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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Charming...but not McKinley's best. She tried to use too much description to forward the plot and it was easy to get lost. But the Frog Prince story was terrific.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Lexile 1110
Classic fairy tales told in the traditional way. After some breakneck reading and heavy topics, this was a nice palette cleanser.
As and adult though, I hoped for a bit *more*. The alterations to the retelling are subtle, and what changes are made are not explored, making me wonder what the point was. The same is true for the original stories - they are the typical “lovely princesses have an adventure and find love at first sight” fare. Why?
But... as a child I would have loved this. Fairy tales are comforting and transportive. Sure, now I find all the “each more beautiful than the last” a bit tiresome, but that’s only because I’ve been reading it forever.
This really is a book for young readers who want the usual tropes but with better vocabulary.
Classic fairy tales told in the traditional way. After some breakneck reading and heavy topics, this was a nice palette cleanser.
As and adult though, I hoped for a bit *more*. The alterations to the retelling are subtle, and what changes are made are not explored, making me wonder what the point was. The same is true for the original stories - they are the typical “lovely princesses have an adventure and find love at first sight” fare. Why?
But... as a child I would have loved this. Fairy tales are comforting and transportive. Sure, now I find all the “each more beautiful than the last” a bit tiresome, but that’s only because I’ve been reading it forever.
This really is a book for young readers who want the usual tropes but with better vocabulary.
I'm not sure if it's because I read these late at night or because McKinley did something wonky with her prose, but I found this collection of fantasy shorts harder to follow than anything else I've read by her. Especially in the beginning, the language is a little hard to follow and the long, loooong blocks of prose are chunky and difficult to navigate.
She tells four stories, two original and two retellings of classics. The book begins with the first original, Door in the Hedge, which tells of the last mortal country before fairyland, and of the princess that grows up there. The third story in the book, The Hunting of the Hind, is also an original, and tells the story of the Golden Hind, the sight of which drives men mad with wanting to possess her. McKinley also reworks The Frog Prince and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, both of which are interesting additions to the whole.
She tells four stories, two original and two retellings of classics. The book begins with the first original, Door in the Hedge, which tells of the last mortal country before fairyland, and of the princess that grows up there. The third story in the book, The Hunting of the Hind, is also an original, and tells the story of the Golden Hind, the sight of which drives men mad with wanting to possess her. McKinley also reworks The Frog Prince and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, both of which are interesting additions to the whole.
I've heard a lot of very complimentary things about McKinley, and so I'll give her another try. This is an anthology of four stories, two traditional and two original. She's fleshed out the traditional ones, and the new ones hit all the expected beats, but they were unsatisfying--there wasn't much to them. I'm a big fan of retelling marchen, so maybe I'm just spoiled and expect more.
The Door in the Hedge is a collection of fairy tale retellings. There are 4 stories, and they are longer than short stories but shorter than novellas. I have liked other Robin McKinley books in the past, but this one did not impress me. I like fairy tales, and I think if you're going to re-tell one, you should have a good reason. These ones all introduced elements that weren't in the original, but I never could really figure out why. Perhaps the most auspicious start is the Twelve Dancing Princesses, which proposes that the man who solves the mystery of the princesses is an old soldier. So you may imagine that being an old soldier gives him skills that the young princes who have made the attempt before didn't have, growing up in ease and plenty. And that is hinted at, but really the reason he solves the riddle is that a magical old lady just happened to give him an invisibility cloak. And he still marries a princess he barely knows and somehow everyone lives happily ever after.
It may seem like I'm just hating on fairy tales, and I don't mean to. I appreciate the genre, and I think McKinley writes it well. But the reason I read this book is because I expected to read something original, and I didn't find that here.
It may seem like I'm just hating on fairy tales, and I don't mean to. I appreciate the genre, and I think McKinley writes it well. But the reason I read this book is because I expected to read something original, and I didn't find that here.
relaxing
slow-paced
I expect better from this author. Granted, this is relatively old, but it still felt facile and often skipped important plot points and scenes, on top of the dated attitudes. The Twelve Dancing Princesses story had the highest number of evocative lines but still a rather unfeminist denouement.