Rose Daughter

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, but not for everyone
Review: Unlike most reviewers, I preferred Rose Daughter to McKinley's earlier work, Beauty. I found the style of writing to be eloquent and graceful and the story was more mature and fully explained. I realize that this writing style, rather reminiscent of a mysterious dream, is not appealing to some, but I would recommend this book to fans of Patricia A. McKillip. It is more similar to her style than McKinley's earlier books. It is meaningless to compare it with Beauty when the two are so vastly different. Rose Daughter has an ethereal beauty all of its own. It was an excellent read, symbolic and atmospheric.

Rating:
Summary: She has really changed. Not worth it.
Review: Robin McKinley's style of writing has really changed and for the worse. Her books are now slow-moving and the stories have definitely taken a darker side. I enjoyes her earlier retelling of Beauty and the Beast much better. The characters were easy to relate to and it had a more "fairy tale" feeling. The plot in Rose Daughter is confusing and undefined. The curse was badly explained and it is unrealistic that she would have fallen in love with the beast in under a week while months go by in the outside world. Bottom line: not worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Oh my gosh, where should i start...
Review: I enjoyed reading Mckinley's first Beauty and the Beast novel Beauty more than this one. It was much too long, tedious, detailed, and seemed to drage aimlessly in no direction to end the story. Between most of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tales I've read and heard, this is just another one of them in the heap. Beauty stood out, but Rose Daughter just... sits. If you want to read a fairytale taken story, you may want to read Zel (rupunzel) by Donna Jo Napoli and Ella Enchanted (cinderella) by Gail Levine more than Robin Mckinley's latest novel. They are beautifully written and there IS a point in the story.

Rating:
Summary: Rose Daughter: characters seemed undeveloped, good imagery
Review: I picked up "Rose Daughter" in a large bookstore; I love Robin McKinely's "Beauty" and looked foward happily to "Rose Daughter." But when I read it, I discovered that I didn't like the way the characters seemed undeveloped and vague; I didn't feel that Beauty's stay at Beast's home was long enough, although very well-detailed. The imagery in the book was excellent--I could see and smell the roses. The ending, to me, was also slightly confusing (I had to read it twice) and disappointing. I have to say, "Beauty" is my favorite over "Rose Daughter"--but "Rose Daughter" is worth reading--just take my advice and wait untill the paperback comes out. I now wish that I had bought (which I will) a hardback copy of "Beauty" and a paperback of "Rose Daughter," instead of the other way around.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone has a favorite
Review: I agree with whoever wrote that Beauty and Rose Daughter are different the way that two flowers are different - both beautiful, but with different ways of being so. So everyone who reads both Beauty and Rose Daughter will have a favorite, not necessarily because one is spectacularly better than the other. I have to admit that my favorite is Beauty, but Rose Daughter is still a good read. Beauty and Beast are more deeply explored, and I agree that McKinley has grown more mature since her first try at the fairy tale, but being a sucker for happy endings, I prefer Beauty. Of course, there are other things to like about Beauty too - the characters seem more warmhearted and believable. Rose Daughter's characters are fascinating, but at times a little distant. Read them both and decide for yourself - it's worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: Mckinley has grown, and for the better
Review: Though Mckinley lacks in the description she used in the Blue Sword she has the same affect of enchanting the reader. The reader can also tell how she has grown in the way she writes. I recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully complex and human look at the tale
Review: McKinley has grown up a lot since her first telling of this tale, and her deeper understanding clearly shows. The story has a rich texture, the characters are full and lifelike, and with a loving hand she brings to life the background of the story, making this more of a tale in its own right. It is not simply a re-telling of a tale we all know, there are many surprises, twists, and additional layers present. The book advances with a thoughtful subtlety, with a maturity that knows the tale as more than a bedtime story. Her writing is thoroughly enjoyable, lifelike, and has a tender touch with regard for the tradition of the story as well as the changes McKinley makes in it. If you have loved the tale as a child and now find yourself an adult longing for magic, read this book.

Rating:
Summary: READ
Review: For the second time, Robin McKinley tackles the story of Beauty and the Beast, a story that has haunted our collective cultural imagination for centuries. While I enjoyed Beauty, her first retelling, Rose Daughter is, to borrow a metaphor that unfurls behind almost every page of the book, to Beauty as a full-blown rose is to a bud. This time around, the story is deeper, darker, and multi-layered; everything, from the depiction of characters, to the plot-line, to the imagery, is more extensive. Throughout the novel, one has a delicious sense that most of the story is going on beneath the surface- only certain images, like that of the rose, float up to the top from time to time. Submerge yourself.

Rating:
Summary: The perfect book for the one who always wants to know "why?"
Review: McKinley's Rose Daughter gives a new dimension and a deeper understanding of the characters of Beauty and her Beast and how they came to be what/who they are. Like the classic Phantom of the Opera, McKinley gives us the reasons that Beauty would want to return to her Beast and explains, finally, why the stolen rose was important to them.
This is McKinley's second foray into the story. She first expanded it in Beauty, an earlier novelization. It didn't seem possible after Beauty, but she found an even stronger story the second time around.
While the reading level is for the 9-12 year old, the interest level will cover dreamers of all ages.

Rating:
Summary: How can McKinley do it twice?
Review: I read Beauty when I was in jr. high. By pure luck, I ran across Rose Daughter in October, almost nine years after I read Beauty. I couldn't believe that Robin McKinley could take my favorite fairy tale of all time and make it as wonderfully different as the first time she tried. I love it! It's the same old story of a beauty and a beast, but the twist at the end will shock you out of your mind! Thank goodness McKinley decided to write this great story again!