| $@%&! level: Low (if any) “Bedroom” level: None Violence level: Low Back Cover: “Twenty years ago, Robin McKinley dazzled readers with the power of her novel Beauty. Now this extraordinarily gifted novelist returns to the story of Beauty and the Beast, with a fresh perspective, ingenuity, and mature insight. With Rose Daughter, she presents her finest and most deeply felt work, a compelling, richly imagined, and haunting exploration of the transformative power of love.” |
In most ways, I actually like this second retelling a bit better than Robin McKinley's first. It's got more depth to it, and more thoughtfulness. She's obviously learned a lot about roses in twenty years, for one thing. The descriptions are much more rich and luxuriant. More than that, the character change for each member of Beauty's family is fascinating. In the City they were rich and prosperous—and miserable. It's only when they are forced to move to the country that they truly become a family and learn to care for each other, and then they also become happy in their work. I think that's why it takes a good three years of settling in before anything particularly magical happens. They had to have time to learn to be a family, so that taking Beauty away had such a strong effect on them. You don't see quite as much of a character change on the part of the Beast, although it is there if you watch closely.
I found the eventual explanation of the curse kind of confusing. Honestly, I've read that part dozens of times, and I'm still not sure I've got it entirely straight in my head. It also went on for a very long time, right in the middle of the climax. In a way, the explanation was the climax. Beauty finally gets answers to all the questions she's been saving up, and then she has to make a decision.
But really, the only problem I had with the story was the narrative time. You see, one of the things that makes Beauty and the Beast my favorite fairytale is that it isn't love at first sight. It's about coming to love someone for who they are as a person. And while this still isn't love at first sight, it only takes Beauty seven days to fall in love. Probably a lot less than that for the Beast. It sort of takes away the point for me, but that's my only real complaint.