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Folktales #3
Spindle's End
Renowned fantasy writer Robin McKinley, author of the lush "Beauty and the Beast" retellings Beauty and Rose Daughter, has produced another re-mastered fairy tale, this time about the dreamy Sleeping Beauty. Much like in the original story, the infant princess, here named Rosie, is cursed by an evil fairy to die on her 21st birthday by pricking her finger on a spindle. That same day, Rosie is whisked away into hiding by a peasant fairy who raises her and conceals her royal identity. From that point on, McKinley's plot and characterization become wildly inventive. She imagines Rosie growing up into a strapping young woman who despises her golden hair, prefers leather breeches to ball gowns, and can communicate with animals. And on that fateful birthday, with no help from a prince, Rosie saves herself and her entire sleeping village from destruction, although she pays a realistic price. In a final master stroke, McKinley cleverly takes creative license when the spell-breaking kiss (made famous in "Sleeping Beauty") comes from a surprising source and is bestowed upon the character least expected.
Although the entire novel is well written, McKinley's characterization of Rosie's animal friends is exceptionally fine. Observations such as "...foxes generally wanted to talk about butterflies and grasses and weather for a long time while they sized you up," will spark reader's imaginations. It won't be hard to persuade readers of any age to become lost in this marvelous tale; the difficult part will be convincing them to come back from McKinley's country, where "the magic... was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk dust...." Highly recommended. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert
Paperback
First published May 22, 2000
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About the author
Robin McKinley
40 books7,296 followersRobin McKinley is an American author acclaimed for fantasy novels and inventive retellings of classic fairy tales, often featuring resilient heroines and richly imagined worlds. She gained early prominence with Beauty, a reworking of Beauty and the Beast, and achieved major recognition when The Hero and the Crown won the Newbery Medal, establishing her as a leading voice in children’s and young adult fantasy. Drawing on a widely traveled upbringing and a lifelong devotion to folklore, she has reinterpreted stories such as Sleeping Beauty and Robin Hood while also creating original works, including the Damar novels and later titles like Sunshine and Dragonhaven. Her fiction is known for emotional depth, moral complexity, and sensory detail, blending adventure with themes of courage, identity, and compassion. In addition to novels, she has written short story collections, edited anthologies, and collaborated on projects exploring mythic elements. Her influence on modern fantasy has been widely recognized, culminating in her designation as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association. McKinley’s body of work continues to attract devoted readers across generations for its distinctive voice and enduring imaginative power.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,791 reviews
April 8, 2020
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Spindle’s End is long and leisurely-paced, but I found it an absorbing retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, with fascinating details and appealing animals (Robin McKinley excels at both of those things) and a few major twists to the classic story. I enjoyed it enough to reread it at least two or three times in the last 20 years since it was published in 2000.
Spindle’s End starts out much like the traditional fairy tale: An evil fairy, Pernicia (nice name!) places a fatal curse on the baby princess at her outdoor christening party, where all the kingdom has been invited to watch. But at that party is a young woman with the magical power of speaking to animals, Katriona. The royal magician, desperate for a way to evade the curse, hands over baby Rosie (she’s got about fifteen official names, but Rosie is the one we’ll go with) to Katriona, asking Katriona to keep the princess well hidden until after her 16th birthday.
So totally-unprepared Katriona lugs baby Rosie all the way home to her village in the north part of the kingdom. It’s a walking journey, one that takes several weeks, and Katriona has a hungry nursing infant on her hands. The wild animals of the kingdom pass the word along and start turning up each day to nurse baby Rose. It’s really a delightful and unusual addition to the story.
Rosie grows up with Katriona and her aunt, seemingly an ordinary village girl, and a more plain-spoken, unorthodox princess cannot be imagined. (Another delightful twist is how all of the other fairies’ princess-appropriate gifts are subverted by Rosie’s true nature.) But Rosie, Katriona and Katriona’s aunt can all feel Pernicia’s magic seeking to hunt down Rosie, and it only gets scarier as her sixteenth birthday approaches.
Spindle’s End isn’t for everyone. Robin McKinley loves animals, and they play a major and unquestionably charming role in the story here, but McKinley also loves quirky and folksy details and speaking in digressions and parentheticals, and she takes her sweet time telling this story. There’s one of those weird nightmarish scenes toward the end that McKinley is inexplicably fond of, when the characters get pulled into Pernicia’s kingdom. And I’ll just say that the final twist also will not be to everyone’s taste. I’m not entirely sure it was for me, but as I’ve revisited Spindle’s End a couple of times over the years I find myself more inclined to go along with McKinley’s slow-paced but lovely reimagining of this story.
Give it a shot if you’re fond of fairy tale retellings, but be prepared to immerse yourself in a leisurely-told story with an abundance of additional details and a few odd twists.
Spindle’s End is long and leisurely-paced, but I found it an absorbing retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, with fascinating details and appealing animals (Robin McKinley excels at both of those things) and a few major twists to the classic story. I enjoyed it enough to reread it at least two or three times in the last 20 years since it was published in 2000.
Spindle’s End starts out much like the traditional fairy tale: An evil fairy, Pernicia (nice name!) places a fatal curse on the baby princess at her outdoor christening party, where all the kingdom has been invited to watch. But at that party is a young woman with the magical power of speaking to animals, Katriona. The royal magician, desperate for a way to evade the curse, hands over baby Rosie (she’s got about fifteen official names, but Rosie is the one we’ll go with) to Katriona, asking Katriona to keep the princess well hidden until after her 16th birthday.
So totally-unprepared Katriona lugs baby Rosie all the way home to her village in the north part of the kingdom. It’s a walking journey, one that takes several weeks, and Katriona has a hungry nursing infant on her hands. The wild animals of the kingdom pass the word along and start turning up each day to nurse baby Rose. It’s really a delightful and unusual addition to the story.
Rosie grows up with Katriona and her aunt, seemingly an ordinary village girl, and a more plain-spoken, unorthodox princess cannot be imagined. (Another delightful twist is how all of the other fairies’ princess-appropriate gifts are subverted by Rosie’s true nature.) But Rosie, Katriona and Katriona’s aunt can all feel Pernicia’s magic seeking to hunt down Rosie, and it only gets scarier as her sixteenth birthday approaches.
Spindle’s End isn’t for everyone. Robin McKinley loves animals, and they play a major and unquestionably charming role in the story here, but McKinley also loves quirky and folksy details and speaking in digressions and parentheticals, and she takes her sweet time telling this story. There’s one of those weird nightmarish scenes toward the end that McKinley is inexplicably fond of, when the characters get pulled into Pernicia’s kingdom. And I’ll just say that the final twist also will not be to everyone’s taste. I’m not entirely sure it was for me, but as I’ve revisited Spindle’s End a couple of times over the years I find myself more inclined to go along with McKinley’s slow-paced but lovely reimagining of this story.
Give it a shot if you’re fond of fairy tale retellings, but be prepared to immerse yourself in a leisurely-told story with an abundance of additional details and a few odd twists.
July 21, 2008
Spindle's End (a retelling of Sleeping Beauty) is odd in a lot of respects, and therefore a lot of people aren't going to like it. To outline these:
1. Most of the book is narration. There is very little in the way of dialogue, even when it comes to things that most other authors would have left for characters to say.
2. It is hard to say who the main character really is. The person who you would assume to be the central character at the beginning is very peripheral by the end.
3. While based on a fairy tale, the resolution of the novel seems to be anything but formulaic. Even by regular fantasy novel standards, a lot of this comes out of left field.
4. It takes a very long time for things to happen (in the sense of action), and when it does you may miss it if you aren't paying attention.
5. Random facts about places, people, and customs of the fictional kingdom are dropped in sporadically. This adds a great deal of richness to the book, as well as causing a bit of confusion (some tidbits about customs, for instance, are dropped chapters before they are explained).
All of that said, I really liked this book. The narration that makes it so odd is engaging enough to make up for the fact that you can go for pages without a character saying something. The descriptions were some of the best I've read in ages from any genre, and I was so happy that the novel ended in a way you would not guess from the start (one aspect of the ending was a given, but otherwise...completely offside). Overall, I would recommend this to a lot of people...with a big caveat regarding the narration. If you need a lot of things to happen very quickly, and a ton of witty banter from your characters, you may want to skip this one.
1. Most of the book is narration. There is very little in the way of dialogue, even when it comes to things that most other authors would have left for characters to say.
2. It is hard to say who the main character really is. The person who you would assume to be the central character at the beginning is very peripheral by the end.
3. While based on a fairy tale, the resolution of the novel seems to be anything but formulaic. Even by regular fantasy novel standards, a lot of this comes out of left field.
4. It takes a very long time for things to happen (in the sense of action), and when it does you may miss it if you aren't paying attention.
5. Random facts about places, people, and customs of the fictional kingdom are dropped in sporadically. This adds a great deal of richness to the book, as well as causing a bit of confusion (some tidbits about customs, for instance, are dropped chapters before they are explained).
All of that said, I really liked this book. The narration that makes it so odd is engaging enough to make up for the fact that you can go for pages without a character saying something. The descriptions were some of the best I've read in ages from any genre, and I was so happy that the novel ended in a way you would not guess from the start (one aspect of the ending was a given, but otherwise...completely offside). Overall, I would recommend this to a lot of people...with a big caveat regarding the narration. If you need a lot of things to happen very quickly, and a ton of witty banter from your characters, you may want to skip this one.
October 16, 2021
This could have been an interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty. McKinley had some good ideas, but the plot rambled along at such a boring pace that it's hard to remember what they were. Long-winded and useless descriptions of every mundane thing you can imagine were a huge part of what bogged the book down. I think if it had been chopped down to 150 or 200 pages, it would have made a pretty decent story. At 400 plus pages? Not so much.
I also thought that the fact that her love interest was 20 to 30 years older than her (and had watched her grow up from an infant) was kind of creepy.
P.S. Was Narl really the best name she could come up with for the guy? Narl?!
I also thought that the fact that her love interest was 20 to 30 years older than her (and had watched her grow up from an infant) was kind of creepy.
