Today’ s post is on Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. It is 256 pages long and is published by Harper Collins. The cover has Beauty on it with a rose. The intended reader is someone who loves fairy tales and retellings. There is no foul language, no sex, and no violence in this book. The story is told from first person close of the main character, Beauty. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the dust jacket- A strange imprisonment...
Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.
When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"
Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple, Beauty and the Beast.
Review- This is one of the best, if not the best, retelling of Beauty and the Beast I have ever read. I first read this book about twenty years ago and I loved it as a teenager; so when I wanted to revisit it I had my previous feelings in mind. I was not disappointed in my old favorite. It is still as wonderful, magical, and everything that it was when I first read it. The story starts out when Beauty is a child and she is dissatisfied with her given name of Honor and wants to be called Beauty. We travel with her and her family as she grows, they lose their fortune, and have to move into the countryside. This story is the perfect version of Beauty and the Beast, we see Beauty grow to feel compassion, mercy, and then love for the Beast. We see that he is really not a monster but someone who is trapped by magic and unable to help himself or change his own fate. Wonderful retelling and I highly recommend it.
I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this book with my own money many years ago.
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