In the tradition of Beauty and Rose Daughter, Newbery Award-winning author Robin McKinley "lends a fresh perspective to a classic fairy tale, devel...
read full description
reviews
Aug 12, 2007
Brownbetty
rated it: 
Robin McKinley's Rose Daughter tells the story of Beauty and the Beast, which she has already told before, and in my opinion, better, in Beauty. She claims she felt she had to retell the story when she learned more about roses, after cultivating them. Never have I read a book before where I felt so much like the author was simply marking time until she got to the bit with the compost. Manure provides an important climactic moment. She certainly manages to convey what roses mean to her, but sadly
More...
4 comments
like
(8 people liked it)
Dec 21, 2011
Nikki
rated it: 
I'm not sure which of McKinley's Beauty and the Beast tellings I like better. I liked the simplicity of Beauty, but Rose Daughter is a little more grown up, and there's a little more world building, and I went a little deeper into it than with Beauty because it had more depth to go into. I enjoyed a lot of the descriptions and the bits of magic, and the foreshadowing for what actually happened at the end -- although I thought it could have done with more foreshadowing, so that the greenwitch had
More...
4 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Jan 10, 2009
Susan
rated it:
I recommend this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with a disclaimer. I don't know. I felt like the story was beautiful but its slow pacing especially in the beginning, is bound to put off some readers. For that reason I might suggest it to other adults before some teens.
I hadn't realized this is a second take on the subject for her, and as I haven't read Beauty I can't compare it. The story of Beauty and the Beast might just be my favorite fairy tale though, and compared to it More...
I hadn't realized this is a second take on the subject for her, and as I haven't read Beauty I can't compare it. The story of Beauty and the Beast might just be my favorite fairy tale though, and compared to it More...
Sep 14, 2008
Jennifer
rated it: 
I held my breath as I clicked the mouse, selecting this book for the library to "hold" for me. Did I really want to read another obvious fairy tale reworked? Granted, I had read "Beauty" numerous times, recommended it to everyone, purchased it for myself, and was certain it was what Disney based their animated feature around. And just last year I had braved the retelling of Sleeping Beauty as "Spindle's End" and was equally entranced.
I had read alot of h More...
I had read alot of h More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Sep 13, 2007
Debbie
rated it:
Twenty years after Beauty, McKinley retells "Beauty and the Beast" once again. I liked this version better. The writing is beautiful and the story drew me in right away.
Beauty has few memories of her mother, who died when Beauty was very young. When her father's business fails, Beauty's family loses everything. One day, Beauty finds a will that leaves a home called Rose Cottage to her family. They leave the city, not knowing what they will find in their new home.
More...
Beauty has few memories of her mother, who died when Beauty was very young. When her father's business fails, Beauty's family loses everything. One day, Beauty finds a will that leaves a home called Rose Cottage to her family. They leave the city, not knowing what they will find in their new home.
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jun 21, 2011
Donna
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
May 31, 2011
Heidi
rated it: 
what a mess. a slow, painful, overly descriptive mess. it took me F.O.R.E.V.E.R to get into it and then once i did, i found the story only remotely interesting. AND even that was like pulling teeth to get through.
-why does she fall in love with him? because of 6 or 7 encounters and conversations?
-what's with all the animals? and the cat that gave birth on her bed while she was sleeping? gross. burn those sheets.
-i know there had to be some allusions and whatever with all her de More...
-why does she fall in love with him? because of 6 or 7 encounters and conversations?
-what's with all the animals? and the cat that gave birth on her bed while she was sleeping? gross. burn those sheets.
-i know there had to be some allusions and whatever with all her de More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 15, 2011
Rea
rated it: 
I underwent quiet the internal debate as to whether to give this 3 stars or 4. In the end, I felt it just didn't live up to 4, so 3 it is.
The story was interesting, I liked the character of Beauty (and I liked the two sisters - I felt that the interweaving of their stories with Beauty's was very well handled), and it was obvious that the author was very passionate about her subject: gardening.
So why 3 and not 4 stars?
Well, I found the first 25% or so of the no More...
The story was interesting, I liked the character of Beauty (and I liked the two sisters - I felt that the interweaving of their stories with Beauty's was very well handled), and it was obvious that the author was very passionate about her subject: gardening.
So why 3 and not 4 stars?
Well, I found the first 25% or so of the no More...
Mar 25, 2011
Angie
rated it:
I talk about my love for Robin McKinley's books a lot. I know everyone's read Beauty. It was her first book. It's essentially a classic of fairy tale retellings now. And I love it and will always love it for giving me a Beauty who was not beautiful and avoided mirrors at all cost and a Beast with a library of books from all the ages, including ones that hadn't even been written yet. Makes my little heart sing just thinking of it and the way I absorbed it when I was twelve. But fewer people are a
More...
