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Spinners
Elaborates on the events recounted in the fairy tale, "Rumpelstiltskin," in which a strange little man helps a miller's daughter spin straw into gold for the king on the condition that she will give him her first-born child. Reprint.
197 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1999
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About the author
Donna Jo Napoli
138 books1,112 followersDonna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's and YA fiction. She loves to garden and bake bread, and even dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
At various times her house and yard have been filled with dogs, cats, birds, and rabbits. For thirteen years she had a cat named Taxi, and liked to go outside and call, "Taxi!" to make the neighbors wonder. But dear dear Taxi died in 2009.
She has five children, seven grandchildren, and currently lives outside Philadelphia. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She has since taught linguistics at Smith College, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Swarthmore College. It was at UM that she earned tenure (in 1981) and became a full professor (in 1984). She has held visiting positions at the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of Geneva (Switzerland), Capital Normal University of Beijing (China), the University of Newcastle (UK), the University of Venice at Ca' Foscari (Italy), and the Siena School for the Liberal Arts (Italy) as well as lectured at the University of Sydney (Australia), Macquarie University (Australia), the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), and the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) and held a fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. In the area of linguistics she has authored, coauthored, edited, or coedited 17 books, ranging from theoretical linguistics to practical matters in language structure and use, including matters of interest to d/Deaf people. She has held grants and fellowships from numerous sources, including the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mellon Foundation, the Sloan Foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
December 11, 2020
Donna Jo Napoli retells the folktale of Rumpelstiltskin here, with lots of luscious and presumably historically accurate details about spinning by hand, dished out to you with a large dose of really bad choices and personal tragedy.
We begin with a poor young tailor, so desperate to marry the beautiful girl he loves that he steals a valuable spinning wheel to make his beloved a golden wedding dress out of straw. He succeeds, but in the process he madly (and magically) spins himself into becoming a repulsive-looking cripple, with an equally repellant attitude. His lover is quickly married off to a prosperous miller instead.
Years later Saskia, the daughter of the miller (who is now a drunken widower) takes up the trade of spinning, creating marvelous skeins of yarn. But she runs afoul of a king with a desire for more gold and a belief that Saskia can spin it for him, as well as the crippled tailor.
Initially I thought that this retelling . It's rather dismal for everyone involved, but at least there's some lovely writing to make you feel better?
Content note: The book begins with a post-lovemaking scene. Despite what another reviewer says, it's really not explicit. But if the mention of two unmarried lovers being naked together is a showstopper for you, be advised.
We begin with a poor young tailor, so desperate to marry the beautiful girl he loves that he steals a valuable spinning wheel to make his beloved a golden wedding dress out of straw. He succeeds, but in the process he madly (and magically) spins himself into becoming a repulsive-looking cripple, with an equally repellant attitude. His lover is quickly married off to a prosperous miller instead.
Years later Saskia, the daughter of the miller (who is now a drunken widower) takes up the trade of spinning, creating marvelous skeins of yarn. But she runs afoul of a king with a desire for more gold and a belief that Saskia can spin it for him, as well as the crippled tailor.
Initially I thought that this retelling . It's rather dismal for everyone involved, but at least there's some lovely writing to make you feel better?
Content note: The book begins with a post-lovemaking scene. Despite what another reviewer says, it's really not explicit. But if the mention of two unmarried lovers being naked together is a showstopper for you, be advised.
Read
August 3, 2012ATTENTION YOUNG READERS:
This book starts off with a sex scene. Like, all out, sex scene.
If you, like me highly disapprove/ do not read this kind of stuff, DO NOT read his book.
I must admit, I didn't finish it. Which is why I'm not rating it. I don't care how amazing the rest of the book is, I don't read this kind of stuff.
I'm 14, and I DON'T recommend this book.
This book starts off with a sex scene. Like, all out, sex scene.
If you, like me highly disapprove/ do not read this kind of stuff, DO NOT read his book.
