This was my second time reading this; the first was in high school or college, I forget. I didn't remember a lot, but it came back to me slightly as i read. not enough to ruin the story for me though. This is a great story, but as a warning, it's sad. there is incest/rape, so for those who don't want to or shouldn't read something like that, please skip this. We've all been taught that the original fairy tales were very dark, before they got childrenized, and Deerskin brings this story back to its roots. There are all the fairy tale elements, even a sort of fairy godmother kind of character, a princess and prince, a loyal animal, etc, but in a dark, grown up way. Watching Lissar go through her childhood abuse, then recover and make something of herself was very moving. I recommend this book.