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princess_starr 's review for:
Rose Daughter
by Robin McKinley
I mentioned a few times in my review of Beauty (okay, a lot of times) that between the two Beauty & the Beast retellings of Robin McKinley’s, I prefer Rose Daughter over Beauty*. Not that I’m saying one ultimately trumps the other, but while Beauty is pretty much a straightforward retelling of the fairy tale with some more character development towards Beauty’s sisters, Rose Daughter is more McKinley’s angle—taking the well-known fairy tale and putting her own spin and twist to it. (See also: Spindle’s End.)
Rose Daughter is still largely the same story, but there’s more meat to this one. The bare bones are still there, but McKinley seems to have more fun with this one, and definitely spends a lot of time setting up the story. There’s a depth and scale to this version that is a little lacking in her previous book, and it’s why if I have to pick between the two, I’ll go for Rose Daughter over Beauty.
The main thing I love is that the story takes its time setting up this world of sorcerers and green witches, while still hitting the familiar beats. There’s a lot of time setting up the village of Longchance and the supposed curse that’s been laid on the village for two centuries. And what I like about all of this set-up is that McKinley does manage to tie it into her main plot, but it’s such a slow realization that the story of the two sorcerers and the greenwitch is the one that leads to the Beast and the enchanted castle in the woods.And also the reveal that there never really was a curse, but people think there’s one because of how the story’s mutated over the years. It’s a nice twist to things, and I like that it’s something that keeps sneaking into the plot until the climax begins.
I also think the dynamic of the three sisters is handled a lot better in this as well. While there are similarities between the two families—namely, that these are people who clearly love and care for one another—there’s more a disparity in the financial situation of Rose Daughter. I really like that we see the family struggling to get used to their new class in life and trying to figure out how to bring in money. And although things do occur happenstance, such as the acquisition of Rose Cottage, we see that the family is getting used to a rundown cottage and having to do housework, and trying to come up with solutions. And the sisters felt a lot more dynamic in this book. I freaking love Lionheart—that she’s the capable one with a loud mouth and ready to defend her sisters. I love that she has this very tender love story in the background of the main story that we only catch bare glimpses of, and there’s problems that arise from it. (Although he’s not a huge character, Jack Trueword is a good antagonist, even though his actions are pretty much regulated to trying to sniff out Lionheart’s secret and info-dumping about the curse at Ms. Oldhouse’s literary gathering. But it’s an awesomely written scene, so kudos to McKinley.) Jeweltongue is a fine character, and I feel like she’s the one who’s more or less holding the family together, especially after Beauty’s ‘disappearance.’ And I really liked that their father’s grief is better shown in this book, and especially how dealing with the loss of his wife and business have hit the old man.
Which is not to say that I don’t like Beauty. I think it would be easy for me to say that I don’t relate to her as much because she is more uninteresting to begin with, but that’s what I like about her development over the book. I like that she finds solace in nature and creatures, and that’s more of her motivation to head to the Beast’s palace—not to solely take her father’s place, but to see if by fixing the rose garden will undo whatever spell was laid on the Beast. And I love that she unwilling calls creatures to populate the rose garden, especially the fact that the animals that arrive aren’t especially cute ones. (As an aside, having read so much Gail Carriger has ruined hedgehogs for me. Which was already one of my favorite scenes, when Beauty wakes up and discovers the hedgehogs hiding on the carpet pattern, but I was snickering a little more this time around.)
And I felt that there’s more of romance here as well. My main problem with the Beast in Beauty was that it felt like “Oh, he’s actually quite charming and kind to Beauty and so they’re going to fall in love.” There feels like there’s a lot more development to this Beast, especially in how with he is withdrawn when he’s with Beauty and that he’s had to relearn how to be a human again. I really like that this doesn’t shy away from the fact that the Beast is, well, bestial, and it is a plot point. I like the relationship that’s built up between the two much better in this version, because you can see Beauty clearly falling in love with him.And it also helps that although Beauty spends a “week” with the Beast, the time flow in the palace is much different from the outside world. It adds so much more tension to the ending and Beauty’s desperation to return in time because she doesn’t realize this until it’s too late. And it also helps frame Beauty’s choice at the end a lot better—I actually like that she chooses to return to her simple life and keep her Beast, instead of his transformation being the main reward.
On that note as well, I like that it’s stated that although Beauty and her Beast will do great and good things had she chosen him to be human, they wouldn’t be remembered as good people. It’s the sort of thing that tends to get overlooked in fairy tales and old school fantasy overall—that even though these are the heroes, not everyone is going to love them.
There’s also a much stronger sense of magic in this one as well. It’s not just because this version outright has magic as part of its world-building, but because it feels much more ingrained into the story than just having the Beast’s curse. I also love the fact that story-telling plays a major role in here, specifically the story of the two sorcerers and the greenwitch. I love that there’s multiple versions of this, that there was a simulacrum made of roses, or that she was just the greenwitch enchanted or maybe even the greenwitch’s daughter, but there’s no one right version of it. I love how everything ties neatly into the overreaching plot, and yet there’s still holes in the stories because they don’t quite match up to the truth.I love the ambiguity of the ending, that even though the story of the sorcerers was true, I’m still unsure if Beauty’s mother was really a woman or a simulacrum all along. I prefer the latter, but that’s just my own headcanon. And I love how much roses are used in the plot, not just as set decoration, but how integral they are to the story.
