Robin McKinley, Rose Daughter - I found, like many other reviewers, spending most of my time drawing comparisons between "Beauty", McKinley's ealrier interprtation and Rose Daughter. I realise that this is not fair as they are independent novels.

I really enjoyed Rose Daughter and did find it to be a lyrical and descriptive novel. McKinley spends large passages of the text exploring roses and their scents. Although some might refer to it as tedious, I found it to be very beautiful.

I love the Beauty and the Beast tale and found this to be a wonderful interpretation with McKinley taking it to a different level of exploration and detail.