Once I got past the extremely frustrating first third of the book, past the Dickensian caricatures with no antecedents, and into the plot and intrigue (which is where Dickens truly shines), I finally began to appreciate this story.

Robin McKinley remains an excellent storyteller in her latest book, Chalice. Though it has hints of fairy tales throughout, most notably the story of Beauty and the Beast, this is an incredibly original story and beautifully told. McKinley has a gift for immersing her reader in the world she creates without ever giving the impression that she's doing so. She does not go out of her way to explain what is going on, but as the narrative flows on, you begin to piece together how her world works and marvel at it.
My one complaint about this book was that it was a bit too short. I felt as though I was left hanging at the end and I think a little more information about our main characters would have made me a bit less upset at needing to put down the book.

I was surprised by how little I liked this book. I expect a new Robin McKinley book to be five stars or, at the very least, four and a half (if such existed).

That's not to say that this was a bad book. There was just something about Jake, the main character and narrator, that bothered me. Also, he sounded exactly like Robin McKinley does on her blog (with slightly less ungleblarghing) and I felt more like I was reading her memoir and she had replaced her dogs with a baby dragon.

So perhaps this is my fault, for knowing to much about an author. It's just...I had all these expectations and have always relied on her to create fun and memorable characters and Jake did not meet my expectations at all.

Still, it wasn't a bad book and I might have liked it better had it not been by her. But since it was, I was kinda disappointed.

Robin McKinley is as the top of her game once again and this book was wonderful, despite (or perhaps even because of) the dreaded cliff-hanger.
As always, McKinley GETS people and characters and what it means to be responsible royalty and how to be in over your head. I love her voice, especially as it has evolved over the years. Even if I miss the McKinley of Beauty, I love her new work as well.