Beast

Rating:
Summary: Another masterpiece from Donna Jo Napoli
Review: I love the twists Donna Jo Napoli does with classic fairy tale stories. In the beginning of the book, it was interesting to see the culture which the prince grow up in. Although the spell that the prince had is make believe, his side of the story seems more believable than the Disney version. The beast's journey to the french mansion was a bit boring but the end was very heartflet. By the time he found Belle, I couldn't put it down, until my eyes watered at the last word.

Rating:
Summary: A 14 year old book critic.
Review: I loved the book...His culture is partiallaly Islam and in the culture women have to keep their faces covered. There is avery good chance that that was the only woman he had seen before he was transformed. Second, when he was with the lionesses he had just turned into the lion and wasn't prepared to deal with the impulses he would experience. Lastly there is no proof that the beast was from france. It is the authors interpretation of the story of the beast. All in all I enjoyed the book. It was very good. If you like the concept I recommend The raging quiet...

Rating:
Summary: A Refreshing Twist on a classic tale!!
Review: I was immeaditly drawn to Beast by the idea of the prince in the story being from Persia and the fact that the story is told from the beast's point of veiw. Islam is a religion that i've always been curious about. There is a lot of mention of Islamic holy days and rituals in this book. In fact I am now reading a book on Islam as a result of reading Beast. It's interesting to read as prince Oryasman learns to write in the dirt with his paws as a way of communicating to people. I only give this book four stars because the ending leaves you hanging. Despite the ending this book grabs you from the first line to the end of the book. Make up your own ending to the book it's fun!

Rating:
Summary: Page turner
Review: I was impressed with this intricate tale. Not only does Napoli create a person for the beast, she makes him interesting. I could not put down this magical book. The pain of the beast (or prince orasmyn) is sooo real. Belle becomes someone interesting and not flighty like they usually make her out to be. I loved this book! Read it and I gaurantee it will change your views on a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Not DJN's best
Review: I was looking forward to this book for a really long time, and when it came out it really wasn't worth the wait. It was good, but unfortunately, for me, it was one of those books that I get bored with about halfway through. I had to put it down for about a week and then, when I picked it back up, it still was a little boring.

The way that it was in the Beast's point of view was interesting, but I really prefer the more traditional approach to this particular fairy tale. Beauty only came in near the end, and that whole part with the little fox was sad. There was a little too much about Beast traveling to France, and being a vegetarian, those carnivorous scenes that came up periodically made me a little disgusted - and queasy.

This does not mean I will stop being a fan of DJN's. I love her writing style. She has a talent for writing that usually captivates me. I am a long time fan of Zel, Crazy Jack, and Sirena. I think that this and Spinners are her two books that I enjoyed the least. So if this is your first DJN, then try one of her others, I think they are better done. I'm looking forward to her next book!

Rating:
Summary: Beast
Review: I've read several other books by Donna Jo Napoli, and she continues to write with the same realistic to the point of disturbing style that makes it an interesting read. I like this book not only because it is told from the beast's point of view, but also because it is in present tense form. It gives you a refreshing break from the usual "he said, she said" idea. It has the traditional setting of the familiar fairy tale, but also brings in some new ideas. I read this book at 13 and was ok (but I guess it mostly depends on the readers maturity level).

Rating:
Summary: Lion-Hearted
Review: In an intriguing addition to the popular Retold Fairy-Tale genre, Napoli reimagines "Beauty And The Beast" from the Beast's point of view. She sets her tale in exotc Persia and makes her hero, Orasmyn, the princely son of a provincial Shah. Because he fails to observe the proper rituals during a festival, Orasmyn angers a pari or djinn (fairy), who curses him by turning him into a Beast. In this case, he is transformed into a lion, with no more or less than a lion's natural abilities. In fact, beyond this magical transformation, there is no other magic in the story, which is handled with scrupulous realism. Beast journeys all the way from Persia to France on foot. He finds an abandoned castle to live in and plants his own rose garden by hand (or paw). And he has no ability to speak like a man; he communicates with humans by scratching words in the dirt with his claw.

