Rose Daughter [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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I just finished reading Rose Daughter, having read Beauty a couple of times before. In short, I preferred Beauty to this retelling. There were a few problems I had with this novel and in the end, I was not satisfied. One of the elements of Beauty and the Beast that I enjoy is the developing relationship between the Beast and Beauty. Realistically, as in Beauty, our heroine is terrified of the Beast in the beginning. She does not warm up to him nearly as fast as she does in Rose Daughter. I remember a scene in Beauty when she tries to leave her room at night only to find the door locked, and in a panic, bloodied her fists from banging on the door. In another scene, forgive me if I get the details wrong, Beauty asked the Beast to let her go and he denied her. Her panic was palpable - the feeling of being trapped and never again to see the people you love was easy to feel and understand, reading that particular scene. In her panic, she passed out and the Beast cared for her until she awoke. Moments like those are why I love Beauty and the Beast so dearly. I can imagine myself feeling that way, reacting the same way to the circumstances. The moments when the Beast reacted to her sorrow or noticed her injured hands added to the romance, brought out the tenderness that the Beast could express, and made us love him more.

In Rose Daughter, it felt as though Beauty did not feel much of anything. I was surprised, to say the least, of her lack of emotion at being taken away from her family and imprisoned in the Beast's castle. I was expecting at least some emotional outburst, but Beauty's character remained pretty flat, aside from the odd recollection of her sisters. Even in those scenes, she would hide away her sadness and go about her business tending the Beast's garden as though nothing were wrong. There weren't enough scenes with the two of them together. The story felt empty, as though it were lacking something very important.

I can appreciate roses like many other people, however, the story was saturated with overly long descriptions of roses and gardening. I appreciated the descriptions at first, but they grew very tiresome. It felt like an endless cycle of Beauty tending the garden all day, and having a very brief dinner with Beast at night. I wanted more of Beast, and less of the roses. I really don't think the novel 'fleshed out' the Beast more than Beauty did. In fact, it seemed he was only a small background figure in this story.

The magical element of the story was also not as enjoyable. Again, I loved Beauty because the situations seemed more realistic. This novel was too littered with magical creatures, curses, spells, sorcerers, etc. that it bogged down the main story themes and in my opinion, ruined the ending. I can appreciate the moral of the story, that beauty is on the inside, but the ending was too odd for my liking. I'll leave the dynamics and pitfalls of interspecies relations to a braver reviewer.

Another problem I had was how Beauty's father was portrayed in Rose Daughter. He remained very weak and practically useless for the entire novel. In Beauty, I appreciated how he thrived in the country and really flourished alongside his daughters. In Rose Daughter, he seemed like merely an ailing parent who had no real contribution to the story.

All in all, I felt the passion was lacking in Rose Daughter. The heightened emotions that drive the story were muted and subdued. I did not find Beauty's falling in love with this Beast believable, because we did not get the chance to see the relationship slowly develop from fear to acceptance, and finally to love. The ending, with it's confusing mishmash of magic, sorcerers, and curses took away from the true story. Beauty was a novel that stripped away the magic, keeping it there, but not overwhelming the love story.

I guess there's a reason why authors rarely retell the same story twice -- it's not going to be as good one of those times. Sadly this is the case with "Rose Daughter," Robin McKinley's second adaptation of the traditional Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. It overflows with pretty images and words, but there doesn't seem to be a lot underneath them.

Beauty's mother died when she was only a tiny child, leaving her with only the memory of roses. Because magicians failed to predict her mother's death in a riding accident, her father turned against magic completely, even though it ruined his business. Then one of his ships turns up again. When the father asks his daughters what they want, Beauty only asks for a rose.

But that rose comes with a price -- her father takes it from the garden of a strange Beast, who demands that Beauty be sent to his palace. Beauty goes voluntarily, if reluctantly. But she finds that the Beast is actually peaceful and gentle, and asks her to marry him regularly. So, of course, Beauty must unravel the curse that keeps him a Beast.

