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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I loved this retelling, particularly the relationships amongst the sisters. And the books! All the books.
This is one of my favorite books of all time purely because it was the first book that completely entranced me. I will never forget finishing it for the first time, at the age of 12, and crying because it was over. I’ve read it numerous times over the years and it continues to be magical.
McKinley gave us the most gorgeous world. I usually want more action and less description, but the way she writes is so grand. This is absolutely geared towards younger readers, but I still found it to be just as interesting as when I read it for the first time.
The thing I noticed this time, as a mother of two girls, is how much Beauty’s physical appearance is mentioned. And not just Beauty’s appearance, but her sisters as well. It was a bit off putting. Also a reminder of how much stories have changed. However, I am anxiously awaiting for the time when my own girls can read this story and hopefully love it as much as I do. I’ll just have to remind them that “beauty is found within” (see what I did there?)
If I were reading this for the first time as an adult I would probably give it a 4, just for the body shaming, but seeing as this story has been in my life for over 2 decades, and I still haven’t forgotten it, I can’t NOT give it 5 stars.
Side note: For those who have read A Court of Thorns and Roses (another fantastic Beauty and the Beast retelling) so much of that book had to have been inspired by this one. SJM is a known fan of Robin McKinley and I could see so many elements in both. As all art is inspired by others I found the little nuggets to be fun.
McKinley gave us the most gorgeous world. I usually want more action and less description, but the way she writes is so grand. This is absolutely geared towards younger readers, but I still found it to be just as interesting as when I read it for the first time.
The thing I noticed this time, as a mother of two girls, is how much Beauty’s physical appearance is mentioned. And not just Beauty’s appearance, but her sisters as well. It was a bit off putting. Also a reminder of how much stories have changed. However, I am anxiously awaiting for the time when my own girls can read this story and hopefully love it as much as I do. I’ll just have to remind them that “beauty is found within” (see what I did there?)
If I were reading this for the first time as an adult I would probably give it a 4, just for the body shaming, but seeing as this story has been in my life for over 2 decades, and I still haven’t forgotten it, I can’t NOT give it 5 stars.
Side note: For those who have read A Court of Thorns and Roses (another fantastic Beauty and the Beast retelling) so much of that book had to have been inspired by this one. SJM is a known fan of Robin McKinley and I could see so many elements in both. As all art is inspired by others I found the little nuggets to be fun.
I absolutely adored this book, from beginning to end. A truly magical fairy tale, romance, and coming-of-age story that was a huge encouragement during my awkward middle-school years.
I'm a huge fan of retellings of fairy tales, so my rating for Beauty is slightly higher than it might be otherwise. The story, as the name implies, focuses on Beauty more than the Beast. Because of this, it feels more anticlimactic than one would expect from a fairy tale -- this Beauty only seems to care about books, horses, and gardens to the point that her interactions with the Beast are limited to reading aloud, trying to force her horse to be near the Beast, and taking walks. While I enjoyed reading some backstory for her character, there really isn't much in the way of friendship or romance between Beauty and Beast that would fully explain her declaration of love for him. It ends with happy endings for all though, so I guess that should be enough?
Rating: 4.9/5 - it's almost perfect.
I never rate something so highly - hardly ever anyway. I loved it. Beauty herself was a finely drawn character with a rich interior life. The surrounding characters were given the same kind of depth. The sisters, who are horrible in both of the original versions (de Villeneuve’s and de Beaumont’s), are kind here, and McKinley gives them happy endings too. All the other characters are great too.
McKinley adds in plenty of detail about Beauty and her family, and the Beast’s castle. Particularly vivid are the descriptions of horses. I suspect McKinley herself is a horse person. Greatheart becomes as much a character as the human characters.
There are no real surprises in this retelling. McKinley doesn’t change the story drastically from the original, but she does add layers. Telling it from Beauty’s point of view brings us more into the story. I also like McKinley’s change to the reason for Beauty's return home, and the way her perception about the castle starts to change when she unconsciously starts to trust the Beast. I also found her revelation about her own appearance at the end to be believable, since she hadn’t looked into a mirror in years.
My only quibble is that it ends very abruptly. I would have liked to see Beauty and the prince meet with her family and celebrate, but the book just ended. I would have liked to see her family learn what had happened, but we just saw them on their way to the castle. It’s not a big fault - the book was beautifully written and the story was wonderful, but a little more at the end would have made it completely perfect.
I never rate something so highly - hardly ever anyway. I loved it. Beauty herself was a finely drawn character with a rich interior life. The surrounding characters were given the same kind of depth. The sisters, who are horrible in both of the original versions (de Villeneuve’s and de Beaumont’s), are kind here, and McKinley gives them happy endings too. All the other characters are great too.
McKinley adds in plenty of detail about Beauty and her family, and the Beast’s castle. Particularly vivid are the descriptions of horses. I suspect McKinley herself is a horse person. Greatheart becomes as much a character as the human characters.
There are no real surprises in this retelling. McKinley doesn’t change the story drastically from the original, but she does add layers. Telling it from Beauty’s point of view brings us more into the story. I also like McKinley’s change to the reason for Beauty's return home, and the way her perception about the castle starts to change when she unconsciously starts to trust the Beast. I also found her revelation about her own appearance at the end to be believable, since she hadn’t looked into a mirror in years.
My only quibble is that it ends very abruptly. I would have liked to see Beauty and the prince meet with her family and celebrate, but the book just ended. I would have liked to see her family learn what had happened, but we just saw them on their way to the castle. It’s not a big fault - the book was beautifully written and the story was wonderful, but a little more at the end would have made it completely perfect.
The descriptions of the castle, the enchantments and life in general from Beauty's perspective was wonderful, thorough without dragging and engaging. But the end came and solved itself far to quickly. The explanation of the curse was glossed over and the happily ever after was abrupt with pieces of the action missing (How did Beauty's family know to arrive?) and explanations left wanting (Why were the servants invisible? Why was this particular curse set upon the Beast by the magician? What was the Beast's transgression?). I generally find fairy tale reimaginings enjoyable and this was, but the abrupt ending spoiled some of the previous time and effort the author spent in the first 3/4 of the book.
Dissssssaaaapointeddddd. Ugh. I just don't like McKinley's writing style.
Like many girls in my age group, I truly loved the Disney movie of Beauty and the Beast when I was younger. I even had a Mrs. Potts' piggy bank. Which was, you know, pretty friggin' awesome. So when I saw that there was a retelling, I had to pick it up. Sadly, I'm not a ten-year old girl anymore, and the story doesn't really appeal to me in quite the same way it did back then. That said, McKinley does a decent job with the retelling. The first third of the book was fairly boring, but I found myself flipping pages faster as the story progressed, which is saying something since I already clearly know the plot line. I took issue with the ending, however, as the resolution and consequent happiness takes place in the last 3 pages. It felt like a very rushed conclusion, but then again, I don't think there's a girl on the planet that isn't already familiar with the story so maybe the publishers figured no one would mind.
All in all a decent book but nothing earthshattering. I sort of want to go back and watch the movie now though.
All in all a decent book but nothing earthshattering. I sort of want to go back and watch the movie now though.