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Summary: Beauty: The Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
Review: Title:Beauty:The retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
By:Robin McKinley
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Period:1 The famous French story of the Beauty and the Beast is retold,in a more unique and interesting form. The main character is Honour. She is not a beautiful as her two sisters, Grace and Hope. She becomes responsible for her father's actions and leaves her family to live with the Beast in the enchanted castle. Beast never imagined that Honour would be this way. Throught the book, they form a relationship that readers will never forget.
There were many thingss that I liked and disliked about this book. For example, I loved the way the author described Honour. The description made me feel as if I have known her for many years. I also like the fact that the story wasn't similar to the movie. There were old, different, and new characters. "I was the youngest of three daughters. Our literal-mother named us, Grace, ,Hope, and Honour, but few people except the minister, wh had baptized all three us, ,remembered my given name."
There were also things about the book that I disliked. For example, I disliked the way the author described Beast."Good evening,Beauty," Beast said with a harsh voice. He described him as someone who is rude and mean. Truley, Beast is warm and soft from the heart. He made him seem like someone who nobody wanted to live with. We all know that this is not true.
My favorite part of the book is when Honour first enters the castle. I was so excited when I read this part. "Like all of the other doors I had met in the castle, this one opened at my approach." You can just feel that something great is just about to happen in the castle. You know that she is going to have adventures in the castle. This was an excellent book!
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Summary: the BEST beauty and the beast
Review: Robin McKinley has a masterful way with words and in creating worlds believable and beautiful. The descriptive details are perfectly delicious and her characterization is vibrant. is one of her masterpieces. The best of her works have heart-rending choices, a blend of intelligence and sympathy, and a heroine who must forge her own path in life. I've read a great deal of young adult books and still do, as an adult, but I have found McKinley to have among the best female role models.Honour, known as Beauty, is the third daughter of a wealthy widowed merchant. Her father and lovely sisters, Grace and Hope, dote on their tomboy, scholarly youngest member. Beauty spends her days translating Greek and riding her horse, Greatheart. She isn't a looker, but her humor and accomplishments compensate for her self-perceived awkwardness. A sudden change in fortune forces the family to abandon their city life for exile in the deep, mysterious north where they lead a rustic life. The plot then follows the traditional tale of the father's journey back to town, Beauty's rose request, his fateful encounter, and Beauty's sacrifice. The Beast's castle is remarkably described and imagined. The magical elements are uniquely satisfying, such as wardrobes that furnish outfits on request, libraries with every book ever (past and future) written, and corridors that will lead you to your destination. Beauty's narration of the story gives readers the sensation of viewing everything directly. It's eye-candy you can read. More importantly, the personalities of Beauty and the Beast are given center stage. You see their unlikely friendship bud and develop, their intelligence and mutual appreciation for each other. It's not a romance per se, but rather, a true love story. It's all logical, fitting, and blossoming. The setting is fantasical, but the characters ring true, no matter how minor. McKinley takes great trouble setting scenes and letting them slowly unfurl splendidly like, well, a rose. You feel as though you are walking by Beauty's side through her adventure. The book's first person voice also helps place you right in the center of the action as well offering insight from the independent, intelligent, inquisitive Beauty. She isn't perfect - experiencing doubt, fear, guilt, and a poor sense of image throughout the novel - but she reaches past them as she evolves. Although this is categorized as a children's book, the vocabulary and style set this apart for a more mature audience. I have heard this was originally an adult book, and this is understandable. There a maturity to the overall tone of the work that transcends the innocuous story. Anyone at the recommended reading level will be able to enjoy the book, but the richness and depth of the author is something to be discovered even as an adult. I find myself rereading this gem every few months - for comfort, for inspiration, for focus. It really is that powerful. Note: McKinley recently wrote another retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" called but while readable, it's pretty spotty and nowhere as brilliant as
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Summary: Absolutely beautiful
Review: This is one of the best written books for all ages! If you are 13 or 83 you will fall in love with the characters and not be able to put this book down. Robin McKinley is one of the best authors out there and this is by far one of her best books. I highly recommend this book to anyone. Buy it, you'll love it!
