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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I was very excited about this book because the story of Beauty and the Beast, is in my eyes, one of the most romantic and fantastical stories I've ever heard. I loved the film and felt such a strong connection to the character that I couldn't wait to read the book so I could delve deeper into the plot. However, when I began to read the book I became bitterly disappointed. This is the third book I've read from Robin McKinley and this is the third book of hers that I have disliked. Her style of writing, I feel, is borderline boring. McKinley becomes too hung up on the details and chooses to describe the artifacts in the room and the parties that just happened, instead of focusing on the development of the characters and DIALOGUE!!! I have found it very hard to read a book in which it takes pages upon pages to find quotation marks, indicating a conversation between individuals. I feel that I have given up on Robin McKinley unless for some reason she decides to drastically change her writing style for the better.
I loved this book. I love the characters and how they developed. I loved the world which I wish we saw more of. Like they said there was goblins and magic in the city and I wish we saw that. But there was magic in the castle. It was cool there was invisible servants and every time Beauty got lost her room would appear. There were so many other things too. I'm happy I read the original story right before this one because this book follows it pretty closely. Just with more detail. The main thing I didn't like was being in the regular world with her family. I didn't care about her sisters but we kept hearing about their love lives. Also I didn't care about the fathers businesses but we still heard a lot about it. It went in to much detail when it doesn't matter to the story. But the writing was amazing. Like the descriptions. Also the development of Beauty and the beasts relationship was good. She went from scared to okay to enjoying his company then looking forward to his company and then not wanting to be away from him. I liked how she was described at the beginning of the story. She was supposed to be plain looking so her nickname was ironic. But she turned beautiful in the end with the beast. That scene was good when they looked in the mirror. I also liked that the servants were just invisible and it wasn't like the movie. Anyway I am going to continue reading books in the folktale series.
This is my favorite book by this author so far. This one was a lot easier to read than the others and I had a hard time putting it down. A delightful retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
I was absolutely infatuated with this book. I couldn't put it down - the writing was great, story was great. I felt like I really responded to Beauty as a character - and the story was different enough from the "disney" version, that it really kept my interest. I was a bit bummed by the ending though - I wanted MORE of them loving each other and I felt a little jilted. An excellent read though
I absolutely love this book. I want that library so bad. And I loved the characters and how they grew.
This is the third McKinley book that I have read; I absolutely love her writing style. The first two parts of the book and the descriptions of the castle are fantastic. However, the ending felt a bit rushed. I didn’t get to know the Beast enough to understand how Beauty fell in love with him or how he fell in love with her. I understand Beauty’s sister’s husband better than the Beast. This story would have benefitted from another 25-50 pages to flush out his character and their relationship. When Beauty doesn’t initially recognize him after the transformation, I was with her. Who is this man?
Altogether I found it to be fine, 3.5 being a more accurate rating than 3 stars for me. I do like that Beauty's sisters are kind, good people rather than being vain and selfish like they are in the original fairy tale, and I also liked McKinley's writing style. However, it was almost too true to the original for me in most other ways, which, apart from the beats you expect in all Beauty and the Beast retellings, made it very predictable. It's still a nice read, though, my issues come more from personal preference.
This is a "best friend" book. I love visiting with it over and over again.