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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I always enjoy Robin McKinley. And I especially enjoy a good fairy tale. However, her first version of [b:Beauty and the Beast|41424|Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|Robin McKinley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1277176901s/41424.jpg|2321285] is my favorite.
McKinley can do no wrong in my eyes when it comes to these kind of retellings! So underrated!
To be honest Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairytale. Nothing really compares to Belle who loves to read and The Beast who gives her that beautiful library that I saw as a child and dreamed about having since. I've read a few retellings and one of the ones I liked the best was Beauty. There were a few things I had issues with, like the abrupt ending, but overall when I read it last year I liked it.
When this title promised to be better, I anticipated 20 years of writing experience would indeed work in McKinley's favor. After this long drawn out retelling though, I would stick with the original.
This retelling is completely independent of Beauty no matter what Goodreads would have you believe. (TBH - I think part of my struggle with this book was I anticipated it coming full circle back to Beauty at some point) The first half of the book was slow but manageable. The sisterly relationship is quite similar to the first retelling and I enjoy that bond in both stories. The book seemed to take a turn when Beauty traveled to the Beast's castle. The writing became too description heavy and drawn out for me to really focus on the story. Several times I found myself lost or confused about what was happening and had to reread long sections to try and absorb it again. There was a particular section at the end of the book where Beauty is lost and struggling to find her way out of Beast's castle. I nearly gave up at that point! That section was odious to read. These drawn out sections reduced my investment in the characters to nothing and I skimmed the rest of the way through the story. Overall, I was disappointed.
The story of Beauty and her family is interesting and I was pleased with their character arcs. Her sisters especially have more character depth. Beauty wasn't as spunky or lively as the other two. Just like Beauty I felt their absence after she left home for the castle. The lore McKinley created within the story was interesting and well constructed. The mystery was simply drawn out too long and too focused on growing roses. The hard part is I understand what the author was trying to do. After reading her author's note at the end I see how she was trying to incorporate her love of gardening and struggle with gardening roses into this story. As a plot device though it made the plot meander too many times.
Personally, I was glad to finally get to the end of this story. It seems I will always have a love/hate with McKinley's writing. I've adored some of her books and others have fallen flat like this one. We'll see what my next read brings.
When this title promised to be better, I anticipated 20 years of writing experience would indeed work in McKinley's favor. After this long drawn out retelling though, I would stick with the original.
This retelling is completely independent of Beauty no matter what Goodreads would have you believe. (TBH - I think part of my struggle with this book was I anticipated it coming full circle back to Beauty at some point) The first half of the book was slow but manageable. The sisterly relationship is quite similar to the first retelling and I enjoy that bond in both stories. The book seemed to take a turn when Beauty traveled to the Beast's castle. The writing became too description heavy and drawn out for me to really focus on the story. Several times I found myself lost or confused about what was happening and had to reread long sections to try and absorb it again. There was a particular section at the end of the book where Beauty is lost and struggling to find her way out of Beast's castle. I nearly gave up at that point! That section was odious to read. These drawn out sections reduced my investment in the characters to nothing and I skimmed the rest of the way through the story. Overall, I was disappointed.
The story of Beauty and her family is interesting and I was pleased with their character arcs. Her sisters especially have more character depth. Beauty wasn't as spunky or lively as the other two. Just like Beauty I felt their absence after she left home for the castle. The lore McKinley created within the story was interesting and well constructed. The mystery was simply drawn out too long and too focused on growing roses. The hard part is I understand what the author was trying to do. After reading her author's note at the end I see how she was trying to incorporate her love of gardening and struggle with gardening roses into this story. As a plot device though it made the plot meander too many times.
Personally, I was glad to finally get to the end of this story. It seems I will always have a love/hate with McKinley's writing. I've adored some of her books and others have fallen flat like this one. We'll see what my next read brings.
I much prefer Beauty.
I had a hard time following this story:
1. I still don't understand how the Beast came to be a beast.
2. She was only there seven days, and they hardly spoke to each other. How in the world did they fall in love? Maybe I missed the chapter where their relationship was developed, but all I saw was Beauty fretting with roses and the Beast eating apples in two bites and them saying two words to each other.
3. He remains a beast?! I guess that's an interesting twist on the story, but come on! How are they going to live happily ever after if he's a beast? I guess I'm just not tolerant enough.
Okay, so I got my rants out. I still liked it. Just not as much.
I had a hard time following this story:
1. I still don't understand how the Beast came to be a beast.
2. She was only there seven days, and they hardly spoke to each other. How in the world did they fall in love? Maybe I missed the chapter where their relationship was developed, but all I saw was Beauty fretting with roses and the Beast eating apples in two bites and them saying two words to each other.
3. He remains a beast?! I guess that's an interesting twist on the story, but come on! How are they going to live happily ever after if he's a beast? I guess I'm just not tolerant enough.
Okay, so I got my rants out. I still liked it. Just not as much.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Beauty loves to grow roses and moves with her sisters out to the country where the beast wants her to marry him and asks her every night. Not super compelling romance or lavish descriptions but the writing is sophisticated and I like the gardening
I've read this book too many times to count (which, admittedly, is no surprise) and it's one of those books that gets better every time I return to it. Reading it as an adult (rather than as a 12 year old girl, for example) just makes the characters feel more alive and exciting than ever.
McKinley's forte has always been her characters and every single one of them (even the plants) in this story shines.
McKinley's forte has always been her characters and every single one of them (even the plants) in this story shines.
I really liked 98% of this book, but there were a few chunks where McKinley rode the "magic functions with dream logic" thing too hard for me. Thinking about it, this is actually a recurring problem I have with the climaxes of her books (Sunshine, for another example).
I kept waiting for this book to either differentiate itself or reveal how it was a sequel, and that was frustrating to me. It’s not related to her other book, Beauty, any more than it’s just a retelling of the story. I might have liked it better if I wasn’t expecting the two to connect.