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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
emotional
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My mom had this book when I was growing up and I read it several times. It came to mind when I was trying to come up with some comfort reads for pandemic stress. My hold finally came through from the library and it was so good, even better than I remembered. It was definitely comforting.
I read this as part of an online book club. I can't believe I didn't find it when I was younger--I would have really enjoyed it then, and I enjoyed it now. The re-telling takes out some of the unnecessary violence from outside parties and concentrates on the emotional growth of the main characters. I liked it.
I read this the first time when I was a young teenager, which is exactly when you should read it the first time, especially when you love the animated Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. But honestly I don't think it hit very hard for me back then. I think I liked the other Robin McKinley fairy tale retellings I read more. Reading it now, I liked it a whole lot. It's sweet, Beauty is very practical, which I love, and it feels like it takes a lot of inspiration from the Jean Cocteau Beauty and the Beast, which I hadn't seen at 14ish so I didn't know I would like seeing elements of that in the story. It's not a particularly out-of-the-box retelling but sometimes you do just want the story stripped down to its basic parts and fed back to you mostly unaltered.
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a solid read. It became a little boring with the actual romance part, as I think it stuck too heavily to the original. The writing style was very good, and the historical details were entertaining. Beauty often comparing things to Greek mythology because of her love for reading and philosophers is a good detail. The library with books that haven’t been written yet made me laugh a bit because there were mentions of Beauty not knowing what motorcycles were. I loved the first part with the dive into the backstory of the family. I think the actual retelling part was weaker. I got a lot of castle, horse, and clothing descriptions and not enough bonding scenes. The family was what sold the book for me. I love that they were all caring.
The romance itself was alright. It went by very quickly because most of the book was just backstory. I wish there was a bit more of their bonding; most of it just happened in the background.
The romance itself was alright. It went by very quickly because most of the book was just backstory. I wish there was a bit more of their bonding; most of it just happened in the background.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Abandonment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent
How do I always forget this for the high level readers who want something 'cleaner'?? Plus, love the sisters.