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A review by hrh_victoria
Deerskin by Robin McKinley
3.0
Donkeyskin and the other tales of ATU 510B are interesting to me for the heroine's cleverness and the incest taboo. McKinley is the only author I know of who has tackled a full-length book adaptation of the tale.
Unfortunately, the novel just read like a longer, more introspective version of the tale. McKinley filled in details of the story, and I appreciate the world she built around fleethounds, but this book fell short for me.
Edit: After reading Margaret Yocom's essay "'But Who Are You Really?': Ambiguous Bodies and Ambiguous Pronouns in 'Allerleirauh,'" I realize the adaptation of this tale type I really want to see is one that acknowledges and expands on the gender ambiguities across versions of the tale.
Unfortunately, the novel just read like a longer, more introspective version of the tale. McKinley filled in details of the story, and I appreciate the world she built around fleethounds, but this book fell short for me.
Edit: After reading Margaret Yocom's essay "'But Who Are You Really?': Ambiguous Bodies and Ambiguous Pronouns in 'Allerleirauh,'" I realize the adaptation of this tale type I really want to see is one that acknowledges and expands on the gender ambiguities across versions of the tale.