Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast

As always, well told by Robin McKinley, bringing character and life to a well-known tale in a way that keeps you captive once you’re a little ways into the book. You grow rather fond of Beast, and I wish I had more of a farewell to them all - I was not ready to leave and felt it ended a bit briefly. Still a pleasant read that leaves you with a lingering sense of happily ever after.

I realized when first reading this novel a few years ago, and recently once again, that Disney's story folks are incredibly original and creative, but like most creators, they had sources of inspiration from which they borrowed ideas. I believe that the creators of Disney's Beauty and the Beast found some of their inspirations in the book I am here reviewing, Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley.

Granted, that much is different (I said I believe Disney got some ideas, not adapted the work). For instance, "Beauty" is her nickname, not her name, and she is her tomboyish ugly duckling who hatches into a beautiful swan before the end of the story. Other areas of difference are that the household items do not talk, at least not understandably, and the servants that do talk, are invisible, and not meant to be understood by Beauty. In fact, her increasing ability to understand them as the story progresses, is a major plot point. In other words, the enchanted servants, as well as roses and so on that one will see in the novel I believe did inspire the film-makers, but that was it. The story is still quite different. Other similarities exist that I can not properly describe without spoiling the whole book. You'll just have too see for yourselves.

The main premise is well-known, but herein is reworked. Beauty lives with her father, sisters, and brother-in-law at his house and smithy. The brother-in-law, is a blacksmith, and a good one at that. He grew up in that part of the countryside where they now live after his father-in-law (Beauty and her sisters' father) suffers financial ruin. He warns the family not to go near the forest, for it is evil and enchanted.

Unfortunately, not all of the family listens, and on returning from a business trip, Beauty's father wanders into the woods and gets lost. He comes upon a castle, and angers the Beast who anonymously cared for him there. His life is spared provided that he, or one of his daughters, comes to live with the Beast forever.

Once the poor old man arrives home and tells his tale, Beauty volunteers to go. Upon arriving at the castle, she is settled in and meets the Beast. He thinks her beautiful, but she is disbelieving. "Beauty" is only a nickname she assumed when she was young and adorable. Now she is a plain, barely pretty, if that, adult. At least, that is how she views herself.

Robin McKinley was a masterful writer, and it shows in this fanciful tale. The mindset of the overly studious Beauty is one that just drinks in the scenery and makes sometimes foolish, sometimes intelligent, but nearly always witty, observations and assessments of whatever situation she finds herself in.

Beyond just a talent for prose, McKinley designed an actual system for how the old tale of Beauty and the Beast could work. Why was the Beast connected to Beauty? Why would he die without her? Why? While keeping the original tale's emphasis on love, and the broken heart of the Beast, McKinley suggested something enchanted about Beauty that connected her to the Beast in an almost psychic link that governs the life of the sadly cursed creature. Remember the importance of Beauty understanding the invisible servants that I mentioned earlier?

The only part that I did not like was how rushed the ending was. It seemed like a huge buildup, and a wonderful act of world-building on McKillip's part, lead to nothing. Yes, we can see that Beauty and her family are happy, and will live good lives, but that is it. We see the beginning and then it is cut short with barely a couple of pages of description. I felt kind of cheated at that. I wanted to see the family meet the Beast. Read of the celebrations, and learn more of the ins and outs of how everyone came together. It was all so rushed, seemingly, and that detracted slightly from the book.

That was, however, the only thing that detracted from the book. All in all, a great read, and now one of my favorite books. I used to love the Disney film version, but the old folk tale best. Now, I also adore this novel as well. That is how good it was. Please read it.

Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars.

This version of the story really makes the characters come to life. If you want a good fun magical story this may be for you. It may be too detailed to maintain the interest of young children. I read it to an eight-year-old and did need to clarify a few things.

Overall a very lovely retelling of the story. It showed that there was copious effort put into the structuring of the story. I do wish there had been more diverse adventures with Beauty and Beast, however this is just personal preference. The author took some great tender loving care of the tale!

A beautifully written retelling of this classic story. I do wish that the end had been elaborated on though. The climax is reached and then the book seems to end abruptly. Can't help wishing for a little more of the magic!

This main character of this story is nicknamed Beauty, but for my money the beauty is the writing and coherent, compassionate story. If you have not read this book, may I recommend that you do so. It is worth your time.

