Rose Daughter

Rating:
Summary: DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME
Review: I Have read all of Robin McKinley's books and I must say this is McKinley at her worst. Rose daughter doesn't hold a candle to her previous novels. All the other book combined fantasy with wit, humor and demonstrated that McKinley is a fabulous story teller. WHAT HAPPENED???? IS SHE IN HER DECLINING YEARS OR WHAT?? I got such bad vibes from this book that I had to read my most favorite part of the BLUE SWORD to get myself back in synch. Do Not Read this book it is a waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: This is my favorite book.
Review: This is the best book I ever read. When I first started it, I had to stop every few pages to look up words in the dictionary (I am 13 and a pretty good reader.) but in the end it was definitely worth the trouble. After getting past the difficult passages, I finished the book in a day. I have recommended the book to all my friends who like either realistic fiction or fantasy. This book is a great combanation of both.

Rating:
Summary: McKinley is slipping, alas
Review: I am disappointed in this book. I often use McKinley as an example of how to write: her works are clear, concise, and contain vivid imagery. There are scenes in The Blue Sword which, even after 15 years and countless readings, cause me to hold my breath. But in the future I shall have to specify which McKinley books show these virtues.

In this book her imagery is not vivid, it is fuzzy. There is so much murky description that I lost track of the action and very little seemed to actually happen. I had noted this in Deerskin but attributed it to the difficulty of the subject matter. Now I think it might be the author.

Rating:
Summary: Complex and Richly Rewarding
Review: When I first saw Robin McKinley's "Rose Daughter" on the shelves, I thought, "Wow! A sequel to 'Beauty'!" Then, when I saw it was a retelling (again), I, too, thought, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Of course, I read it anyway. It's very complex, and if you read with any speed (I just tear through books), you'll almost have to read it twice to understand it. Also note down any pages where Beauty dreams; you'll need to look back on them later. It was not "Beauty," however. The angle is completely different, from the sisters' temperaments to the mother and her motives, the town to which Beauty's family moves, the Beast and his background and the climax and resolution. Still very much worth the read -- I haven't yet regretted reading a McKinley book.

Rating:
Summary: McKinley tells the Beauty and the Beast legend one more time
Review: McKinley's book, "Beauty", ranks as one of my top ten favorite books, so when I heard that she had written another book on the same topic, I thought, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" I decided to read it anyway and was I glad I did! Although it didn't grab my attention at first (those Pilgrim's Progress-type names threw me off and I kept comparing it to "Beauty"), it gradually sucked me in, and by the end, I was rooting for Beauty to stay with the Beast. I didn't care for certain characters (Master Jack, as one example) and was confused by the differing accounts of the curse/legend/story attached to the Rose Cottage, but overall, I enjoyed it. It did not have the dark, almost evil, overtones of McKinley's "Deerskin", which I was half-expecting, since other reviews have compared it to Donna Jo Napoli's "Zel", but it did have a few. I still like "Beauty" better, but it was well worth the read and I will now be buying my own copy for periodic rereading. However, I recommend to all readers that they find a copy of "Beauty" and read it, too, if they never have. Read them both!

Rating:
Summary: Beauty revisited
Review: Twenty years later, Robin McKinley returns to the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast. The author notes on her original version, Beauty, describe her as living on a horse farm, and Greatheart, Beauty's horse, is a significant character in the piece. The author notes for this version describe McKinley as living with a garden of 400 roses, and roses suffuse this book. I loved her original version; I wanted to love this as much, and somehow I didn't quite do so. It's better than the Disney musical version of this fairytale - McKinley writes a better, more powerful and intelligent and interesting Beast. For so many women in particular, this fairytale sits in the back of our minds, framing our view of the world, though we know it's only a tale. McKinley shows it to us freshly and strongly in both versions, with well-written minor characters and an eye for telling detail - but I liked her first version "best of anything and best of all".

Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Review: This was an amazing book of great literary merit. While it was not a book with much action it was wonderfully inspirational and leaves the reader with a sense of otherworldliness. It has a great twist ending and the description is such that the reader feels transported to a seprate place where anything at all is possible.

Rating:
Summary: A Real Beauty
Review: Trying to describe something as complex and hauntingly beautiful as Rose Daughter is a remarkably hard thing to have to do. It takes your breath away with all the beautiful descriptions. It stays in your thoughts long after you've finished and will leave you wishing for more. Ms. McKinley has really outdone herself here. There is really only one way to describe a book like this...

Enchanting.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but Beauty is better.
Review: I finally got around to reading Rose Daughter and was rather disappointed. I love McKinley's Beauty and knew that this would be different but found it a much rougher read than I expected.

The concepts could have been interesting but the writing (unlike most of McKinley's other books) seemed more rough draft than final version.

I enjoyed many parts of Rose Daughter but, overall, it failed to impress me. If you are new to McKinley's work I would recommend "Beauty", "The Hero & the Crown", and/or "The Blue Sword" before "Rose Daughter".

Rating:
Summary: My Review
Review: This is easily my favourite Beauty and the Beast story - the imagery and characterization outshines anything else. Beauty's sisters are given names and fleshed out...they have strengths and weaknesses, like anyone else. Roses figure heavily in the story - they are a metaphor for hidden beauty and a crucial plot point, and serve to weave everything together.
The only fault in this book is the length. It's too short, and the final explanation of the Beast's enchantment is slightly confusing and a little weak (but the tilt factor gets it five stars anyhow). In any other book, this would be a major problem. But here it's only a minor stumbling block for the nitpicky (like me)...here, the how and why of the spell are minor details. They do not detract from the overall story, which is rich and strange and beautiful. If you have a choice between reading "Beauty" and "Rose Daughter", pick this one.