P.S. Was Narl really the best name she could come up with for the guy? Narl?!
June 20, 2022
Este libro es el summum del costumbrismo-cottagecore-de cuentos de hadas.
DIOS COMO LO HE DISFRUTADO.
No es perfecto, a ver, es uno de estos libros que tú ves que no es perfecto (la trama... ¿qué trama? se le va de las manos y el final es... raro) pero para ti sí que lo es. Está escrito para ti, lleva tus nombre escrito en la portada en letras mayúsculas, gigantes y con brillantina.
Pues eso, que lo he disfrutado muchísimo y se ha convertido en uno de mis retellings favoritos.
Cuenta la historia de La bella durmiente, pero desde el punto de vista (en inicio) de un hada y su tía (otra hada, en este reino es algo de lo más común), que por cierto viven en un cottage cerca de un pueblecillo normal y corriente.
Así vamos a ver pasar 20 años en la vida de estas mujeres, vamos a ver crecer a Rosie (la bella durmiente), madurar a Kat (el hada) y especialmente vamos a ver ese mundo mágico en toda su maravillosa amplitud.
Nunca había leído un libro en que la magia estuviera tan presente, fuera tan palpable y me resultara tan original. La novela está llena de guiños, de sus propias leyendas e historias dentro de historias y al mismo tiempo es increíblemente cotidiana.
Es la historia de dos mujeres criando a una niña e intentando que no le pase nada malo con todas sus fuerzas.
También hay varios giros al cuento clásico pero no pierde de vista nunca el cuento clásico, la autora crea algo completamente original y sorprendentemente amplio, eso sí.
Porque está la maldición, los reyes mustios, las hadas, Pernicia (Maléfica), las rosas, el príncipe, el reino dormido y todo lo demás. Pero también es algo totalmente distinto y que nunca había visto antes.
No sé a quién le gustará un libro así, a alguien que disfrute con las historias costumbristas e increíblemente mágicas seguramente.
Uno de mis libros favoritos ya de la vida. Esta autora es ♥︎
DIOS COMO LO HE DISFRUTADO.
No es perfecto, a ver, es uno de estos libros que tú ves que no es perfecto (la trama... ¿qué trama? se le va de las manos y el final es... raro) pero para ti sí que lo es. Está escrito para ti, lleva tus nombre escrito en la portada en letras mayúsculas, gigantes y con brillantina.
Pues eso, que lo he disfrutado muchísimo y se ha convertido en uno de mis retellings favoritos.
Cuenta la historia de La bella durmiente, pero desde el punto de vista (en inicio) de un hada y su tía (otra hada, en este reino es algo de lo más común), que por cierto viven en un cottage cerca de un pueblecillo normal y corriente.
Así vamos a ver pasar 20 años en la vida de estas mujeres, vamos a ver crecer a Rosie (la bella durmiente), madurar a Kat (el hada) y especialmente vamos a ver ese mundo mágico en toda su maravillosa amplitud.
Nunca había leído un libro en que la magia estuviera tan presente, fuera tan palpable y me resultara tan original. La novela está llena de guiños, de sus propias leyendas e historias dentro de historias y al mismo tiempo es increíblemente cotidiana.
Es la historia de dos mujeres criando a una niña e intentando que no le pase nada malo con todas sus fuerzas.
También hay varios giros al cuento clásico pero no pierde de vista nunca el cuento clásico, la autora crea algo completamente original y sorprendentemente amplio, eso sí.
Porque está la maldición, los reyes mustios, las hadas, Pernicia (Maléfica), las rosas, el príncipe, el reino dormido y todo lo demás. Pero también es algo totalmente distinto y que nunca había visto antes.
No sé a quién le gustará un libro así, a alguien que disfrute con las historias costumbristas e increíblemente mágicas seguramente.
Uno de mis libros favoritos ya de la vida. Esta autora es ♥︎
May 15, 2024
You think you know the story of Sleeping Beauty? Think again! This retelling of the popular fairy tale will take you through some unexpected twists and turns in search of happy ever after. - Beth M.
From ten stories up, golden eagles see details on the ground that are beyond our ken. They see colors beyond our imagining every minute of every day. So although golden eagles and humankind inhabit the same natural world, theirs is a deeper, richer version of that world. And so it is with Robin McKinley’s retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
Although the story was originally written by Giambattista Basile in the 17th century, retold in a different, more familiar form by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 first volume of their Children's and Household Tales, and popularized by the Walt Disney Studios in a 1959 animated feature film, it has been left to Robin McKinley to see details beyond our ken and colors beyond our imagining throughout the story.
McKinley uses magic as her perfect fifth in our natural world completing the circle of earth, wind, fire, and human nature. Magic that is sparked by friendship, loyalty, and the abiding presence of families both born-to and gathered-‘round. Magic that carries with it the commitment not simply to talk with animals but to listen as well. Animals offer help humans had not thought to ask for in the early days as the story was becoming a story, and animals rally to us when the end looks near. Both times simply because it was the right thing to do.
There are no golden eagles in Spindle’s End, but there is a merrel. While we have every reason to believe McKinley’s merrel is a singular raptor unto itself, nevertheless you would be right to think of it in golden eagle ways.
Spindle’s End is an accelerated reader appropriate for upper elementary grades. Lexile measure: 1220L – Steven S.
From ten stories up, golden eagles see details on the ground that are beyond our ken. They see colors beyond our imagining every minute of every day. So although golden eagles and humankind inhabit the same natural world, theirs is a deeper, richer version of that world. And so it is with Robin McKinley’s retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
Although the story was originally written by Giambattista Basile in the 17th century, retold in a different, more familiar form by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 first volume of their Children's and Household Tales, and popularized by the Walt Disney Studios in a 1959 animated feature film, it has been left to Robin McKinley to see details beyond our ken and colors beyond our imagining throughout the story.
McKinley uses magic as her perfect fifth in our natural world completing the circle of earth, wind, fire, and human nature. Magic that is sparked by friendship, loyalty, and the abiding presence of families both born-to and gathered-‘round. Magic that carries with it the commitment not simply to talk with animals but to listen as well. Animals offer help humans had not thought to ask for in the early days as the story was becoming a story, and animals rally to us when the end looks near. Both times simply because it was the right thing to do.
There are no golden eagles in Spindle’s End, but there is a merrel. While we have every reason to believe McKinley’s merrel is a singular raptor unto itself, nevertheless you would be right to think of it in golden eagle ways.
Spindle’s End is an accelerated reader appropriate for upper elementary grades. Lexile measure: 1220L – Steven S.
October 29, 2009
This was a really adorable book, altho I think you have to be in the right mood for it. When I started reading it I bogged down a little in an atmosphere which I found sort of Fucking Twee, and then I went back to it later and found it much easier to get into. I really liked the characterizations of Rosie and Peony, especially how they were both good characters without being wimpy or Mary Sues; and I really liked their friendship -- it's a v Chloe-liked-Olivia kind of book. It was interesting to read how Rosie is defended by the 'ordinary' upbringing she had in the Gig in light of McKinley's later heroine Rae in Sunshine, and that theme of the 'ordinary' girl having strength not despite her rough origins but because of them really goes all the way back to Beauty (my favourite of McKinley's novels and the first book of hers I ever read). I didn't like Narl very much at first and he didn't seem to become a fully realized character almost until the end of the book; Rowland seemed better-written, but he shows up so late and says so little I didn't feel like he had much impact on the story either. But that's perhaps the point: the book isn't about the two love interests, but about the two girls and the question of female identity, how who are you are is shaped by expectations and social roles, and what happens to girls who conform or disobey.
(I doubt McKinley would say this -- or even agree with it -- but Rosie is clearly genderqueer to some extent, not just in her short hair and dislike of dresses and dancing and embroidery and so on, but also in her aggression and power and volubility -- at one point she's affectionately referred to as a "thug"! This genderqueering goes on all the way up to the end with the surprise kiss and the use of the, er, spindle.)
The book is also just as much about Rosie's relation to the living, teeming natural world, and her 'beast-speech' gift is an example of that connection. I loved how here it's not just the great horses or the sighthounds (the queen, whom I don't think is ever named -- boo -- clearly comes from the country in Deerskin, which I found charming) that are characters in their own right but almost every animal -- the foxes, the mice, Sunflower the slobbery dogge, even the spider. Like the description of the great iron gates Narl makes, the flowers and the land and the animals and the vitality of life running through them all -- Thomas's 'force that through the green fuse drives the flower' -- are all intertwined and related to each other, and the book is also a kind of meditation on kinds of power, and the uses of power.
The one thing about the worldbuilding that did put me off to some extent was the magic -- not the endless detailing of the rules in the AU McKinley set up, which felt like it was meant to be charming but was actually tedious in the very beginning (the fish jokes got annoying as the book went on), but more how the big magical moments worked. It felt, like in Deerskin, that there was some kind of very deep almost Jungian symbology going on behind certain events which explained the way things were happening, and I just didn't have the right cipher to crack the code, although possibly this kind of confusion was intentional. This made for scenes which felt almost starkly mythic (Rosie's journey to the castle in the barren lands also reminded me of Rae's long nightmarish walk in Sunshine) in sharp, almost disorienting contrast to the extreme wealth of detail about 'mundane' life. Again, this could be intentional on McKinley's part and reminded me a lot of similar blendings in Peter S. Beagle's books (A Fine and Private Place, The Folk of the Air), except the elements feel better blended in his writing.
***
I also forgot to add I finally read one of the bits that made me want to read this book -- or rather, someone's description of it, long ago -- a half-sentence-long rewriting of the Orpehus myth (which I'm obsessed with!) into a fable of fidelity in a kind of half-glance that is as much of a rewriting of mythical elements as Rosie's kiss or the spindle. It's a great example of how a tiny detail can be just as important as a big supershiny 'singularity' in terms of writing alternative worlds.