I must admit, I didn't finish it. Which is why I'm not rating it. I don't care how amazing the rest of the book is, I don't read this kind of stuff.
I'm 14, and I DON'T recommend this book.
June 23, 2015
I expected something...different than I got with this book. I enjoyed the descriptions of the various yarns Saskia creates, and I felt that the authors did a good amount of research regarding spinning. I also found some of the twists they put into the story to be interesting. However, there were a few things that just didn't work for me.
I am not fond of the third person present tense as a point of view for literature in general. While it can be done well, it usually feels stilted and awkward. It also makes it difficult to get any real sense of the passage of time within the story.
They fleshed out the characters of the miller and Rumpelstiltskin, but the king remains solely a one-dimensional individual, unknowable and ultimately forgettable. This isn't really different from the original fairy tale, but I still found it disappointing, largely because the authors did take time to flesh out the other characters and add new people to the story.
Finally, the ending just bothered me. The book just stops without any attempt to resolve things, without providing any sort of denouement or conclusion. I realize this isn't much different than the original fairy tale, but we're looking at a retelling, not the original. Meaning they don't have to hold strictly to type.
I am not fond of the third person present tense as a point of view for literature in general. While it can be done well, it usually feels stilted and awkward. It also makes it difficult to get any real sense of the passage of time within the story.
They fleshed out the characters of the miller and Rumpelstiltskin, but the king remains solely a one-dimensional individual, unknowable and ultimately forgettable. This isn't really different from the original fairy tale, but I still found it disappointing, largely because the authors did take time to flesh out the other characters and add new people to the story.
Finally, the ending just bothered me. The book just stops without any attempt to resolve things, without providing any sort of denouement or conclusion. I realize this isn't much different than the original fairy tale, but we're looking at a retelling, not the original. Meaning they don't have to hold strictly to type.
July 8, 2022
Beautiful. Quiet, poignant, both thoughtful and thought-provoking. Would be terrific for book discussion, at least among people who are willing to admit that love, intimacy & reproduction are parts of life. I particularly appreciated that this was told from a male pov, and is, at heart, a love story. What is love, what does it mean to have it, what does it do to you if you don't have it, how can you show it, how can you gain it?
I might have to read it again someday. I definitely want to read (even) more by Napoli.
Reread. This time I am peeved.
I might have to read it again someday. I definitely want to read (even) more by Napoli.
Reread. This time I am peeved.
February 1, 2010
I like retellings of fairy tales, but I have discovered that there's always something unsatisfying about the ones by Donna Jo Napoli. I think this is the third one of hers I've read. You'd think I'd learn. This book has an interesting twist on the story of
Rumplestiltskin, but in the end, it left me cold. If you want a version of that traditional tale, try Curse as Dark as Gold. I thought it was much, much better.
Rumplestiltskin, but in the end, it left me cold. If you want a version of that traditional tale, try Curse as Dark as Gold. I thought it was much, much better.
May 3, 2008
This week when I went to the library I found so many books I wanted to read, that I couldn’t get them all out! I have already finished the first, Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli and Richard Tchen. It is a re-telling of the story of Rumpelstiltskin that is both humanizing and a little magical too.
Rumpelstiltskin is the tale of a young peasant girl, a millers daughter who spins fine yarn. So fine that her father is always boasting of her. One day he goes too far and boasts that she could spin straw in to gold, the king hears of this and commands the young girl spin a whole room full of straw in to gold for him, or she will die. A little dwarf comes to her in the night and promises to spin the straw in to gold if she will give him something, this happens for three consecutive nights. First she gives him her necklace, then her ring and finally she promises him her firstborn child. When the king decides to marry her and they have a child they do not want to give it up, so the dwarf sets one final task - to guess his name, which is of course, Rumpelstiltskin.
