So many books . . .

In this retelling of the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, baby Rosie is whisked away and carefully hidden by fairies for nearly twenty-one years in an attempt to thwart the curse laid upon her by a vengeful evil fairy: That she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and fall into an eternal sleep.

I really enjoy McKinley’s beautiful prose. Her descriptions are vivid and lifelike. However, I found the story in this retelling slow and a bit dry.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: McKinley's homepage Robin McKinley (wiki)

In Rose Daughter, McKinley expands on and enhances Beauty, a book she wrote twenty years earlier. Both are retellings of the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.

I actually liked Beauty, the shorter work of the two, better as I didn't feel that Rose Daughter added anything meaningful that wasn't already there. Part of what's missing for me is the natural progression in Beauty's relationship with The Beast - i.e. from fear to love through trust and compassion. In this book Beauty shows little or no terror at being completely uprooted from her family and forced to cohabitate with a beast-like creature. As a result, her ultimate love for this creature is less satisfying to the reader than it could have been. Still, I recommend it to readers who continue to enjoy the magic of fairy tales, adults included.

Rating: 3/5 Further reading: McKinley's homepage Robin McKinley (wiki)

This is the tale of The Beast -- that is, his life, adventure and experiences before he met Beauty. The world is so vividly depicted I could amost see and taste the world Donna Jo Napoli describes. I wish there had been such great Teen Fiction being published when I was a teenager!

Rating: 4/5 Further reading: Napoli's homepage Donna Jo Napoli (wiki)