(I doubt McKinley would say this -- or even agree with it -- but Rosie is clearly genderqueer to some extent, not just in her short hair and dislike of dresses and dancing and embroidery and so on, but also in her aggression and power and volubility -- at one point she's affectionately referred to as a "thug"! This genderqueering goes on all the way up to the end with the surprise kiss and the use of the, er, spindle.)
The book is also just as much about Rosie's relation to the living, teeming natural world, and her 'beast-speech' gift is an example of that connection. I loved how here it's not just the great horses or the sighthounds (the queen, whom I don't think is ever named -- boo -- clearly comes from the country in Deerskin, which I found charming) that are characters in their own right but almost every animal -- the foxes, the mice, Sunflower the slobbery dogge, even the spider. Like the description of the great iron gates Narl makes, the flowers and the land and the animals and the vitality of life running through them all -- Thomas's 'force that through the green fuse drives the flower' -- are all intertwined and related to each other, and the book is also a kind of meditation on kinds of power, and the uses of power.
The one thing about the worldbuilding that did put me off to some extent was the magic -- not the endless detailing of the rules in the AU McKinley set up, which felt like it was meant to be charming but was actually tedious in the very beginning (the fish jokes got annoying as the book went on), but more how the big magical moments worked. It felt, like in Deerskin, that there was some kind of very deep almost Jungian symbology going on behind certain events which explained the way things were happening, and I just didn't have the right cipher to crack the code, although possibly this kind of confusion was intentional. This made for scenes which felt almost starkly mythic (Rosie's journey to the castle in the barren lands also reminded me of Rae's long nightmarish walk in Sunshine) in sharp, almost disorienting contrast to the extreme wealth of detail about 'mundane' life. Again, this could be intentional on McKinley's part and reminded me a lot of similar blendings in Peter S. Beagle's books (A Fine and Private Place, The Folk of the Air), except the elements feel better blended in his writing.
***
I also forgot to add I finally read one of the bits that made me want to read this book -- or rather, someone's description of it, long ago -- a half-sentence-long rewriting of the Orpehus myth (which I'm obsessed with!) into a fable of fidelity in a kind of half-glance that is as much of a rewriting of mythical elements as Rosie's kiss or the spindle. It's a great example of how a tiny detail can be just as important as a big supershiny 'singularity' in terms of writing alternative worlds.
January 15, 2024
Hmm, what a mixed bag. This was one of those books that I owned, but hadn't reread since joining Goodreads over 12 years ago. I couldn't remember much about it except that it was a Sleeping Beauty retelling.
As I began this reread, I was surprised at how much I was enjoying it. Why had past-Jamie given this only 3 stars? This was a delightfully cozy and atmospheric little fantasy book full of fairy whimsy! Surely this was going to be at least a 4 star book, if not a 5. Maybe past-Jamie just didn't appreciate it enough at the time.
The beginning gives us the usual Sleeping Beauty set up: king and queen finally have a long awaited baby, and invite a mess load of people and fairies to the princess' name day. When the fairies are bestowing magical gifts, a wicked fairy shows up all ticked off at not having been invited, and curses the princess to prick her finger on a spindle and die. A lesser fairy intercedes and alters the curse to just make the princess fall asleep. The princess is sent into hiding so that the evil fairy can't find her and prematurely enact the curse.
In this book, the princess is bundled off with a minor fairy, Katriona, from a far flung backwater of the kingdom, who carries her, disguised, all the way back to her home. The princess is nursed by animals the whole way home, and when they finally arrive at Katriona's village the story is told that the baby is an orphaned cousin of Katriona's that she brought home to care for. The princess grows up in the village, ignorant of her true identity.
I really liked the beginning of this book. I liked the whimsical-yet-grounded feel of this kingdom, the village, the magic, the fairies...all of that. I like how the kingdom was so saturated with magic that people have to remind bread to stay bread while baking, babies tend to overflow with chaotic magic, and tea kettles have to be descaled from magic build up. I like how the fairy gifts bestowed on the princess (now called Rosie) were completely ridiculous and weren't at all useful to a normal person. I like how un-princess-like Rosie was as a child, despite the fairy gifts of a beautiful singing voice, rosy red lips, and impeccable embroidery.
I enjoyed all of that.
Until Rosie grew up.
I'm not sure where the exact shift was, but somewhere along the way there was a change and I stopped enjoying this as much. I think it was somewhere around the point that Rosie, now a late teen, realized she was in love with the blacksmith that she worked for. Except....ew. He was like a full-fledged adult, already well established as a blacksmith, when Rosie was brought to the village as a baby. His exact age wasn't given, but based on that backstory I'd say he'd have to be AT LEAST twenty or so when she was a baby. So when Rosie's 19, he's probably almost 40? I understand an age difference like that if you'd met when you were both well into adulthood....but don't fall for a guy who met you in diapers and basically mentored you since toddlerhood. *cringes* No thanks.
But alas, that's the direction the story goes. Ok, whatever, let's pretend maybe he was like a blacksmithing prodigy, who was already well set up at like....12 years old? Yeah, let's pretend that's the case.
Regardless of the romantic age differences, this is there the book started to flag for me. Rosie eventually figured out that she's the long-lost princess, and around the same time the important fairies realize that the wicked fairy has sniffed out Rosie's whereabouts. So a plan is hatched to confuse the magic by having Rosie's best friend Peony pose as the princess. Done.....Aaaannnnddddd then the next hundred pages or so completely dragged for me. Reading about the two of them getting ready for the princess' 21st birthday celebration was excruciatingly dull. Maybe it's because the previous 150 pages briskly covered twenty-one years, and now the next hundred pages wallow through a few months? We know how this story is going to go: the princess is GOING to prick her finger, and fall into a deep sleep while the castle gets covered in brambles. So the wait between "Oh, I'M the princess?" and spindle time just felt needlessly dragged out. Like, it was literally a HUNDRED pages.
By the time the spindle stab happened, I was so bored that I didn't really care anymore. Oh, and guess what happens after that? The next 40 or so pages were spent in a dream-like fantasy sequence where Rosie and old-man-love-interest-blacksmith run around with a bunch of animals, defeating the evil fairy in a convoluted surreal manner. *annoyed sigh* I REALLY dislike dream sequences (or fantasy sequences that are so wooey mystical that they might as well be dreams), so I blatantly skimmed that whole chunk.
The beginning of this book was whimsical, sure, but it felt grounded somehow. Like there was magic, but the stuff the people did and interacted with felt tangible and real. To have the climax of this book feel so disconnected and surreal was just....disappointing.
I tuned back in for the last ten pages or so, to read the ending where This might have been a satisfying ending to me if I hadn't been so godawfully bored for the last 150ish pages.
*SIGH*
Now I understand why past-Jamie only gave this three stars. Back then, I was in a stage of "must own every fairy-tale-retelling" so I still bought my own copy of this to complete my Robin McKinlay collection....but I also see why I subconsciously chose not to reread it this entire time.
So, this was like two different books to me. The first half (ish) was charming, and pleasant, and whimsical, and generally delightful. I think this book might be what tickled the back of my brain while reading some of T. Kingfisher's books more recently. It has that fun, chatty narrative that wanders down side paths from time to time but you don't mind because it's setting the scene so pleasantly. It's like a warm hug of a cozy fantasy book. 4.5 stars.
But then the second half (ish), was tedious and went on for way too long, and there was the weird twice-her-age romance, and the climax was just a whirl of feverish cloudy dreamlike confusion. 1.5 stars.
I can feel myself pouting in disappointment with how this book turned out. Oh well. I'm no longer in the must-own-every-book mindset, so I feel a certain amount of relief at letting this one go, finally. It makes me a little apprehensive to reread my other McKinlay books (which have also lain fallow since I joined Goodreads), but time will tell.
As I began this reread, I was surprised at how much I was enjoying it. Why had past-Jamie given this only 3 stars? This was a delightfully cozy and atmospheric little fantasy book full of fairy whimsy! Surely this was going to be at least a 4 star book, if not a 5. Maybe past-Jamie just didn't appreciate it enough at the time.
The beginning gives us the usual Sleeping Beauty set up: king and queen finally have a long awaited baby, and invite a mess load of people and fairies to the princess' name day. When the fairies are bestowing magical gifts, a wicked fairy shows up all ticked off at not having been invited, and curses the princess to prick her finger on a spindle and die. A lesser fairy intercedes and alters the curse to just make the princess fall asleep. The princess is sent into hiding so that the evil fairy can't find her and prematurely enact the curse.
In this book, the princess is bundled off with a minor fairy, Katriona, from a far flung backwater of the kingdom, who carries her, disguised, all the way back to her home. The princess is nursed by animals the whole way home, and when they finally arrive at Katriona's village the story is told that the baby is an orphaned cousin of Katriona's that she brought home to care for. The princess grows up in the village, ignorant of her true identity.
I really liked the beginning of this book. I liked the whimsical-yet-grounded feel of this kingdom, the village, the magic, the fairies...all of that. I like how the kingdom was so saturated with magic that people have to remind bread to stay bread while baking, babies tend to overflow with chaotic magic, and tea kettles have to be descaled from magic build up. I like how the fairy gifts bestowed on the princess (now called Rosie) were completely ridiculous and weren't at all useful to a normal person. I like how un-princess-like Rosie was as a child, despite the fairy gifts of a beautiful singing voice, rosy red lips, and impeccable embroidery.
I enjoyed all of that.
Until Rosie grew up.
I'm not sure where the exact shift was, but somewhere along the way there was a change and I stopped enjoying this as much. I think it was somewhere around the point that Rosie, now a late teen, realized she was in love with the blacksmith that she worked for. Except....ew. He was like a full-fledged adult, already well established as a blacksmith, when Rosie was brought to the village as a baby. His exact age wasn't given, but based on that backstory I'd say he'd have to be AT LEAST twenty or so when she was a baby. So when Rosie's 19, he's probably almost 40? I understand an age difference like that if you'd met when you were both well into adulthood....but don't fall for a guy who met you in diapers and basically mentored you since toddlerhood. *cringes* No thanks.
But alas, that's the direction the story goes. Ok, whatever, let's pretend maybe he was like a blacksmithing prodigy, who was already well set up at like....12 years old? Yeah, let's pretend that's the case.