In Spinners there is no little dwarf, wicked and cruel, but a man. The Spinner lost the one he loved and was crippled in the process of trying to win her. In the end he just longs for human love and companionship. The young girl, who’s father boasts of her amazing talent, is still a victim of the story but she is resourceful and intelligent and kind. I was quite inspired by how she deals with all the hardships presented to her. It really is a beautiful retelling, though it makes for a sad story. Apparantly the author learnt to spin herself, so that she could make the tale as real as possible. I would love to read some of her other fairy tales too.
Rumpelstiltskin is the tale of a young peasant girl, a millers daughter who spins fine yarn. So fine that her father is always boasting of her. One day he goes too far and boasts that she could spin straw in to gold, the king hears of this and commands the young girl spin a whole room full of straw in to gold for him, or she will die. A little dwarf comes to her in the night and promises to spin the straw in to gold if she will give him something, this happens for three consecutive nights. First she gives him her necklace, then her ring and finally she promises him her firstborn child. When the king decides to marry her and they have a child they do not want to give it up, so the dwarf sets one final task - to guess his name, which is of course, Rumpelstiltskin.
In Spinners there is no little dwarf, wicked and cruel, but a man. The Spinner lost the one he loved and was crippled in the process of trying to win her. In the end he just longs for human love and companionship. The young girl, who’s father boasts of her amazing talent, is still a victim of the story but she is resourceful and intelligent and kind. I was quite inspired by how she deals with all the hardships presented to her. It really is a beautiful retelling, though it makes for a sad story. Apparantly the author learnt to spin herself, so that she could make the tale as real as possible. I would love to read some of her other fairy tales too.
May 1, 2009
Dark retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin turns out to be a spindler who cripples himself spinning straw into gold for the woman he loves. His subsequent life is loveless and lonely, so the baby he later demands from the young queen is an attempt to fill the void in his life. Touching and moving story, but Napoli always sucks the magic out of fairy tales. This one is grimmer than Grim.
April 6, 2020
I am not ok. i am not ok. i. am. not. ok.
January 4, 2010
I really did not enjoy this book and here is why. I recognize that it is a good story that will appeal to many people. A retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. However, I found Napoli's writing too bland and the story lacked any page-turning elements. The set-up was a little twisted, but this was almost completely lost in innuendo. None of the characters held names of their own, except the horrible nickname set upon the shriveled little man himself. And why this nickname was so horrible was lost on me, as the reasoning was never explained. Overall, dull, strange, and not to my taste. I am being harsh. Some may like this, but if your looking for another Robin McKinley or Gail Carson Levine, you are looking in the wrong place. This book will probably not, in my opinion, get a young one to read.
September 24, 2019
You know what? Donna Jo Napoli's books are kinda like this:
They start with a bang (lol, did I just make an excellent pun or what?), they move ahead with full steam, with whistling and rattling, and then it all crashes into a wall and everything ends. Cheerful, amirite?
In my opinion, Spinners was going great. It was dark, like all her books, full of misery and suffering and tragedy. The characters were complex, the fairytale connections were delicious, the momentum of the book was incredible. But like her other work, this one too ended in an unceremonious fashion.
It feels like all that build up was for nothing in the end. Why flesh out Rumplestitlskin so brilliantly if it wasn't going to matter after all? He was written as a sympathetic character, pitiful but full of humanity, twisted by a fateful curse that he unintentionally brought upon himself. He deserved, if not a happy ending, than at least a non-tragic, unopen one.
I would have given this four stars but for the anticlimactic end.
