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Rose Daughter (Folktales)

by Robin McKinley

3.77 · Rating Details · 15,394 Ratings · 862 Reviews

It is the heart of this place, and it is dying, says the Beast. And it is true; the center of the Beast's palace, the glittering glasshouse that brings Beauty both comfort and delight in her strange new environment, is filled with leafless brown rosebushes. But deep within this enchanted world, new life, at once subtle and strong, is about to awaken.

Twenty years ago, Robin ...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published December 1st 1998 by Ace (first published September 16th 1997)

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Community Reviews

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Oct 01, 2015 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale, you-call-that-an-ending, fantasy, slower-than-molasses

This is Robin McKinley's second take on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I'm a lifelong fan of McKinley, but this book was my first indication that her writing style might be headed in a direction that is, shall we say, less accessible to the average reader. I've read Rose Daughter twice, several years apart, but still have extremely mixed emotions about it.

It's slow-paced, it introduces interesting ideas and then simply drops them, the magical part is and always has been confusing to me (f This is Robin McKinley's second take on the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I'm a lifelong fan of McKinley, but this book was my first indication that her writing style might be headed in a direction that is, shall we say, less accessible to the average reader. I've read Rose Daughter twice, several years apart, but still have extremely mixed emotions about it.

It's slow-paced, it introduces interesting ideas and then simply drops them, the magical part is and always has been confusing to me (for some reason that happens with a fair amount of frequency in Robin McKinley's later books), and reading THAT ENDING was seriously one of the most "The hell??" moments for me ever. (view spoiler).

And yet. I enjoyed the characters and relationships between the three sisters (McKinley likes to have the sisters be worthwhile humans; none of that sister-hate here). There are some scenes with animals popping up in Beauty's rooms that are absolutely delightful. McKinley has always written fantastic animal scenes. And fairly frequently I read parts that struck me with their loveliness and reminded me of why I always read McKinley's books, even when I find major parts of them rather frustrating.

McKinley's first take on this fable, Beauty, is a much simpler, straightforward retelling of the tale, and it lacks the elements that make me grit my teeth, always a plus. That one is still my favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling, and probably always will be. But if you don't mind a slower-paced, rather ambiguous fairy tale, you may very well enjoy Rose Daughter.

I guess it says something about my mixed feelings for this book that I've given it a middling rating but I haven't been able to bring myself to get rid of my copy of this book, even though I'm not at all sure I'll ever read it again. On the other hand, it's a nice hardback book that I paid full retail price for, so maybe it's just me being stubborn here. ...more

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Sep 16, 2015 Anne rated it it was ok

Shelves: fairytale, read-in-2011, young-adult

2.5 stars
The first half wasn't that bad....
Actually, mid-way through this book I thought it was pretty good, and I was sure that this one was going to end up wrangling 4 or 5 stars out of me.
Oh well, I've been wrong before.
Several things happened that lowered my enjoyment level down to nothing, and they all happened toward the end.
First, it's not like the pace in Rose Daughter was very fast to begin with, but I was dealing with it (admirably, I thought). You know how sometimes the beginning o ...more

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Mar 25, 2011 Angie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: belovedbookshelf, girls-who-do-things, retellings

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 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 as familiar with Ms. McKinley's second retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. If you have a free moment, it's really worth hopping over to her site to read the wonderful essay, "The Story Behind Rose Daughter." It's lovely. When I discovered she was returning to her favorite fairy tale twenty years later and giving it a fresh new take in an entirely new novel, my skin tingled with anticipation. And not a little curiosity at just how she would give the story she'd done so well by a fresh take and whether or not it would capture my imagination the way the original did. People seem to be very divided on their loyalties to these two books. Some would fight to the death for Beauty and don't give ROSE DAUGHTER a second glance. Others feel quite the opposite and gravitate toward the slightly more lush second version. I've listened to these conversations. As for me, my heart is big enough to love them both. And I am so glad she wrote both books. Because someone who understands and loves that particular fairy tale the way it seems she does should never stop telling it, in my opinion. I would read a third and a fourth version and I will re-read these two for the rest of my life.