Regardless of the romantic age differences, this is there the book started to flag for me. Rosie eventually figured out that she's the long-lost princess, and around the same time the important fairies realize that the wicked fairy has sniffed out Rosie's whereabouts. So a plan is hatched to confuse the magic by having Rosie's best friend Peony pose as the princess. Done.....Aaaannnnddddd then the next hundred pages or so completely dragged for me. Reading about the two of them getting ready for the princess' 21st birthday celebration was excruciatingly dull. Maybe it's because the previous 150 pages briskly covered twenty-one years, and now the next hundred pages wallow through a few months? We know how this story is going to go: the princess is GOING to prick her finger, and fall into a deep sleep while the castle gets covered in brambles. So the wait between "Oh, I'M the princess?" and spindle time just felt needlessly dragged out. Like, it was literally a HUNDRED pages.
By the time the spindle stab happened, I was so bored that I didn't really care anymore. Oh, and guess what happens after that? The next 40 or so pages were spent in a dream-like fantasy sequence where Rosie and old-man-love-interest-blacksmith run around with a bunch of animals, defeating the evil fairy in a convoluted surreal manner. *annoyed sigh* I REALLY dislike dream sequences (or fantasy sequences that are so wooey mystical that they might as well be dreams), so I blatantly skimmed that whole chunk.
The beginning of this book was whimsical, sure, but it felt grounded somehow. Like there was magic, but the stuff the people did and interacted with felt tangible and real. To have the climax of this book feel so disconnected and surreal was just....disappointing.
I tuned back in for the last ten pages or so, to read the ending where This might have been a satisfying ending to me if I hadn't been so godawfully bored for the last 150ish pages.
*SIGH*
Now I understand why past-Jamie only gave this three stars. Back then, I was in a stage of "must own every fairy-tale-retelling" so I still bought my own copy of this to complete my Robin McKinlay collection....but I also see why I subconsciously chose not to reread it this entire time.
So, this was like two different books to me. The first half (ish) was charming, and pleasant, and whimsical, and generally delightful. I think this book might be what tickled the back of my brain while reading some of T. Kingfisher's books more recently. It has that fun, chatty narrative that wanders down side paths from time to time but you don't mind because it's setting the scene so pleasantly. It's like a warm hug of a cozy fantasy book. 4.5 stars.
But then the second half (ish), was tedious and went on for way too long, and there was the weird twice-her-age romance, and the climax was just a whirl of feverish cloudy dreamlike confusion. 1.5 stars.
I can feel myself pouting in disappointment with how this book turned out. Oh well. I'm no longer in the must-own-every-book mindset, so I feel a certain amount of relief at letting this one go, finally. It makes me a little apprehensive to reread my other McKinlay books (which have also lain fallow since I joined Goodreads), but time will tell.
March 3, 2008
Robin McKinley's young reader retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, Spindle's End, smells good. It's made up of those yellowing pages that you run your fingers down and feel the soft fibers of, and as you thumb through the pages it fans your face with the invigorating smell of book. And that's probably the best part of it.
I read Spindle's End because I read McKinley's Beauty in seventh grade and can vaguely remember loving it. I didn't love Spindle's End. I did grow to love some of the characters: the young and heroically responsible Katriona, the quiet and supposedly-mysterious-but-really-rather-transparent and reliable Narl, the beautifully kind and sweet Peony, and the everything-that-she-shouldn't-be Princess, Rosie. The devoted animal friends were rather great too, particularly Fast. Because I cared about some characters, I was, admittedly hooked. But it often felt like it was a chore reading to the book's end, rather than a pleasure.
Part of this had to do with McKinley's treatment of magic. McKinley treats magic as a force flowing through her world, which some can sometimes harness the power of, some can sense the presence of, and some can complain about the dust of. (So many clauses ending in prepositions. Ouch. Too lazy to fix it, though.) So during scenes where there are high levels of magic, characters are shrouded in a confusing fog/magic presence that disorients them and disconnects them from the scene. And so is the reader. Then the fog clears and the characters and reader are forced to look over the wreckage and figure out what happened. I know it's unfair of me to compare every young reader or fantasy book to Harry Potter, but here I go. In the Harry Potter series, crazy magical stuff happens--(Spoilers only for books one through four follow) Voldemort and Harry's wands connect strangely, Harry's touch destroys a powerful wizard, a bird cries and fixes everything--but the reader is able to witness these events and understand them through Rowling's carefully constructed magical world. In McKinley's magical world, Rosie had a whim that the gargoyle spindle end would be important and--wow--it was! No one really explains WHY though. I want my magic to work logically. McKinley's doesn't. She doesn't seem to want it to. But I do.
McKinley, thank goodness, does rehash the Sleeping Beauty story so that it has stronger female characters. Sleeping Beauty and, for that matter, Snow White are pathetic fairy tales as far as women are concerned. Their heroines are so passive and so dependent on their princes that they spend half of the story asleep, helpless, unable to even make cute outfits for mice, grow their hair out, or scrub the floor. McKinley presents a strong female cast. Our heroine rides off to seek out danger and even domestic Peony is a courageous heroic figure.
The plot itself is rather predictable, though often in a pleasant way. It was comfortable knowing more than I should have known, but it also made reading a less suspenseful and emotional experience.
I have either The Hero and the Crown or The Blue Sword resting in my library. I'm not sure if I'm going to bother reading it. Spindle's End just wasn't as good as I had hoped.
I read Spindle's End because I read McKinley's Beauty in seventh grade and can vaguely remember loving it. I didn't love Spindle's End. I did grow to love some of the characters: the young and heroically responsible Katriona, the quiet and supposedly-mysterious-but-really-rather-transparent and reliable Narl, the beautifully kind and sweet Peony, and the everything-that-she-shouldn't-be Princess, Rosie. The devoted animal friends were rather great too, particularly Fast. Because I cared about some characters, I was, admittedly hooked. But it often felt like it was a chore reading to the book's end, rather than a pleasure.
Part of this had to do with McKinley's treatment of magic. McKinley treats magic as a force flowing through her world, which some can sometimes harness the power of, some can sense the presence of, and some can complain about the dust of. (So many clauses ending in prepositions. Ouch. Too lazy to fix it, though.) So during scenes where there are high levels of magic, characters are shrouded in a confusing fog/magic presence that disorients them and disconnects them from the scene. And so is the reader. Then the fog clears and the characters and reader are forced to look over the wreckage and figure out what happened. I know it's unfair of me to compare every young reader or fantasy book to Harry Potter, but here I go. In the Harry Potter series, crazy magical stuff happens--(Spoilers only for books one through four follow) Voldemort and Harry's wands connect strangely, Harry's touch destroys a powerful wizard, a bird cries and fixes everything--but the reader is able to witness these events and understand them through Rowling's carefully constructed magical world. In McKinley's magical world, Rosie had a whim that the gargoyle spindle end would be important and--wow--it was! No one really explains WHY though. I want my magic to work logically. McKinley's doesn't. She doesn't seem to want it to. But I do.
McKinley, thank goodness, does rehash the Sleeping Beauty story so that it has stronger female characters. Sleeping Beauty and, for that matter, Snow White are pathetic fairy tales as far as women are concerned. Their heroines are so passive and so dependent on their princes that they spend half of the story asleep, helpless, unable to even make cute outfits for mice, grow their hair out, or scrub the floor. McKinley presents a strong female cast. Our heroine rides off to seek out danger and even domestic Peony is a courageous heroic figure.
The plot itself is rather predictable, though often in a pleasant way. It was comfortable knowing more than I should have known, but it also made reading a less suspenseful and emotional experience.
I have either The Hero and the Crown or The Blue Sword resting in my library. I'm not sure if I'm going to bother reading it. Spindle's End just wasn't as good as I had hoped.
March 20, 2017
Those who have struggled with McKinley's writing style and penchant for tangents in the past will probably not get on with this book, but for the most part, I really enjoyed it. It's slow -- as most of her books are -- and occasionally convoluted -- as most of her books are -- but it felt... homey. Cozy.
Full review (maybe) to come.
Full review (maybe) to come.
March 31, 2008
Spindle's End is a re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. I love many of McKinley's other "re-telling" stories, like Beauty and The Outlaws of Sherwood. The first three-quarters of this book are no exception.
The characters are engaging. The description of life in the little community where Rose (Sleeping Beauty) grows up is so idyllic that you want the book to keep going just so you can read about the town.
Unfortunately, the last quarter almost does the book in. The magic in this book shows no particular rhyme or reason, which makes it harder to suspend disbelief. The magic in the last quarter of the book, surrounding the climax, is thick and plentiful. Since the magic seems to follow no rules, the result is rather like I imagine a bad trip on acid would be. It reminds me rather unfavorably of Alice in Wonderland, a book that I have never managed to get through even half of.
Thankfully, the climax of this book is short enough that I could get to the happy ending.
The characters are engaging. The description of life in the little community where Rose (Sleeping Beauty) grows up is so idyllic that you want the book to keep going just so you can read about the town.
Unfortunately, the last quarter almost does the book in. The magic in this book shows no particular rhyme or reason, which makes it harder to suspend disbelief. The magic in the last quarter of the book, surrounding the climax, is thick and plentiful. Since the magic seems to follow no rules, the result is rather like I imagine a bad trip on acid would be. It reminds me rather unfavorably of Alice in Wonderland, a book that I have never managed to get through even half of.
Thankfully, the climax of this book is short enough that I could get to the happy ending.
March 29, 2007
I grew up reading Robin Mckinley, and periodically like to revisit her works. While Beauty was the first book I read by her (and the first book I reread until the spine wore out), and her Damar books hold a special fascination for me, there is something about Spindle's End that keeps me coming back.
Maybe that's because Mckinley is more open with the workings of magic in this world; in other books magic is a furtive, secretive thing, like a wild animal. We get more of fairies and magicians and baby-magic, all the things that make living in Spindle's unnamed kingdom so fascinating to the reader.
