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Book Review of Deerskin

Deerskin
Deerskin
Author: Robin McKinley
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
reviewed Powerful story on + 71 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5


This is a powerful story. This has some very dark parts toward the beginning. There is an element of the mystical. Yet a very human story and very human struggle. This one is hard to explain. I would not suggest it for younger readers. It is not as suitable for them as "The Blue Sword" is. [I am not a parent however, and may have an inaccurate view of what young people can handle in terms of reading/viewing traumatic events. If you are a parent of a teen who wants to read this, read it yourself first.] That said, I really like this story and have re-read it a few times. It is no darker than Julie Garwood's contemporary novels as a point of comparison. Less so in some ways since the dark thread does not run so strongly (and menacingly) through it as with Garwood's new ones.

I saw a review somewhere else for this book and the writer said she wished the ending went a little farther in telling what happens with the heroine. I thought it was a good way to end the book. For any of you who feel the same however, read the first part of Spindle's End where they talk about the queen and her country of origin.