February 5, 2010
Donna Jo Napoli's adaptation of Rumpelstiltskin, Spinners, is written for the young adult reader. Although Napoli has written many versions of traditional literature, I felt that her take on Rumpelstiltskin was weak and left much to be desired. The story is told six parts, beginning with a love story of a spinner and a beautiful woman that also spins and ending with the known Rumpelstiltskin guess my name in three night's try episode. The main characters are all interconnected through familial relationships; the beautiful spinner at the beginning becomes pregnant out of wedlock and after not surviving childbirth her daughter's story is told. There were several weaknesses of this book ranging from the writing itself, to the lack of characterization making it difficult to know who was who, and some potentially controversial content. Within the first two pages a scene of the spinner and his beautiful maiden unfolds after they have just made love and are waking the next morning. In addition, the daughter of the two spinners, Saskia, is raised by the man her mother marries who is a drunk and uses her for his own gain. Also the last few parts has Saskia's real father, Rumpelstiltskin, vying for her child (his grandchild) in return for spinning her straw into gold. I may have forgotten the original story of Rumpelstitskin, and this weird father/daughter/grandchild situation may have always been, but it gave me the chills as a reader. I feel like Napoli had several ideas of how to direct this story, but none of them worked. I would not recommend this book for use in the classroom, and would actually dissuade readers from picking up this weak version of a traditional tale.
January 11, 2024
3.5 stars, rounded up for nostalgia.
This is not a gentle retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It's pretty cruel with selfish characters, some moments that are genuinely creepy and/or kinda gross, and an ending that's as abrupt as the original tale. This....is not a book for everyone.
But, it's one of the first fairy tale retellings I read in my youth, so there's always going to be something magical about this book for me. DJN's writing style of short halting sentences is something that I probably wouldn't enjoy if I read it for the first time nowadays, but I still find myself enthralled by the imagery that she weaves. This book in particular makes me want to learn how to spin yarn, as the descriptions of Saskia's fruit, grass, and flower laden threads always sound so enticing.
This is the first time I've reread this in the twelve years since I joined Goodreads (and it was probably some years before that), so I reread it to see if I still wanted to own my copy. And I have to say....yeah, I'm going to hold onto this. It's not the best retelling ever, but the nostalgia is strong for me.
Now, I need to also reread "A Curse Dark as Gold" for a more fleshed-out retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.
This is not a gentle retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It's pretty cruel with selfish characters, some moments that are genuinely creepy and/or kinda gross, and an ending that's as abrupt as the original tale. This....is not a book for everyone.
But, it's one of the first fairy tale retellings I read in my youth, so there's always going to be something magical about this book for me. DJN's writing style of short halting sentences is something that I probably wouldn't enjoy if I read it for the first time nowadays, but I still find myself enthralled by the imagery that she weaves. This book in particular makes me want to learn how to spin yarn, as the descriptions of Saskia's fruit, grass, and flower laden threads always sound so enticing.
This is the first time I've reread this in the twelve years since I joined Goodreads (and it was probably some years before that), so I reread it to see if I still wanted to own my copy. And I have to say....yeah, I'm going to hold onto this. It's not the best retelling ever, but the nostalgia is strong for me.
Now, I need to also reread "A Curse Dark as Gold" for a more fleshed-out retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.
March 15, 2011
Oh why oh why do Napoli's dust jacket descriptions make her books so enticing? The story contained in this was much different than what I expected and I really liked the middle of the book otherwise I loathed it. First off I don't get why Napoli uses such short sentances as they read choppily and frustrate me (something a book should never do IMO). Secondly the only character I truly liked through most of it was Saskia. Napoli did excellent job with the spinning terminology which suprised me (I'm a spinner myself). In the middle of the book where Napoli described the different yarns and fibers it was magical to me. Now about the rest of the book: The plot was unique but the beginning had TMI syndrome and the ending annoyed me. The rest of the characters besides Saskia were pretty "flat" and unenjoyable. The setting was fine though it wasn't mentioned much. So though the middle of the book was great both ends were dissapointing to me. I really should just stop reading Napolis books as I've only truely enjoyed 1 of all her books I've read so far.
April 20, 2009
I'm giving this four stars instead of three because I think those among my peers who enjoy fairytale retellings will enjoy Spinners, if only because it's rare to see Rumpelstiltskin retold. (Then again, I might have said the same thing about Wizard of Oz at one point and look what happened with that.)