Her earliest memory was of waking from the dream. It was also her only clear memory of her mother.

Beauty and her two older sisters Jeweltongue and Lionheart live with their father in the city. Their lives have been rather gentle ones, filled with plenty to eat, soft beds, and the best society has to offer. Though they lost their mother early on, they have managed to make a good life with their father, each pursuing the hobbies and talents they love, as represented by their names. Lionheart is brave and strong and loves riding and sport more than anything else. Jeweltongue knows exactly what to say in every situation, sets people at ease, and sews and embroiders the most beautiful dresses. Beauty loves nature. She loves flowers and gardens and especially roses, in all their varieties and iterations, because they remind her of her mother. Then tragedy strikes. Their father loses all his wealth and they are forced to move to tiny Rose Cottage far away in the countryside. The sisters' talents are put to good use earning what meager money they can and their lives are changed in starkly unimaginable ways. But none more than Beauty's. All her life she's had the same dream. More of a nightmare, really. In which she is walking down a long hallway, uncertain of the mystery she will find behind that final door, but dreading it all the same and filled with the terror that she will both eventually get there and not get there in time. The usual events follow and Beauty takes her father's place and finds herself living in the Beast's home, where his lovely rose garden is dying. But, of course, everything is more than meets the eye, and Beauty will, in the end, have to make the hardest decision of all.

Roses are for love. Not silly sweet-hearts' love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole, love that gets you through the worst your life'll give you and that pours out of you when you're given the best instead.

Sigh. I love this book so much. It is, without a doubt, a more adult retelling of the fairy tale. And I don't mean that there is any potentially objectionable in it at all. I merely mean that you can feel the depth of experience and emotion in the work, which I think represents what the author brings to the tale twenty years after she first retold it. The sisters feel a bit older, a bit more mature, though I always love that McKinley represents them as loving and kind to one another and as in the whole thing together. The Beast himself feels more ancient to me, closer to the end of his long existence, and we get even more background information on how he came to be the way he was and what his interminable penance has really been like. And the love of beauty and gardens and all living things permeates the page in such a way that I, who am the most unskilled and amateur of gardeners, go looking for a spade and seeds the minute I put the book down. The language in ROSE DAUGHTER swallows me up as well. I find myself eternally charmed by the archetypal names and the various village denizens the girls encounter: Miss Trueword, Mrs. Words-Without-End, Mrs. Bestcloth. Each personality is distinct and you can tell that they each have their own vital stories playing out, even as the focus remains on Beauty and her path. Each time I read it, I relish getting lost with her in the ever-changing castle that is the Beast's home, as the words and the corridors wrap their twisty novelty around me and the heady magic that suffuses the place and the world has its way with me. The romance is wonderful and just as it should be. The magic is dense and carefully woven. And the descriptions so visual I can call them to mind on any given day, so vibrant are the impressions they made on me. And the ending, you say? Well, you shall have to find out for yourself. To me, it is perfect. I'm interested what it is to you. ...more

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Aug 12, 2007 Brownbetty rated it it was ok

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 [Book: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, bu ...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Stephanie rated it it was ok

I read this book as a teenager but retained no memory of it. After reading it again, I know why.

McKinley says in the afterward that she chose to revisit the Beauty and Beast story because she had more to say, especially about roses. Well, that's about all she has to say in this book. Lots about gardening, description of stuff, and cutesy-wootsy little animals. Other than that, nothing goes on in this book whatsoever.

The problem with this book is there's just no conflict. All the possible confli ...more

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Nov 10, 2015 Andrea added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fairytale, audiobook

The second of McKinley's Beauty and the Beast retellings.

B&tB is a problematic story - arguably a Stockholm Syndrome romance - but there are other aspects of the story that also interest me, which are brought to the forefront when reading two retellings of the story by the same author. The similarities and differences, and the message we're supposed to take from the story.

