- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Corgi Childrens; New edition edition (4 Mar 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0552548634
- ISBN-13: 978-0552548632
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 167,826 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Book Description
A retelling of the classic tale, Beauty is a beautifully-woven tale of love, courage and magic for young and not-so-young adults.
Product Description
When the family business collapses, Beauty and her two sisters are forced to leave the city and begin a new life in the countryside. However, when their father accepts hospitality from the elusive and magical Beast, he is forced to make a terrible promise - to send one daughter to the Beast's castle, with no guarantee that she will be seen again. Beauty accepts the challenge, and there begins an extraordinary story of magic and love that overcomes all boundaries. This is another spellbinding and emotional tale embroidered around a fairytale from Robin McKinley, an award-winning American author.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a delightful retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale. However, don’t assume that you know everything there is to know about this story already. In this version, Beauty is plain compared to her two elder sisters … and the beast is more sad and mysterious than frightening or beastly.
Closer to the original French fairytale than any version so far, the style of writing has an old-fashioned charm and simplicity about it, giving you the feeling that you are reading a letter from Beauty herself describing her life at the beast’s enchanted castle.
This book would make a wonderful gift for girls aged nine to ninety!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The best-known and best-loved of Robin McKinley's books is also one of the best of the fairy-tale retellings -- "Beauty," a more enlightened, fully-drawn version of "Beauty and the Beast." 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 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 the countryside.
The father leaves on a trip -- and returns with a single rose, a gift for Beauty, 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...
There is nothing new in fairy tale retellings now, but when McKinley first wrote "Beauty," it was a relative rarity. And even now, few of them are as intelligently written and have such solid heroines. Rather than giving her story a contrived "twist," McKinley merely fleshes out the storyline and gives the characters personalities.
The writing is excellent; McKinley writes 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. Lots of atmosphere, either in the poor but warm surroundings of the house, or the eerie feel of the castle.The dialogue is nearly flawless: McKinley doesn't write ye-olde-formal prose, but the characters never sound -- or think -- like modern Americans.
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 this "Beauty" has brains and guts rather than a pretty face. 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. Beauty's father and sisters are equally well-done, avoiding the cliches of nastiness in favor of being likable or haunted.
Robin McKinley's debut "Beauty" is still among the best-loved fairy-tale retellings. With the help of a gutsy, brainy heroine, it rises above a mere retelling and becomes THE retelling.
Beauty (real name is "Honour") is the ironically-named heroine of the story -- she isn't beautiful, but 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 the countryside.
The father leaves on a trip -- and returns with a single rose, a gift for Beauty, 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...
There is nothing new in fairy tale retellings now, but when McKinley first wrote "Beauty," it was a relative rarity. And even now, few of them are as intelligently written and have such solid heroines. Rather than giving her story a contrived "twist," McKinley merely fleshes out the storyline and gives the characters personalities.
The writing is excellent; McKinley writes 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. Lots of atmosphere, either in the poor but warm surroundings of the house, or the eerie feel of the castle.The dialogue is nearly flawless: McKinley doesn't write ye-olde-formal prose, but the characters never sound -- or think -- like modern Americans.
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 this "Beauty" has brains and guts rather than a pretty face. 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. Beauty's father and sisters are equally well-done, avoiding the cliches of nastiness in favor of being likable or haunted.
Robin McKinley's debut "Beauty" is still among the best-loved fairy-tale retellings. With the help of a gutsy, brainy heroine, it rises above a mere retelling and becomes THE retelling.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Beauty is a retelling of the classic story of Beauty and the Beast. It follows the original quite closely, which is similar to the modern Disney version, but with more detail, such as a better explanation of who the main character (Belle) is and where she comes from.
I enjoyed it a great deal; it was well written, so the characters felt very real, there were little bits of humour and the magic of the Beast's world made me realise all over again why I love this story.
I enjoyed it a great deal; it was well written, so the characters felt very real, there were little bits of humour and the magic of the Beast's world made me realise all over again why I love this story.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I know I will read `Beauty' again and again.
Beauty' (as the title says) is the Re-telling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast. I was never a fan of fairy tales growing up but I did enjoy `Beauty and the Beast'. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Rebecca
Nice little story
I won't usually pick young adult fiction for myself, not because I don't think it will be good as much as because I never really think to look at it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Lucybird
Another wonderful retelling
I first ordered 'Beauty' after reading Alex Flinn's 'Beastly'. After reading the modern day Beauty and the Beast retelling i found myself looking for another good read. Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2010 by S Patel
retelling of beauty and the beast
At first a little heavy on description but in the end I enjoyed the story.
Published on 30 Aug 2009 by Michael R. Osborne
Review Of "Beauty"
This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It conjured up every emotion I have ever felt, at one point it almost felt as if my heart was being broken as well as the... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2007 by Mr. Nicholas S. A. Gibbons
Most beautiful book
'Beauty' was one of the best books I have ever read! I found it slightly confusing towards the end, but the descriptions throughout were beautiful and the images it created in my... Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2006 by Jen
Beauty
This book is really great, and really brings the story alive - I liked the disney film when I was younger, but this is much better and I think it's more like the traditional... Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2006 by amyangel
A BRILLIANT story
'Beaty,' is fantastic. I enjoyed it so much. I usually find it diffcult to re-read books I have read before, but I don't think I will find it difficult to read this again. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2005 by Maidie
Beauty, what a perfect name for a beautiful book!
This is a wonderful read and it sets a wonderful twist to the original classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2004
A truely amazing book!
This book is a true gem, and I would recomend it to anyone, of any age. I would definately favour it above "Rose Daughter", which, although is a very good book, just doesn't have... Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2003 by "carolyn00"
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