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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I liked this book for several reasons - I needed a fiction book, I love the story of sleeping beauty and I liked the characters as McKinely wrote them. I enjoyed the book but I feel like it really could have used some heavy editing. You know how when you read Anne of Green Gables and you think wow there are a lot of descriptive sentences here, let's get on with the story. Well this book is full of flowery descriptions and I just started skipping them. I also kind of hated the ending. I am probably being overly critical because I did enjoy this book and would say read it but beware of the descriptions.
I'm really torn about this book. On one hand, I want to love it because it's a fairy tale-and this book does an excellent job of maintaining the magic. On the other hand, it is WAY too long, contains indecipherable prose (occasionally) and has a less than satisfying ending.
I did not enjoy McKinley's style, I found I couldn't understand what she was saying a good portion of the time. It reminded me of Gregory Maguire-this is not a compliment. Additionally, she had an annoying habit of sharing narrative asides via parentheses (I'm aware I have this habit as well, but I am not a published author, nor am I charging anyone to read what I've written).
I would recommend to only those who are big fans of fairy tale retellings. Don't get your hopes up.
I did not enjoy McKinley's style, I found I couldn't understand what she was saying a good portion of the time. It reminded me of Gregory Maguire-this is not a compliment. Additionally, she had an annoying habit of sharing narrative asides via parentheses (I'm aware I have this habit as well, but I am not a published author, nor am I charging anyone to read what I've written).
I would recommend to only those who are big fans of fairy tale retellings. Don't get your hopes up.
A beautiful retelling of Grimm's Briar Rose, where the author very cleverly uses the untold times in the original fairytale to change the most passive protagonist of all times into a confident and strong 'princess'-character. And she is not the only one, there are many more independent female characters to get to know and love in this story. Apart from that you get to read a really uncringey young adult novel which is very suitable for adults, too. McKinley is also able to create a very unique kind of magic in a fairytale country, that feels real and logical on its own terms. Set in the offest of all countrysides and containing magically rampant plants, conscious old castles and speaking animals, while most of the time until the final showdown just depicting everyday cottage life, this is the cottagecore novel of your dreams. Creating this peculiar world is the clear strength of the author, while it gets a little tiresome during the showdown. McKinley keeps feeding you background information all the time, which is nice to round out the world she built, but is really irritating when the protagonist flees for her life on the fastest horse in the whole kingdom. But other than that the ending really drags and stretches, this is a beautifully told magical story about family, friendship and humility to immerse yourself in.
The writing style often reminded me more of a tall tale than a fairy tale, and I think some of the sentences could have been constructed better. But the book did keep me interested and I enjoyed the characters.
I love Robin McKinley's prose, and she is a master of telling stories, but the plot in this book draggedddd on for me. Too many unnecessary middle scenes and details. If you want to read a McKinley retelling, I would recommend reading [b:Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|41424|Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|Robin McKinley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1294192311l/41424._SY75_.jpg|2321285].
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Of Robin Mckinley's books (a favorite author of mine) this one didn't leave that much of an impression on me. I suppose I didn't like the sleeping beauty character being portrayed as "boyish", and though I didn't mind that she didn't fall in love with the prince it just made the ending a bit of a let down.
I loved this book! It was just too sweet.
While the beginning was rather slow and without action, It held interest, and I could feel myself being drawn into the story, and not caring about the pace. It was so cute.
The characters were all very wonderful, and I found I loved all of them. Although the villain... she was rather vague, but she also didn't have much "screen-time," so it is forgiven.
The main plot, really, was more the characters anyway, rather than the conflict, which I like in a story.
The humor was wonderful, and it read so much like a fairy-tale. I especially liked the world it was set in-it was very much a world of its own, but very easy to understand.
It was such a delightful book-I loved it so much, and am debating whether or not it should be a "favorite."
While the beginning was rather slow and without action, It held interest, and I could feel myself being drawn into the story, and not caring about the pace. It was so cute.
The characters were all very wonderful, and I found I loved all of them. Although the villain... she was rather vague, but she also didn't have much "screen-time," so it is forgiven.
The main plot, really, was more the characters anyway, rather than the conflict, which I like in a story.
The humor was wonderful, and it read so much like a fairy-tale. I especially liked the world it was set in-it was very much a world of its own, but very easy to understand.
It was such a delightful book-I loved it so much, and am debating whether or not it should be a "favorite."