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Spindle's End

3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 · rating details · 12,137 ratings · 867 reviews

All the creatures of the forest and field and riverbank knew the infant was special. She was the princess, spirited away from the evil fairy Pernicia on her name-day. But the curse was cast: Rosie was fated to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a poisoned sleep-a slumber from which no one would be able to rouse her.

Paperback, 368 pages

Published June 1st 2001 by Ace (first published January 28th 2000)

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Jul 21, 2008 Renee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

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...more

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Catherine Meyer I agree a lot with your review. I LOVED Beauty, and I had a love-hate relationship with this book as I read it. It bothered me that it seemed to take...more
Aug 20, 2010 05:09pm

Renee Hi Catherine - sorry for the long delay in this response. I spent a month moving around and then forgot to go back and reply. Thanks for the post!

I do...more
Oct 10, 2010 11:10am

Oct 29, 2009 Moira Russell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009-50-new-books-challenge

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...more 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.(less)

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Aug 01, 2009 Melody rated it 3 of 5 stars

Hypnotic, tangled and often impenetrable narrative. The briar roses that grow up around the sleepers in this oddly compelling retelling of the Sleeping Beauty legend are a good metaphor for how McKinley's words coil around each other in paths untraceable by me. There are lovely, memorable passages which exist almost independent of the story, one of which I think I'll keep forever.

"What you describe is how it happens to everyone: magic does slide through you, and disappear, and come back later l...more

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Jun 12, 2008 Gloryseeker33 rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All ages

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...more

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Mar 31, 2008 Jared rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, fairy-tales

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 show...more

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Mar 02, 2008 Melissa Rudder rated it 2 of 5 stars

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 charact...more 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.(less)

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Mar 29, 2007 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

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 ba...more

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 22, 2008 Myridian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, noveau-fairy-tale

This is another retelling of the sleeping beauty tale. Frankly, I prefer Tepper's novel 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 that the main reason why I'm not rating this book more highly is that I really didn't feel like the ending lived up to it's promise. The story was ripping right along, and then the end just seemed to drop o...more

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Oct 13, 2007 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fairy tale lovers

Shelves: fantasy, fairytalesretold, youngadult

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 sta...more

4 likes · like · see review

Jan 07, 2008 Krissa added it

What can I say. I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings, which is why I hesitate to recommend this to too many people. It reimagines Sleeping Beauty, which is a pretty bare bones fairy tale, filling it out lushly into this somewhat terrifying seige story, with a lot of thinly sketched out magic.

I mean, basically, if you like retellings, you'll probably like it. And if you don't, you'll think it terrible and be pleased with yourself that you don't like anything as commonplace as fairy tale retelli...more

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Apr 18, 2008 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read Beauty (retelling of 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 characters in it, plus some fun and sad/happy twists.

I love juvenile literature because it avoids the raunchy stuff that most adult literature has. This was not an "easy" read though. It was full of rich language...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Beth Cato rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in, 2012, fantasy, fairy-tale, tale, no-longer-own

In this retelling of Sleeping Beauty, McKinley has re-imagined a familiar world and provided her own deft twists. Katriona is but a girl when she is selected to be her village's representative at the long-awaited naming ceremony for the new princess. The ceremony goes awry when a wicked fairy arrives, cursing the baby princess to death by her 21st birthday. In a whirlwind of events, Katriona is the one who grabs the baby and makes a run for safety. With the help of animals along the long journey...more

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Dec 19, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: worth-reading, light-and-fluffy

Lately, I've been in a funk. Work's kinda been not so fun and it's been so cold and dreary outside, I haven't been outdoors as much as I might like.

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 power.

A retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, Spindle's End was a great book for this objective. Not only was it not particularly deep and layered with meaning, but it was really well written. The language i...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Booknut added it

Remember that great, big, volume of fairytales that lies forlornly at the top of your bookshelf, gathering dust? Well it’s time to dust off the cobwebs, as Robin McKinley’s novel Spindle’s End re-nurtures your love for the classics.

Spindle’s End is a beautifully written re-telling of Sleeping Beauty – but with more twists and turns. Rosie the princess - who’s full name is Casta Albinia Allegra Dove Minerva Fidelia Aletta Blythe Domina Delicia Aurelia Grace Isabel Griselda Gwyneth Pearl Ruby Cora...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Shelton TRL rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Leisurely-paced, strong sense of place, descriptive, lyrical, stylistically complex.

This is a re-write of the classic Sleeping Beauty folktale. This is a good story for those who enjoy folklore and twists to the classic stories. In this tale, our heroine has been given many fairy blessings but none have turned out quite how intended. She also has no idea that she is the princess, hidden since her naming day to protect her from an evil fairy. The truth comes out as the evil fairy hones in on her,...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Jedishampoo rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 21, 2012 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Tween and teen girls, people that like fairy stories with grubby princesses

Shelves: 2012, children-s-literature, fantasy, bechdel

I can't believe I've not read this since I started using Goodreads!