Then there are the cozy touches, the details that take magic away from the court magicians and majestic evil fairies, and put it by the hearth, in the home, accessible and familiar.
The only strange note, for me, is Mckinley's practice of pairing her young heroine with a much older man. She marries her early-twenties female protagonists off to men either naturally or supernaturally of far greater age, consistently enough for me to wonder at the underlying reason for this trope. Memo to self: look up difference in ages between Mckinley and her husband.
Maybe that's because Mckinley is more open with the workings of magic in this world; in other books magic is a furtive, secretive thing, like a wild animal. We get more of fairies and magicians and baby-magic, all the things that make living in Spindle's unnamed kingdom so fascinating to the reader.
Then there are the cozy touches, the details that take magic away from the court magicians and majestic evil fairies, and put it by the hearth, in the home, accessible and familiar.
The only strange note, for me, is Mckinley's practice of pairing her young heroine with a much older man. She marries her early-twenties female protagonists off to men either naturally or supernaturally of far greater age, consistently enough for me to wonder at the underlying reason for this trope. Memo to self: look up difference in ages between Mckinley and her husband.
October 15, 2017
this was really disappointing. especially after such a fine beginning, with the imaginative world-building, the detail on just everything gloriously written, and some promising characters. and she's clearly engaged in taking apart the fairy tale to take a close look, something that always gets my vote.
unfortunately, it doesn't last. too bad. that whole headlong flight of Katriona's with the baby, and how the animals buy in, it's just lovely; i settled in. but Katriona's issues fade into Rosie's issues, and okay Rosie is a headstrong character that damn well ought to work (in this day and age), so i found that promising too. for a while.
but it fell apart. the whole idea of the sentient castle was super-neat. and the merrel was cool, though underdeveloped. ultimately, though, Peony had more gumption, more nuance, and more potential than Rosie: but that's not where the story goes. and i liked the silent fairy smith but really, now, shouldn't Rosie have been rescuing him? what with one thing and another, though, the second half of the book is so draggy it was like plowing through a damnably thick hedge of rose briars to get to the ending. which i had long since figured out anyhow, if suspense was supposed to be a thing. and in the long denouement i realized that way too many of the most potentially interesting characters had just been abandoned along the way.
sometimes one has to wonder about the backstory to these things: did the writer lose interest in her characters and story? could she not figure out where to go with it? did her agent/editors make her finish this against her own instincts? the second half really badly undercuts the glories of the first half, in a way that's clearly not intentional. tsk. the whole thing's really too bad.
and now i feel like reading another McKillip fairy tale, small and perfect and strange (The Changeling Sea was wonderful). though i also have a whole lot more modern fairy tales piled up, by writers i haven't read yet on the subject. so the little survey continues...
unfortunately, it doesn't last. too bad. that whole headlong flight of Katriona's with the baby, and how the animals buy in, it's just lovely; i settled in. but Katriona's issues fade into Rosie's issues, and okay Rosie is a headstrong character that damn well ought to work (in this day and age), so i found that promising too. for a while.
but it fell apart. the whole idea of the sentient castle was super-neat. and the merrel was cool, though underdeveloped. ultimately, though, Peony had more gumption, more nuance, and more potential than Rosie: but that's not where the story goes. and i liked the silent fairy smith but really, now, shouldn't Rosie have been rescuing him? what with one thing and another, though, the second half of the book is so draggy it was like plowing through a damnably thick hedge of rose briars to get to the ending. which i had long since figured out anyhow, if suspense was supposed to be a thing. and in the long denouement i realized that way too many of the most potentially interesting characters had just been abandoned along the way.
sometimes one has to wonder about the backstory to these things: did the writer lose interest in her characters and story? could she not figure out where to go with it? did her agent/editors make her finish this against her own instincts? the second half really badly undercuts the glories of the first half, in a way that's clearly not intentional. tsk. the whole thing's really too bad.
and now i feel like reading another McKillip fairy tale, small and perfect and strange (The Changeling Sea was wonderful). though i also have a whole lot more modern fairy tales piled up, by writers i haven't read yet on the subject. so the little survey continues...
June 12, 2008
I have read a number of books by this author and really liked all of them, but this one is a standout for me. It is a retelling of the Sleeping Beauty story, but goes far beyond the limitations of the original tale. The author manages to create a delightful, suspend-disbelief magical kingdom and populates the story with fully rounded characters who are both entertaining and engage the reader's sympathies, along with a plot line that departs from fairy tale formula just enough to keep us guessing the outcome clear to the end. Her independant spirited Beauty manages to foil all the trappings of fairy tale while still eventually finding her own definition of a happy ending. This is a story that embodies the antidote to the current 'princess' obsession among young girls without being cynical or dark in any way.
From the first page description of a land so full of magic that teakettles need to be routinely 'de-magicked' by local fairies to keep them from pouring out pansies or toads, the readers interest is caught and held to the end of the book.
From the first page description of a land so full of magic that teakettles need to be routinely 'de-magicked' by local fairies to keep them from pouring out pansies or toads, the readers interest is caught and held to the end of the book.
October 14, 2007
A fun, greatly expanded retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with Briar Rose going against stereotype by being a strapping young woman with a love for animals and the outdoors, and no regard for her beautiful blonde hair.
I really enjoyed the story until the confrontation with the evil fairy Pernicia. Then Robin pulls her familiar trick of a foggy vague battle and some unexplained magic to get us through to the end. Bad Robin!
Oh, well, most readers will forgive her. I, though, choose to dock her a star off my rating for it, and to continue to maintain that The Blue Sword and Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast are Robin's best books.
I really enjoyed the story until the confrontation with the evil fairy Pernicia. Then Robin pulls her familiar trick of a foggy vague battle and some unexplained magic to get us through to the end. Bad Robin!
Oh, well, most readers will forgive her. I, though, choose to dock her a star off my rating for it, and to continue to maintain that The Blue Sword and Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast are Robin's best books.
October 17, 2018
I have no idea how to review this book. I started out enthralled with it and Robin McKinley’s beautiful writing.
My progress got slower and slower till I finally stopped at chapter 21, nearly at the end.
I feel awful not finishing it but it just lost allll interest in this book. I feel like it’s at a more rambling, sleepy pace than it was at the beginning and the characters it focuses on now are much less interesting (to me) than the ones at the beginning.
#Did not finish because I’m too busy right now to be reading books I don’t absolutely love.
My progress got slower and slower till I finally stopped at chapter 21, nearly at the end.
I feel awful not finishing it but it just lost allll interest in this book. I feel like it’s at a more rambling, sleepy pace than it was at the beginning and the characters it focuses on now are much less interesting (to me) than the ones at the beginning.
#Did not finish because I’m too busy right now to be reading books I don’t absolutely love.
May 24, 2020
A retelling of Sleeping Beauty that I've read approximately 50 times since I was a kid. So feminist and witchy and unexpected. As an adult and writer, I now have some qualms with the pacing and narrative style, but the characters are so important to me that I can forgive all concerns.
January 16, 2020
Robin McKinley does a lot of fairy tale retellings, though with Spindle’s End she’s branching out a bit and doing a retelling of something other than Beauty and the Beast (which she’s done at least 3). The thing about fairy tale retellings is that either it’s different enough to lose that comforting familiarity, or else it’s not different enough and it’s perfectly predictable. Spindle’s End manages to split that difference perfectly: I never lost track of the fact that I was reading a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, and yet McKinley still kept me guessing literally up through the epilogue.
And through all of this, the book was (unexpectedly) funny as hell.
Y’all know the premise: kingdom is delighted to welcome the daughter of the King, fairy godmothers bestowing blessing, wicked fairy bestowing a pre-industrial-textile-manufacturing-equipment-based curse, princess spirited away to hiding, grows up not knowing her identity, curse to strike on her 18th birthday, etc. All of that happens.
The thing about Sleeping Beauty is that you really can’t tell the whole story from the princess’s perspective - after all, she’s a newborn at the beginning, and newborns generally don’t have that much of an internal monologue. So McKinley’s solution here is to make the protagonist for the first half of the book Katriona, a teenaged fairy who manages to (accidentally) bestow an additional blessing on little Rosie (as they call her), and then is press-ganged into being the one to take and raise the baby in secret, along with her older, more experienced fairy aunt. (Fairies, in this context, are more or less villagers like everyone else, but with some additional magical talents and effects. Sometimes more annoying than useful.)
So we get Katriona’s perspective for the first half of the book, with a gradual transition to Rosie’s perspective as she grows into her teenage years. Katriona’s a great character: warm, befuddled, and in over her head.
Rosie herself is (in the tradition of Robin McKinley protagonists) intelligent, willful, determined, and not particularly pretty. (All the fairy godmothers, in blessing the baby with things like “hair like gold” and “skin like milk”, never thought to bless her with “a pretty face.” Her hair is gorgeous (though she hates the ringlets and keeps it short), and her complexion is very fair (so she burns after about 10 seconds of sun and everyone knows when she’s feeling any strong emotion), but her face is rather plain).
Rosie’s life growing up is delightful to read - McKinley does a truly wonderful job with it. I give her credit for actually working in the woodland-creatures-flocking-around-her in a way that actually makes a degree of sense.
Things change as Rosie approaches her 18th birthday, and finds out her heritage. Katriona and her aunt have been working this entire time to arrange matters so Rosie can evade the curse, but the wicked fairy is powerful, and they know the danger is very real. The back half of the book just crackles with tension in the lead-up to Rosie’s birthday. This was the kind of book that is just exhausting to read, what with the tense muscles and accelerated heart rate and all.
I don’t want to reveal much, but while the expected Handsome Prince does in fact appear, it’s not in a way I expected. And no prince is coming in at the eleventh hour to save the damsel in distress, thank you very much - Rosie is the heroine of this story, and there’s no snoozing-until-molested-awake going on here.
I generally adore Robin McKinley, and this is a book that needs more attention. Highly, highly recommended.
And through all of this, the book was (unexpectedly) funny as hell.