My only complaint is how abrupt the ending was, and the only reason why I might have given this book three stars instead of four. The authors invested a lot of thought into the background story and how it evolved into the events we recognize from the classic tale. And yet, the story ends just as the fairytale does, without running down as intricately as the rest of the book. While it's easy enough to imagine what happened to all the characters, I still find the ending lacking.
My only complaint is how abrupt the ending was, and the only reason why I might have given this book three stars instead of four. The authors invested a lot of thought into the background story and how it evolved into the events we recognize from the classic tale. And yet, the story ends just as the fairytale does, without running down as intricately as the rest of the book. While it's easy enough to imagine what happened to all the characters, I still find the ending lacking.
June 11, 2010
Have you ever wondered why Rumpelstiltskin is the way he is? Small, gnarled, deformed, and covetous of ladies' first born children? Have you ever asked yourself why that miller's daughter? What compelled Rumpelstiltskin to help her? Spinners answers all these questions and more about the traditional fairy tale. To discover the story behind the story, you'll have to read it.
What I thought: This is another fantastic fairy tale book by Donna Jo Napoli. Her expansion on the original tale is inspired. I especially like all the detail she put in about the types of yarns Saskia makes. For fairy tale fanatics, this is a must read.
What I thought: This is another fantastic fairy tale book by Donna Jo Napoli. Her expansion on the original tale is inspired. I especially like all the detail she put in about the types of yarns Saskia makes. For fairy tale fanatics, this is a must read.
December 25, 2009
Donna Jo Napoli has a talent of taking a familar, but albeit short fairy tale and spinning it into an entire novel. And even though I know how the tale should end, I still hold my breath and read faster to see what will unravel.
Favorite quote: A name is a person, the spinner wants to say. A name is an emblem of worthyness.
Favorite quote: A name is a person, the spinner wants to say. A name is an emblem of worthyness.
May 31, 2011
Spinners is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, and it's not for the faint of heart. I was expecting to be bored by the book because I know the story. However, the writing was hauntingly beautiful. The characters were cruel as well as kind. And the theme is timeless. I found myself transfixed by this magical tale.
November 8, 2009
I was definitely disappointed with this retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairytale. The original story isn't that great to begin with and I had hoped the author would put a fun twist on things. Instead, her version actually made events in the story a LOT worse.
June 21, 2012
1.5 stars
I appreciated the attempt to update the Rumplestiltskin tale, but it was dark and ugly and twisted, with some disturbing scenes and undertones. The writing was nothing spectacular, no humor or wit, the characters were so-so and overall not one I would recommend at all.
I appreciated the attempt to update the Rumplestiltskin tale, but it was dark and ugly and twisted, with some disturbing scenes and undertones. The writing was nothing spectacular, no humor or wit, the characters were so-so and overall not one I would recommend at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 3, 2018
Good retelling of Rumpelstiltskin but the ending—what was that? I was hoping for redemption or something similar.
June 10, 2015
I picked this up because it was a Rumpelstiltskin re-telling and I haven't read a lot of those. Well. Maybe there’s a reason there aren’t a lot of Rumpelstiltskin re-tellings? If you want the short version, this book had promise but I really didn’t like it.
I was initially a little disturbed by the way the book started from the perspective of “the tailor” and his unhealthy obsession with the farmer’s daughter. The reader is made to feel bad for him despite his generally disreputable behavior - it’s as though being in love is supposed to be enough to excuse his actions. I don’t doubt that the tailor and the farmer’s daughter think they’re in love, but when his actions (stealing an old woman’s livelihood, not cool) result in a twisted leg it’s clear that they probably wouldn’t have been able to keep the “in sickness and in health” part of their vows if they had gotten married. And when the farmer’s daughter marries the miller to save her reputation (hello, there was a reason she didn’t want to wait to get married) does the tailor do the decent thing and let her move on? Nope. Pro tip, creepily watching someone’s house is not a good way to win them back. It isn’t until the farmer’s daughter dies in childbirth that the tailor moves on and we finally get to read from the perspective of a character who doesn’t creep me out.
