Rating: 
Summary: Really, really cute!
Review: I finished it in record time. I adore McKinley's writings, and her retellings best of all. This one had the witty tone of a fairy tale, with the poignant humor that McKinley is known for. This, as with all the others, breathed new life into an old story. (Cliched, but true.) Who else would figure that just because someone was gifted with a beautiful singing voice, it didn't mean she had to be in tune?What I liked the most was the array of characters, especially the more minor ones like Barder the wheelwright and Narl the farrier, and all the animal characters. Coming in a close second was the very detailed description of the land and the magic and the customs. I feel that I could move there and know what people were talking about! The dja vines, the fairies, the royalty . . . It was all logical and it jumped off the page into a life of its own, as if it had been sprinkled with its own magic. What I liked least was the fact that it ended! Comparisons to her other books are inevitable. I liked it fully as much as Rose Daughter. The tone is similar, if I remember right (maybe a little lighter). It's definitely a lot lighter than the Damar books or Deerskin. Whatever it is, if you like fairy tales, and humor, and new takes on old stories . . . BUY IT!
Rating: 
Summary: A bit self-indulgent
Review: I have always enjoyed reading Robin McKinley's work and looked forward to diving into this one. However, the detailed decriptions and frequent use of parethetical phrases, made the reading rather cumbersome. The Horn review did a great summation and I agree with their comments. It's worth reading, but does not draw one in the way her other writings have before. Her desire to create a strong female hero is admirable, but I think it was a bit overdone.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read
Review: Robin McKinley is one of my favorite writers, and like Beauty and Rose Daughter she capturedme within the first few pages. Like Anne McCaffrey and J.K. Rowlings, she is a woman who's imagination runs wild. I love all her books. In every one of her books she has a heroine who's inner strength has yet to be seen, and that's the best part. I would love to be a writer someday, but I know I could never be as great as her. This book was one of her finest, along with The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, Beauty, and Rose Daughter. I've read all her books over and over and over and I just can't stop loving them. They are the best fantasy books written since I don't know when. Thank you Robin, you're an inspiration to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: A DELIGHTFUL FAIRY TALE
Review: This is the first book by robin mckinley that i have read and it won't be the last. I loved the characters and the innocence that only a fairy tale can give. If you like a good story with fairies, magic, animals, and princess with attitude pick this book up.
Rating: 
Summary: Charming!
Review: With recent efforts such as the brutal "Deerskin" and the darkly poetic "Rose Daughter," Robin McKinley, a masterful writer long relegated to the young adult shelves, seemed to be moving into more adult territory. "Spindle's End," flaunting expectations, appears to be a throwback to the lighter mood of "Beauty," her first novel. Not that this is by any means a bad thing. McKinley's style is graceful, vivid, and in this case, funnier than anything she's written since that first marvelous effort. Rosie--like many of McKinley's heroines--is an appealingly down-to-earth princess-in-disguise, and the author places her in an engagingly realized fairy tale setting with more than a few twists. There are also a few sly references to the characters and settings of previous McKinley novels to divert long-time fans. My one complaint would be that the size of the cast (fairy, human, and animal) and limited viewpoints make full character development impossible, to the detriment of certain key plot points. Peony, the all-too-perfect girl next door, and Narl, the taciturn smith and surprising love interest, probably suffer the most from this. "Spindle's End" won't rank as my favorite McKinley effort ("Beauty," "Deerskin," and the Damar novels still take pride of place, although it is interesting to see how much more satisfying her climactic hero-villain confrontations have become since "The Blue Sword"), but it's still a cozy and entertaining read that I recommend wholeheartedly.
Rating:
Summary: Listen up!
Review: If you have ever been a fan of magical fantasy, strong chracters and loveable stories (not to mention Robin McKinley's amazing writing style and gift for retell beloved fairy tales) this book is your calling! I have always loved the old fairy tales, and in McKinley's new book she does it again, retelling the story of Sleeping Beauty in a new fashion, shedding a new light on the old stories we know from generations of hearing them. Only this time it's ten times better! Rosie, the princess in disguise, is an amazingly strong-willed girl who is in touch with nature, loves her "family," Katriona, Aunt, and Barder, along with her best friend Peony, who would give life and limb for Rosie, and then man she is apprenticed to and falls in love with, Narl. Watching her grow from infant to toddler and finally to full grown woman is a new, interesting version giving the twists and turns of her simple life that you never see in the old tales or the early Disney movie. Each character is real, beloved, and well carved into amazing, desriptive people you will remember forever. She's done it again! From the author of Beauty and Rose Daughter, (both the retelling of Beauty and the Beast) as well as the remarkable Hero and the Crown and the Blue Sword set, comes a magnificent work of fantasy with a base that will touch your heart, and a new story that will warm it! You'll love it!
Rating:
Summary: Compared to the Damar series, a disappointment
Review: Although Robin McKinley captured me with all of her description and feeling, it just did not even compare to The Hero and the Crown. I felt as though many of the parts dragged on and on, and her style changed a lot in this book. It must be called a good book, although I found it a disappointment compared to the Damar series.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Retelling
Review: I found this book to be a great retelling of the original fairytale, with unexpected turns and developed plot and characters. Rosieis such a believable person. You can really get into this story and it will keep you guessing about her fate until the very end. I loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Reading books by McKinley/McKillip is like being Underwater.
Review: Honestly, it's like you're submerged in thick blue liquid, surrounded by millions of fantastic and light-exuding creatures, your senses muffled by the magic. Ok, to put it bluntly, the first half was the best half. In fact, all three of the stars belong to it. The storytelling is great, pulling you deeper and deeper into the tale, the king and queen are quirky, the animals are just as cool as everyone says, and the description of Rosie as a baby is very charming, though one-third of the way thru the book, you are wondering exactly who the heroine is. Robin McKinley spins lovely stories in a manner that is reminsicent of Patricia McKillip. Other people have already mentioned this. The description was rather long and involved; this is true as well. BUT...it all got rather muddled. I just didn't like how things got resolved. One of the horses in the story tells Rosie something along the lines of "I'm my master's best stallion, and you are a princess, and we both are what we are, though we may not want it." I mean, Peony was a peony, but Rosie was, after all, the real deal. This all sounds cryptic, maybe, but the end just upset me. Though one interesting thing to mention is how Ms McKinley's characters, like Ms McKillip's characters, sense the magical solution almost instinctively. It's weird and wonderful to see them in action.
Rating:
Summary: Not McKinley's Best, But Charming Nevertheless
Review: I read Spindle's End full of excitement and anticipation, butat the close of the book I felt slightly let down. With the exceptionof Rosie, a splendid heroine, the characters felt slightly flat. The lengthy description that McKinley uses to give a sense of setting and to set up the plot, seemed far too long and lengthy, and the entire first part of the book could be much more succinct. But it was otherwise enjoyable, charming, and an inventive retelling of an old fairy tale that so desparately needed retelling.
|
