Book Review: Deerskin

Robin McKinley's Deerskin is loosely based on the fairy tale Donkeyskin by Charles Perrault. I absolutely loathed this book-- the storyline is centered around a wicked king who, in the grief over his wife's death, rapes his daughter, and the reader is forced to follow the princess's tedious, bloody, and graphic journey as she flees and heals from it.  I forced my way through the book only to make sure that I'd never wonder how it ended, and to destroy any possible desire to return to it and find out what had happened. This is a book I never want to read again.  While the book was mostly well-written, the subject matter prevented me from enjoying it.  The only things I liked about this book were the prince, who is rather a nice change from predictability, and the extensive descriptions of fleethounds.  Overall, this book was unsatisfactory.