Malva such a great gift that meant so much to Malva, which is why that part is my favourite part of the book.

7. What was your least favourite part of the book?

It took a lot of contemplating on which was my least favourite part of the book. I don’t mean that there were a lot of bad parts. I mean that there was one part that was extremely sad but also really beautiful. The scene I’m talking about is when Orpheus got stabbed by the Archont, and right after Malva killed the Archont, this is what the story says:

“Head back on the straw, Orpheus smiled at Malva as she leaned over him. How beautiful she was! Her face, her amber eyes, her black hair… but why was she crying? Why was her mouth moving like that? What was she saying?
She’s saying my name, Orpheus told himself. She loves me.
Those were his last thoughts.”

It’s amazing because Orpheus realized that Malva loved him, which is great because he loved her too. The problem was that those were his last thoughts, which means that he died, which is extremely sad because I didn’t want Orpheus to die. I wanted it to be a happy ending, because, like I said before, I love happy endings. I have to say that this is my least favourite part because, even though all deaths are sad, this one was particularly heart-breaking because he was the man that Malva loved. Orpheus’s death also affected the whole mood of the rest of the book because the rest evolved mostly around how sad Malva was about his death.

8. On a scale of 1-10, what would you give this book? What would have made it better?

On a scale of 1-10, ten being the best, I would give this book a nine. This book was truly amazing, the only reason I give it a nine out of ten is because of the ending. The book would have been much better if Orpheus hadn’t died. I know that the author intended for Malva to bring Galnicia back to its former glory by herself, but I can’t help but wish that Orpheus hadn’t died because the outcome of the story would be a lot happier since there wouldn’t be any mourning about his death.

9. Did you feel that the book fulfilled your expectations? Were you disappointed?

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect of this book. I expected it to have one major conflict and when the conflict is resolved, the story would be happy and it would end. Instead, there were just so many conflicts and as soon as one was resolved, another would pop up. For example, one conflict was that Malva was trapped in Temir-Gai’s prison, which was a conflict because if she didn’t escape, she would eventually die, and as soon as Orpheus and the rest of the crew aboard the Fabula rescued her (the resolution), they all got trapped in the Archipelago with almost no hopes of escaping (another conflict). Then, when they finally escaped the Archipelago after many terrible conflicts, Orpheus got murdered (once again, another conflict). Overall, I can’t say that I was disappointed with the whole story because it was so intriguing that I found myself not able to put it down. The only thing that really disappointed me was the ending, when Orpheus died. It was very tragic because Malva was upset for the rest of the book. In conclusion, this book did not fulfill my expectations, it did much more! I had never read a book with such a complex and extremely interesting plot as this one, where everything was thought out and completely unexpected.

This was an odd book, which I was somewhat prepared for, seeing how it was originally in French and translated by the nice lady who did Cornelia Funke's books.

What did I think... well, the first half of the book felt very rushed. No descriptions, no meaty filler, just a lot of jumbled and stilted plot and dialogue.

The second half of the book takes such an odd turn, (seriously, I won't spoil it in case you decide to pick this book up, but it is WEIRD) that it almost seems as though it is a different book. I mean, WOW. And again, there is not enough description or plot to keep me going. I essentially skimmed the last 100 pages to see where the characters would end up.

The very last part of the book is so far out of left field I was staggered. People are gone, they come back, a kingdom decimated, it comes back, villains come back and leave and come back, and holy crap, it was weird.

Maybe it makes more sense if you're French, but I would have loved to see this as a SERIES, more fleshed out, more loveable characters, and less of a hodge podge plot. It's like she just sat down and threw a bunch of stuff together and stuck it in a cover with a title.

Áno s odstupom času vidím, že tá kniha nie je dokonalá, ale predsalen je písaná pre mladšie dievčatá. Keď som ja bola dievča, milovala som Princetu a Kapitána. Je v nej všetko. Nebezpečenstvo, dobrodružstvo aj láska. Takto spätne vnímam, ako ma ovplyvnila a že podvedome som hľadala všade Orfea. :D :D No nie je to len povrchná rozprávka s romantickou zápletkou. Nesie v sebe veľa dobrých myšlienok a posolstiev. Ukazuje deckám, že si nemôžu naivne myslieť, že každý človek je iba dobrý, že život nie je ľahký a ľudia, na ktorých sme si zvykli s nami neostanú navždy. Zároveň však nesie myšlienku, že ak má človek pri sebe verných priateľov, ľahšie prekoná prekážky a smútok. A aj to, že rojko potrebuje mať pri sebe aj niekoho praktického :) . Stále si myslím, že by túto knihu mali znovu vydať a dievčatá by ju mali automaticky dostávať ako darček k jedenástym narodeninám. :) Alebo dvanástym...alebo tak nejako :D