I love this book, it's such a beautiful, gentle story, McKinley at her best. The plot is obviously based around the Sleeping Beauty fairy story, but really, it only starts like it (fairy curses princess to prick her finger on a spindle and die on her 21st birthday).

McKinley writes a tale of a no-nonsense girl, Rosie who grows up in a small village, the guardian of two fairies, not knowing that she is the princess. She is the lea...more

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May 28, 2012 Macha rated it 3 of 5 stars

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...more 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 dmanably 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 McKillop 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...(less)

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May 22, 2012 Nicole Green rated it 5 of 5 stars

Robin McKinley does it again. Not only was the tale of Sleeping Beauty one of my favourites as a child, because of Spindle's End it has been renewed as my favourite as an adult. I absolutely loved reading this book, mostly because the majority of this book is spent during Rosie's childhood, something we don't get from the Disney movie or Grimm's Fairy Tales. I feel like I got to know Sleeping Beauty more and I was able to relate to her as a character a lot better.

We also get to know about the fa...more

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May 10, 2012 Jan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I was in middle school the first time I read this book, and it's stuck with me since. I've probably read it half a dozen times over the years because it's just THAT good! A wonderful twist on Sleeping Beauty, with an independent, courageous heroine who's a little bit quirky and wonderful supporting characters who are a lot of fun. It's got all the good stuff: romance, drama, action, and humor. The world-building is also fantastic! It feels like a combination of the Middle Ages, the Victorian Era...more I was in middle school the first time I read this book, and it's stuck with me since. I've probably read it half a dozen times over the years because it's just THAT good! A wonderful twist on Sleeping Beauty, with an independent, courageous heroine who's a little bit quirky and wonderful supporting characters who are a lot of fun. It's got all the good stuff: romance, drama, action, and humor. The world-building is also fantastic! It feels like a combination of the Middle Ages, the Victorian Era, and Middle Earth, so I see it as something unique. Magic lives alongside normality, but each feeds off the other to create harmony (for the most part).

You can see Rosie's growth from infancy to adulthood - her life as a toddler, the confusion of youth, and the sense of self-possession towards the end. She goes through a lot, but all of her experiences shape her into a strong woman who knows her worth and appreciates the people in her life. I also loved the subplots in the story because McKinley really allowed the reader to gain insight into the important people in Rosie's life.

I absolutely adored Katriona, especially her and Barder's story, not to mention the babies. Kat was an incredible support system for Rosie, considering she was barely out of childhood herself when she had to deal with something so tragic and potentially life-threatening. I also loved Aunt's character; always calm and serene, but I could always feel the intense love she had for her family. As for Narl...WHOO! If he were real and unattached to Rosie, I'd snap him up in a heartbeat! I'm VERY much attracted to the stoic, enigmatic manly man!

When I first re-read it as a teenager (by that point I had a solid grasp of the technicalities and nuances of the English language), I was (unpleasantly) startled by McKinley's writing style, though it didn't take me long to realize that it suited the story perfectly. Sometimes her usage of diction, syntax, and tone may seem wrong to strict grammarians, but all of it ties in well with the characters, plot, and setting. If you're too uptight to deal with that, you won't come away with a good feeling about this book.(less)

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Feb 29, 2012 Stephanie Jobe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Okay I’m not going to ramble… I have entirely too much to do. So much that it is not physically possible and prioritizing shall commence but if I don’t do this it will nag at me because no offense to the world but my personal happiness is more important to me than my Master’s (A sentiment I think Rosie would approve of). Already rambling awesome. The story starts out following Katriona who is going to attend the new princess’s name day. She is the first female heir in a very long time and an evi...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Becca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-2012

Spindle's End is about a girl name Rosie who is actually a princess that was kip napped when she was just a baby. On her "name day" she was put under a curse that on her 21st birthday she would prick her finger on a spindle and go into a sleep forever. Rosie doesn't know her real identity as a princess. Her "parent" or care taker is named Katriona. She decides not to tell Rosie of her identity to protect Rosie. Only when Rosie is 20 does she find out about her true identity. When we finds out sh...more

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Nov 05, 2011 Beth Bonini rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been aware of McKinley's work for years now, but this is the first time that I've read one of her books. As far as I know, she writes entirely in the fantasy (heavily inflected by traditional fairy tales) genre. As one might guess, this is a reworking of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. An incredibly detailed and creatively wrought version -- sometimes to the detriment of the story. In other words, the details can really get in the way of narrative momentum, particularly at the beginning of...more

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Aug 20, 2011 Emily Snyder rated it 4 of 5 stars

Spindle's End is one of those delightful fairy tale expansions, and an excellent addition to McKinley's bookshelf.

SPOILER!!!

