Deerskin
By Robin McKinleyYou know, sometimes you just need some escapist fantasy about self-discovery in women. McKinley's seventeen-year-old girl Lissar was just the ticket for me last night. Deesrkin is a beautiful, haunting, and sometimes painful coming-of-age story that ends with a message of hope. The first half of the fantasy fiction is really about the traumatic aftermath of a violent assault and rape by the heroine's own father. These dark themes are handled appropriately, realistically, and with great compassion but they do make for some hard reading in the gateway fantasy.
If you have any