Rose Daughter

Not as good a Beauty, but still a great re-telling of the same story.

Twenty years after Beauty, McKinley retells "Beauty and the Beast" once again. I liked this version better. The writing is beautiful and the story drew me in right away. Beauty has few memories of her mother, who died when Beauty was very young. When her father's business fails, Beauty's family loses everything. One day, Beauty finds a will that leaves a home called...more

Twenty years after Beauty, McKinley retells "Beauty and the Beast" once again. I liked this version better. The writing is beautiful and the story drew me in right away. Beauty has few memories of her mother, who died when Beauty was very young. When her father's business fails, Beauty's family loses everything. One day, Beauty finds a will that leaves a home called Rose Cottage to her family. They leave the city, not knowing what they will find in their new home. Beauty and her sisters, Jeweltongue and Lionheart, discover that they are happier in their small country cottage than they were in their fancy city house. Until the day that their father returns home from a visit to the city and tells them of his encounter with a mysterious and frightening Beast. To save her father, Beauty goes to live in the Beast's castle. There, she becomes friends with the Beast and works to bring his once-beautiful rose garden back to life. Though the ending still leaves a few questions unanswered, I thought the story behind the magical events was better told in this version than in Beauty. Long sentences and some difficult vocabulary will make this version more enjoyable for those with higher-level reading abilities.   hide

You can definitely tell that this writer has matured in life and in her writing style since writing Beauty. I really enjoyed this novel, it was very well written and had some interesting details; but I think that overall I liked Beauty better. I am looking forward to more books by this author.

not as enjoyable as her book, Beauty, but a gentle read nevertheless!