At the time of its printing, much was made of the fact that the final, IMPORTANT kiss came not only *from* a woman, but *to* a woman as well. Although the kiss is non-romantic, but practical (more like the fairy tale equivalent of the kiss of life), concerned parents need not worry overmuch. However, in the wake of the social changes happening in the world today, parents of...more

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May 12, 2010 Paula rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the third book I have read by Robin McKinley (‘Sunshine’ is my favourite).

Spindle’s End tells the story of Rosie, born a princess and brought up as the niece and cousin of two fairies in a small town, Rosie does not know she is princess, the reason? A curse was placed on her when she was 3 months old by Pernicia, a fairy who wants on revenge on the royal family.

Katriona a 15 year old girl from the town of Gig is chosen to attend the princess’s name~day where the princess is named Princ...more

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Mar 12, 2010 Phoenixfalls rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: animals, fairy-tale, fantasy, fantasy-romance, high-fantasy, robin-mckinley, young-adult, female-author

This is one of McKinley's strongest works to date, and it makes me laugh to think that she essentially wrote it on a dare. From what she's said on her website, she had no love for the sleeping beauty myth -- after all, the princess spends it completely useless and out of the action, exactly opposite McKinley's usual heroines. The story she crafted in response to the fairy tale beautifully recasts the outside of the tale (the curse, the fairy godmothers, the spelled sleep, and rose hedge) with a...more This is one of McKinley's strongest works to date, and it makes me laugh to think that she essentially wrote it on a dare. From what she's said on her website, she had no love for the sleeping beauty myth -- after all, the princess spends it completely useless and out of the action, exactly opposite McKinley's usual heroines. The story she crafted in response to the fairy tale beautifully recasts the outside of the tale (the curse, the fairy godmothers, the spelled sleep, and rose hedge) with a new interior, upending the usual story into one in which the princess is a real person that the reader cares deeply for -- and a person who is instrumental in her own salvation, rather than a bystander to it.

But beyond the female empowerment coming-of-age tale are the glimpses of depth all of McKinley's best stories have: explorations of what family means, and the necessity of acting with courage and compassion even when it may leave you vulnerable to dark forces. The moments I loved best about this novel are when McKinley shows us that even the best ending, the one that leaves everyone happiest, may still have unexpected sharp edges, little bits of pain that come with gaining a great victory at the cost of something you didn't necessarily value in the first place. The unexpected resolution to the story (even more unexpected because it continues to remain true to the outside form of the sleeping beauty fairy tale) is brilliant and winning and just the tiniest bit bittersweet.

Even laying aside how wonderful the novel ends, it is a joy from start to finish. It has more humor than any other McKinley work, and the Gig (and Woodwold within it) is certainly one of McKinley's most delightful worlds. For those who have read her obsessively (as I have) there are even hints that this is Damar, the world of The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword, many generations later, and it is implied that the princess' mother comes from the kingdom that Lissar settled in in Deerskin. On rereading, I am even further convinced that this is one of my favorite novels of all time.(less)

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Dec 29, 2009 Supernatural Fairy Tales rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fairy-tale-inspired

I was lucky to get the chance to read this book, developed from one of my favorite fairy tale stories--Sleeping Beauty. McKinley moves this tale from a simple triumphal march from baby to princess into a dense tale of the royal politics and motherhood and growing into your own abilities and strengths. While parts of the story seemed more sketched in, the familial elements were clearly and beautifully drawn.

This is a thick brew, with magic as the flour that brings the entire mix together, across...more

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Aug 24, 2009 Shauna rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 rouge 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, whateve...more

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Aug 12, 2009 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who enjoy fairy tale retellings

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, fairytales-retellings

Although the book gets off to a slow start with what seems to be a lot of exposition on how magic works in this kingdom, the book is worth reading. We know the basic premise for the Sleeping Beauty tale. It's interesting to see how Robin McKinley plays it out. I was generally satisfied with the happy endings.

One thing that bothered me was the appearance of Narl at Woodwold. I suppose since it was the least thing that Rosie expected, I should have seen it coming. Then she makes a big deal out of...more

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Jun 18, 2009 Adrienne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-count-08, fantasy, traditional-tales

Spindle’s End isn’t the first book by Robin McKinley that I’ve read. I also read 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 different versions of myths and fairy tales, and this was definitely interesting. However, the main character - “Rosie” in this case, not Briar Rose, like in the Disney version - was kind of annoying to me. I don’t...more

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About Robin McKinley

Born in her mother's hometown of Warren, Ohio, Robin McKinley grew up an only child with a father in the United States Navy. She moved around frequently as a child and read copiously; she credits this background with the inspiration for her stories.

Her passion for reading was one of the most constant things in her childhood, so she began to remember events, places, and time periods by what books...more

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Quotes from Spindle's End

“When they finished laughing they were on their way to being not just friends, but the dearest of friends, the sort of friends whose lives are shaped by the friendship.” — 95 people liked it

“People forgot; it was in the nature of people to forget, to blur boundaries, to retell stories to come out the way they wanted them to come out, to remember things as how they ought to be instead of how they were.” — 24 people liked it

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