This was just brutal, and I almost gave up. All the characters felt flat and lifeless and I didn't care a great deal about any of them, let alone what happened to them. The ending was a gutsy surprise, but not something that seemed to fit with the story. It seemed to happen just because it could happen, not because it should have. What was kind of annoying was how long it took to get to the more interesting parts of the book, which are the islands. The cover has an image of a ship for crying out loud, but you have to read half the book to get that far. Everything before seemed superfluous. If the whole book had focused on the islands, just getting there and trying to get out, maybe with deeper dangers, it could have been a cool book. Or at least better and less disjointed than this feels.

3,5/5. Je suis assez perplexe ; j'ai aimé mais en même temps je m'attendais à plus aimer. J'ai eu du mal avec la première moitié mais la seconde partie m'a enchantée !

Une belle héroïne et un héros touchant, de l'aventure, des personnages secondaires attachants, des descriptions qui permettent de s'évader complètement. Une histoire jeunesse qui m'a fait vibrée et dont je conseillerais la lecture à mes filles quand elles seront plus grandes.

Malva is a beautiful, strong-willed young lady, the princetta of her father’s kindgom, Galnicia. But there is one problem: Malva is being married off to the Prince of Andemark, a man she hardly knows and doesn’t love. With the help of the Archont, her tutor, and Philomena, her chambermaid, Malva manages to escape her country – but only to fall into adventures she would have never dreamed of.

A couple things about this book caught my eye. One, the name…a twist on the title “princess”. And two, the art. It swirls and twists and the colors are bright and they contrast beautifully together.

This truly was an adventure. The characters grow in such a way that makes them real and easy to understand. I could relate to most of them in different ways. They all had their own special gift or personality to give to the story to make it less and less like a book and more and more like a work of art.

If you are looking for a book that has a perfectly happy ending, don’t pick this one up. I am a big fan of books that end with sacrifice and sometimes even tragedy, because it gives the book a deeper sense of reality. Now, I don’t have anything against happy endings…in fact, I’m a hopeless romantic who just LOVES a happy ending, especially if it is involved in a love story. However, when an author goes against what everyone else is doing and creates a sense of mortality in the characters, while still giving them enough class to stay loved and adored for a long time, I cannot help but stand and applaud. This is exactly what Anne-Laure Bondoux has done, leaving me a happy reader.

www.yearningtoread.wordpress.com

Wow. This is one of those books where I can't tell if I loved it or hated it....I hated the ending! Why make Orpheus, one of the main characters, die like that? Why make any of those characters die really. I still don't understand how Zeph failed his test? He's a freaking dog for God's sake! But since Orpheus died... it showed that in a way the Archont won... It's just stupid, how will the Princetta find another love anyways, not that she really deserved it... It's her fault in the first place that they all died and her home country went into war... Gah! Conflicted feelings my friends... conflicted feelings.

EDIT!!!!

I've changed my mind... I'm positive that I didn't like this book. It had a good plot and everything, everything about it was cool. Then the ending was pretty much like someone taking a knife and stabbing it into my soul... okay maybe not that dramatic. But I'm pretty upset that I wasted money on this book. The back of the book was a facade... I figured, "hey, while she goes on an adventure, she falls in love! Great! This is going to be a great book." Really what happens is, she escapes, is the downfall of her country, her parents are grief stricken and die... and on top of that, she's the cause of her love, a cook who loves fish, a 13 year old boy, and a dog to die. Nice.

"Those are the twin stars," he explained. "Their names are Astor and Olux."

It was at this moment that I set the book down, put my head in my hands, and decided that books that use soundalike names to pretend like they're not set in the regular world are getting an immediate DNF from me.

Sinbad meets DK Children's Encyclopedia in this stunningly boring "adventure." Be warned, reader, what may seem to be a 2- or even 3-star book suddenly takes a very sharp turn away from what was advertised about a quarter of the way through and ventures down a path of cliches like you have never seen. Are you ready for the male protagonist to fall for the Princetta after she does nothing but gripe and moan about wanting to follow her dreams right after directly causing the deaths of several dozen people? Are you prepared for the more-than-borderline-racist depictions of totally-not-Asian cultures our heroes run into on their inane quest for a fantasyland they heard a drunk guy yelling about one time? Have you steeled yourself for your two-character novel to very suddenly become a story about a whole seven-person group of 2D characters trudging across a world constructed like an almanac with all the names slightly tweaked? Then go forth, poor things, and behold The Princetta.

