I think it is because the writing is so good. I usually enjoy books of this genre more for the story than the writing, but this one just was so beautifully written it was like a feast of language.

I grew up watching the movie and loved it so much. When I finally read the book, it made me love the story even more. It was simply so well written. My suggestion for a book along a similar vein is Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Sort of fairy tale story, also really well written, not too long and not part of a series. After reading both books, I did a suggest me a book for similar ones and got a lot of suggestions that I did read, but none gave me quite the same feeling as these books. And bonus, Stardust also has a great film adaptation to go along...