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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
AMAZING!!!!!!! A twist on the classic tale of beauty and the beast. I thouroughly enjoyed this story and will plan on rereading it one day lol. It's nice to not have it told the same as the disney version, but a little more gothic.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. It was a quick, easy read and I think any nine to twelve year old girl would love it. I enjoyed it up until the last few pages when I thought the author tried too hard to wrap everything up quickly and neatly. But it was still worth my time.
This was a beautiful and enchanting telling of an old story. No complaints at all!
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
My love of reading, and specifically of Beauty and the Beast tales, began with this book. Rereading it as an adult has reassured me that sometimes the things you loved as a child really were ✨that good✨.
I’ve never related to Beauty and the Beast as a story because it kind of only works for you if you know what it’s like to be very beautiful and can feel sympathy for Belle instead of envy, so I was excited that initially Beauty is an ironic nickname and she’s quite practical and bookish and plain. But then at the end she just becomes magically beautiful also? So that was a drag. Also the feudal fantasy of invisible, loyal servants and infinite luxury goods hits differently to me as an adult. Maybe I would have liked this more if I’d read it when I was 10?
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just finished reading this book. Apparently a semester of dealing with politics and classics brings out the hard-core romantic in me, because I've been barreling through idyllic fantasy novels as if I were 13 years old.
That said, I have trouble thinking of another fantasy novel I would rather have read. Robin McKinley once again takes an old, archetypal fairytale (Beauty & the Beast, in case the title and the large rose on the cover didn't clobber you with recognition) -- and turns it into a living and breathing story. It's very refreshing, after having just read the Iliad and the Odyssey, to have a book wherein a female character has a major role in the story as well as a personality and will worth speaking of. Beauty, in this retelling, has plenty of both.
A few noteworthy things:
*In this story, Beauty starts out looking rather plain, her name being an ironic nickname
*Her sisters are not type-cast as vapid bitches (although they certainly don't have the moxie that Beauty does)
*This retelling doesn't seem to concern itself too much with exposition and a lengthy history of the Beast's curse -- it just takes the plot and runs with it
I'll admit that I was expecting the Beast to be a little bit more fiery and ill tempered to begin with. Additionally, there were lots of noticeable similarities between Disney's Beauty and McKinley's Beauty. Thankfully they were all similarities I was happy to see repeated.
Additionally, McKinley's Beauty shares a tendency with other McKinley heroines: hyper-active innocence paired with a non-existent sex drive. And while it strikes me as odd that the animals in her books are more sexually active than her heroines, I still like the book. Sometimes a good innocent romance wearing the dress of a fantasy/fairytale is what's on the menu.
Again, McKinley leaves me happy to have taken the time to read this book -- and having tucked this nice, innocent fantasy under my belt, I'm going to move on to the Aeneid by Virgil.
That said, I have trouble thinking of another fantasy novel I would rather have read. Robin McKinley once again takes an old, archetypal fairytale (Beauty & the Beast, in case the title and the large rose on the cover didn't clobber you with recognition) -- and turns it into a living and breathing story. It's very refreshing, after having just read the Iliad and the Odyssey, to have a book wherein a female character has a major role in the story as well as a personality and will worth speaking of. Beauty, in this retelling, has plenty of both.
A few noteworthy things:
*In this story, Beauty starts out looking rather plain, her name being an ironic nickname
*Her sisters are not type-cast as vapid bitches (although they certainly don't have the moxie that Beauty does)
*This retelling doesn't seem to concern itself too much with exposition and a lengthy history of the Beast's curse -- it just takes the plot and runs with it
I'll admit that I was expecting the Beast to be a little bit more fiery and ill tempered to begin with. Additionally, there were lots of noticeable similarities between Disney's Beauty and McKinley's Beauty. Thankfully they were all similarities I was happy to see repeated.
Additionally, McKinley's Beauty shares a tendency with other McKinley heroines: hyper-active innocence paired with a non-existent sex drive. And while it strikes me as odd that the animals in her books are more sexually active than her heroines, I still like the book. Sometimes a good innocent romance wearing the dress of a fantasy/fairytale is what's on the menu.
Again, McKinley leaves me happy to have taken the time to read this book -- and having tucked this nice, innocent fantasy under my belt, I'm going to move on to the Aeneid by Virgil.