(view spoiler) The second of McKinley's Beauty and the Beast retellings.

B&tB is a problematic story - arguably a Stockholm Syndrome romance - but there are other aspects of the story that also interest me, which are brought to the forefront when reading two retellings of the story by the same author. The similarities and differences, and the message we're supposed to take from the story.

(view spoiler)[
Love as a curse-breaker is the first core of this story, and for that you really have to sell the reasons this girl falls for the monstrous creature that threatened her father's life, and then every night asks her to marry him, but cannot explain why. I think Rose Daughter is weaker on this aspect: Beauty has only seven days to get to know the Beast, and spends only a very little time with him and he barely speaks during the climax of the story. Although his roof painting is a wonderful character moment, a lot of the romance appears to revolve around feeling very sorry for a very sad person. In the Beauty version of the story, we are given more interaction, and a shared interest in their love of reading that makes the romance more convincing.

Family is the second major theme. Beauty in both stories is torn between love of her family and (eventually) her time with the Beast. The two sets of sisters are very different - both very loveable, though who can resist the set that includes Braveheart, roaring about, and getting a job as a stablehand. It's easy to read this dilemma as as straightforward allusion to any marriage, separating a girl from her family to go to her husband's house. That's a separation that happens often enough, without any intervention from curses or Beasts.

One major different between McKinley's two retellings is the conclusion. In both stories we have the classic rich merchant falls on hard times, travels to country, encounter with Beast, sacrifice of Beauty, romance, separation, and reunion bringing the breaking of the curse. But Rose Daughter's curse-breaking leaves the Beast in the form of a Beast, and instead of Beauty and her family being brought to the now unenchanted palace, the Beast moves in to Beauty's cottage. This fits in with the difference in the sisters: wealth and the city were bad for the family at the heart of the tale. Beauty was retiring. Jewel-Tongue's words were viciously edged. Lionheart's courage edged into violence. The two elder sisters weren't nice people, and a plunge into desperate poverty is seen as the making of them. At the conclusion of the story Beauty is directly given a choice between wealth, power and a beautiful husband or a simple village life with a man still trapped in the form of the beast. [That last opens up whole reams of questions about their sex life and species of children and so forth...]

It's a very very very common theme that wealth ruins people, but it never quite rings wholly true for me. 'Wealth' is freedom from drudgery and meaningless labour, is a chance to pursue matters artistic and intellectual - and it is tremendously convenient in Rose Daughter that Jewel-Tongue discovers a love and talent for sewing, and Lionheart becomes less of an ass when her pride has been knocked down - and Beauty's love of roses just happens in this world to be a highly profitable concern, rather than an indulgence in a garden that could be more usefully given over to vegetables.

Of course, perhaps my view of power and wealth has been tempered by growing up without it.

Even ignoring the choice between corrupting power and a "wholesome" country life, Rose Daughter is by far the more scattered of McKinley's two versions of B&tB. It interestingly includes its own "two versions of the same story", with the Squire's son producing a dismissive and misogynistic version of the history of the curse - this whole episode provides the reason for Beauty's urgent return and falls flat, feeling artificial as a means of bringing the plot to crisis point.

There are some particularly delightful parts, however. McKinley builds a fascinating world thoroughly soaked in magic. I loved the frog tide, and really enjoyed Beauty's father bringing his horse into the palace with him for company. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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May 31, 2011 Heidi rated it did not like 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 descriptions of the ...more

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Oct 20, 2014 Nikki rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fairytales

Definitely not my favourite of McKinley's works -- I thought I'd like it more than Beauty, and in one sense I do, in that something that bothers me about the ending of Beauty is addressed here and a different sort of ending written. I like the world, the sisters, the domestic stuff that (as usual) McKinley shines with. I liked the castle and Beauty's work there, and the way other little bits of fairytale lore come in (like her experiential seven days spent in the Beast's castle versus seven mont ...more

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Sep 10, 2013 Sluggish Neko rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, young-adult

