Beauty

Beauty by Robin McKinley

Rating

3 stars+

Date Read

28.5.15 - 1.6.15

Age Group

12+

General Thoughts

"Beauty" is a retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story and followes the original very closely, from the time period (sounds like the 18th century) to the magical objects in the palace (teapots moving themselves) to the hideous Beast living in it (all claws and fur). That said, and noting that I don't mind cheesy novels too much, I was surprised to find that it had a lot less princess-like quality and cheesy moments than I expected. Which was not a bad thing, just unexpected in such a faithfull retelling of the classic.

It was nice. It was nice how it "married realism to fantasy with satisfying imagination" (as the SundayTimes so perfectly described), it was nice how the protagonist is practical and realistic without veering straight into narrow-minded and it was nice how Beauty's sisters were for once portrayed as graceful and thoughtful and kind. And it was nice how Beauty wasn't even her real name!

All the features of the book were wrapped up together alluringly. The Characters and the narrators voice, the pragmatic sisters and the magic castle, the invisible maids and the magestic horse and finally the Beast.

If you don't mind books that start off a bit slow, or better put, that don't add the romance until you're halfway through then this is a deffinite must read. And from someone who has only been reading books if there's guaranteed romance, the few witty exchanges that Beauty an the Beast have are deffinitely worth it.

Main characters

Honour

You might know her as Beauty. She loves books -naturally-, is very studious, realistic and open-minded - she believes in magic and griffins and beasts without ever being dreamy about it or trying to rationalize. She manages to come to terms with having a Beast for a host - but without skipping the part where she's scared and lonely or misses her family - and make falling in love with him a little bit after each conversation seem effortless.

Her only annoying quality is her obsession with her being ugly. You've been living with an actual beast with claws and fur and fangs for the past year! Get over your eyes being dull, for God's sake! Then again, maybe we should cut her some slack, considering her sisters are gorgeous and she only had mirrors in her preteens, when she was dull and awkward and didn't feel like she belonged.

Beast

Smart and patient and kind. He has all the best qualities and no faults in his character - he doesn't suffer from inferiority complexes in spite of his looking like a monster from storybrooks or nightmares. He is seven feet of loveable Beast.

Grace and Hope

Beauty's gorgeous, pragmatic and talented sisters never once teased Beauty for not living up to her name. They can look frail and pale and pretty, basically the incarnation of ideal beauty , while being are hard-working, reliable and easily adaptable to the change of circumstances. Hope gets married to Ger has twins while Grace spends most the book mourning he fiancee, who was lost in the sea with their father's fortune.

Ger

Hope's husband. Handsome, hard-working, reliable and thoughtful. A bit less pragmatic than his wife, he is hesitant to let Beauty venture too close to the dark woods next to their house, even before they know for sure that a terrible Beast inhabites them.

Plot

The book is basically divided ito two parts. Thefirst half of the book (130 pages or so) are dedicated to Beauty's life through the ages 12 to 17. It covers her family's luxurious life in the city, her obsession with books anδ indifference towards the life of socialites and high class maidens. In the second half of the book she meets her Beaast, becomes accustomed to the magical life in the palace, softens toward her disfigured host and, eventually, falls for him. No real surprises anywhere in the plot.

Writing

"Poetic prose without it being cloying" (Guardian on "Beauty"). The writing was paricularly captivating and I couldn't put the book down, especially after the Beast enters the story. Although it did, at times, sound a bit pretentious, when Ms Robin went out of her way to compare everything to Ancient Greek mythological heroes or poets just to remind everyone of Beauty's studying. I am Greek so I recognised most of the names she threw at me from childhood reading or school but most of the references still sounded strained.

All in All

Beauty is a well-written, captivating retelling, faithful to the classic without ever being boring. Ms Robin explored some elements of the classic (like the magical nature of the castle) while leaving others the same. The result is a fun, quick summer read!

XOXO

Aggie Pearson