Y’all know the premise: kingdom is delighted to welcome the daughter of the King, fairy godmothers bestowing blessing, wicked fairy bestowing a pre-industrial-textile-manufacturing-equipment-based curse, princess spirited away to hiding, grows up not knowing her identity, curse to strike on her 18th birthday, etc. All of that happens.
The thing about Sleeping Beauty is that you really can’t tell the whole story from the princess’s perspective - after all, she’s a newborn at the beginning, and newborns generally don’t have that much of an internal monologue. So McKinley’s solution here is to make the protagonist for the first half of the book Katriona, a teenaged fairy who manages to (accidentally) bestow an additional blessing on little Rosie (as they call her), and then is press-ganged into being the one to take and raise the baby in secret, along with her older, more experienced fairy aunt. (Fairies, in this context, are more or less villagers like everyone else, but with some additional magical talents and effects. Sometimes more annoying than useful.)
So we get Katriona’s perspective for the first half of the book, with a gradual transition to Rosie’s perspective as she grows into her teenage years. Katriona’s a great character: warm, befuddled, and in over her head.
Rosie herself is (in the tradition of Robin McKinley protagonists) intelligent, willful, determined, and not particularly pretty. (All the fairy godmothers, in blessing the baby with things like “hair like gold” and “skin like milk”, never thought to bless her with “a pretty face.” Her hair is gorgeous (though she hates the ringlets and keeps it short), and her complexion is very fair (so she burns after about 10 seconds of sun and everyone knows when she’s feeling any strong emotion), but her face is rather plain).
Rosie’s life growing up is delightful to read - McKinley does a truly wonderful job with it. I give her credit for actually working in the woodland-creatures-flocking-around-her in a way that actually makes a degree of sense.
Things change as Rosie approaches her 18th birthday, and finds out her heritage. Katriona and her aunt have been working this entire time to arrange matters so Rosie can evade the curse, but the wicked fairy is powerful, and they know the danger is very real. The back half of the book just crackles with tension in the lead-up to Rosie’s birthday. This was the kind of book that is just exhausting to read, what with the tense muscles and accelerated heart rate and all.
I don’t want to reveal much, but while the expected Handsome Prince does in fact appear, it’s not in a way I expected. And no prince is coming in at the eleventh hour to save the damsel in distress, thank you very much - Rosie is the heroine of this story, and there’s no snoozing-until-molested-awake going on here.
I generally adore Robin McKinley, and this is a book that needs more attention. Highly, highly recommended.
June 21, 2022
This was a weird one for me, being one of the few books in my life (barring exceptional circumstances) that took me over 4 months to finish. I re-checked it out from the library at least 6 times.
The story itself was interesting enough that I wanted to see how it ended. And while I was actually doing the reading I did enjoy myself. But every time I put it down, picking it back up again just seemed like a huge burden.
There is SO much description in this book. I think maybe 90% of it is told in passive voice by the narrator explaining how things are. Dialogue and action make up the other 10%. This is not necessarily bad; the world being described is quite fascinating, and all the tiny details that get relayed do add up to a magical place that I'd love to visit. And McKinley's writing is very nice. But it did make it feel as though I was listening to an educational lecture rather than an exciting fantasy adventure.
As in her other books, McKinley here excels at depicting friendships between humans and animals. I love the personalities she writes for her dogs, cats, horses, and sundry woodland critters. I also like the relationships she writes between characters, particularly between female characters. For a fairy tale to centre the love of friends and family rather than romantic love is always so refreshing.
Overall I'm glad I persevered, but I'm equally glad that it is over.
The story itself was interesting enough that I wanted to see how it ended. And while I was actually doing the reading I did enjoy myself. But every time I put it down, picking it back up again just seemed like a huge burden.
There is SO much description in this book. I think maybe 90% of it is told in passive voice by the narrator explaining how things are. Dialogue and action make up the other 10%. This is not necessarily bad; the world being described is quite fascinating, and all the tiny details that get relayed do add up to a magical place that I'd love to visit. And McKinley's writing is very nice. But it did make it feel as though I was listening to an educational lecture rather than an exciting fantasy adventure.
As in her other books, McKinley here excels at depicting friendships between humans and animals. I love the personalities she writes for her dogs, cats, horses, and sundry woodland critters. I also like the relationships she writes between characters, particularly between female characters. For a fairy tale to centre the love of friends and family rather than romantic love is always so refreshing.
Overall I'm glad I persevered, but I'm equally glad that it is over.
November 2, 2016
A warm, fluffy blanket of a book in which the tiny bit of conflict seems almost superfluous. The only surprise was how relentlessly heterosexual it managed to be despite a climax that involves two women kissing each other.
January 12, 2025
What a mellow reread for starting the new year! Rating is always difficult to parse for books that come with as much nostalgia as this one, but it was a great experience, and it's either give this 5 stars or go through my 4-stars from last year and drop most of them a peg, so 5 stars for now. The first half of this book is an absolute masterclass in blended-family life with tension running through it; the second half veers more toward dream logic and extended magical confrontations that I remembered, but still has some great moments. The narrative voice is chatty and discursive in a way that really works for me, but I can see why it's not everyone's favorite. RTC.
April 27, 2019
This book was one of the most delightful and charming things I have ever read. Y'all know I love me some Robin McKinley, and I love me some modern fairy tale retellings even more! The combination here leads to to a version of the Sleeping Beauty story that is simultaneously more interesting and more feminist in the original. For one thing, the princess saves herself in this one. And unlike the Disney version, she doesn't spend 80% of the story fucking asleep.
From the very first page, McKinley weaves a landscape where magic is the most natural thing in the world. Everyone's got a fairy in the family, and growing magic-suppressing vines to keep your lunch from spontaneously turning into a frog is just a part of everyday life. It's adorable, and oddly accessible. I've read too many bad fantasy novels that are all like "Stand back, for magic's afoot!" This one is, instead, like "Aw crap, go get Marta's sister the fairy from down the lane. The dog's turned into a lounge singer again."
All of this charming, folksy, accessible magic and the quaint people who coexist with it stand in sharp contrast to the villain, Pernicia (you'll know her as the horned and purple Maleficent). In a society that loves nothing more than rolling with the punches and singing with tiny woodland creatures every morning, Pernicia is the fucking wooooorst. No one quite remembers why she's got a grudge against the royal family (something about an insult from the queen two queens ago???), which is just so fucking perfect. Because isn't that how generational grudges always perpetuate? This is some Montague and Capulet shit right here. Nobody likes Pernicia, and she's never forgiven them for it.
But I'm burying the most precious thing about this book: for unlike the traditional prince&princess fairy tale, this is a story about relationships between women. Kat and Aunt, the two fairies who raise princess Rosie with all the love and weirdness you'd expect of a couple of old hippies living off the land; and Rosie and her bestie Peony, who are as close as peas in a pod and who embrace each other's differences like only bosom buddies from childhood can. It's not that men are an incidental fact of this book. It's just that they usually take a wonderful step to the side, primarily stepping back in to play a nurturing role, or a patient teaching role. Very little sword-brandishing is performed, and then only by the princess herself.
My one complaint is the end, which was just a fucking mess. Like... what even happened? And why? The strength of the story is in its specificity all along. There's wonderful details in all the animals caring for the baby princess, and in the goings on of the village and nearby manor. We learn so much about the local tavern owner, and the smith, the cartwright... and then in the end all that delicious, intimate, concrete detail goes up in a puff of magical smoke as it's replaced with almost literal smoke and mirrors. The magical fight and the circumstances of all the characters getting their happily-ever-after were just... confuzzlating.
And since I know I've made this complaint before with speculative fiction, let me just be clear: your final boss battle does not need to come with CGI and stunt doubles to be exciting. You don't need to cause explosions and use impressive visuals to get us to the finish line. It's distracting and dissatisfying when it obfuscates what the hell is actually going on. Make your point. Explain clearly. Don't wave your hands and say "That's how it all worked out! Hope you followed along through the magic deus ex machinae!"
Despite all that, I'm willing to forgive the ending for not doing what I expected it to do. For while I hate to be surprised in real life, in fiction I fucking demand it.
And speaking of which, I was very pleased with how some of the traditional elements of the story played out. For example, And the particulars of the spindle ends and Rosie/Peony touching the spindle ends... verrah nice.
I recommended this recently to a friend as a readalike for Naomi Novik's Uprooted and Spinning Silver. I congratulate myself on the accuracy of my book recommendations.
From the very first page, McKinley weaves a landscape where magic is the most natural thing in the world. Everyone's got a fairy in the family, and growing magic-suppressing vines to keep your lunch from spontaneously turning into a frog is just a part of everyday life. It's adorable, and oddly accessible. I've read too many bad fantasy novels that are all like "Stand back, for magic's afoot!" This one is, instead, like "Aw crap, go get Marta's sister the fairy from down the lane. The dog's turned into a lounge singer again."
All of this charming, folksy, accessible magic and the quaint people who coexist with it stand in sharp contrast to the villain, Pernicia (you'll know her as the horned and purple Maleficent). In a society that loves nothing more than rolling with the punches and singing with tiny woodland creatures every morning, Pernicia is the fucking wooooorst. No one quite remembers why she's got a grudge against the royal family (something about an insult from the queen two queens ago???), which is just so fucking perfect. Because isn't that how generational grudges always perpetuate? This is some Montague and Capulet shit right here. Nobody likes Pernicia, and she's never forgiven them for it.
But I'm burying the most precious thing about this book: for unlike the traditional prince&princess fairy tale, this is a story about relationships between women. Kat and Aunt, the two fairies who raise princess Rosie with all the love and weirdness you'd expect of a couple of old hippies living off the land; and Rosie and her bestie Peony, who are as close as peas in a pod and who embrace each other's differences like only bosom buddies from childhood can. It's not that men are an incidental fact of this book. It's just that they usually take a wonderful step to the side, primarily stepping back in to play a nurturing role, or a patient teaching role. Very little sword-brandishing is performed, and then only by the princess herself.