The biggest problem I had with Rose Daughter is that it dragged in a very tedious way. The main offender was the heroine, Beauty. The reader is stuck with her as she spends a great deal of time alone tending her roses, having nightmares, and exploring an enchanted castle. Unfortunately, she lacks the spunk, vivacity, and humor of her two older sisters and makes everything-- even unicorns-- very dull. The Beast isn't that interesting either. He's humdrum, lacking any kind of personality. When the ...more

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Nov 16, 2008 Nikki rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, fairytales

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

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Sep 14, 2008 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: repeat-reads

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 her other, young adult works of fiction thr ...more

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Aug 03, 2010 Marija rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, tales-myths-legends

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 the blending 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 the blending of nature and nurture with a little attention and care can yield such wondrous beauty was a pleasure to read. Also enjoyed the idea of having sorcerers and witches living in towns, providing charms and spells to help the common folk deal with their everyday troubles, and yet also having them getting into their own scrapes in the process. And did happen to like the idea that the Beast’s castle runs on its own time, different from the outside world.

But, this is also where I believe McKinley made her error. Time runs slower at the castle: A day spent there is equivalent to a month outside its grounds. This only gives Beauty seven days for her to cultivate her feelings and love for the Beast. I can’t help but feel that that’s just not enough time for someone to develop such strong feelings, especially when for Beauty, it did only feel like that short span of time. It would’ve been better if the time factor were switched: one month at the castle equivalent to one day on the outside. This would’ve given more time for Beauty and the Beast to interact. As it stands, her recognition of her sentiments is rather sudden, since her initial feelings towards him were mostly pity and sorrow for his plight.

McKinley hardly includes any interaction between Beauty and the Beast. Beauty meets him for dinner, where they only exchange a few common pleasantries… that’s all. Later, when she discovers the artwork on the roof, he meekly admits he’s the artist, then backs away, never discussing his work, only watches and listens to her observations. This scene could have been beautiful, but it left me ultimately frustrated! McKinley, I felt, took the easy way out, describing their love for each other as more of an internal connection, than one forged by presence and communication, evidenced by the shared dreams, and parallel pain and scars (the pattern of his blood on the floor and her blood on her pillow, and the scars on each other’s hands left by the thorns of the rose). While I did find the idea of this connection interesting… that they’re two halves of the same whole: soulmates, I just wish their characters were more developed and fleshed out—that it was this along with the internal connection that finally brought them together.

Also, I couldn’t really figure out the presence of the squire’s eldest son, Jack. Initially, I thought that he might be a reincarnation of the evil, handsome sorcerer or at least was a host for some fragment of the sorcerer’s spirit, as their characters are similarly described. But at the end, nothing really comes of that connection, and I was left wondering what happened to him after that discussion in Jeweltongue's salon? To what purpose did Jack really serve in the story? I’m not sure how to answer that.

Yet, I did like how the book ended. It sort of makes sense, and reminded me of the final scenes from Jean Cocteau’s La belle et la bête. There, when the Beast makes his transformation from the familiar form to a beautiful and handsome stranger, Beauty seems to have a sorrowful almost uncomfortable look about her… a look portraying the loss of what was familiar to her, the person with whom she fell in love. McKinley seems to take that idea and twists it, giving Beauty the chance to decide how she wants her story to end.
...more

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Sep 16, 2015 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: books-read-pre-2008, books-read-in-2015, book-read-in-2015-reread

(Re-read)

I liked this better than Beauty. At least, most of it. By the end, I was bored and ready for it to be over.

I came closer to believing in the love story here, but not close enough.

And I guess McKinley's writing doesn't match my tastes so well anymore. Too much description!

(Makes me want to read a really awesome Beauty & the Beast retelling, though. The trick, of course, being it has to be awesome for me.)