Robin McKinley started her career with "Beauty," a version of "Beauty and the Beast" that let us see Beauty not as a vapid victim, but as a strong, intelligent young woman. The problem with "Rose Daughter" is simple: It runs along a lot of the same story tracks, and adds nothing except a few pretty turns of phrase and some peculiar subplots that lead nowhere.

Her writing is truly exquisite -- McKinley definitely has a way with descriptions and evocation. "Rose Daughter" is verbally lush as few fantasy books successfully are. If there had been a plot to go with it, then this might have been a worthy classic.

Unfortunately, it's a thin retread of the fairy tale, with few new twists and turns; the flower theme is virtually McKinley's only new addition to B&B lore. There are quite a few moments which seem lifted from McKinley's debut, such as the Beast repeatedly asking Beauty to marry him. Both of the lead characters are almost absurdly thin; the Beast never develops a personality, and Beauty never shows a single strong or recognizable feeling. She drifts through like an emotional ghost.

"Rose Daughter" could have been an intriguing, lush look at the traditional fairy tale; instead it feels like an overstretched "Beauty Redux." McKinley's prose is exceptional, but everything else fades away.

I have now read both "Beauty" and "Rose Daughter" and have to say that I think an ideal retelling of the faiy-tale would actually be a mix of both books.

I found Beauty a much stronger, more fleshed out character in "Beauty" - however I prefer Jeweltongue and Lionheart in "Rose Daughter" over the one-dimensional sisters in "Beauty". However "Rose Daughter" provides a lot more background to the Beast's story than does "Beauty"

Overall I enjoyed reading "Beauty" better. "Rose Daughter" is just a little too dense for my tastes. I found myself skimming over large portions of the text in an effort to speed up the story. And because Beauty, as a character, has fewer interests and is not as fleshed out, the extra text just bogs things down.

However the one thing I definitely DID like was the ENDING! I know a lot of people (who may have missed the entire point of the story) objected to it but I found it very satisfying.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Only one problem
Okay I will admit that she wrote this story very well. I have read many books and I know a good writer when I read their books. Read more

Published on April 10 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect
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... Read more

Published on July 6 2004 by Anna

5.0 out of 5 stars Really good!
I don't quite understand why everyone is giving this good book a bad review. I loved it...the names were a little weird, as someone commented, but what do names really matter... Read more

Published on Jun 23 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring...Hated the Ending
I wanted to read this book since it was by McKinley and I had read BEAUTY (which I loved and love to reread over and over). Read more

Published on May 31 2004 by Rachel

2.0 out of 5 stars I tried-I really did.
I like Fairy-Tale-Retold stories, and I've heard so much about Robin McKinley I decided to try it. The dialogue was boring, wooden, dull, and unimaginative. Read more

Published on May 30 2004 by Cynical

3.0 out of 5 stars Oddly disappointing...
Having recently read Sunshine and Spindle's End, I picked up Rose Daughter expecting the same delightful twist to a common tale, this time Beauty and the Beast. Read more

Published on April 18 2004 by Sharron Albert

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing. Truly tragically disappointing.
I absolutely adored Beauty, McKinley's first novel. Rose Daughter? No. Not. At. All. Whereas Beauty had a spunky heroine, full of doubts, ideas, and heart, *this* Beauty has no... Read more

Published on Mar 18 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not as good as the original
Twenty years ago, she wrote "Beauty", a wonderful retelling of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast". Now she comes back to the same theme with a fresh perspective. Read more

Published on Mar 8 2004 by Anna Stanford

1.0 out of 5 stars wtf?!
I have always considered myself a fastasy freak. I've read over a hundred version of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc. Read more

Published on Feb 16 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Robin Mckinley's Done It Again!!!
Rose Daughter is called Beauty, just like in the 1st book, only this time, Beauty isn't the narrator of her own story. Read more

Published on Nov 25 2003 by Dan Persinger

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