Robin McKinley is telling a story about the importance of kindness, love and believing in your self. I thought Robin McKinley wrote very well. She added many details and you really got to know Beauty and her family. She described the Beast's feelings well. I could see the pictures in my mind as I read. The story relates to me because I saw the movie “Beauty and the Beast” when I was little and I remembered the story. This book is for young adults who like love stories. I would give Beauty five stars for its great details and the way it draws the reader in emotionally.
Beauty is about a sixteen year old girl named Honour who lives with her father, Mr. Huston, a wealthy widow merchant and her two sisters. She named herself Beauty, because when she was a young girl she thought that the name Honour was boring. She decided she wanted to be named Beauty and the name stuck with her. When she grew up she turned ugly, short, and had big feet and hands. Beauty thought that this name did not suit her well, because she did not think of herself as beautiful. She thought of herself as being more intelligent. Her two older sisters, Grace, the oldest, and Hope, the middle sister were beautiful.
The Huston's lived happily in the city until a tragedy struck and their father's ships got lost at sea, sank, or were taken over by pirates. He had to sell his house to get money because he did not save much. They moved to the country where they could live more cheaply, near a mysterious old forest. They got used to the hard working life as peasants. When her father came home one day with a strange tale of an enchanted castle in the wood and the terrible promise he had made to the Beast who lived there, Beauty knew what she must do.
The setting was in the city until they moved to the country near an enchanted forest. The Huston's lived in a small town in the country called Blue Hill, in a little house that had been deserted. Grace, Hope, Beauty and their father had to get used to living in the country with new jobs, more chores and less leisure time. Beauty had to get used to this and she got used to this fairly quickly. She began to love living in the country, although Beauty, did miss the city sometimes.
Overall, this book is a great book. It deals with some things that can happen in our own lives because it helps teach us about the importance of kindness, love and believing in ourselves and others. Although you may think you are not pretty, smart, or cool, you have beauty inside yourself. Beauty followed her heart and found the beauty inside the beast.