Rating: 
Summary: Fairy tale made real
Review: The best-known and (perhaps) best-loved of Robin McKinley's books is also one of the best of the fairy-tale retellings. There's a depth and a richness to the story and characterizations, as well as a beauty of atmosphere and writing.Beauty (real name is "Honour") is the ironically-named heroine of the story -- she isn't beautiful, but she is very intelligent. She has two sisters, the beautiful Hope and Grace, and a benevolent, wealthy father. Then all their lives change suddenly: the ships their father owns are lost, and the money goes with them. One of the sisters marries a poor but worthy country lad, while the other lost her beloved fiancee who captained one of the ships. After selling their possessions the family moves to a wild countryside. The father leaves on a trip - and returns with a single rose, which carries the price of either his life or his daughter. Beauty leaves to go live at the castle of the mysterious Beast, with only her plowhorse to accompany her. She arrives at a castle of invisible servants, magical books, friendly animals, and a melancholy Beast who asks her to marry him every evening... Beauty is a great heroine -- brainy, kind, wry-humored, brave and strong. Though the "Beauty" element is discarded, it is done so with the apparent understanding that while the traditional Beauty has no personality beyond her looks, this one has brains and guts rather than a pretty face. She seems like a very real teenage girl from the opening pages onward; her gradual caring for the Beast is handled slowly and carefully, but never in a boring manner. The Beast himself is a little more shadowy; we never get inside his head the way we do Beauty's, but then the book is hers, not his. His sadness permeates every scene he's in. Beauty's father and sisters are well-done also. Her dad isn't an idiot or a nasty person, but instead is haunted. The sisters are, thankfully, kind characters even though they are beautiful and Beauty is not (a common book trap that McKinley avoids). There's none of the cartoonish nastiness of many other fairy-tale type books. At the same time, they keep their respective personalities: One of them is happy, and the other still remembers sadly her lost boyfriend. The writing ranges well, since we have the more prosaic passages of cottage life and the surrounding friendly village, as well as the more dreamlike, fantastical scenes in the Beast's castle. Dialogue is flawless: We don't have any stilted formal prose, but it never screams "modern American" either. By the same token, Beauty is not the usual female hero. Too often strong female characters either lapse into stereotypical women-warriors, raving feminazis, or cocky "tough" girls. Beauty is merely a strong female character -- she is merely herself. For parents, there is no objectionable content -- no smut, profanity, frightening scenarios, or objectionable themes. McKinley never lapses into "WOW, will you look at THAT!" when we encounter such things as future classics in the library, or invisible servants. Awe is put where it should be, such as in Beauty's glimpses of the outside world. (Wanna bet that Disney clutched a few elements from this book?) Even those of you who dislike romance will enjoy "Beauty."
Rating:
Summary: Grows more enchanting with each reading
Review: I have always loved fairy tales and the magic that surrounds them, however my main source of fairy tales when I was younger was through Disney films. Beauty and The Beast has always been a favourite fairy tale, because of the morale behind it. The fact that a beautiful girl could come to love monstrous beast despite his appearance was fascinating and heart warming. This was also (and still is) one of my favourite of Disney?s animated films. I think because I had seen the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast (which obviously borrowed A LOT from this book) I didn?t appreciate it at first. I had been reading the fairy tale series of Terri Windling when I purchased this book and I remember being quite disappointed when I started reading it?I missed the originality and wonder of the tale (the idea that Beauty enjoys books, and is independent etc.). Now I wonder how I could have! I think this is easy to do because we now live in a time when ?Girl Power? and independent heroines aren?t surprising. But as I have grown older and the more I have read it, the more I am amazed at this wonderful and unique telling of such an old tale. And the more I realised what a unique and innovative book this must have been when it was first published in 1978! It still retains some of its distinctiveness but in the surge of books featuring independent heroines some of it was probably lost. This book is an absolute gem. But I have come to realise just how amazing Beauty is through reading Rose Daughter by the same author. And while I enjoyed the book, through reading it the superiority of Beauty becomes clearer. My one difficulty was accepting that this Beauty was not beautiful, because that was what always made the fairy tale so spectacular to me; that a beautiful girl could love an ugly monster. But despite the fact that this Beauty doesn?t look beautiful, she definitely has a beautiful heart. And at no point do you feel she ?settles? for the Beast because she thinks she?s plain. Her love for him is real and the way in which it slowly grows makes a thoroughly enjoyable and authentic read. The book is written in a wonderful style that definitely skips along without the reader getting bored or losing a sense of the world that is contained within it. The distinctions that are made between the different places that Beauty?s journey takes her are highlighted well; the bustling city with its riches and parties feels completely different to the peaceful little village, with caring neighbours and friends and the lavish but solitary nature of the Beasts enchanted castle. But what truly makes this book for me is the characterisation, which is SO original, Beauty and her family are a group of people you really come to love and care for and they are developed really well. Robin McKinley does not just concentrate on the characters of Beauty and the Beast, but also on her sisters, her loving father and her horse. My favourite characters were the Beast, Beauty, Ger and Greatheart but I felt I knew all of them at least a little. Beauty is very down to earth and as the book is written in the first person it is her that you come to know best. But knowing the story of the Beast, while Beauty doesn?t means that the reader gets a clearer sense of his despair and the hope that he begins to feel when Beauty enters his life. McKinley portrays so much of his character through the way he says things; ?mildly?, ?horrified?. Of all the characters his is developed in a very subtle manner and this is what makes Beauty?s time in his castle, my favourite section of the book. Although he is what he is, his wry humour and acceptance of his situation make him my favourite character, and it is completely possible to see why and how Beauty loves him despite his appearance. I recommend this book therefore, not just to those who love fairy tales, but also to those who enjoy a good story, with characters that are identifiable and real. Young or old you will not be disappointed!!