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Nov 25, 2013 Sherrah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, re-read-in-2010, re-read-in-2013

I just finished reading Robin McKinley’s Rose Daughter for, oh I don’t know, at least the fifth or sixth time. (I really ought to come up with a system for keeping track of how many times I read a book.) I come back to this book almost once a year because it’s just so…luscious and lovely. There are parts I get a little impatient with because it is so lush and extravagant in it’s telling, but every time I turn the last page, I sigh a sigh of deepest and most utter satisfaction. Because it is trul ...more

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Sep 13, 2007 Debbie rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: fairy tale fans

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult-lit, fairytale

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.

Beauty and her sisters, Jewelton ...more

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May 17, 2015 Shadow rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

Reading this book is like watching someone else's dream. Things happen inexplicably and the dreamer is unruffled, incurious. She just moves on to the next strange occurrence. You get a sense of symbolism everywhere, but the symbols are specific to the dreamer herself, and have nothing to do with you, nothing to tell you. The people in the dream are not people at all, they are personified roles and attributes - Bravery, Intelligence, Wealth, Wisdom, Envy - moving through a landscape of Big Town, ...more

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Oct 27, 2015 M.A. Nichols rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy, paranormal-romance, retellings-fairy-tales

I read this immediately after reading "Beauty" by Robin McKinley, which was her first novel retelling the Beauty and the Beast faerie tale. While the first was a straight-forward telling of the faerie tale, with little deviation, this one certainly takes it to more of a retelling. The basic story is the same, but she adds lots of details, background, and magic to the story to give it more life. However, I just couldn't get into the mythology of the world she built.

I liked the beginning. McKinley I read this immediately after reading "Beauty" by Robin McKinley, which was her first novel retelling the Beauty and the Beast faerie tale. While the first was a straight-forward telling of the faerie tale, with little deviation, this one certainly takes it to more of a retelling. The basic story is the same, but she adds lots of details, background, and magic to the story to give it more life. However, I just couldn't get into the mythology of the world she built.

I liked the beginning. McKinley brought in a lot of magic to the story with greenwitches and sorcerers. I also liked that the story started fairly quickly. Where "Beauty" took a long time getting Beauty to the Beast's castle, "Rose Daughter" had her entering the castle around the quarter mark into the book. I thought that boded well for showing their relationship and watching it develop. But it didn't. The heroine spent more time talking about the roses in the garden and the animals on the grounds than she did the Beast. There is little to no conversation between them and what little there is comes from her with barely a word spoken by him. There are maybe two or three sweet moments between them, but they are short, few, and far-between. Yes, he's kind to her, but there is never any basis for them to be in love. Especially, when you factor in that from Beauty's perspective the whole time in the castle only takes seven days.

One of the things I like most about the Beauty and the Beast faerie tale is the redemption of the Beast. He goes from a horrible, mean person to being humble and kind. I like the fact that he was brought low and he took the opportunity to change himself. And this retelling takes that off the table. It's about vengeance and spite with the Beast as the victim in the story. It takes one of the greatest aspects of the faerie tale out.

The story really has quite a lot of magic elements, but they're not explained well or thoroughly enough to add depth to the story. It simply throws in these random things that don't really enhance the story and feel like they're just tacked on. For example, Beauty receives a magic gift from a salamander in the beginning, which was an interesting idea, but apparently all it does it calm her down, like a magic Valium. It seemed strange and unnecessary. When it first cropped up in the story, I thought it could have some cool applications, but in the end it just didn't feel like it had any purpose in the story.

One major issue I did have with the magic was the inconsistency with time in the book. While Beauty is with the Beast, seven days pass for her, but it's seven months for her family. That was a little strange (maybe it's in one of the original faerie tale versions somewhere), but then when she leaves the Beast at the end, he tells her if she doesn't return soon, he'll die. He gives her a rose to remind her of that and tells her when it dies, so will he. She's home for all of a few minutes and the rose dies. So, if that's the case, the Beast would have had to die the instant she left him, if time passes more slowly with him than it does at home.

