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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
slow-paced
I adore this book. Robin Mckinley's Beauty and the Beast retellings will always be my first loves, but this reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale is right up there with them. It has all the elements you'd expect, knowing the Disney version--evil witch cursing an infant to prick her finger and die before her 21st birthday, a princess being spirited away to be raised in secret, fairies, secret princes, fairy godmothers (and fathers)--but it's all done with a twist so it's also nothing like what Disney raised you on. The magic is more Rose Daughter than Beauty, to compare it with the other fairy tale retellings, but the story takes place in the same world as Deerskin, The Blue Sword, and The Hero and the Crown, just in a neighboring kingdom. You don't have to have read those to read this, but there is a bit of an easter egg you might recognize early on if you are familiar with those stories.
I'd read this before but forgotten it. It was mostly good, but I burned out by the end. I really do love McKinley's fairy tales -- whether they're re-tellings or one's she's created on her own. I need to go back and read Sunshine again.
I mostly enjoyed this book. A little wordy at times & the last bit had me confused because of lack of details. Overall I liked it though.
A really interesting spin on the well-known Sleeping Beauty story, but I struggled a bit with the author's unusual writing style.
Not my favorite of McKinley's. I preferred Beauty and Outlaws of Sherwood. Still fun but a little ponderous.
I felt as though the overall story was lost due to how long-winded the writing is. It’s almost as if the author had a limit on the amount of periods she was allowed to use, but was given a surplus of commas, parentheses, and semicolons. I’m still trying to understand why one sentence required ten commas. No, that is not an exaggeration. If you prefer more dialogue than narration, I’d steer clear of this book.
The characters didn’t really grow throughout the story, unless you count Rosie’s literal growth from infant to adult. The world building was good. I feel the best part of this book was the talking animals.
The characters didn’t really grow throughout the story, unless you count Rosie’s literal growth from infant to adult. The world building was good. I feel the best part of this book was the talking animals.
The story told in this book was wonderful, but the writing style the author used really took away from the enjoyment of reading that story. I have read other books by Robin McKinley, so I'm used to a lot of description. This book, however, took the cake for over-the-top, ridiculous amounts of description. There was way too much jumping around and explaining of every minor detail for my taste. Again, I loved the story, but I got so irritated with the writing style at times that I didn't think I could finish it. I stuck it out though, and I admit that it was a story worth reading. I would have liked to have read the condensed version though! :D
Every time I read the name Narl I heard that teacher from Jimmy Neutron saying Carl....just me?
oh well.
I really like this take on Sleeping Beauty, as per usual Robin McKinley delivers a stellar story, compelling characters, and delightful animal companions.
oh well.
I really like this take on Sleeping Beauty, as per usual Robin McKinley delivers a stellar story, compelling characters, and delightful animal companions.
Having enjoyed Robin McKinleys' Beauty, I thought I would try another of her fairy-tale retellings. The writing is excellent but the magic was heavy and pervasive and it's not just a simple re-telling. I didn't love it.