Deerskin by Robin McKinley
375 pages
Published 1993
Read from July 22 to July 24
Rating: ★★★★ out of 5
CW: rape, incest.
An earnest and sharply-felt retelling of one of the more unsettling fairy tales (which, given the nature of unexpurgated fairy tales, is saying something), an unflinching but compassionate examination of betrayal, rape, PTSD, and not just surviving but reclaiming one's life in its aftermath. After a vivid depiction of how readily people will blame the victim and cast her as a wily temptress leading her own father astray, the bucolic and hard-working kingdom to which our protagonist flees feels somewhat out of place, as does the ending, in which the laid-back prince physically pursues Deerskin to force her to face the thematic denouement -- a development no doubt meant to express the redemptive power of love and acceptance, but which felt just a tiny bit awkward to me. Nonetheless, one of the more excellent books I've read this year.
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