Rating:
Summary: new perspective on old story
Review: I first read this version of the old beauty and the beast fairy tale when it first came out. It is my favorite fairy tale and was glad to see a version that all ages could read and not look funny. There is so much detail that you don't get in a cartoon or children's story book that it is just unbelievable. It was interesting to get Beauty's side of the story. It is much more of a coming-of-age story than a fairy tale here. Way to go Robin McKinley!
Rating:
Summary: Jewel
Review: How wonderful that this jewel of a book is available again! I found Beauty 15 years ago, while in college. I saw it on a suitemate's shelf and she was aghast I hadn't discovered it on my own. I didn't read the back blurb or anything, just plunged in, so it was only about a third of the way through I sat up 'Hey! This is Beauty and the Beast!' -- a lovely discovery at that point, like meeting a childhood friend gracefully grown up.
I'm always surprised no one comments on the clearly underlined theme of the book -- honour. The honour of being true to yourself, keeping promises, and following your heart.
I enjoyed the more complex Rose Daughter, as well as Ms. McKinley's other works, but the happy accident of discovering Beauty and Honour gives it a special place on my shelf.
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Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Tale
Review: I love this book. It is perhaps one of the best renditions of Beauty and the Beast, and I like it even more than the well-known fairy tale. The skeleton of the story is widely familiar but McKinley lets her creativity flow through the writing and creates a totally original telling of the tale. Honour is not your classic so-weak-that-the-guy-has-to-do-everything damsel in distress. She is spunky, intelligent and real! The character develops into a complete, realistic person through the story, and so does the beast. Clearly one who loves fairy tales as well, McKinley tells the tale with grace, charm and enchantment, that not only gives depth to the story, but makes it real in our minds. You don;'t get a goody-good, beautiful, flawless Beauty, but rather, one whose nickname mocks her appearance (compared to her sisters) and whose character has flaws, like any other person in real life. The love story unfolds with a plot that wrenches your emotions through the unfortunate situations and have you tearing with joy at the happy ones. Unlike many other authors, who tend to inject too much violence or sex into fairy tales to make them the "adult" version, Beauty is a remarkable tale written with originality and maturity. This book is the definitive of how fairy tales for adults should be like. Well-rounded, well-written and complete. Read it.
Rating: 
Summary: simply the tale
Review: What I like about this book is that it tells the story of the classical fairy tale without adding much, but telling us a lot about the characters, explaining their actions and creating a true personality for them. This, together with the fact that we are shown many details of their everyday lives, makes us feel for them, suffer with their misfortunes and be happy with their happiness.
Rating:
Summary: This is not just a kid's book!
Review: This is a book that I originally bought when it was packaged as an adult fantasy novel with a lovely Boris Vallejo cover. It has since been changed to a children's format and labeled ages 9-12 which is sad because I believe many adults who would love this story will overlook it due to its new age labels and format. First, what this book is not--it is not a slam, bam action book or gigantic doorstopper epic.
What it is--a wonderful romantic retelling of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. A widower has three daughters, Grace, Hope, and Honour. As a young child, Honour decides that her name is boring and states she would rather be Beauty, and the nickname stuck with her. Kindly Grace and Hope grow up into great beauties, but Beauty grows into a gawky ugly duckling, little concerned with her looks, but proud of her intelligence and way with horses. They all live happily in the city until disastor strikes and they lose almost all their possessions. They move to the country next to a mysterious old forest and as years pass become used to hard work and the peasant life. Beauty thrives, but still suffers from low self esteem. Then their father goes back to the city to check on one of his lost ships and when he returns, brings her a beautiful rose. You know the story--he met the Beast who demanded one of his daughters in exchange for the father's life, because he dare to pluck the rose. Beauty volunteers to got to the Beast, taking only her warhorse turned plowhorse, Great Heart. She meets the Beast and encounters all the mysteries of his strange castle and invisible servants, some fearful and some wondrous. A sweet and charming romance ensues as the Beast asks her every night for her hand in marriage. The author really makes the character of Beauty come to life--her wry, self-deprecating humor, her love of nature and books, her wonder, and sometimes fear of, the magic surrounding her, the gentle changing and unfolding of her feelings about the Beast. And the Beast is just as wonderful, you can feel his sad yearning for love, his hard-earned wisdom, his patience with Beauty and her fears, his strength and temper and sorrow. There is wit and humor, sadness and joy. This is just a wonderful book that I read again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Good retelling of Beauty and the beast
Review: Actully this is one of my favorite books, its not the best book by Mckinley, her book the Blue Sword is her best that I have read so far. This book is better then the Rose Daughter, which is good but uses the same themes as this one. If you like retellings of Fairy Tales this is a good one to start off with, its not as confusing as Yolen's retelling. If you like fantasy this is also a good book too. Beauty's ending is a good one, only a little bit confusing. I am an avid Mckinley reader, I am in the middle of reading the Outlaws of Sherwood by her another book I would recommend.
Rating:
Summary: None better
Review: The original fairy tale Beauty has been a favorite of mine since the day my second grade teacher read it aloud to our class. I came across Robin McKinley's version shortly after it was published, and felt the same sense of wonder and enchantment I felt that day in Miss Jones's classroom. Robin McKinley took the old story and made it seem as if it could really happen in a world not very much unlike our own, and did so without sacrificing the magic of the original tale. She has since reinterpreted the same story in her later novel, Rose Daughter. As a grower of antique roses myself I enjoyed that one. Beauty, though, is the version that speaks to me most clearly.
Rating:
Summary: A lovely retelling...
Review: This is a lovely retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast. It is romantic, enjoyable, and well-written. I first read this when I was twelve years old and it remains one of my favorite books today. :-)
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