As a positive note for this book, I do really like Saskia. I think she does her best to keep herself together even as her “father” slips further into alcoholism and stops taking care of her. I like the descriptions of her spinning and the interesting yarns she comes up with. I think she deserves a much better ending than this book gives her.
On the subject of the ending, it bothers me that the king kind of casually sneaks in as (in my opinion) the worst villain in the story and somehow doesn’t face any kind of consequences. Sure, "the tailor” who becomes “the spinner” is creepy and deluded, but after his years of lonely wandering he’s kind of pitiable. You can’t help but feel a little sorry for him, and if he had actually come out and told Saskia about his history he might have redeemed himself. But instead things end horribly for him, Saskia is still married to a man who intended to kill her, and both the king and the miller get to go on being terrible people.
In general, I liked the idea of Rumpelstiltskin as a grieving father and the descriptions of spinning. But I wouldn’t really recommend this book.
I was initially a little disturbed by the way the book started from the perspective of “the tailor” and his unhealthy obsession with the farmer’s daughter. The reader is made to feel bad for him despite his generally disreputable behavior - it’s as though being in love is supposed to be enough to excuse his actions. I don’t doubt that the tailor and the farmer’s daughter think they’re in love, but when his actions (stealing an old woman’s livelihood, not cool) result in a twisted leg it’s clear that they probably wouldn’t have been able to keep the “in sickness and in health” part of their vows if they had gotten married. And when the farmer’s daughter marries the miller to save her reputation (hello, there was a reason she didn’t want to wait to get married) does the tailor do the decent thing and let her move on? Nope. Pro tip, creepily watching someone’s house is not a good way to win them back. It isn’t until the farmer’s daughter dies in childbirth that the tailor moves on and we finally get to read from the perspective of a character who doesn’t creep me out.
As a positive note for this book, I do really like Saskia. I think she does her best to keep herself together even as her “father” slips further into alcoholism and stops taking care of her. I like the descriptions of her spinning and the interesting yarns she comes up with. I think she deserves a much better ending than this book gives her.
On the subject of the ending, it bothers me that the king kind of casually sneaks in as (in my opinion) the worst villain in the story and somehow doesn’t face any kind of consequences. Sure, "the tailor” who becomes “the spinner” is creepy and deluded, but after his years of lonely wandering he’s kind of pitiable. You can’t help but feel a little sorry for him, and if he had actually come out and told Saskia about his history he might have redeemed himself. But instead things end horribly for him, Saskia is still married to a man who intended to kill her, and both the king and the miller get to go on being terrible people.
In general, I liked the idea of Rumpelstiltskin as a grieving father and the descriptions of spinning. But I wouldn’t really recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2010
Audrey Byrnes-Tolley's review:
The rumpled man was once able to spin straw into gold--but this gift took everything else he had. Saskia uses her gift for spinning to provide for herself and her father. When Saskia's father boasts to the king that she can spin straw into gold, the circumstances bring the rumpled man to her dungeon. Will the complicated secrets that tie them together save her or kill them both?
This unusual retelling of the Rumplestiltzkin story is written from the point of view of both Saskia and Rumplestiltzkin. Due to some sexual situations at the beginning of the book, as well as its dark tone, it is more appropriate for older tweens, ages 11-14.
Awards:
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist
Junior Library Guild
New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
Carolyn W. Field Honor Book, Pennsylvania Library Association
South Carolina Book Award Master List
The rumpled man was once able to spin straw into gold--but this gift took everything else he had. Saskia uses her gift for spinning to provide for herself and her father. When Saskia's father boasts to the king that she can spin straw into gold, the circumstances bring the rumpled man to her dungeon. Will the complicated secrets that tie them together save her or kill them both?
