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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've read this book multiple times. It never gets old.
Perfect for my exam-season brain. I like the Beauty and the Beast story. I hadn't seen the Disney movie until last week (I know) but knew the musical from school, the Cocteau from uni, and the Angela Carter from sitting in the Norwich Cathedral cafe, and these had all spun together to let me know it's a rich and strange story with vast potential for alternative adaptations.
Robin McKinley's tells it straight but it's still rich and mystical. It fits between the wooded, cypressy impressionism of the Ravel's Mother Goose suite and Disney's Baroque fantasy, which McKinley preceded and probably inspired. I liked 'The Hero and the Crown' and I liked this more.
Robin McKinley's tells it straight but it's still rich and mystical. It fits between the wooded, cypressy impressionism of the Ravel's Mother Goose suite and Disney's Baroque fantasy, which McKinley preceded and probably inspired. I liked 'The Hero and the Crown' and I liked this more.
Beauty
Robin McKinley
Harper Trophy, 1978
Summary: Beauty hates her nickname; awkward and plain, with big hands and feet and dull brown hair, she knows the name would be better suited to one of her beautiful older sisters. However, she contents herself with the knowledge that she’s “the clever one” of her family. Beauty’s life is thrown into disarray when several of the ships owned by her father sink into the sea, immediately stripping her family of their wealth and prestige. Disgraced, they are forced to move from their elaborate house in town to a much more modest cottage in the woods. Shortly thereafter, her father is caught stealing a rose from the gardens of a creature known only as “the Beast.” The Beast demands that he give up either his own life, or the freedom of one of his daughters, in penance for having taken the rose. Beauty volunteers to give of herself for her father’s sake, and the story of Beauty and the Beast as we know it begins.
Genre: Modern Fantasy.
Content Warnings: None really.
My Opinion: This book was beautifully written, but that’s about the only thing I liked about it. Once Beauty arrives at the Beast’s castle, the plot grinds to a screeching halt when that should be the part where the plot really picks up. It felt like there was a lot of meandering around without accomplishing anything, and the characters never really drive the plot forward; things just happen to them. However, I did appreciate how relatable of a character Beauty was. I’ve often felt very similar to how she feels – growing up, I was always “the smart one” in my family and my sister was “the pretty one,” and it affected both of us though for different reasons. What I didn’t appreciate, though, was the fact that the book never tries to dispel the falsehood that good looks and brains are mutually exclusive. It sets that precedent with Beauty’s character contrasted with her sister’s physical perfections but mental ineptitudes, and then never tries to correct that manner of thinking. That part bothered me enough that any other enjoyment I could have gained from the book was tainted.
Robin McKinley
Harper Trophy, 1978
Summary: Beauty hates her nickname; awkward and plain, with big hands and feet and dull brown hair, she knows the name would be better suited to one of her beautiful older sisters. However, she contents herself with the knowledge that she’s “the clever one” of her family. Beauty’s life is thrown into disarray when several of the ships owned by her father sink into the sea, immediately stripping her family of their wealth and prestige. Disgraced, they are forced to move from their elaborate house in town to a much more modest cottage in the woods. Shortly thereafter, her father is caught stealing a rose from the gardens of a creature known only as “the Beast.” The Beast demands that he give up either his own life, or the freedom of one of his daughters, in penance for having taken the rose. Beauty volunteers to give of herself for her father’s sake, and the story of Beauty and the Beast as we know it begins.
Genre: Modern Fantasy.
Content Warnings: None really.
My Opinion: This book was beautifully written, but that’s about the only thing I liked about it. Once Beauty arrives at the Beast’s castle, the plot grinds to a screeching halt when that should be the part where the plot really picks up. It felt like there was a lot of meandering around without accomplishing anything, and the characters never really drive the plot forward; things just happen to them. However, I did appreciate how relatable of a character Beauty was. I’ve often felt very similar to how she feels – growing up, I was always “the smart one” in my family and my sister was “the pretty one,” and it affected both of us though for different reasons. What I didn’t appreciate, though, was the fact that the book never tries to dispel the falsehood that good looks and brains are mutually exclusive. It sets that precedent with Beauty’s character contrasted with her sister’s physical perfections but mental ineptitudes, and then never tries to correct that manner of thinking. That part bothered me enough that any other enjoyment I could have gained from the book was tainted.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Easy read
Re-read this book recently, and still have the same opinion. It's a good read, but the writing is a little clunky. And, well, the story is a bit cliche. Which is hard to avoid, I realize, but her other work has so much more originality (and besides, Angela Carter has shown us that re-telling fairy tales can be extremely original)
Retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Had the ending not been so rushed, I would have enjoyed this more.
I read this book in one evening. It reminded me of the Shannon Hale princess books. It is a sweet retelling of the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast. I really enjoyed this light reading.
But 12.9.2018 I have NO recollection of reading it soooo
But 12.9.2018 I have NO recollection of reading it soooo
I read this book pretty quickly, mostly as I couldn't put it down. Once again Robin McKinley has taken an extrordinary world and made is real. I loved the character of beauty, and fell in love with the Beast. This book made me laugh out loud, sigh in earnest, and even cry a small tear. I didn't want it to end.