Is this your first McKinley book? It's definitley not her best; too simple for me and I really didn't like the evilness of the antagonist. I really liked the honey, though :)
Most of her books are fairytale retellings, but The Blue Sword and the sequel Hero and the Crown aren't; they're both my favourites of my favourites. And Sunshine isn't really a fairytale retelling, but it's quite good. I'd read those first; she has another non-fairytale book, Dragonhaven, but I really didn't like it.