This unusual retelling of the Rumplestiltzkin story is written from the point of view of both Saskia and Rumplestiltzkin. Due to some sexual situations at the beginning of the book, as well as its dark tone, it is more appropriate for older tweens, ages 11-14.
Awards:
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist
Junior Library Guild
New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
Carolyn W. Field Honor Book, Pennsylvania Library Association
South Carolina Book Award Master List
June 6, 2014
Here's a quick summary of the book:
No one learns anything from the misery. No one builds character. One of the side characters seems relatively happy near the end, but I'm sure the authors are just waiting until the day after the book ends to stomp on her, too.
I get that life isn't always rainbows and marshmallows, but if you're going to put it in print, at least give me, the reader, something to build from. Some moral, or viewpoint that I didn't have when I opened the book. Something other than, "bad things happen no matter what you do." I get enough of that in everyday life.
Everyone is miserable. It gets worse. The End.
No one learns anything from the misery. No one builds character. One of the side characters seems relatively happy near the end, but I'm sure the authors are just waiting until the day after the book ends to stomp on her, too.
I get that life isn't always rainbows and marshmallows, but if you're going to put it in print, at least give me, the reader, something to build from. Some moral, or viewpoint that I didn't have when I opened the book. Something other than, "bad things happen no matter what you do." I get enough of that in everyday life.
January 31, 2015
As someone who likes re-written fairy tales, I was very confused by this book. I am very character driven when it comes to books. There needs to be a character that I like, that I can root for. In this book I didn't really like anyone. All of the characters were cruel to each other at one point or another, and many of the events of the book made no sense to me. A lot of moments in this book had me re-reading the past page just to see if I had missed something. Nope. This book is just nonsensical. And don't even get me started about the ending. I seriously do not understand why it is so highly rated.
August 20, 2010
I found this retelling of the Rumplestiltskin story to be very affecting and sort of sweet- but not squeaky clean sweet, which was lovely. I liked having the backstory of all the characters filled in. Napoli's version of those stories was believable in a fairy-tale context. I read an Advance Uncorrected Proof, so I am assuming that the errors in spelling were fixed by the time the final version was published.
If you like fairy tales with a small bit of sex and violence added, you might want to pick this one up.
If you like fairy tales with a small bit of sex and violence added, you might want to pick this one up.
July 24, 2011
About half-way through this book I realized I'd read it before. I remembered because I absolutely fell in love with the descriptions of the yarns that the spinners are spinning. This book made (makes) me want to go out and buy a spinning wheel and learn how to spin wildflowers into yarn.
Sadly, I'd forgotten how the book ended so I read through to the end, only to remember how much I can't stand the way the book ends. I won't give any spoilers, but I just find the ending terribly and unsatisfyingly abrupt. And kind of gross.
Do read about the neat yarns though. =)
Sadly, I'd forgotten how the book ended so I read through to the end, only to remember how much I can't stand the way the book ends. I won't give any spoilers, but I just find the ending terribly and unsatisfyingly abrupt. And kind of gross.
Do read about the neat yarns though. =)
December 23, 2018
Pretty much the same as the normal story just more description of his past. Honestly I am kinda disappointed I was expecting like a different outcome for Rumpelstiltskin, or a new person, or a different ending huh I don't know something new. Anyway I don't think it was worth my time to read this. (Of course it was all books even the bad ones are worth my time #bookloverforever!) :)
April 5, 2016
I really liked this book and the twist it added at the end of this classic fairytale. However, towards the end i felt as if the book was not yet finished and i had many questions. But, this is how it should end after all
September 11, 2018
Forgot to review this in December 2017! I really enjoyed this fairy tale rendition of Rumpelstiltskin. It was sad, it was sweet, and it charmed me!
June 8, 2023
Blocked most of this out. Thank you, brain.
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