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Spindle's End
by Robin McKinley
Spindle’s End is a lusciously described retelling of Sleeping Beauty by Robin McKinley, an author who has always made a point of writing Girls Who Do Things. Obviously, in her version of Sleeping Beauty, the princess is going to do more than sleep the entire story.
And she does. There’s very little of the “sleeping” in her, or “beauty” or “princess” either, really. In an effort to protect her from the evil fairy who cursed her to die when she touched a spindle, Rosie’s been raised to believe that she’s just an ordinary peasant girl. Of course, Rosie’s being raised by two fairies, so “ordinary” might not be the right word.
While Rosie may have been blessed with many typical princess attributes, such as long golden curls, perfect dance steps and the like, she finds ways to ignore or foil them. Rosie’s more interested in her animal friends (the gift to speak to animals being the most useful she received) and running around in the woods. But as her fateful birthday grows nearer, Rosie begins to realize that her life is tied up with that of the kingdom’s.
This book is very much character driven and largely focuses on Rosie growing up. While I did enjoy Rosie and some of the other characters, it didn’t feel like much happened. There wasn’t even a whole lot of dialog or conflict between characters.
The writing is also rambling in places, as it is with a number of McKinley’s first person narrated books. However, I feel that the writing style didn’t work as well for Spindle’s End – instead of being the voice and mind of a narrator, it just felt sporadic and info dumpy in places. Also, the POV shifted constantly throughout the book and wasn’t divided in any clear fashion.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re already a fan of fairy tale retellings or Robin McKinley – or if you want to see a more active princess at the heart of the story. For everyone else, I’d suggest picking up one of McKinley’s other books first. The Hero and the Crown isn’t a direct retelling but does have a feel of a fairy tale, and the writing is much smoother.
Also posted on The Illustrated Page.
And she does. There’s very little of the “sleeping” in her, or “beauty” or “princess” either, really. In an effort to protect her from the evil fairy who cursed her to die when she touched a spindle, Rosie’s been raised to believe that she’s just an ordinary peasant girl. Of course, Rosie’s being raised by two fairies, so “ordinary” might not be the right word.
While Rosie may have been blessed with many typical princess attributes, such as long golden curls, perfect dance steps and the like, she finds ways to ignore or foil them. Rosie’s more interested in her animal friends (the gift to speak to animals being the most useful she received) and running around in the woods. But as her fateful birthday grows nearer, Rosie begins to realize that her life is tied up with that of the kingdom’s.
This book is very much character driven and largely focuses on Rosie growing up. While I did enjoy Rosie and some of the other characters, it didn’t feel like much happened. There wasn’t even a whole lot of dialog or conflict between characters.
The writing is also rambling in places, as it is with a number of McKinley’s first person narrated books. However, I feel that the writing style didn’t work as well for Spindle’s End – instead of being the voice and mind of a narrator, it just felt sporadic and info dumpy in places. Also, the POV shifted constantly throughout the book and wasn’t divided in any clear fashion.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this one unless you’re already a fan of fairy tale retellings or Robin McKinley – or if you want to see a more active princess at the heart of the story. For everyone else, I’d suggest picking up one of McKinley’s other books first. The Hero and the Crown isn’t a direct retelling but does have a feel of a fairy tale, and the writing is much smoother.
Also posted on The Illustrated Page.