Deerskin (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1993; vuoden 1994 painos)

This book, though somewhat troubling and disturbing to read, is my absolutely favourite work of Robin McKinley's. I love the strength of character in Lissar and her dog Ash, and the journey that they make, both physically and emotionally, after their sudden exile from their home. I like the non-Prince-Charming character of Ossin, how he described as an ill-fitting prince, but his love for the dogs makes him come alive.

I don't re-read this often because of the challenging content, but whenever I do, it is always worthwhile. ( )

This book communicated things accurately for someone who has experienced sexual assault. She is able to get inside of the heart and mind of this character and communicate it so well. I really appreciated her understanding and great depth of character development. ( )

Spoilers below.

McKinley filters the dark subtexts of a fairy tale through the lens of what feels like a contemporary "adult child" graduate of the recovery movement. She mostly succeeds, but the collision of archetypes and pop psychology gets a bit heavy- handed near the end. I wish McKinley had opted to not depict the actual rape until Lisslar herself recovered her memory of the event; the source of her trauma would have been obvious to the reader, and giving privileged access to something Lisslar herself must struggle to face kind of dilutes the sense of dread we feel as she approaches full awareness. Also, while I appreciate and respect McKinley's vision, I wish she had played a bit more on the expectations handed down from the fairy tale form itself. I liked that Ossin the handsome prince was a bit schlubby and awkward and occasionally splattered with puppy diarrhea. But it would have been better if Lisslar had left him dissapointed in the end and run off instead with Lilac, the butch stable hand, something I thought was actually going to happen for a while. A thoroughgoing rejection of patriarchy, feudalism, and all forms of hetero-normative oppression: Now, that would have been a journey of empowerment fit for the Moon Woman! ( )

It's not bad, just not particularly good either.
Robin McKinley has been a bit of a mixed bag in my experience. I adored Sunshine, which was a fun, unusual twist on vampires. Briar Rose bored me to tears. Deerskin falls between the two, but closer to Briar Rose. Like Briar Rose, the novel has a tendency to dispense with plot for long stretches. Also like Briar Rose, the magic system is poorly defined and downright confusing, only popping up when the plot requires it.
Of course, Deerskin has problems uniquely its own. Except for Lissar, the other characters are poorly defined and only broadly sketched. Real moments of connection between Lissar and Ossin are glossed over in broad description instead of letting the reader actually see the moment. There are long stretches of the book in which Lissar is confused about reality and loses most of her memories. The writing in these sections is incredibly confusing and difficult to follow.
That being said, the beginning is gold. I love the first few chapters in which Lissar's world is brought into existence and the way in which fairytale and reality are blended so cleverly. It's a shame the rest of the novel fails to fulfill the promise of those opening chapters. ( )

So back in the 1990's there was a trend in fantasy to rewrite fairy tales. Either it was retelling of a well know story, or something new in the style of a fairy tale. This is a retelling of a story (although how well known might be contested). Most of these books fell short of the mark. This is one of the better ones. This isn't to say its a great book - but it pulled me in. McKinley is an excellent author - she knows restraint. As a result, magic is kept to a minimum, but there are still Goddesses.

The Princess is written as down to earth, and her ability to survive a cold winter with only her dog and her wits, a bit far fetched, but within the bounds of who Lissar is. The book is darker than most of this type (there is a really horrible rape scene). It doesn't shy away from some of the more horrible aspects of surviving (such as gutting animals).

This isn't a perfect book. At times, there is too much "Mystical Woman" type sentences. The city she eventually ends up traveling to is way to nice - she doesn't have to work at finding a job, or place to live. The ending was strange, and really is why this isn't a 3.5 star book. ( )