My one complaint is the end, which was just a fucking mess. Like... what even happened? And why? The strength of the story is in its specificity all along. There's wonderful details in all the animals caring for the baby princess, and in the goings on of the village and nearby manor. We learn so much about the local tavern owner, and the smith, the cartwright... and then in the end all that delicious, intimate, concrete detail goes up in a puff of magical smoke as it's replaced with almost literal smoke and mirrors. The magical fight and the circumstances of all the characters getting their happily-ever-after were just... confuzzlating.
And since I know I've made this complaint before with speculative fiction, let me just be clear: your final boss battle does not need to come with CGI and stunt doubles to be exciting. You don't need to cause explosions and use impressive visuals to get us to the finish line. It's distracting and dissatisfying when it obfuscates what the hell is actually going on. Make your point. Explain clearly. Don't wave your hands and say "That's how it all worked out! Hope you followed along through the magic deus ex machinae!"
Despite all that, I'm willing to forgive the ending for not doing what I expected it to do. For while I hate to be surprised in real life, in fiction I fucking demand it.
And speaking of which, I was very pleased with how some of the traditional elements of the story played out. For example, And the particulars of the spindle ends and Rosie/Peony touching the spindle ends... verrah nice.
I recommended this recently to a friend as a readalike for Naomi Novik's Uprooted and Spinning Silver. I congratulate myself on the accuracy of my book recommendations.
December 14, 2010
Gourd, FINALLY.
McKinley, thou hast let me down. Three stars for not-terrible ideas and flowing, if ponderous style.
First, an incidental note that bothers me about many of McKinley's re-tellings. The influence of Disney is OBVIOUS, pervasive, and somewhat distracting. It may be hypocritical of me, since I love a good fanfic, but the fact that it's in print from a major publisher assumes (to me) originality. If one is re-telling Sleeping Beauty, one is obligated NOT to make one's evil character a purple-and-black, tall, beautiful, ancient fairy who "has never had a good lieutenant." Named, not Maleficent, but Pernicia.
The first two hundred pages were about a 4-star. There really isn't any central character, but it's 200 pages covering twenty-one years, so the vast, macroscopic view works pretty well for me. I could still enjoy it because of the depth of imagination, even though it gets a bit flowery and overblown in places.
To explain: this is the fantasy novel that Henry James would have written. You know, you're reading along about somebody sitting at a window seat, and then all of a sudden we're zeroing in on the history of a stitch in a glove and how long that glove has been stitched? Yeah. It's like that. The history of every non-entity and non-character is expounded upon in some depth.
This makes it a bit plodding, but isn't so bad-- until you get to about part four. The last 150 pages of this book are a freaking chore. Because the style remains meandering, refusing to settle on any one character's perspective, but now we're covering a period of about 24 hours. Beginning with a long-winded flashback covering the previous three months. After Evil Fairy finally does her thing, we get into the TRULY torpid part of the book.
***SPOILERS***
THIRTY PAGES. Of waking up, wandering around the castle, wondering what the hell to do and noting that everyone is asleep. Kitchen? Asleep. Labyrinth down below? Asleep. Great hall? Asleep, asleep. (Except for a small band of intrepid furry friends, who need to justify their existence in this book by doing something remotely plot-significant. Like killing off the phantasms who seem invented expressly for the purpose of giving yon intrepid band something to do. Grr.)
Then, having finally escaped aforementioned Palace of Dulldrums, we find ourselves-- in a fifty page dream sequence. Fuck.
Now, one of the interesting things about magic in this book is that it works something like the subconscious. There are no rules. If you look straight at it, it melts. Sometimes. Unless it doesn't. HOWEVER, at some point, the lack of rules and rather ill-defined nature of magic in this world begins to seem either very poorly explained, or made-up-as-we-go-along. It was definitely feeling like the latter for me during this sluggish, ehem, climax. (Which was also replete with a lot of random close-ups, flashbacks, and head-scratching.)
Again, this might not be so bad-- this plodding, omniscient and unemotional view of everything-- if there were not an obvious, simultaneous attempt for speed and urgency. Take, for example, the frenzied, desperate gallop toward the end-- which is interrupted to tell us about the horse's history of not-races that he has consistently won in front of various nobility. (And how did a girl who can't ride POSSIBLY keep her seat through all that?) Magic, I guess. Sigh.
***Double Spoilers***
Why, WHY didn't the book end with Rosie biting it and Peony taking her place as princess? A unique, bittersweet twist on the classic tale. They've both "absorbed" each other in preparation for this. The peasant could die, the princess live. The fairy would get her revenge, although it doesn't matter because everyone would have thought she killed the wrong one. It could end with Peony petting an aging Fast, drawn to spend time with him though she knows not why. WHY does Narl have to suddenly requite (and have-requited) Rosie's feelings? In literally the second to last page of the book. (Gag!) Why does love always have to be requited? Rosie was superfluous, futureless, and single. In short, ripe for death. (Sorry single folks.) Why drag out this pointless battle and save everybody?
Only advantage to her not-death: that kiss was Quite unexpected.
McKinley, thou hast let me down. Three stars for not-terrible ideas and flowing, if ponderous style.
First, an incidental note that bothers me about many of McKinley's re-tellings. The influence of Disney is OBVIOUS, pervasive, and somewhat distracting. It may be hypocritical of me, since I love a good fanfic, but the fact that it's in print from a major publisher assumes (to me) originality. If one is re-telling Sleeping Beauty, one is obligated NOT to make one's evil character a purple-and-black, tall, beautiful, ancient fairy who "has never had a good lieutenant." Named, not Maleficent, but Pernicia.
The first two hundred pages were about a 4-star. There really isn't any central character, but it's 200 pages covering twenty-one years, so the vast, macroscopic view works pretty well for me. I could still enjoy it because of the depth of imagination, even though it gets a bit flowery and overblown in places.
To explain: this is the fantasy novel that Henry James would have written. You know, you're reading along about somebody sitting at a window seat, and then all of a sudden we're zeroing in on the history of a stitch in a glove and how long that glove has been stitched? Yeah. It's like that. The history of every non-entity and non-character is expounded upon in some depth.
This makes it a bit plodding, but isn't so bad-- until you get to about part four. The last 150 pages of this book are a freaking chore. Because the style remains meandering, refusing to settle on any one character's perspective, but now we're covering a period of about 24 hours. Beginning with a long-winded flashback covering the previous three months. After Evil Fairy finally does her thing, we get into the TRULY torpid part of the book.
***SPOILERS***
THIRTY PAGES. Of waking up, wandering around the castle, wondering what the hell to do and noting that everyone is asleep. Kitchen? Asleep. Labyrinth down below? Asleep. Great hall? Asleep, asleep. (Except for a small band of intrepid furry friends, who need to justify their existence in this book by doing something remotely plot-significant. Like killing off the phantasms who seem invented expressly for the purpose of giving yon intrepid band something to do. Grr.)
Then, having finally escaped aforementioned Palace of Dulldrums, we find ourselves-- in a fifty page dream sequence. Fuck.
Now, one of the interesting things about magic in this book is that it works something like the subconscious. There are no rules. If you look straight at it, it melts. Sometimes. Unless it doesn't. HOWEVER, at some point, the lack of rules and rather ill-defined nature of magic in this world begins to seem either very poorly explained, or made-up-as-we-go-along. It was definitely feeling like the latter for me during this sluggish, ehem, climax. (Which was also replete with a lot of random close-ups, flashbacks, and head-scratching.)
Again, this might not be so bad-- this plodding, omniscient and unemotional view of everything-- if there were not an obvious, simultaneous attempt for speed and urgency. Take, for example, the frenzied, desperate gallop toward the end-- which is interrupted to tell us about the horse's history of not-races that he has consistently won in front of various nobility. (And how did a girl who can't ride POSSIBLY keep her seat through all that?) Magic, I guess. Sigh.
***Double Spoilers***
Why, WHY didn't the book end with Rosie biting it and Peony taking her place as princess? A unique, bittersweet twist on the classic tale. They've both "absorbed" each other in preparation for this. The peasant could die, the princess live. The fairy would get her revenge, although it doesn't matter because everyone would have thought she killed the wrong one. It could end with Peony petting an aging Fast, drawn to spend time with him though she knows not why. WHY does Narl have to suddenly requite (and have-requited) Rosie's feelings? In literally the second to last page of the book. (Gag!) Why does love always have to be requited? Rosie was superfluous, futureless, and single. In short, ripe for death. (Sorry single folks.) Why drag out this pointless battle and save everybody?
Only advantage to her not-death: that kiss was Quite unexpected.
October 21, 2021
Although Spindle's End has the same kind of dreamy, vague narrative (with virtually no dialogue) as the much beloved Beauty, I couldn't enjoy it. I thought that the first few chapters were absorbing, hinting at a rich fantasy world, engrossing traditions, and fairies and magicians.
McKinley starts off by introducing charming details, right from the first chapter:
The author is also adept at portraying lively animal characters. One of my favourites was a tomcat named Flinx.
Based on my personal experiences with my own cat overlord, I can definitely agree with the general portrayal of cat behavior.
But despite all of this, the book flagged so much in the middle that I almost abandoned it. None of the characters seemed well-developed to me, except perhaps Katriona (a young fairy who adopts the princess) and the lost princess herself (named Rosie). The villain's motivations were of the "Destroy and Conquer the World" variety, which didn't impress me. And the climactic confrontation at the end was so vague and dreamlike that I felt deeply unsatisfied and irritated.
There's a very high possibility that I just wasn't in the right mood for this book, since many reviewers have enjoyed it. I think people who liked the writing style and gentle pace of Beauty could perhaps give this a shot (although the obligatory romantic elements in Spindle's End seemed perfunctory and lifeless to me).
The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like slightly sticky plaster-dust.
McKinley starts off by introducing charming details, right from the first chapter:
If you lived in that country, you had to de-scale your kettle of its encrustation of magic at least once a week, because if you didn't, you might find yourself pouring hissing snakes or pond slime into your teapot instead of water.
The author is also adept at portraying lively animal characters. One of my favourites was a tomcat named Flinx.
