Rating: 
Summary: A beauty of a book
Review: I strongly suspect that when the folks at Disney decided to make the "Beauty and the Beast" story into an animated film, they used this book as their template. McKinley's Beauty (real name Honour) is much like Belle in her love of books and horses, though much plainer in appearance and without the nuisance of a Gaston character.Rarely is an author's first novel so worthy of praise. Her later novel "Rose Daughter," another retelling of the same fairy tale, is excellent but not, in my opinion, quite as endearing. Beauty is the youngest, smartest, and least attractive daughter of a successful widowed merchant. When her father's business falls on hard times, the family relocates to a village near an enchanted forest and spends the next few years embracing their newfound poverty. A trip back to the city from which they hail results in Father getting lost in the enchanted forest, where he encounters the Beast and is forced into a terrible bargain: the Beast will spare his life, if one of his daughters will come and live as the Beast's companion. Beauty, arguably her father's favorite child, insists on being the expendable daughter and takes up residence in the Beast's magical castle. Over the course of months she befriends the curious creature, who fosters her love of books and slowly wins her confidence. But when Beauty makes a discovery that will vastly change the life of her eldest sister Grace, the Beast grants her a week at home...where she must finally come to terms with her true feelings for him, before her absence destroys him completely.
Rating:
Summary: *****A truly WONDERFUL and ENCHANTING story!
Review: Wow! What a fun book! Don't miss out, and read it. I just picked it up at a boutique at my violin camp, and then, I of course read it, and of course loved it! But anyways, you probably want to know what it's about, so here it goes: Beauty doesn't think this nickname(her real name is Honour) suits her well. She is the third daughter of a wealthy man, and her two older sisters have gotten all the luck with looks, it seems. Well, when disaster strikes, the family has suddenly lost their wealth, and they have to move into a small home in the countryside. That's when the real story starts! Beauty's father is coming home from a journey, when he comes upon an enchanted castle deep in the woods. He plucks a rose from a beautiful bush to bring home to his youngest daughter, and then, comes the "horrifying" beast. The dad is given the choice to either bring himself back to be killed, or bring a willing daughter to live with the beast by the end of the month. Well, surprise, Beauty chooses to go instead of losing her father's life. Over time, Beauty grows fond of the "friendly" beast. Could this fondness turn into love? I'm not telling! Read the book if you're dying to know! But anyways, I thought that the author did a marvelous job telling this story. She almost makes the enchantments seem like something real. I also enjoyed the scenes that McKinley was able to concoct between Beauty and the Beast. They were, pretty realistic. Well, read this book.It's great. ENJOY!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: Down here in good ol' NC, we don't get many Good Books in our libraries. So I often resort to the Ya Lit fantasy section. Out of all the books there, Beauty is one of the best.
Robin McKinley is usually hailed for her two Damar books, The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword, but Beauty is almost as good. It was McKinley's first novel, and possibly one of her best.
Beuty is the misfit in her family. Her older sisters, Grace and Hope, have curly blonde hair and limpid eyes. Beauty, whose given name is the rather lackluster Honor, is an undersized brunette with large hands, gawky feet, and spotty skin. Fortunately for her, her father is kind and her sisters love her.
Her life forever changes when her father's business goes bust and they are forced to move out into the country. They end up living in a house that is right up against a deep wood that has legends surrounding it, a wood that is rumored to house a terrible monster...
You know the story from there. But McKinley puts a fresh new spin on an old favorite, and the result is amazing. Although the writing is a bit spotty at times, that is to be expected from a first novel. Sometimes McKinley seems a bit detached, but her details are lush and she makes the relationship between the Beast and Beauty seem not only believable but quite likely. The little spin on the reason the Beast was enchanted in the first place is a stroke of near genius. All in all, an excellent effort from the reigning queen of fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, complex, breath-taking tale
Review: I read this story one sunny summer day in the library, that Christmas I recieved that wonderful book as a present. Over the years it has been a comfort to pull this tattered book off of the shelf and read. When ever I read this book, it takes me into another world. I become an observer of the scene McKinley is telling. Her precise, explicit story creates a world inside the book. Each scene is so well written that one can picture Beauty's room. Everything you read combines with your own wished, desires, and dreams and gives an incredible image and picture to McKinley's work. The story gives respect, reality, and wonder to the Beauty and the Beast story. It is a wonderful, unparralleled story. It is a must for the curious or imaginative. Re-reading the book is the most exciting part of the whole experience, you wait and are excited for all of the parts you know are coming. It is a wonderful first read, and an even more wonderful, comforting re-read. This book has a soul, sit down and discover it, it won't let you down!
Rating: 
Summary: Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast
Review: "Beauty" is a fanatstic and beautifully written book. It is impossible to put it down considering it holds your interest steadfast till the very last word. Robin McKinleys ability to make this book come alive is spelendid and makes you hope that there is a follow-up book. It is magical,although adventurous, focusing mainly on the loving and growing realationship of Beauty and the Beast.