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Summary: Disappointment!!
Review: I was sorely disappointed with this version of Beauty and the Beast. To be frank; I hated it. I seriously don't know why this book has such a high rating when it deserves much less. Other novels by Robin McKinley are much better like The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. Disney's Beauty and the Beast is so good that it's hard to surpass that version. I seriously don't recommend this novel.
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Summary: The Best of the Best of fantasy adaptions
Review: This book has to be one of the best fairy-tale adaptations ever written. (I hesitate to say the best only because I have not read all the fairy-tale adaptations that are out there) I have read this book over and over and over and I still find it absolutely fabulous.
The descriptions are beautiful without being distracting, the characters are believable, and more than that they are lovable. The plot will keep you reading until the end.
I will not give you a plot description as many others have given better ones than I could but I believe this is a book for all ages and all times. Truely a timeless classic and a treasure for any book lover.
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Summary: This is a great book!
Review: This is one of the best, if not the best, books I have ever read. It is exciting and romantic. The fantasy is really believable (if fantasy can be at all) and it kept me going until the very end and even that didn't stop me; I read it again. No complaints here.
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Summary: One of the best books
Review: I loved that book. I read it for the first time in 6th grade and it was great. I've read it around ten times since then (I'm in college now).This is McKinley's best book.
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Summary: Gotta love Beauty
Review: This book is a charming little retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. It has pretty much the same plot that we are familiar with, which is probably because Disney lifted much of Belle's character from the 'Beauty' in this book. Beauty (which is just a nickname, her real name is Honour), her two elder sisters, and her Father are forced to move to a small town after the Father's shipping business goes under. After the family adjusts to poor country living they run into a problem. The father wanders into the Beast's castle and steals a rose to bring home to Beauty. This angers the Beast and he tells the father that he must send one of his daughters to live with the Beast or the Beast will kill him. When the Father returns home and tell his tale to his daughters Beauty knows that she must be the one to go. Beauty then goes to the Beast's castle and gets to know him and eventually love him. This thing that makes this book truly special is the character Beauty. Her bookish and tomboyish ways make her endearing. The book is intended for 9-12 year Olds but don't let that stop you from reading it. It is easily enjoyed by fairy tale loving adults. ... Anyway, If you are looking for an excellent fairy tale retelling or just a book to read to your kids then this book is a terrific pick.
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Summary: A (beauty)ful story
Review: Hi my name is Elizabeth....This story is so beautiful it made me cry. I loved it so much! The main character was Bell. Bell has brown hair AND A beautiful face. She is kind, fun, warm loving and gental. Read the book 2 see what happens to Bell and the wicked beast. Or is he wicked?
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Summary: Mirrors
Review: Does the mirror tell the truth? What one sees in the mirror may not be what others see in us-or, for that matter, what we imagine for ourselves. In Robin McKinney's wonderful retelling of Beauty and the Beast, it is not only the Beast that avoids mirrors. Beauty (her christened name Honour, which truly fits her) is convinced she is plain, even ugly at times. It is only when she is able to see past the "ugly" appearance of her Beast that she is able to see the beauty of herself-the beauty that those who love her have seen all along. Honour is first shown to the readers as honorable, strong, independant and especially mentally gifted-something not always seen as a positive in the period of the story. Beauty certainly doesn't think so. Yet even though she's "just a girl," and the story is set in a time long ago, she knows that these gifts are blessings. Unfortunately, as many of us entering womanhood, her own self-worth is tied inextricably to her appearance. This is why she sacrifices herself to the dark, fearsome enchanted woods, into an uncertain fate with a fierce beast, to save her father and family-she is expendable. Imprisoned in an enchanted castle with a beast whose powers are beyond her wildest imaginings, Beauty discovers powers within she never knew she had. This "children's" novel (I'm 35 and couldn't put it down) is exciting from beginning to end. The fresh retelling of the old tale puts new perspective on a sometimes uncomfortable, yet a very familiar fairy-tale theme of female sacrifice. This time, it's about female power.
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