Compare Napoli's book to Gillian Bradshaw's "The Wolf Hunt," a straightforward medieval romance, except for the fantastical element of the hero transforming into a wolf. In both books, the contrast between realism and a magical premise is very compelling, especially in the voice of the hero, struggling to hold on to his inner humanity as his instincts become more beastly. Napoli's Beast, the virginal prince, can't help mating with two lionesses and devouring a fresh-killed stag in his animal form, yet his efforts to reconcile his human soul to his beastly self are heroic.

Napoli's "Beauty," Belle, doesn't come into the story until very late, with little time to establish her personality. And some readers may feel the story ends too abruptly, just at the moment that Orasmyn is restored. While Napoli's book may not be the difinitive or most romantic version of the story, its originality and exotica make it an appealing addition to "Beauty And The Beast" lore.

Rating:
Summary: It's a trick!
Review: It's a trick! I got this book out of the library thinking that it was going to be a fantasy/romance book, retelling the story of "The Beauty and the Beast". But no, it's a retelling of a history text book on the culture of Persia (where they eat congealed blood, I've learned thanks to Napoli) and how their culture and the new Islam faith contradict each other (oh yes, the Beast is muslim and we hear him lament about how his soul is doomed every time he in his lion's body eats a poor animal without cleansing himself first)

Then, a camel of all things, turns him into a lion and we also get to hear about the lovely culture of lions. In exquisite detail we hear about how our main character, the Beast, is horny and he "mates" with the two unbelievably sexy lions. Afterwards, he follows them around and, (with more detail, as is Napoli's specialty) we hear how the Beast's mistress defecates creamy crap and how the Beast breathes in the lioness's heady perfume (just like a fly).

I thought that when he met the Beauty, the interaction between them would be worth it, but nooooooo. I saw more love between the little fox kit and Belle than between her and the Beast. All they did was read! I won't tell you how it ends for all of you who like this stuff, but I thought the ending was the worst part.

So to summarize, Napoli made a wonderful fairy tale into a junk-load of disturbing details and religious ramblings. Some people obviously love this stuff considering this book's ratings, but for all of those looking for fantasy, look at Kristen Britain, Rachel Caine, Anne Bishop, or even JK Rowling, before you lay your hands on this pile of paper.


Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: Not that good. I expected this to be as good as all the rest of Donna Jo Napoli's books (Sirena!!) but I was extremely disappointed. Hardly any thing happened, it seemed like, because every thing was so dullly written. The idea and some of the events that happened in the book could have made a good story, but instead, it was extremely dull and boring. I expected this book to be as good as every one had made it out to be.

Dull and boring. Not worth reading. Find some thing else.

Rating:
Summary: Um...people LIKE this book?
Review: Ok...I was really surprised when I saw that so many people liked it, becuase pretty much everyone I know thinks it's pretty darn messed up. I'm only 14, so maybe I'm not "mature" enough to get killing the wrong type of camel to save a friend, and then get PUNISHED for it by DEATH from a *mericiful god*. Oh, wait, isn't 14 around the age that this book is targeted for, not adults? Whoops, my mistake. And, ok, you can seriously tell this was written by a woman and pretty pathetically portrayed as a man. First of all, not many men think about their mother's in well... a pretty weird way that borders on incest(*shudder*). And then, apparently it was neccessary to describe him having... er... "relations"(ya, they went ALL the way) with two lions in about a 10 minute period. *another shutter* And they had to describe... ew... let's just say it was pretty disgusting and REALLY unneccessary(wading around in pigeon c***, or violent sex, or a VIVID description of the death and eating of a freshly killed animal, mother and her baby foxes being murdered and eaten by Orasmyn and then one is so badly injured by the main character he has a limp for the rest of his life). The way he/she thinks about women and other people is just screaming that a woman wrote this. "Orasmyn" proved to be such a weak...well... girly, sissy moron that it was hard to identify with his disgusting experiences and um..."feelings". Not only that, Beauty and the Beast is FRENCH ok?! Not PERSIAN. And it was annoying how she tried to give me a Persian vocabulary lesson every time I turned a page.(*blah blah in Persian*-or *blah blah in English*) And the cover makes him look like a girl. That's something else that bothered me. I was so incredibly bored and disgusted I just flipped to the last 10 pages, to find that there was NO character development. Let's see, I can't indentify w/ his expieriences, hated the character, no development, nasty, graphic, and uneccessary scenes, this sums up to a book that well... REALLY sucks. If I could give this book ZERO stars I would, so I'll just have to live with the guilt.