But of coarse i lIKED this book!
I read it years and years ago, and perhaps it was the heart-ache, but i've never forgotten it since!

However...
The ending wasn't the best one Anne-Laure could have done,why not have a happy ending to a hard,sad,life?
I fell in love with all of the charectors and to see so many of them die was soo sad... But then to kill off the Captain? Now that was abit over the line. I was soo hoping for some happiness, because well the book had absolutley none. It was one of those, 'there dead but i'll suvive' books! If i had to judge it on the ending i would say zero stars... But the book as a whole, the adventure as a whole makes up for it.

SO even though i shed about a thousand tears for this book i still LIKE it.
4 stars- despite the ending.

After having read this book, I looked at other reviews and was surprised to see what a difference of opinion existed over it. Five stars down to one: it has achieved them all. Most readers hate the ending, and deservedly so...it is terrible. There are those who are able to get caught up in the adventure and romance, but for me it was just good enough keep reading...and not good enough to rise above two stars.

This book is really captivating. I really dislike the fact that Orpheus dies at the end. I believe that Princess Malva and Captain Orpheus should have ended up together and both alive instead of only Malva alive and wishing Orpheus was alive. Overall, the book was very good and i enjoyed the story very much.

the only thing i remember from this book was the rooftops of buildings and i thought it was nice
this book took me forever to read i want to read it again its been so long. i think i got it from hpb in middle school.

The ending broke my heart. Just when you think it's all over and everything is going to be alright. This was a book worth reading. It was recommended to me by a friend when I was 11 but even now eight years later I continue to love it.

Sobbing. Absolutely sobbing. Love it so much but the ending killed me.

Used to be my favorite romantic fantasy book. 15 years ago I would definitely give it 5 stars.

When I first started this book, I had no idea it was a translated novel. I was flipping through it and eating my lunch and saw a bit in the back about the translator. As a translated book, I had no idea. It reads smooth and there wasn’t anything that did not appear to me as out of place. I say, props to the translator and publisher for that!

The Setting — is adventure. From humble Galnicia, to the shipwrecks on the high sea, to the harems and the Arpeggio, The Princetta has a vivid, exciting setting. There are times when you feel the sea breeze as you’re reading or smell the aroma of the cooks fire or even capture in your mind’s eye the beautiful scenery of Bou-Bou.

The Characters — I think fit the targeted age. I’ve seen some reviews that harp on stereotypes, but I think that as an adult reading a young adult book, I have to take a step back and realize that at some point stereotypes are new and interesting. The Princetta, Malva, is adventurous and intelligent and running from something. Her actions start the snowball affect that touches many lives around her. There is a hero, who is shy and unassuming and must grow into his role. There is the best friend, who changes character once because the original co-conspirator and Malva get split up. Both of the friends I thought had lovely story arcs in themselves; they showed Malva things and how to be better friends and think beyond herself. I liked how the characters had little subplots between themselves. And then there was the antagonist, who I will not refer to in here by his name because it is a bit of a twist. I thought this was the weakest character; it followed a rut and while useful in story telling I wished this character would have been a bit more imaginative.

The Plot — was a delightful, adventurous romp across the Known World, experiencing brushes with danger, intrigue and the unbelievable made believable. I went through much of the book thinking it would be something lovely to sit down and read with a young girl, reading a few chapters at a time. The plot isn’t the kind of whirlwind adventure that will make you turn pages for hours; in fact I think it hasn’t taken me this long to finish a book since…. well, I can’t remember. I sort of got lost during the trials in the arpeggio and who was facing what, but I was at least interested. The part I found hardest to believe was the ending. Not when they returned to their homeland, but how the book ended. After the ending, I will not suggest this book.

I’m going to spoil the ending now. If you don’t want to know, do not continue reading.

