Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a collection of four faerie tales, focusing on the themes of princesses and enchantments. The first is an original tale of a mortal kingdom that borders Faerieland, and what happens when the parents of a stolen princess go looking for her.
The remaining three stories are the author's interpretations of the Golden Hind, the Princess and the Frog, and the Twelve Dancing Princesses.
The detail and description is lavish in all the stories, with gorgeous scenery and images. There are some effective moments of horror too, especially the villain in the Princess and the Frog.
Overall I liked the Golden Hind and the Princess and the Frog best, as these put the princess in the heroic role. The Twelve Dancing Princesses has a great heroic lead character, but the princesses in that story are more plot device and scenery than characters. None of them are even given names.
These stories share a distinctive faerie tale flavor that is more descriptive and symbolic than other fantasy writing that I've read. I enjoyed the flavor and mythical feel that the stories evoked.
The remaining three stories are the author's interpretations of the Golden Hind, the Princess and the Frog, and the Twelve Dancing Princesses.
The detail and description is lavish in all the stories, with gorgeous scenery and images. There are some effective moments of horror too, especially the villain in the Princess and the Frog.
Overall I liked the Golden Hind and the Princess and the Frog best, as these put the princess in the heroic role. The Twelve Dancing Princesses has a great heroic lead character, but the princesses in that story are more plot device and scenery than characters. None of them are even given names.
These stories share a distinctive faerie tale flavor that is more descriptive and symbolic than other fantasy writing that I've read. I enjoyed the flavor and mythical feel that the stories evoked.
Has some good stories, thought not as good as any of her full-fledged, novel-length retellings.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Stolen Princess: 5 Stars
The Princess and the Frog: 3.5 Stars
The Hunting of the Hind: 4 Stars - Someone please rewrite this and make it queer!!
The Twelve Dancing Princesses: 3 Stars
The Princess and the Frog: 3.5 Stars
The Hunting of the Hind: 4 Stars - Someone please rewrite this and make it queer!!
The Twelve Dancing Princesses: 3 Stars
The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley – This is a slightly strange book, but I still loved it! And you will as well! If you haven’t read any other Robin McKinley books, I wouldn’t start here. But when you run out of the other novels, you will be happy this exists! Happy Reading!
It was fairly good. Maybe not the best but I don't regret reading it for a second.
There wasn't really anything unique about these fairy tales, nor did they have a particularly excellent descriptive style to make the retelling interesting. Everything was hyperbole and completely unnuanced: every princess/prince beautiful and perfect and beloved by literally everyone, the weather always lovely, etc. I enjoyed Rana's story the most.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Nothing says romance like: "I'm no longer young so I'll take the oldest."
I know it was in the original story but geesh...if ever there was a time to take creative license.
This collection of short stories contains two familiar favorites (The Frog Princess and 12 Dancing Princesses) and two new works (at least, new to me: The Stolen Princess and The Hunting of the Hind.) All of them rely heavily on the McKinley brand of poetic writing that sucks you in and makes no sense if you pause long enough to think about it.
I enjoyed the stories well enough but the classic stories contained nothing new and the original stories nothing I wanted. Maybe fleshed out versions would work better. But all of them had more in common with [b:Spindle's End|77368|Spindle's End|Robin McKinley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308815054l/77368._SY75_.jpg|2984336] than [b:The Blue Sword|407813|The Blue Sword (Damar, #1)|Robin McKinley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563198223l/407813._SY75_.jpg|2321296]
I know it was in the original story but geesh...if ever there was a time to take creative license.
This collection of short stories contains two familiar favorites (The Frog Princess and 12 Dancing Princesses) and two new works (at least, new to me: The Stolen Princess and The Hunting of the Hind.) All of them rely heavily on the McKinley brand of poetic writing that sucks you in and makes no sense if you pause long enough to think about it.
I enjoyed the stories well enough but the classic stories contained nothing new and the original stories nothing I wanted. Maybe fleshed out versions would work better. But all of them had more in common with [b:Spindle's End|77368|Spindle's End|Robin McKinley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308815054l/77368._SY75_.jpg|2984336] than [b:The Blue Sword|407813|The Blue Sword (Damar, #1)|Robin McKinley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563198223l/407813._SY75_.jpg|2321296]