The writing was very long-winded. I'm fine with meandering prose if it's at least lyrical or well done, but the longer the book went the longer the words took to tell you what was happening. Which is funny, when I realize that when it came to explaining what was important (like the Beast's background), it was too sparse. The author took more time explaining Beauty running through the castle looking for the Beast than it did to explain how he became a Beast. ...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Jen rated it it was ok

Ugh, Beauty is the better of the two re-tellings of Beauty and the Beast by McKinley, hands down. In this one, Beauty is just too dumb and one dimensional for words. All she wants to do is garden. Booooring. I say dumb, because before she and her family left the city, she went to all if her friends to learn how to do important stuff like make butter and cheese and can goods, important survival stuff when going from a city to the middle of a rural village. A magical salamander that is her friend ...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Natalie rated it liked it

I've read two other McKinley books and picked up this book because I've enjoyed her writing thus far. I didn't realize that Rose Daughter was another re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. I was into the book, quite enjoying it right up until the part where the merchant father got word that one of his ships had made it back to port. Immediately I thought, oh no!

I only thought this because I'd already read McKinley's previous Beauty and the Beast re-telling entitled Beauty. In comparison, I liked Be I've read two other McKinley books and picked up this book because I've enjoyed her writing thus far. I didn't realize that Rose Daughter was another re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. I was into the book, quite enjoying it right up until the part where the merchant father got word that one of his ships had made it back to port. Immediately I thought, oh no!

I only thought this because I'd already read McKinley's previous Beauty and the Beast re-telling entitled Beauty. In comparison, I liked Beauty a lot better than I liked Rose Daughter.

Rose Daughter is...complex. That's the only word that comes to mind. I won't bore anyone reading my review on what the book is about. If you've read any of the non-Disney versions of Beauty and the Beast, you'll know how this story goes.

I was reading a few reviews before I sat to write my own. I was glad to see that one reviewer said exactly what I had wanted to say on this book.

Number one complaint is that this book has absolutely, positively no conflict. Naturally, there is potential for conflict throughout the story. For example, Beauty's sister, Lionheart, dresses as a boy and gets a job as a stablehand. Certain individuals guess her identity, but keep it secret for their own purposes. In my humble opinion, I thought that McKinley could've done more about this and added something here to give the story a little kick.

Other than that, there are pages and pages of Beauty waking up. She tends the roses. They bloom. She trims dead branches away from the Beast's dying rose bushes. She encounters interesting things and creatures around the Beast's home. And so on, and so on. By the time I hit page 90 of this book, I must confess I was already getting a little bored. I was waiting for something to happen. And even when something finally did, it was already anticipated. The father takes the Beast's rose. Beast demands Beauty come in her father's place. Beauty stays with the Beast...

*Yawn.*

The only thing I have left to say is that if you decide to read McKinley's re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, pick Beauty or Rose Daughter, but not both. I've already stated I preferred her first re-telling. However, maybe you're one of those readers that like books with a lot of fluff and simple conflict. If that's the case, read this book. ...more

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Jan 10, 2009 Susan rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction-adult, young-adult

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 its original f ...more

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Jun 08, 2015 Giedre rated it liked it · review of another edition

I suggest a new title: Rose Daughter: In Search of Compost. Yes, there is a Beauty. Yes, there is a Beast. No, he doesn't mind the compost—dude loves roses just as much as Beauty does. Match made in heaven. Or gardeners-match.com. The End.

Rose Daughter is Robin McKinley's second Beauty and the Beast retelling. In my opinion, it's a more complex one. I think I liked parts of Rose Daughter more than the whole of McKinley's first retelling Beauty. But Rose Daughter is definitely not without its fa ...more

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Mar 29, 2016 Sarina rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone with a mind for beautiful things

Recommended to Sarina by: Myself

Shelves: my-ebooks, fairy-tale-or-magical, unique, retelling-mostly-fairy-tales

Dear author,
I loved "Beauty" when I read it many months ago; I thought nothing could ever take its place in my heart. Now, after reading "Rose Daughter", I can't decide which one is dearer to me. Robin McKinley, can you decide for me? Which one I like better? Which one I have to love less? Clearly, I have to choose; everything comes with a choice. And how, and why, do your stories have the power to hold the earth in me and move it so fiercely?
-A reader in awe of your magical and beautiful books. ...more

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Oct 31, 2015 Ron rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ebook

Enchanting. Original enough to bring the reader a fresh sense of wonder and discovery. Whatever I tell you will spoil your fun.

