About the Book

Title: Beauty

Author: Robin McKinley

Series: none

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retelling

Pages: 256

Edition Read: Kindle eBook

Dates Read: February 15 – 24, 2024

Blurb: 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 was a very interesting read. I had never heard of it, but it’s been around since the late 70s. This was the book chosen for our book club in February and we had lots of fun comparing this story to other Beauty and the Beast retellings (the Disney movie came up a LOT).

This book reads like a classic fairy tale which made it a very relaxing read. It hits all the usual points we’re familiar with: Beauty takes her father’s place and makes a deal with a Beast that lives in a magic castle. This Beauty, however, has a good relationship with her sisters and their family dynamic is really sweet. It makes her decision to leave them behind that much more poignant.

The Beast’s castle is really cool. There is an enchanted garden and, of course, a magical library. The only thing that I felt lacking in this was that there wasn’t really any high stakes. No one is ever really in danger. The Beast comes close to dying when Beauty goes to visit her family, but once she comes back, he’s okay again. There were a few potential plot points that never really went anywhere. The pacing was a bit weird, with some descriptions taking forever, and then a bunch of things happening really fast with very little exposition.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, but I probably wouldn’t read it again. If you like fairy tale retellings, you may want to give this a try but, for the most part, it was a bit underwhelming.

GoodReads Rating: 3 stars

Categories: Books I've Read