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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Another retelling of a fairy tale. McKinley does an great job with her retellings, I just don't always like them all. This one was interesting, but since I never really liked Sleeping Beauty in the first place, I don't have much to say about the story.
Spindle’s End is a lusciously described retelling of Sleeping Beauty by Robin McKinley, an author who has always made a point of writing Girls Who Do Things. Obviously, in her version of Sleeping Beauty, the princess is going to do more than sleep the entire story.
And she does. There’s very little of the “sleeping” in her, or “beauty” or “princess” either, really. In an effort to protect her from the evil fairy who cursed her to die when she touched a spindle, Rosie’s been raised to believe that she’s just an ordinary peasant girl. Of course, Rosie’s being raised by two fairies, so “ordinary” might not be the right word.
While Rosie may have been blessed with many typical princess attributes, such as long golden curls, perfect dance steps and the like, she finds ways to ignore or foil them. Rosie’s more interested in her animal friends (the gift to speak to animals being the most useful she received) and running around in the woods. But as her fateful birthday grows nearer, Rosie begins to realize that her life is tied up with that of the kingdom’s.
This book is very much character driven and largely focuses on Rosie growing up. While I did enjoy Rosie and some of the other characters, it didn’t feel like much happened. There wasn’t even a whole lot of dialog or conflict between characters.
The writing is also rambling in places, as it is with a number of McKinley’s first person narrated books. However, I feel that the writing style didn’t work as well for Spindle’s End – instead of being the voice and mind of a narrator, it just felt sporadic and info dumpy in places. Also, the POV shifted constantly throughout the book and wasn’t divided in any clear fashion.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re already a fan of fairy tale retellings or Robin McKinley – or if you want to see a more active princess at the heart of the story. For everyone else, I’d suggest picking up one of McKinley’s other books first. The Hero and the Crown isn’t a direct retelling but does have a feel of a fairy tale, and the writing is much smoother.
Also posted on The Illustrated Page.
And she does. There’s very little of the “sleeping” in her, or “beauty” or “princess” either, really. In an effort to protect her from the evil fairy who cursed her to die when she touched a spindle, Rosie’s been raised to believe that she’s just an ordinary peasant girl. Of course, Rosie’s being raised by two fairies, so “ordinary” might not be the right word.
While Rosie may have been blessed with many typical princess attributes, such as long golden curls, perfect dance steps and the like, she finds ways to ignore or foil them. Rosie’s more interested in her animal friends (the gift to speak to animals being the most useful she received) and running around in the woods. But as her fateful birthday grows nearer, Rosie begins to realize that her life is tied up with that of the kingdom’s.
This book is very much character driven and largely focuses on Rosie growing up. While I did enjoy Rosie and some of the other characters, it didn’t feel like much happened. There wasn’t even a whole lot of dialog or conflict between characters.
The writing is also rambling in places, as it is with a number of McKinley’s first person narrated books. However, I feel that the writing style didn’t work as well for Spindle’s End – instead of being the voice and mind of a narrator, it just felt sporadic and info dumpy in places. Also, the POV shifted constantly throughout the book and wasn’t divided in any clear fashion.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re already a fan of fairy tale retellings or Robin McKinley – or if you want to see a more active princess at the heart of the story. For everyone else, I’d suggest picking up one of McKinley’s other books first. The Hero and the Crown isn’t a direct retelling but does have a feel of a fairy tale, and the writing is much smoother.
Also posted on The Illustrated Page.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Robin McKinley's books are always classic. I enjoyed this spin on Sleeping Beauty a lot, especially how it covers so much time, meaning our main character shifts as the book continues. It did start to feel a little long in the middle. The ending surprised me, I'm still not quite sure if I was pleased by it. Also, maybe I missed something, but I was very surprised about the romance-- for some reason I thought Narl was significantly older than Rosie. I mean, there was definitely a big age gap, because it seems like he was running the smith on his own when she first came to bother him, so he was like 20 and she was 6? So at the end when she's 21, he's 35? It just felt a little weird, and also I didn't really see the appeal or the chemistry between the two characters. He didn't really seem relevant for like 9/10 of the book.
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Popsugar 2018: A prompt from the 2016 Popsugar Reading Challenge, namely 'A book that is based on a fairy tale'.
Dnf - 163 pages in.
This is by no means a bad book, nor do I consider it a waste of time to have read as much as I had. I was having a lot of trouble keeping interest in the story, the characters, and what was generally happening to them. I really hate giving up on a story but feel I’ve read enough to be convinced the pace isn’t really going to change for me and I’d rather be reading something that I look forward to continuing each time I set it down for the night.
This is by no means a bad book, nor do I consider it a waste of time to have read as much as I had. I was having a lot of trouble keeping interest in the story, the characters, and what was generally happening to them. I really hate giving up on a story but feel I’ve read enough to be convinced the pace isn’t really going to change for me and I’d rather be reading something that I look forward to continuing each time I set it down for the night.
I absolutely loved this book. I've never read something I was more certain should be made into a movie. Except Hollywood would flub it up terribly. The characters all have great depth and feeling, and Rosie's so strong-willed it's hard not to love her. I much prefer her to the sweet-natured, angelic Briar Rose that's most often presented. This book is also far more likeable than the original fairy tale, what with its rape and child-eating ogres.
Very impressed by the narrator (of an audiobook not currently listed on GoodReads), Justine Eyre. She brought the story and characters to life. I had listen to the first three parts of the BARD edition, which fell flat. With the new narrator, I loved it all until the last section, which--well, either *it* was confusing or *I* was confused. Not sure which yet. ;)
It's a comfortable and comforting read. I'm sure I will go back to it often.
It's a comfortable and comforting read. I'm sure I will go back to it often.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No