No, no -- I think you did a wonderful job pinpointing why it didn't work for you! (and I enjoyed reading it); I didn't haven't the same reaction. I didn't find her spunky in the more traditional sense of the word, but she was the fairy tale heroine on a quest.

I also admit that I loved the construction of the actual sentences, and that the thing that most reminded me of McKinley in the Pattou was the fact that the people -- sisters, mother, father, brothers -- were all close-knit and genuinely caring, if different. There's not a lot of tension in the book.