I love retelling of beauty and the beast stories. Something about this story seems to be the heart of true love. Loving someone no one else would love, and having that love rewarded. I think those are the most beautiful of tales.

I really love anything Beauty and the Beast related, so I was excited to read this book. It was pleasantly surprised to read this rendition of the story and found it to be beautiful :) I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes the Beauty and the Beast story, or just fairytales in general.

I have a weak spot for retellings of classic fairytales, and this book is one of the best. It may start slow for some - Beauty doesn't even go to the castle until a hundred pages in - but it is well worth the wait. This story is beautifully imagined with enough of the classic elements to remind me why I love this fairytale, and plenty of changes to keep me interested.

How interesting can old stories be when we already know them all? Well, very, in this case.
Retelling the story while focusing on the characters' lives, like in some of McGuire's books, make the old story an entirely new one.
What I like best about McKinley, is the goodness and humanity of the characters. One must not always have a villain to enjoy a story. The sisters must not be bad in order to make Beauty good. I think this is a characteristic of other McKinley books and I intend to read her further.

It is a wonderful retelling of the story beauty and the beast, it adds so much more details to the story. I wore out my first copy to where I had it almost ripped in half and the inside binding didn't work. I love this book, perfect for people who love fairytales!

If you've never read anything by McKinley, you are missing so much. Her books are amazing and this one is at the top of my list. She infuses her characters with charm, courage, wit and so much more. Love her and her books, Highly recommend.

This is a wonderful book with a fresh and original take on an old story. Beauty is a smart and very relatable character who feels like a plain and ordinary person caught up in the world of a fairy tale. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys good storytelling. Also, if you like this one, Robin McKinley wrote yet another version called Rose Daughter which is just as unique and just as good.

Beauty is a retelling of the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. This version stays pretty true to the original story, but with a few changes. In the original tale, Beauty’s name is Belle and she is the youngest of three beautiful sisters. Her older sisters are vain and spoiled and treat Belle badly. In this version, Beauty’s given name is Honor, but Beauty is her nickname. She is still the youngest of three sisters, but her older sisters are not spoiled and mean to her. In the original version, all three sisters are of equal beauty, but in McKinley’s version, Beauty is plainer than her sisters. The father is still a wealthy merchant who loses his fortune, causing the family to have to more to more spartan surroundings and do their own sewing, cleaning, farming, etc. The father still gets lost in the woods on his way back from the city after hearing one of his ships had finally arrived, and of course, meets the beast. The rest of the story follows the original pretty closely.

I enjoyed Beauty. It took a while for me to really get into it though. There is a lot of back-story about Beauty and her family, probably because of the changes McKinley made to the original story. The beast didn’t enter into the story until much later. I found that once Beauty arrived at the castle, the story moved quickly from that point on. The changes that were made were interesting, but the extreme change in the sisters’ behavior took a little getting used to. Beauty was not the tragically wronged but inspiring character she was in the original story. I missed that and felt it took a little something away. That said though, it was an enjoyable read and it was interesting to see the different direction in which McKinley took the story. If you like fairytale retellings, you would probably enjoy Beauty. I just felt it was missing a little something.
You can see more of my book reviews at http://bookwormbookreviews.com

Love this book!!! Been looking for it for years to come into kindle format and when I saw that it had there was no question... Buy it now. I will read this many times over and will read it with my daughter when she gets older! LOVE this book!!!

Robin McKinley is one of my favorite authors. Her stories are beautifully constructed, and her heroines are strong, independent young women. This retelling of the classic story portrays Beauty as a sensible, but vulnerable girl, not the wide-eyed character that the Disney Belle is. I first bought a copy of this book for my daughter. This latest purchase is for my granddaughters. I recommend this book for ages 10 and up.

With so many different stories out there in this theme, it can be hard to make any kind of standout impression. This book definitely had it's good moments and I felt it was well written, but I also think the author dropped the ball. There were several places she could have elaborated more, like more details or more variety in their routines, or more insight to the characters changing thoughts and feelings. The ending was certainly the biggest letdown in the whole book. It was like the author went, "Well we all know how the story ends and I'm sure you've drawn all your conclusions, so I'll just dump it all in your lap and let you assemble it yourself." Just my opinion, anyway. So not a bad read, but just lacking.