Classic tale told in a modern manner. Admirers of fantasy and fairy tales—not to mention roses—will love it. Disney couldn’t have done it better; in fact, Disney did it worse.

Do not read blurbs, reviews, or summaries. Read the book. It's magic.

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May 20, 2016 Juushika rated it really liked it

Shelves: status-borrowed, genre-fantasy, subgenre-retelling, seasonal-spring

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, about three lively sisters and a cottage covered in roses. Once upon a time, this was one of the first McKinley novels I read--and, after Deerskin, it felt insubstantial. But I've read more McKinley since, and come to appreciate her breadth of style. This was much better upon reread, cozy and charming and enchanting; the haunted atmosphere of the Beast's castle is particularly well done. McKinley has knack for finding definitive moments, and Beauty's monologu ...more

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May 17, 2015 Amanda Kespohl rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

Beautifully written, with gorgeous description and deep emotion. As always with McKinley, she was faithful enough to the fairytale to put her reader on familiar ground, but still infused the tale with her own magic and charm. My favorite tweak to the original fairytale was her treatment of Beauty's sisters. They had distinct personalities, and they were good-hearted and loving, instead of being the flat, spiteful paper dolls seen in some versions of the fairytales. The love between the sisters w ...more

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Nov 08, 2015 Carla Soares rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rose Daughter é um reconto do famoso A Bela e o Monstro. Vamos reconhecendo os elementos principais da história que, mais uma vez, se banalizou com o filme da Disney: a rapariga da aldeia cheia de bons valores, o pai idoso e querido que se perde na floresta e é acolhido num palácio misterioso habitado por um monstro (the Beast, que é o que lhe chamarei daqui em diante, porque "besta" e monstro não são a mesma coisa), a exigência da besta, a ida da Bela para o Palácio e o lento desenvolver da ami ...more

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Jul 12, 2016 Ashley G. added it

Shelves: fairytales, children-s-books

Another excellent Beauty and the Beast retelling by Robin McKinley. I still love her Beauty, but this one is different. I love the mythology she gave to roses in this book. This book has a more magical feel as there are pet dragons and greenwitches and garden charms. There's a lot of talk about roses and dreams and nightmares. The characters were good too. I like the the development of all three sisters. Beauty's older sisters weren't awful people in the beginning but they all three had room to Another excellent Beauty and the Beast retelling by Robin McKinley. I still love her Beauty, but this one is different. I love the mythology she gave to roses in this book. This book has a more magical feel as there are pet dragons and greenwitches and garden charms. There's a lot of talk about roses and dreams and nightmares. The characters were good too. I like the the development of all three sisters. Beauty's older sisters weren't awful people in the beginning but they all three had room to grow between living in the city and moving to the their country Rose Cottage. The sibling relationship is strong as well as the sass. I think the sass runs in their blood because their father seems to have a hint of it too. I love dialogue and I do wish there was more of it. But I haven't come across many Beauty and the Beast retellings with a lot of dialogue. Some of it is just the structure of the fairytale as Beauty is alone for a good portion of the book. The middle of the story dragged a little, but, again, there's always a drag in the middle of Beauty and the Beast retellings. Also, the castle was very confusing. I could never picture things clearly, but that may have been done on purpose. The castle was continually changing itself and we experience Beauty's frustration and confusion while she too tries to grasp at what the setting looks like. I do love how there were no italics, even when Beauty's thoughts asked specific questions. I'm not particularly a fan of italics so I like how the internal monologue was played out. Some of the sentences are hard to. . . get through? The sentences, the paragraphs, THE CHAPTERS are so long. The writing has a whimsical feel wherein it is not ashamed to add side notes that detract from the main point of the sentence. It was very different and not an easy read. But I liked what it did for the story. Coupled with the sentence structure and the occasional archaic word choice, I felt like I was reading an ancient mythological story from a magical realm. All in all, it was a good Beauty and the Beast retelling and McKinley's writing style was very fitting for it. ...more