For as charming and delightful as Beauty is, I will recommend Rose Daughter over it if given the chance. I think McKinley stretches her wings more with this retelling, and she really brings a fresh breath to the story instead of just retreading ground that she’s been over once before. I love what’s been with the story here, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone either looking for a retelling or just starting out with McKinley’s fairy tales.
*Tangential aside, I was browsing through Tumblr the other day, and somebody posted that they wanted a version of Beauty & the Beast where Beauty’s willing to go off and fix up the castle and she’s not afraid of the Beast, and I’m sitting there going, “Hi, Robin McKinley wrote that book. Twice, actually.”
Rose Daughter is still largely the same story, but there’s more meat to this one. The bare bones are still there, but McKinley seems to have more fun with this one, and definitely spends a lot of time setting up the story. There’s a depth and scale to this version that is a little lacking in her previous book, and it’s why if I have to pick between the two, I’ll go for Rose Daughter over Beauty.
The main thing I love is that the story takes its time setting up this world of sorcerers and green witches, while still hitting the familiar beats. There’s a lot of time setting up the village of Longchance and the supposed curse that’s been laid on the village for two centuries. And what I like about all of this set-up is that McKinley does manage to tie it into her main plot, but it’s such a slow realization that the story of the two sorcerers and the greenwitch is the one that leads to the Beast and the enchanted castle in the woods.
I also think the dynamic of the three sisters is handled a lot better in this as well. While there are similarities between the two families—namely, that these are people who clearly love and care for one another—there’s more a disparity in the financial situation of Rose Daughter. I really like that we see the family struggling to get used to their new class in life and trying to figure out how to bring in money. And although things do occur happenstance, such as the acquisition of Rose Cottage, we see that the family is getting used to a rundown cottage and having to do housework, and trying to come up with solutions. And the sisters felt a lot more dynamic in this book. I freaking love Lionheart—that she’s the capable one with a loud mouth and ready to defend her sisters. I love that she has this very tender love story in the background of the main story that we only catch bare glimpses of, and there’s problems that arise from it. (Although he’s not a huge character, Jack Trueword is a good antagonist, even though his actions are pretty much regulated to trying to sniff out Lionheart’s secret and info-dumping about the curse at Ms. Oldhouse’s literary gathering. But it’s an awesomely written scene, so kudos to McKinley.) Jeweltongue is a fine character, and I feel like she’s the one who’s more or less holding the family together, especially after Beauty’s ‘disappearance.’ And I really liked that their father’s grief is better shown in this book, and especially how dealing with the loss of his wife and business have hit the old man.
Which is not to say that I don’t like Beauty. I think it would be easy for me to say that I don’t relate to her as much because she is more uninteresting to begin with, but that’s what I like about her development over the book. I like that she finds solace in nature and creatures, and that’s more of her motivation to head to the Beast’s palace—not to solely take her father’s place, but to see if by fixing the rose garden will undo whatever spell was laid on the Beast. And I love that she unwilling calls creatures to populate the rose garden, especially the fact that the animals that arrive aren’t especially cute ones. (As an aside, having read so much Gail Carriger has ruined hedgehogs for me. Which was already one of my favorite scenes, when Beauty wakes up and discovers the hedgehogs hiding on the carpet pattern, but I was snickering a little more this time around.)
And I felt that there’s more of romance here as well. My main problem with the Beast in Beauty was that it felt like “Oh, he’s actually quite charming and kind to Beauty and so they’re going to fall in love.” There feels like there’s a lot more development to this Beast, especially in how with he is withdrawn when he’s with Beauty and that he’s had to relearn how to be a human again. I really like that this doesn’t shy away from the fact that the Beast is, well, bestial, and it is a plot point. I like the relationship that’s built up between the two much better in this version, because you can see Beauty clearly falling in love with him.
On that note as well, I like that it’s stated that although Beauty and her Beast will do great and good things had she chosen him to be human, they wouldn’t be remembered as good people. It’s the sort of thing that tends to get overlooked in fairy tales and old school fantasy overall—that even though these are the heroes, not everyone is going to love them.
There’s also a much stronger sense of magic in this one as well. It’s not just because this version outright has magic as part of its world-building, but because it feels much more ingrained into the story than just having the Beast’s curse. I also love the fact that story-telling plays a major role in here, specifically the story of the two sorcerers and the greenwitch. I love that there’s multiple versions of this, that there was a simulacrum made of roses, or that she was just the greenwitch enchanted or maybe even the greenwitch’s daughter, but there’s no one right version of it. I love how everything ties neatly into the overreaching plot, and yet there’s still holes in the stories because they don’t quite match up to the truth.
For as charming and delightful as Beauty is, I will recommend Rose Daughter over it if given the chance. I think McKinley stretches her wings more with this retelling, and she really brings a fresh breath to the story instead of just retreading ground that she’s been over once before. I love what’s been with the story here, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone either looking for a retelling or just starting out with McKinley’s fairy tales.
*Tangential aside, I was browsing through Tumblr the other day, and somebody posted that they wanted a version of Beauty & the Beast where Beauty’s willing to go off and fix up the castle and she’s not afraid of the Beast, and I’m sitting there going, “Hi, Robin McKinley wrote that book. Twice, actually.”