Cats were often familiars to workers of magic because to anyone used to wrestling with self-willed, wayward, devious magic -- which was what all magic was -- it was rather soothing to have all the same qualities wrapped up in a small, furry, generally attractive bundle that looked more or less the same from day to day and might, if it were in a good mood, sit on your knee and purr.
Based on my personal experiences with my own cat overlord, I can definitely agree with the general portrayal of cat behavior.
Katriona's theory was that cats were one of the few members of the animal kingdom who had a strong artistic sense, and that aggravated chaos was the chief feline art form
But despite all of this, the book flagged so much in the middle that I almost abandoned it. None of the characters seemed well-developed to me, except perhaps Katriona (a young fairy who adopts the princess) and the lost princess herself (named Rosie). The villain's motivations were of the "Destroy and Conquer the World" variety, which didn't impress me. And the climactic confrontation at the end was so vague and dreamlike that I felt deeply unsatisfied and irritated.
There's a very high possibility that I just wasn't in the right mood for this book, since many reviewers have enjoyed it. I think people who liked the writing style and gentle pace of Beauty could perhaps give this a shot (although the obligatory romantic elements in Spindle's End seemed perfunctory and lifeless to me).
April 17, 2018
4.75 STARS!!
I finished this a couple days ago and I'm STILL thinking of it. I can't even describe how absolutely gorgeous the world-building and magic system in Spindle's End is. The whole book I felt like I was sinking into a soft cloud, or maybe wandering through magical forest with cozy cottages sprinkled throughout.
The writing is "flowery," (sometimes abundantly so) so if you're not a fan of descriptions, this might not be the book for you. But the writing and details of everything are SO PERFECT that I could read a textbook just on this world, with absolutely no plot, and still enjoy it.
But luckily, this book is NOT just a textbook, and does have a plot - and oh, what a plot. I absolutely love retellings and this one was done even better than most. It's not just "another retelling of Sleeping Beauty," it truly feels like the people and places are REAL. I adored all the characters, especially the main trio - Katriona, Rosie and Peony - and Rosie and Peony's best friendship was one of my favorite things in the whole book.
I marked it a down .25 of a star because the writing sometimes (rarely, but still) is SO detailed and dense that I got slightly confused with what was being said/what was happening. However, this hardly ever happened and the uniqueness of the book made up for it. Overall the writing is awesome and the characters are awesome and EVERYTHING IS AWESOME.
Final recap: read this book. It's immersive and gorgeous!
I finished this a couple days ago and I'm STILL thinking of it. I can't even describe how absolutely gorgeous the world-building and magic system in Spindle's End is. The whole book I felt like I was sinking into a soft cloud, or maybe wandering through magical forest with cozy cottages sprinkled throughout.
The writing is "flowery," (sometimes abundantly so) so if you're not a fan of descriptions, this might not be the book for you. But the writing and details of everything are SO PERFECT that I could read a textbook just on this world, with absolutely no plot, and still enjoy it.
But luckily, this book is NOT just a textbook, and does have a plot - and oh, what a plot. I absolutely love retellings and this one was done even better than most. It's not just "another retelling of Sleeping Beauty," it truly feels like the people and places are REAL. I adored all the characters, especially the main trio - Katriona, Rosie and Peony - and Rosie and Peony's best friendship was one of my favorite things in the whole book.
I marked it a down .25 of a star because the writing sometimes (rarely, but still) is SO detailed and dense that I got slightly confused with what was being said/what was happening. However, this hardly ever happened and the uniqueness of the book made up for it. Overall the writing is awesome and the characters are awesome and EVERYTHING IS AWESOME.
Final recap: read this book. It's immersive and gorgeous!
July 28, 2010
This book was alright, and I would probably recommend it to a friend who enjoys this genre as much as I do. My issue with this book is much the same as the one I had with the author's "Rose Daughter". Instead of being a good, old-fashioned retelling and expansion of the Sleeping Beauty story, the author added way too many random magical elements that made it hard to find the actual original story anywhere.
The main character, Rosie, is also a very loose translation of the original Briar Rose. She is a tomboy and keeps her beautiful golden hair cut short. She works as a blacksmith and talks to animals. She is not beautiful, but her friend is. And that was the big problem. Her friend ends up being the Sleeping Beauty in the story. Her friend ends up with the prince, not Rosie. Rosie is supposed to be Sleeping Beauty, but in a twist ending, it is transferred to her friend? Which would have been fine if the story was about her friend.
I did like the May-December romance between Rosie and the town's blacksmith, but why not just make a book about a tomboy named Rosie who can talk to animals and falls in love with the town's blacksmith? Why make it a reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty story? It did not make sense to me. They should have been two separate stories.
The main character, Rosie, is also a very loose translation of the original Briar Rose. She is a tomboy and keeps her beautiful golden hair cut short. She works as a blacksmith and talks to animals. She is not beautiful, but her friend is. And that was the big problem. Her friend ends up being the Sleeping Beauty in the story. Her friend ends up with the prince, not Rosie. Rosie is supposed to be Sleeping Beauty, but in a twist ending, it is transferred to her friend? Which would have been fine if the story was about her friend.
I did like the May-December romance between Rosie and the town's blacksmith, but why not just make a book about a tomboy named Rosie who can talk to animals and falls in love with the town's blacksmith? Why make it a reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty story? It did not make sense to me. They should have been two separate stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 12, 2018
I wanted to like this, I really did. Robin McKinley was one of my favorite childhood authors, so I felt like it was time to read some of her novels that I haven't read. Here's the thing about Robin McKinley, her books are either amazing ("Sunshine", "Hero and the Crown", "Beauty") or quite frankly just suck. Unfortunately, this book falls into the latter.
Spindle's End is a retelling of the story of "Sleeping Beauty" and by retelling I mean like borderline plagiarizing (think Melania & Michelle Obama's speeches). Almost nothing in the story is really that creative. That said, I absolutely enjoyed the first 75 pages or so. Her world-building is great and really gives a sound base for her to build her story off of. The only thing is, the story really doesn't take off. The characters really don't evolve. Everything basically stays the same with absolutely no action. And, her writing becomes over-descriptive to the point where you want to smack the editor for not doing a better job.
Although this is a retelling, the ending was beyond predictable (I know this is somewhat expected when reading a retelling). I would just pass on this one. I have a feeling Robin and I won't be seeing too much of each other for a little while.
Spindle's End is a retelling of the story of "Sleeping Beauty" and by retelling I mean like borderline plagiarizing (think Melania & Michelle Obama's speeches). Almost nothing in the story is really that creative. That said, I absolutely enjoyed the first 75 pages or so. Her world-building is great and really gives a sound base for her to build her story off of. The only thing is, the story really doesn't take off. The characters really don't evolve. Everything basically stays the same with absolutely no action. And, her writing becomes over-descriptive to the point where you want to smack the editor for not doing a better job.
Although this is a retelling, the ending was beyond predictable (I know this is somewhat expected when reading a retelling). I would just pass on this one. I have a feeling Robin and I won't be seeing too much of each other for a little while.
July 15, 2014
There was much I liked about this book, and much I was frustrated with. First I felt it was too long. This is a bad sign. If the book is irresistible, I don't mind if it goes on and on. But this one was tricky, full of rogue magic that changed things willy nilly and was hard to control, characters that likewise changed prominence back and forth throughout the story, endless animal names without helpful reference points (how I am supposed to remember which was a dog, fox, cat, horse, owl, whatever?), and sentences that wander all over the place without necessarily coming back to the point it started out with. That same problem became bigger across pages--one paragraph would start a point, the next would flash back to give some history or missing background info, and at some point the story would revert to the present, but it was not always easy to tell when that happened. Despite these frustrations, I still enjoyed McKinley's imagination, her wonderful created worlds of fantasy, and the fleshing out of the Sleeping Beauty story, though told much differently than you've ever heard it before.
February 11, 2010
This is total comfort reading for me. Like being wrapped in a big fluffy blanket of fairy tales. Fairy tale retellings are the best. All the romance and fantasy with much less of the sexism.
The magic in this book is a little woojy, and maybe that was McKinley's intention, but it makes it hard for me to visualize the scenes that are mostly about magic. The setting the rest of the time is wonderful and easy to picture.
Evil contains the seeds of its own destruction. Family is less about blood than about love. Fish don't exist.
The magic in this book is a little woojy, and maybe that was McKinley's intention, but it makes it hard for me to visualize the scenes that are mostly about magic. The setting the rest of the time is wonderful and easy to picture.
Evil contains the seeds of its own destruction. Family is less about blood than about love. Fish don't exist.
dnf
August 6, 2025this was very cute and charming in the first half but the weird age gap romance is no for me 😐i kind of lost the desire to finish it lol
January 9, 2019
Okay, I'm going to start this review even though I'm near the end. The whole book is so clumsy. The writing was atrocious right away, with a ton of parentheses occurring in every paragraph and countless ellipses and pauses and just terrible sentence structure. Then there's the plot which just drags. The whole plot leading up to the princess's 21st birthday is just a whole lot of nothing. And then we finally get there, and EVEN THEN there are strange, obscure, unnecessary nothings happening. JUST GET TO THE POINT. In fact, there are many strange and obscure things that are never explained. Strange and obscure things are fine--unless they just lead to confusion and add to the bad writing of the book. It's agonizing to read and I just want it to be over with.
After finishing the book an hour or two later
I hate this book. Everything about it, really. The ending was rather stupid and annoyingly what modern feminists would call "woman empowering" (but is it? is it really though?).
Also, the book never gave a reason why Pernicia was so hell-bent on having her revenge or why being the princess or royalty was so important. It all felt like McKinley was building up a grand story on no foundation.
This book was selected as my worst book of the year
After finishing the book an hour or two later
I hate this book. Everything about it, really. The ending was rather stupid and annoyingly what modern feminists would call "woman empowering" (but is it? is it really though?).
Also, the book never gave a reason why Pernicia was so hell-bent on having her revenge or why being the princess or royalty was so important. It all felt like McKinley was building up a grand story on no foundation.
This book was selected as my worst book of the year
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