It starts off with Beauty explaning how ugly she was which is a different way of the usual beautiful herione. I thought it was great how the author explained how pretty she was when she was little therefore adopting the nickname Beauty (her original name being Honour)and then growing up into an awkward teenager without growing out of it. The family is very wealthy and is used to be waited on by servants constantly until there fortune falls and they are forced to move out into the country where things aren't as lavish. On my opinion, they lucked out because there new home wasn't exactly unfortunate. But with this new home comes a story of an enchanted wood where the father gets tied up into by finding a castle deep within. From this point on it basically follows the Disneys remake of the animated film "Beauty and the Beast". So Beauty gives her life for her fathers and agrees to go and live with this horrible ogre. Also in this book which wasn't expected is how well the author pulls in how close the family is with Beautys two older sisters Hope and Grace who love her dearly. Not typical for the sisters to love the main character which was a nice change. So Beauty ends up living in this magical and enchanted castle with beautiful gardens and invisible servants who respond to ones every wish. The Beast turns out to be kind and gentle to her and eventually Beauty begins to have mixed feelings for him. But she only has so long to realize her love for him before the rose dies.
Rating:
Summary: true love in its purest form
Review: I've always loved the story of beauty and the beast; how the love between Beauty and the beast surpasses all appearances to find its true power. Yet this book is different, than the others. In this revision it shows much more vision and mystery, among other things. I love the way they portray the beast, a true gentleman, yet once lost his temper, but of course beauty had nothing to worry about, and of course he didn't show his temper in front of her(you hear it from the invisible servants). The beast and Beauty have so much more definition than in other stories. You really believe their plight. There's much more I could tell you, but I'd go over the 1,000 word limit. So I'll tell you this I've read it 12 times(I'm not lying)and I can't wait to read rose daughter.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting & Beautifully Written
Review: I've read this story more than once and just bought my own copy recently(I usually buy copies of books I really like.). I love it. I like fairytale's with a twist to them. I've read other versions that also had her with sisters, but they were conceited, greedy, and mean, but Beauty's were kind, sweet, pretty, and weren't absolutely greedy. I think Robin McKinley did an excelent job of detailing the appearance or mood of things, I really think that gave it a lot. I was pleased with the happy ending and the fact that Beauty finally lived up to her eventually well chosen nickname. I like the story of Beauty and the Beast(although I'm a big fairytale fan.). It's just a book you've got to finish as soon as you start-you want to know how it ends as soon as possible-you can't bear to put it down for a moment. I really got into the story & fell in love with it. I MOST DEFINENTLY reccomend this book to any fairytale or twisted fairytale lover.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful, Magical Story
Review: This is one of the most perfect books I've ever read. The only other two completely perfect books I can think of are The Last Unicorn and Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite fairy tale. I read Rose Daughter first and thought that it was a lovely book, magical and delicatly written. When I found out that she had written another book about Beauty and the Beast I couldn't wait to read it. Beauty is much superior to Rose Daughter, the character of Beauty in Rose Daughter is very quiet, pallid, and the tiniest bit dull. The character of Beauty in Beauty however is wonderful, an awkward, boyish teenager who values her intellegence more than her looks and who also loves horses. The relationship between Beauty and the Beast is better written in Beauty than Rose Daughter, The Beast in Rose Daughter wasn't too interesting and was a bit too mild and limpid but I could feel real sympathy for the beast in Beauty and he also had a stronger personality. I also liked the ending of Beauty much better, I was so glad that he turned into a handsome prince! In Rose Daughter he stayed a beast and that was kind of a let down. This was a wonderful book, I couldn't put it down and felt sad when it ended. Like all of Robin McKinleys books it is beautifully written and imaginative. My goal has now become to buy and read all of her books.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written; true to the old tale... but...
Review: This is Robin McKinley's version of "Beauty and the Beast", told with her excellent grasp of the written word. Wonderful prose; wonderful characterization of Beauty and her family (a point I have often found lacking in almost all "Beauty and the Beast" versions.). In this version, we are made to understand how Beauty's family could give her up to a terrible Beast, how human they are in the face of such unexplainable enchantment, how they react to the surreal events of their lives when it comes to loss. I appreciate this part of the book where her sisters and father are actually people who have volume, not just mentioned characters who seem so heartless and greedy giving up their sister to such an uncertain fate. The beast was intriguing, but as with most of Robin McKinley's male characters who happen to be her heroine's love interest, they are weakly developed, or at least half-baked. Which is strange because all the rest of the male characters come pretty strong. Now, while generally, Beauty in this tale isn't the typical Beauty of the tales we've already heard, the retelling, as a whole, really doesn't divert much from the original. While I realize that this could be a good thing, I was hoping for something fresh; a twist of sorts, like the way "Spindle's End" was told. Unfortunately, this came off with the same impact as McKinley's "The Outlaws of Sherwood". I would recommend "Beauty and the Beast" for first time visitors of the old tale. I would recommend this book to those who want to understand the motives behind Beauty's family. I would not recommend this book to someone looking for a fresh take.
Rating:
Summary: Great Telling of a Classic
Review: Beauty is the nickname (real name Honour) of the youngest of three daughters of a prominent merchant. When the father's business falls on hard times, Beauty and her two older, more beautiful, sisters move with their father to a meager cottage on the edge of a thick forest. The forest, they soon learn, has a sinister reputation. The father is lost in the woods and takes refuge in a mysterious castle where the Beast lives. Beauty's father takes a rose as a gift for her, and the Beast demands payment of Beauty as compensation. Fearful at first, Beauty comes to know the Beast over the months she lives in the castle. Eventually, Beauty admits that she loves the Beast and the spell is broken. The Beast is now a handsome, rich nobleman in a castle full of servants. Over the course of her stay, Beauty has grown older, taller and beautiful. I only wish the story had continued on to show how the couple copes with their new circumstances. One especially delightful touch is Beast's magical library, which contains books not yet in existence, like Bleak House.
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