Still want to know? The hero, the shy, unassuming hero who falls in love with Malva and who teaches her all about life and loves him in return – dies. It was such a touching, subtle arch – okay, you knew it was coming – that I was all set up to read the end as a: and they lived happily ever after. But no! I feel as if the author wanted to do something a little different, bring in a bit about sacrifice or realism into the story, but for the tone of the book up until now, it ruined it for me. I wouldn’t read this to a daughter or suggest it to anyone because it takes that fuzzy warm feeling the book fostered – and burns it. I read over the ending of the book and flipped pages through the buy-me-next’s looking for the real ending because I just couldn’t believe that was the ending. I was upset, because I was ready to suggest this to mothers to read to their daughters, and now I have to say: Don’t read it.

JUST FOREWARNING THAT THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS SO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS DON’T READ THIS POST.

I chose this book because I wanted to read something that neither I, nor my friends, had ever heard of; I wanted to be surprised. And, pleasantly, I was.

The plot is simple. Set in a sort of middle-aged fictional world, the Princess of a country called Galnicia decides to escape as a stowaway on a ship on the night before her arranged wedding. This main character is called Malva. However, we have a second character by the name of Orpheus, who is a member of the crew sent to bring her home. The chapters alternate between their viewpoints until they meet and the chapters merge – a technique which I have always liked. This adventure book bears similarities to Pirates of the Caribbean films and is a good read for anyone who likes that sort of thing.

Yet, there were several things that annoyed me, and this is where the spoilers come in. You have been warned:

Orpheus: Don’t get me wrong, I like Orpheus. It’s just his death that I disagreed with. Yup, you heard me, he dies. Normally, I am the first to kill of main characters, but only if it contributes to the plot which, in this case, I don’t think it did. I honestly don’t see why he had to die, and I disagree with it.

Ending: As with many books, this one ends with the revelation that Malva, all along, has been writing this book as a document of her travels, gathering information from Orpheus’s old housemaid in order to write chapters from his viewpoint. How convenient. Personally, I don’t like it when books end like this. It’s almost as bad as when books end with “it was all a dream”. Almost. But not quite. I just feel like shouting at Malva, “No, you didn’t write it, the author wrote it.” Plus, the book is in third person, so why would Malva write about herself like that?

Positives, yay positives!

Imagination: The imagination behind this novel was outstanding. The countless names of far away lands and seas and worlds is just mesmerising. Well done, Bondoux, well done. Not much more I can say on this topic. Moving on.

Character depth: It is key to a large chunk of the story that each of the characters in that section has an intricate back-story and history, which the author provides brilliantly. These are characters which I can relate to and understand their actions.

CAN I JUST RANT ABOUT SOMETHING, THOUGH.

The cover. I mean. Come on.
I know this is only one of several covers, but time and time again I see these covers which have the face of a girl on them looking dramatic/mysterious/sad/whatevertheystillannoyme. It’s just a wasted opportunity to create a really beautiful cover, particularly for this book where there is so much to choose from, where the imagery is so great that a cover could easily be accurately drawn up. Bad move on the publisher’s part.

So yeah. If you see it on a bookshelf, I recommend you read it. Good book right there.

Wow, what an ending! It was so sad, but so awesome! While I do normally like to see a romantic couple end up together, It doesn't really bother me that there was no happily ever after here.

THE CHARACTERS
I disliked Malva, the Princetta, for the first half of the book. She was silly, impractical, and dragged her chambermaid across a vast desert to find an island she wasn't even sure existed. I felt absolutely no pity for her when she complained of hunger and thirst, since it was her decision to go on the expedition in the first place. By the end of the book, however, I discovered that Malva had grown on me. She matured a lot over the course of her journey, and through love and loss became an entirely different person. I liked Orpheus right from the beginning, and I think he would have been a good match for Malva, if circumstances had worked out differently. I was pretty much indifferent to the chambermaid Philomena, which is fortunate since she disappeared for the majority of the book. Lei was entertaining, as were the twins, and Babilas. The Archont, the villain, had little depth of character and existed only to pursue and continuously try to kill Malva. But for the most part, I really liked the characters.

THE STORY
I was surprised by how much of the story took place in the Archipelago, the mysterious island chain with elements of the supernatural. The climax was presented here, with each of the characters having to face a test of some sort. Not all of them survived, but they did eventually return to Malva's homeland of Galnicia, to find it much changed in their absence. At that point in the story, I was prepared to give this book five stars, but then there was a twist that left me feeling hollow, and sad.

THE GOOD
The descriptions were absolutely beautiful, and there was certainly no shortage of fantastical elements in this fantasy. The main characters, Malva and Orpheus, were relatable and believable. I was rooting for them to escape the Archipelago. I also enjoyed the sailing aspects of the story, and how much of the plot took place at sea. The islands in the unknown world were visually breathtaking, while the visuals of the Immuration were nothing short of horrifying.

