From the Newbery Medal–winning author of The Hero and the Crown: the story of a princess who flees her father’s unwanted attention and finds an unexpected new life. Princess Lissla Lissar is the only child of the king and his queen, who was the most beautiful woman in seven kingdoms. Everyone loved the splendid king and his matchless queen so much that no one had any attention to spare for the … attention to spare for the princess, who grew up in seclusion, listening to the tales her nursemaid told about her magnificent parents.
But the queen takes ill of a mysterious wasting disease and on her deathbed extracts a strange promise from her husband: “I want you to promise me . . . you will only marry someone as beautiful as I was.”
The king is crazy with grief at her loss, and slow to regain both his wits and his strength. But on Lissar’s seventeenth birthday, two years after the queen’s death, there is a grand ball, and everyone present looks at the princess in astonishment and whispers to their neighbors, How like her mother she is!
On the day after the ball, the king announces that he is to marry again—and that his bride is the princess Lissla Lissar, his own daughter.
Lissar, physically broken, half mad, and terrified, flees her father’s lust with her one loyal friend, her sighthound, Ash. It is the beginning of winter as they journey into the mountains—and on the night when it begins to snow, they find a tiny, deserted cabin with the makings of a fire ready-laid in the hearth.
Thus begins Lissar’s long, profound, and demanding journey away from treachery and pain and horror, to trust and love and healing.
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Wonderful, nicely written book, especially if you enjoy the dog/human relationship. There is a part of the book that is difficult to read, dealing with sexual abuse. Just a heads up. I enjoyed the book in spite of this.
Robin McKinley is my go to for fairy tales for grown-ups and amazing female leads. Deerskin is one of my favorites of hers. It doesn’t follow one of the “big” fairy tales like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, so it has the added bonus of being fresh and new too. I love Lissar’s relationship with her dog, and how she has a quiet sort of feminine …
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I don’t even know how many times I’ve read it by now. Lissar goes through some significant trauma, so the book may trigger some people. This doesn’t exactly have the happily ever after type ending that I usually prefer, but it does end as happily as realistically possible.
Lissar is a strong, wonderful character who’s emotional fortitude carries her through what was basically a lifetime of abuse and neglect. Yet, despite all of this, she never lost her innate sweetness and kindness. Ossin is a bit of an odd duck, preferring to spend time with his numerous dogs rather than being in the throne room. He harbors a kind, …
Very well-written, with excellent handling of a tricky topic (rape/incest)
This book, Deerskin by Robin McKinley, was different than any other book I’ve ever read. It had little dialogue but much internal thought. It was a fascinating read, a story told so beautifully that I couldn’t put it down.
This book was dark before dark became a ‘thing’. The physical and psychological trauma sets the perfect stage for the magic that proceeds it. Robin McKinley’s writing is done in such a way you can feel the pain Lissar endures. Ash is a best friend and savior in every way. You’ll yearn for a Borzoi by the end of this novel! Personally, I LOVED the …
I didn’t read it but the part about the book sounded like this would be an amazing book! I look forward to buying it eventually!
Robin McKinley is a fabulous author whose stories are timeless- they’re as relatable as an adult as they were when I was a kid. This story, especially, is not for the faint of heart but is a beautifully tale and well worth the read. The fact that it’s fantasy makes the story and characters no less realistic or touching.
Extremely dark. Incest,child abuse, rape.
I loved this book, and wish I could read it again for the first time.
This one needs a trigger warning for rape/abuse/incest. If you can emotionally survive that kind of betrayal at the start of the book, you’ll get to see her grow as she learns to survive her trauma and eventually chooses to hold on to the good things she’s found and created. A bit slow. Lots of growing Lissar has to do. Definitely a dark story, …
A great fairytale retelling.
Excellently done, but wrenching and not at all a light read.
This is the third time I’ve read this one, and any retelling of Thousand Furs is going to be traumatic. Usually I’m in the camp that if a story is too hard to tell adults, you write it for children. Thousand Furs is my exception. Much like the traditional tale, when Lissar’s mother dies she makes her father promise to never remarry unless the …
Beautiful prose. I normally breeze through books, but this one had me slowing down to appreciate the author’s gift of insight, and her ability to paint stunningly vivid visuals.
One of my favorite authors.
Really had to get used to the slower pace of this book. The author is very wordy and used them to create a very detailed description of the surrounding and the what the character is thinking. Took me a while to get into the story but when I finally did, I was wanting to know what would happen next. In the end, I did enjoy the story
I finished it because I wanted to know what happens, but I wouldn’t recommend this book.
Trigger warning on this book for assault but the story is so emotional and compelling. Robin McKinley is a great author – although I think this is technically YA, would say only for an older teen. That said, sort of a fairy tale in the traditional sense – unique and scary!