12 comments
like
(6 people liked it)
Mar 25, 2011
Karly
rated it:
While others have tried their hand at "Beauty and the Beast" before, and most have failed miserably, McKinley really outdoes herself in Rose Daughter. This story is heady and enchanting, a fully immersing fantasy wrapped tightly around the fairy-tale. Here, you find yourself swept away by McKinley's mysterious world, an often beautiful, sometimes unkind world of jealous socerery, finicky palaces, and strange cats. Here is a Beauty one finds themselves truly believing in, here is a Beas
More...
Sep 13, 2010
Heather
rated it:
I should have liked this novel better, but I didn't.
After reading McKinley's first novel on the fairy tale, Beauty, I thought it would be interesting to see what she had to say in this version, which is in many ways a separate retelling -- it's bigger, and more complex, and definitely intended for a slightly more sophisticated reader than the first. The descriptions are beautiful, and Beauty's sisters are much more interestingly developed. There's a nice background story to Beauty th More...
After reading McKinley's first novel on the fairy tale, Beauty, I thought it would be interesting to see what she had to say in this version, which is in many ways a separate retelling -- it's bigger, and more complex, and definitely intended for a slightly more sophisticated reader than the first. The descriptions are beautiful, and Beauty's sisters are much more interestingly developed. There's a nice background story to Beauty th More...
Aug 04, 2010
Marija
rated it:
Hmm… I’m not quite sure how to rate this book. Indeed, some parts were rather good—inventive—but as I finished, I couldn’t help feeling a little unsatisfied.
Though, I first must give McKinley credit for being able to rewrite the story and make it seem fresh and original. It doesn’t read like it’s just another retelling of an old fairytale. I like how she infused magic into this world she created. The magic of gardening… the fragility of it all—the preparations and cultivation, how t More...
Though, I first must give McKinley credit for being able to rewrite the story and make it seem fresh and original. It doesn’t read like it’s just another retelling of an old fairytale. I like how she infused magic into this world she created. The magic of gardening… the fragility of it all—the preparations and cultivation, how t More...
Feb 27, 2010
Cid
rated it:
Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairy tale. I think because it was the girl - not a princess - who rescued a man trapped by his own foolishness. In the Disney version it's a prince, in McKinley's later version he is a sorcerer, and you know what? I wouldn't mind reading ten more books based on Beauty and the Beast. I'm really happy that McKinley wrote two! The Rose Daughter follows the older idea, as far as the story goes that I'm acquainted with.
The characters w More...
The characters w More...
Nov 05, 2009
Elisa
rated it:
I liked most things about this book, except for the fact that the beast (*SPOILER*) remained a beast and didn't become the handsome man of the so significant portrait. I kept waiting and waiting for the moment to arrive only to have my hopes dashed by some twaddle about "I love you as you are and don't need you to change". Um... doesn't sleeping with a beast count as bestiality?
I did, however (being a flower lover) like all the descriptions of roses and the way they were su More...
I did, however (being a flower lover) like all the descriptions of roses and the way they were su More...
5 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 30, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
One of my all time favorite books is "Beauty" by Robin McKinley. As you've probably guessed, it's the Beauty and the Beast story. Ten years after McKinley wrote "Beauty" she decided to re-visit that same story and write the tale again in a different sort of way..."Rose Daughter". My Mom had warned me that I'd like "Beauty" best. And she was right. But still, "Rose Daughter" was fascinating. So much deeper, more details, more background into
More...
Aug 12, 2009
Shauna
rated it:
I don't like to read about a book before I read the book, so I came at this one kind of blind, knowing that it was the next book on my list as I work through all of McKinley's published books and also that it had something to do with the Beauty and the Beast story (again). I really wasn't expecting it to be the actual story of Beauty and the Beast (again) as she had already told that in her book Beauty, but it was. So it wasn't until I was done reading, having enjoyed the journey very much (ag
More...
Dec 29, 2011
Laura
rated it:
I remember being at the city library when I was a teenager and staring at the rows and rows of emerald green, ruby red, and sapphire blue book spines and trying to select a book. From the center of a bookshelf, I noticed a white spine with black lettering: Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast. I pulled the book off the shelf and was pulled into a magical, beautiful, lush world of fantasy and fairy tales.
About 20 years later, as an adult, I was browsing the bookshelv More...
About 20 years later, as an adult, I was browsing the bookshelv More...
Feb 06, 2011
Brittany
rated it:
At the back of this book is a kind of apologetic note from Robin McKinley explaining why it is, exactly, that she's written another retelling of Beauty and the Beast. She explains, a bit sheepishly, that though it is her favorite fairy tale, she thought she had said all she had to say on the topic in her first book Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast (which she actually didn't even mean to write in the first place). It was nice to have some insight, but I wish she hadn't sou
More...
