Comments on: GUEST REVIEW: Beauty by Robin McKinley

By: Courtney Hook

Courtney Hook — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:50:51 +0000

You said it better than I could ever have. I absolutely love this book, i’ll read it. . .oooh maybe 2 times a month. But sometime I leave the book alone just long enough for me to forget it’s beautiful enchanting story, so that the next time I read it, it’s like I have never read it before.

I was especially pleased to find out that she was from Bruswick, Me! That’s only a couple of towns away from my home town. Perhaps the enchanting charms of Maine have inspired her to write this book. The author of The Last Unicorn claims that there are a few unicorns left in Maine. ;)

By: Kathleen MacIver

Kathleen MacIver — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:02:39 +0000

I… uh… am a little surprised by your desperation, Hannah! Wouldn’t a polite request have worked?

Hope marries Gervain, who is known as Ger. They have twins in the book, Mercy is the girl-child’s name, and I think the boy-child’s name was Richard, although I’m not positive. (My book is packed away in a moving box, at the moment.)

Grace does not have a husband or children. She was engaged to Robby early on in the book, but he was lost at sea, and stays lost until the very end.

Beauty’s father does not marry anyone, although there are hints of a slight romance going on between him and Melinda (I think her name was) who kept the nearby inn.

By: Hannah

Hannah — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:46:46 +0000

What is the name of Hope’s husband, and her children? And what is Grace’s husband and children? Who does Beauty’s pa marry? It is very important you reply to this message ASAP!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU!!!!!! REPLY!!!!!!!!

By: Sela Carsen

Sela Carsen — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:05:34 +0000

Brigid, I have to say that I found Beauty and Rose Daughter extremely different! They’re both B&B stories, so that similarity exists, but the tone and style are completely different. Rose Daughter was written almost 20 years after Beauty and it was intriguing for me to see where McKinley had grown as an author. Rose Daughter was a much more mature story. Beauty is a great fairy tale. My very favorite fairy tale version. But Rose Daughter had a lot to offer as well. A slightly darker vision that has its own appeal.

By: Brigid

Brigid — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 06:03:07 +0000

I absolutely loved this book when I read it, and was really excited to read her other retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Rose Daughter. I was disappointed to find the two books very similar. I guess this is unavoidable to a point, but it was still a bit of a let-down. I haven’t read The Blue Sword, though, so I’ll have to check it out.

By: Sela Carsen

Sela Carsen — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:36:49 +0000

Can’t believe I missed this review. I’m on my third copy of Beauty because I literally wore out the first two. Whenever people ask what my favorite books are, I list this one along with Jane Eyre and To Kill A Mockingbird.

I don’t think I can even pick a favorite McKinley story because I have never run across one I didn’t automatically adore. It killed me to wait for Sunshine to come out in paperback because I was so eager to read it! And she’s got another one out?!? Guess I know where my book budget will go this month!

By: MaryK

MaryK — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:41:11 +0000

McKinley is an author who simply does not write enough books.

She just published a new book in October. Dragon-something, Haven maybe. I bought it but haven’t read it yet.

BTW, is it only me or did it seem like Disney borrowed a lot from McKinley with their animated movie? The book came out in 1978 and the movie came out in 1991. I just felt like the both had a very similar look and feel.

I don’t think it’s possible to read Beauty and not have your interpretation of the fairytale affected. McKinley’s imagery is very powerful. Any Beauty and the Beast fan who hasn’t read Beauty is deprived.

By: Ann Bruce

Ann Bruce — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:29:51 +0000

BTW, is it only me or did it seem like Disney borrowed a lot from McKinley with their animated movie? The book came out in 1978 and the movie came out in 1991. I just felt like the both had a very similar look and feel.

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:22:57 +0000

I have all her books, and love them. You’ve encouraged a re-read session. :) Thanks for the lovely review.

By: Keishon

Keishon — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:07:40 +0000

I got this book. Look forward to reading it someday.

By: bettie

bettie — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:10:51 +0000

I love this book. And The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword and Deerskin. I first read The Blue Sword when I was ten years old. For two-thirds of my life, there has been at least one Robin McKinley book on my Keeper Shelf.

By: Michele Lee

Michele Lee — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:18:56 +0000

Thank you so much! I read this some time ago, forgot the author and have been trying to re-discover it ever since! thanks to you I can run and order it from Amazon!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:06:27 +0000

Glad to see the review, and reading these comments I have to speak out about McKinley. She's my only automatic buy author, and I love her work. It's true that I enjoyed Blue Sword but I could read Hero and the Crown and Sunshine over and over again. Those two combined with Beauty are three of my favorite books of all time. I hope some of you try to read them. She's simply a fantastic author.

By: Shelly @ Bewitched

Shelly @ Bewitched — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 03:52:11 +0000

I haven’t heard of this one. I’ll have to look around here for it. I have a couple of McKinley books in the TBR but this isn’t one of them and neither is the Blue Sword.

By: Shannon C.

Shannon C. — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:33:03 +0000

I loved this book as well. I read it as a child, but at that time it was a bit too hard for me, so I reread it recently. Loved it that time, and also glommed a lot of other McKinley books. Deerskin and The Blue Sword are also terrific.

By: Ann Bruce

Ann Bruce — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:15:32 +0000

I absolutely adore this book. Thanks for reviewing it. Surprisingly, I don’t have it on my bookshelf, so that must be remedied shortly.

By: Kathleen_MacIver

Kathleen_MacIver — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:56:23 +0000

Don’t appologize! It deserves a rant, I think!

Me… I have a paperback edition from about ten years ago that’s managing to hold up quite nicely!

By: LinM

LinM — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:38:36 +0000

Kathleen, I’m sorry to rant about pricing when your review was so joyous. McKinley is such a great author. “Deerskin” is probably my favourite of her fairytale books. The beginning is horrific and chilling because it is so plausible; the rest of the story showing Deerskin recovering and gradually learning to trust again is tender and quite lovely. Definitely not for young readers.

By: LinM

LinM — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 23:02:47 +0000

Jane, you are cruel, cruel, cruel. Yes, “Blue Sword” is available for pre-order at Fictionwise but the pricing is absurd. Penguin proves once again that their cost for digitizing a book exceeds every other publisher by a significant margin. The book is currently available in paperback for $6.99 or I can wait until Dec 4 to buy the ebook for $14.00 (admittedly, this co-incides with a new trade edition which also has a $14.00 list price). I was hoping that if I bought the ebook, it would encourage Penguin to digitize other McKinley titles but at these prices, I’m not interested.

By: Charlene Teglia

Charlene Teglia — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 21:48:03 +0000

OK, how did I miss this book? I love McKinley and I love Beauty and the Beast stories. Must hunt down a copy.