THE NOT SO GOOD
The only thing I really didn't like about THE PRINCETTA was the excessive use of exclamation points. There are, no kidding, about three hundred of them in this book. I grew tired of seeing everything looking like an exclamation or proclamation.

BOTTOM LINE: This is an older book (published in 2004), but definitely worth a read for fans of high fantasy and adventure. Highly recommended.

*Real rating: somewhere between 3-4.25 stars, but I'll keep it at 5 for nostalgic reasons.*

This is my third time reading this book, the last time being probably before I joined Goodreads. I remembered some details, a couple of characters and the fact that I cried my eyes out. But upon rereading the book, I realized I had forgotten some things, which kind of made it feel as if I was reading it for the first time again.

This is a book about adventure, despite what the title might have you believe. Sure, there's some romance involved, but overall it is about a couple of people being thrown into certain adventurous situations one after another. There is some amazing character development going on throughout the book, especially with the female main lead Malva. The worldbuilding is rich of descriptions, though perhaps not thoroughly explained; the characters are diverse in terms of age and personality, though some are more lovable than others, and the themes of friendship and self-discovery are great! The second half of the book is definately my favourite, but without the first half I wouldn't have been able to reach the second half and to appreciate the character development. I didn't cry this time around, but I was still left with some weird feeling in my chest after having finished the book.

While I probably wouldn't have put "The Princess and the Captain" as one of my absolute favourite books today, I can understand why my younger self did. Being the rather nostalgic person I am, I'll let it stay on the favourite-books shelf for now.

I think we are all in agreement that this book is like marmite. It is beautifully written, and thoughtfully guided. The ending left me with a sence of completion. As most books don’t usually.
The plot was very much a twisty turning of Malva not really knowing her destiny. So it’s nice to know she finds that in the end.
However, the stuff I didn’t like is that I felt like the writer hated their characters 😂.
Only because, she put them through a lot, and I was a little confused with the extremes the writer wrote about.
Some people will LOVE this book, and it is very much like marmite. You love it, or you don’t like it that much to read it again…
I loved some parts, but would I read it again…? No. Probably not. Only because I found the downs of the book hard to cope with, when I like the characters to have a somewhat easy escape journey. But who am I to judge? It is very much a try to see if you like it book.
If you want a book to keep you on edge, then read this. It will be perfect for you.

(MINOR SPOILER)

I always hate it when characters die. It really annoys me, but hey ho. I would have wrote that a little different lol.
It was amazing for a first time read. I won’t read it again, but the experience of a realistic book that was very life changing will forever be in my heart. I do not regret reading this book in any way, it was a whole experience going through it.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review lol, I have mixed emotions of the book very much. I loved it, but I also didn’t like the sad parts. Probably normal 😂.
Enjoy reading if you decide too ❤️

This book was nothing I could have ever imagined. I started reading it because it was something my friend had on her bookshelf and I needed to keep myself occupied but it has turned out to be one of the best books I've had the chance to read. I find that Anne-Laure Bondoux paints an amazing picture with her words and whenever I'd put this book down I'd want to pick it right back up, I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning reading page by page and I simply loved every minute of it. I can see how some people wouldn't like this book because of how the ending is but they should look deeper then just the surface. Yes her beloved was tragically taken from her by the man who never seemed to die but it shows how fragile life can be and that there are still many trails to face in life. That's just my personal interpretation but thinking that way made me love this book so much. I admit that I was so upset when I read Orpheus' death but I put the book down for a second and thought about it and realized that yes it was harsh but that one thing didn't take away from the previous beauty of the book it added a beautiful tragedy and helped to strengthen Malva and make her the person she ended up being by the end of the book.

The ending of this book was a betrayal and should not have been written. My little heart was ripped out and trodden on. This is probably one of the only books which I believe should have been rewritten.

Edit: It has been almost three years since I have read this book from the school library and I can't believe I would miss it but I do! I miss the characters and the world however I am not prepared to be heartbroken again from that ending ;-;. THAT WAS A BETRAYAL AT ITS FINEST.

I have only cried four times in all the books and TV shows and movies I have ever read and watched:
1. In Waters Wrath by Elise Cova (spelt that right?)
2. In ACOWAR by Sarah J Maas (even then my eyes were just wet)
3. The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
4. THIS BOOK BECAUSE MY HEART CANT HANDLE IT