REVIEW: Spindle's End
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley
Page Count: 354 pages
Release Date: May 22, 2000
My Rating: 4.75/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
All the creatures of the forest and field and riverbank knew the infant was special. She was the princess, spirited away from the evil fairy Pernicia on her name-day. But the curse was cast: Rosie was fated to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a poisoned sleep-a slumber from which no one would be able to rouse her.
My Review:
I finished this a couple days ago and I'm STILL thinking of it. I can't even describe how absolutely gorgeous the world-building and magic system in Spindle's End is. The whole book I felt like I was sinking into a soft cloud, or maybe wandering through magical forest with cozy cottages sprinkled throughout.
The writing is "flowery," (sometimes abundantly so) so if you're not a fan of descriptions, this might not be the book for you. But the writing and details of everything are SO PERFECT that I could read a textbook just on this world, with absolutely no plot, and still enjoy it. But luckily, this book is NOT just a textbook, and does have a plot - and oh, what a plot. I absolutely love retellings and this one was done even better than most. It's not just "another retelling of Sleeping Beauty," it truly feels like the people and places are REAL. I adored all the characters, especially the main trio - Katriona, Rosie and Peony - and Rosie and Peony's best friendship was one of my favorite things in the whole book.
I marked it a down .25 of a star because the writing sometimes (rarely, but still) is SO detailed and dense that I got slightly confused with what was being said/what was happening. However, this hardly ever happened and the uniqueness of the book made up for it. Overall the writing is awesome and the characters are awesome and EVERYTHING IS AWESOME.
Final recap: read this book. It's immersive and gorgeous!