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Jan 20, 2014 Carol Nicolas rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-fiction, fantasy, romance, adult, fairy-tales

Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley, is a gorgeous retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Actually, this is Robin’s second version of Beauty and the Beast. I read the first one, Beauty, when it was first published in 1978, and I absolutely loved it. I’ve reread it so many times that my copy is dogeared, and the pages are falling out. I also enjoyed this version (Rose Daughter was published in 1997) but it is very different from Beauty. It is also beautifully told, with the symbolism of the roses and th Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley, is a gorgeous retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Actually, this is Robin’s second version of Beauty and the Beast. I read the first one, Beauty, when it was first published in 1978, and I absolutely loved it. I’ve reread it so many times that my copy is dogeared, and the pages are falling out. I also enjoyed this version (Rose Daughter was published in 1997) but it is very different from Beauty. It is also beautifully told, with the symbolism of the roses and thorns intertwined throughout the story, but it is a more complex story. The magic is more confusing and harder to overcome. I liked the characters very much. I liked Beauty’s sisters more in this version, and of course I loved Beauty, who is kind and good and loves roses. The Beast was not as easy to get to know, with his cryptic words and dark clothing, but I sensed his deep loneliness. The ending was a surprise, and I had to go back and reread the last few pages to make sure I hadn’t missed something.

Robin McKinley is a master storyteller, and I love her books. At the end of Rose Daughter, she included an author’s note to explain why she wrote another book about Beauty and the Beast: “...Rose Daughter shot out onto the page in about six months. I’ve never had a story burst so fully and extravagantly straight onto the page, like Athena from the head of Zeus. I’ve long said that my books “happen” to me. They tend to blast in from nowhere, seize me by the throat, and howl, Write me! Write me now! But they rarely stand still long enough for me to see what and who they are, before they hurtle away again, and so I spend a lot of my time running after them, like a thrown rider after an escaped horse, saying, Wait for me! Wait for me!, and waving my notebook in the air. Rose Daughter happened, but it bolted with me. Writing it was quite like riding a not-quite-runaway horse, who is willing to listen to you, so long as you let it run.” (pg. 291)

I understand perfectly what Robin means when she says, “If you’re a storyteller, your own life streams through you, onto the page, mixed up with the life the story itself brings; you cannot, in any useful or genuine way, separate the two. The thing that tells me when one of the pictures in my head or phrases in my ear is a story, and not a mere afternoon’s distraction, is its life, its strength, its vitality. If you were picking up stones in the dark, you would know when you picked up a puppy instead. It’s warm; its wriggles; it’s alive.” (pg. 291) ...more

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Mar 18, 2011 Cherylann rated it it was ok

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. There ...more

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May 01, 2013 Larisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, fairy-tale-retellings, fantasy

Hmm, I wasn't as big a fan of this as I was of Beauty, but I still liked it. Robin McKinley's penchant toward including a variety of critters in her books always makes me smile (so sue me, I'm a total animal lover), and I prefer romance to be on the more subtle side. I felt that the way Beauty fell in love with Beast fit her character pretty well.

The only reason this only gets 4 stars (which is really more like 3.75) is, though I love McKinley's many quirks that are distinctly her (as far as my ...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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Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast

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“Roses are for love. Not silly sweet-hearts' love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole, love that gets you through the worst your life'll give you and that pours out of you when you're given the best instead.” — 118 likes

“She laughed at him then, because he sounded like a small boy, not like a very large grown-up Beast with a voice so deep it made the hair on the back of your neck stir when you heard it. 'But vegetables are good for you,' she said, and added caressingly, 'They make you grow up big and strong.'

He smiled, showing a great many teeth. 'You see why I wish to eat no more vegetables.” — 19 likes

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