Jan 03, 2012
Karen
rated it:
You know the story of the Beauty and the Beast. Of course you do. Disney even made a movie, right?[return]You know nothing. [return]Rose Daughter is a lyrical, fantastic and grounded retelling of the fairy tale. Three sisters, reduced by penury by their father's bankruptcy, remake their lives in a remote cottage surrounded by rose bushes.[return]The oldest daughter disguises herself and becomes a groom to work with the horses she loves, and the middle daughter discovers a passion and talent f
More...
Nov 21, 2009
Kate
rated it:
Reading this straight after reading Beauty was a bit of an odd experience. Having read both Rose Daughter and Beauty before, but not sequentially, I had parts of both books mixed up in my head.
Rose Daughter, having been written 20 years after Beauty is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It is more complicated than Beauty, and quite a lot more adult (not in an "adult themes" sort of way, but in the way the language is used - it's just more complicated).
More...
Rose Daughter, having been written 20 years after Beauty is another retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It is more complicated than Beauty, and quite a lot more adult (not in an "adult themes" sort of way, but in the way the language is used - it's just more complicated).
More...
Sep 23, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 17, 2009
Jayme
rated it:
Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale and I loved McKinley's Beauty which is why I picked this book up, I wanted to see how she reworked the story.
I didn't like this book as much as I liked Beauty but then again I am partial to the idea of a Beauty stuck on books rather than a Beauty stuck on gardening. However, I loved how she pulled the symbol of the rose deeper into the story and how she reworked how the Beast became what he was.
While the story itself was good More...
I didn't like this book as much as I liked Beauty but then again I am partial to the idea of a Beauty stuck on books rather than a Beauty stuck on gardening. However, I loved how she pulled the symbol of the rose deeper into the story and how she reworked how the Beast became what he was.
While the story itself was good More...
Oct 03, 2009
Kate
rated it:
This is one of my desert island books. Every time I read it I fall love with Longchance and its inhabitants all over again.
It's an interesting contrast to _Beauty_, which I think is a much more straightforward rendition of the traditional fairy tale, even though _Rose Daughter_ has more of the traditional "fairy tale" elements -- meaningful names, fantastical creatures, overt and common use of magic. It makes me sad that this version doesn't have Beauty as the traditional More...
It's an interesting contrast to _Beauty_, which I think is a much more straightforward rendition of the traditional fairy tale, even though _Rose Daughter_ has more of the traditional "fairy tale" elements -- meaningful names, fantastical creatures, overt and common use of magic. It makes me sad that this version doesn't have Beauty as the traditional More...
Mar 18, 2011
Cherylann
rated it:
I definitely like the book she wrote about Beauty and the Beast 20 years before this MUCH better. I actually thought this was a sequel to the first one when I started to read it. There seemed to be far less characther development even though this was a longer book. I had no idea why she fell in love with him this time, other then she is supposed to in the story. They hardly spent any time together and when they did, he was kind, but you didn't really learn anything about him besides that. T
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 14, 2009
Jessica
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 16, 2011
Anne
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 25, 2011
06dennicaf
rated it:
When I first saw this book I thought it would be really boring. My sister told me it would be hard to get into. I was hesitant to read this one because I read another done by the same author. The book is called "Spindles End." when I read this I didn't understand a word it was saying. I was pretty much asleep during that whole book. So, why did I read this one? I love the story Beauty and the Beast. I figured it could be better than the other one.
When I started to read this book I More...
When I started to read this book I More...
Jun 21, 2010
Nicole
rated it:
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. There were times when I liked this one more than McKinley's first randition called Beauty, but there were also times where I thought that the first one got it right.
Differences:
-The first thing I noticed is actually the relationship between Beauty and Beast. I felt in Beauty they got a lot closer and I could see her falling in love with him, and in Rose Daughter it really was all about the roses and Beast was more like an afterthought. Sh More...
Differences:
-The first thing I noticed is actually the relationship between Beauty and Beast. I felt in Beauty they got a lot closer and I could see her falling in love with him, and in Rose Daughter it really was all about the roses and Beast was more like an afterthought. Sh More...
Apr 17, 2010
Rebecca
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 24, 2009
Diana
rated it:
I liked this one of McKinley's revision of Beauty and the Beast much more than I did Beauty, her first revision. I won't give away the ending, but I found the ending much more satisfying than her first revision, and infinitely more satisfying than the original fairy tale.
What I especially liked in this particular story was the positive relationships McKinley created for Beauty and her sisters - something I always hated in the traditional tellings of this tale - why must sisters alwa More...
What I especially liked in this particular story was the positive relationships McKinley created for Beauty and her sisters - something I always hated in the traditional tellings of this tale - why must sisters alwa More...
