false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170900108m/77368.jpg 77368 16 Renowned fantasy writer Robin McKinley, author of the lush "Beauty and the Beast" retellings <I>Beauty</I> and <I>Rose Daughter</I>, 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.<p> 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) <I>--Jennifer Hubert</I> 2984336 2000 Spindle's End total:3359|5:708|4:1221|3:1082|2:269|1:79| 3359 12287 4527 352 5 7 false false Mon Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 13:21:44 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 16:44:55 -0700 2008
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 h...more...]]> 4 3 false false Sun Jun 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 20:30:25 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 09:36:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 2 false false Sun Jun 20 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Fri May 02 12:55:40 -0700 2008 Sat May 03 01:56:39 -0700 2008
I slightly disagree. Possibly there are good ideas somewhere in this book, however, the terrible wr...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 19:55:55 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 01 09:28:09 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jun 12 14:23:37 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 14:34:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Mar 31 11:06:38 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 31 11:18:51 -0700 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 l...more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri Feb 29 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 18 10:48:27 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 02 21:08:59 -0800 2008 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 p...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Mar 29 10:49:51 -0700 2007 Thu Mar 29 10:58:55 -0700 2007 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....more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Mar 21 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Mar 22 14:52:41 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 22 14:53:24 -0700 2008 Beauty which starts out as a retelling of sleeping beauty and turns into an amalgamation of fairly tales. The characters were compelling, but I just didn't find the plot as involved as I had hoped. I think tha...more...]]> 4 2 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2000 Mon Sep 24 22:10:27 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 21:23:26 -0700 2007 I really enjoyed the story until the confrontation with the evil fairy Pernicia...more...]]> 0 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 09 22:09:28 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 07 20:39:24 -0800 2008 ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 04:35:11 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 04:39:45 -0700 2008 Beauty and the Beast) by this author when I was at BYU and really enjoyed it. My friends Robin & Camille lent me this book and The Hero and the Crown (which I will read next).

This is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. It was great! It had a lot of depth and ch...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 14:21:23 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 14:27:56 -0800 2008
To counteract this funk, I've been reading a lot of easy books, children's books, trashy books, anything that doesn't take too much brain p...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 14:15:06 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 14:15:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Aug 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 10:55:57 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 11:22:29 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Feb 07 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jun 18 19:38:06 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 19:38:06 -0700 2009 The Hero and the Crown and Beauty and I enjoyed both of them. Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and Spindle’s End, as you may have guessed, is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. I enjoy reading differe...more...]]> 4 0 true false Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 03:14:24 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 03:47:33 -0700 2009 once more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 17 16:35:23 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 18:42:28 -0800 2009 There was hardly any dialogue, which didn't particularly bother me. There were parts that just didn't seem to fit in with the story. About a third of the book is from one characters point of...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 11:04:07 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 13:00:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 16:33:18 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 16:35:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=77368