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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
Not my favorite McKinley book but I do enjoy the occasional reread.
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
DNF at 131 pages. Roughly over a third of the way through.
This book could have been half the length it was. I very much got the feeling that the author enjoyed writing a little too much and could not bear to edit it down in a way that isn't so long-winded and boring. Skimming this book would net you the same result as reading the whole thing. I read two other books while struggling to get through this one, and finally threw in the towel once I'd gone for a third emotional support book.
There's world building and then there is just plain self-indulgence. You might think your world is the best thing since fairy godmothers, but other people need to see it and tell you how much it put them to sleep. Ironic, considering the origins of the retelling. My mind would frequently wander off mid-sentence, and then I'd have to begin all over again because the writing wasn't capable of holding my attention. That poor editor didn't have the energy to decide what to cut and what to keep, so we just got this unnecessarily long story inspired by the very short, simple fairytale of Sleeping Beauty. This book did not need to be 354 pages long. I mean, really.
Another thing to note is the most excessive use of parentheses I've ever seen in my life! It's so damn strange, and I constantly wanted to scream at the author that if she couldn't fit information in in a less cumbersome way then it needed to be LEFT OUT. For god's sake, parentheses are on nearly every page, and it drove me nuts after a while. What was the author thinking? I think she was thinking that her writing was more interesting than it actually is. >___>
Maybe you like a slow-moving plot where not much happens and you get to sit in a town with cottage-core vibes that bops its way along, elaborating on quaint and pointless happenings. There is a lot of that. Slow living, cozy nothingness. But this was just too much for me and I found it SO. BORING! There are better ways to set a scene than the number of words you use. More does not mean better. The beautiful cover of this book did half the work for the author, and the artist needs some serious props for any sold copies. The only reason I'm heartbroken getting rid of it is because I wanted to love it so that I could have this beautiful book cover on my shelf. Unfortunately, the contents are already growing mold in my mind.
If you don't like this in the first 50 pages, DNF it. Don't drag yourself along the muddy, meandering road thinking it will change its tune. It doesn't.
This book could have been half the length it was. I very much got the feeling that the author enjoyed writing a little too much and could not bear to edit it down in a way that isn't so long-winded and boring. Skimming this book would net you the same result as reading the whole thing. I read two other books while struggling to get through this one, and finally threw in the towel once I'd gone for a third emotional support book.
There's world building and then there is just plain self-indulgence. You might think your world is the best thing since fairy godmothers, but other people need to see it and tell you how much it put them to sleep. Ironic, considering the origins of the retelling. My mind would frequently wander off mid-sentence, and then I'd have to begin all over again because the writing wasn't capable of holding my attention. That poor editor didn't have the energy to decide what to cut and what to keep, so we just got this unnecessarily long story inspired by the very short, simple fairytale of Sleeping Beauty. This book did not need to be 354 pages long. I mean, really.
Another thing to note is the most excessive use of parentheses I've ever seen in my life! It's so damn strange, and I constantly wanted to scream at the author that if she couldn't fit information in in a less cumbersome way then it needed to be LEFT OUT. For god's sake, parentheses are on nearly every page, and it drove me nuts after a while. What was the author thinking? I think she was thinking that her writing was more interesting than it actually is. >___>
Maybe you like a slow-moving plot where not much happens and you get to sit in a town with cottage-core vibes that bops its way along, elaborating on quaint and pointless happenings. There is a lot of that. Slow living, cozy nothingness. But this was just too much for me and I found it SO. BORING! There are better ways to set a scene than the number of words you use. More does not mean better. The beautiful cover of this book did half the work for the author, and the artist needs some serious props for any sold copies. The only reason I'm heartbroken getting rid of it is because I wanted to love it so that I could have this beautiful book cover on my shelf. Unfortunately, the contents are already growing mold in my mind.
If you don't like this in the first 50 pages, DNF it. Don't drag yourself along the muddy, meandering road thinking it will change its tune. It doesn't.
This one did not have the deeply mesmerizing quality of Beauty, the last part of which had me tearing myself painfully away every time I had to put the book down and do something else. However, I still very much enjoyed this revamp of the classic Sleeping Beauty, who was always far too wimpy for my taste anyway. The overall effect was quaint and charming, but maybe just forgettable where Beauty is really not.
Maybe not as great as Beauty (that would be hard) or some of her other books, but I found this a pretty enjoyable read.
Great retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I love how independent Rosie is, and how unconventional her behavior can be. It's a great book for young children, and even better for adults familiar with the classic fairy tale.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
I enjoyed this so much right up until the ending, which I did not feel lived up to the standard set by the rest of the book. I felt that it undermined certain themes established earlier...and the end was super rushed, I can't believe how fast it wrapped up and how.