Beauty

This rendition of the classic fairytale inspired the Disney cartoon of the 90's, and the live action film in 2017. The fairytale I grew up with featured the typical ugly, selfish, mean-spirited sisters, and the beautiful, kind and good youngest sister, who was enviably Daddy's favorite. McKinley re-envisions the story with heart, making it a story of a loving family, torn apart by circumstance. We get loads of character development about Beauty herself, who is actually quite plain, but loves books and learning. Her sisters are actually quite lovely (inside and out), filled with affection for one another, including their youngest sister. Beauty's intelligence, resourcefulness, and courage drive the story forward here, slowly drawing the beast into something resembling civility. It's become the new standard framework for the story, and many younger readers don't realize Beauty was never bookish, strong-minded, or let's face it, all that interesting, before McKinley wrote Beauty.

Booklists having this book

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Best Fantasy Books of the 70's

The 70's saw us Afro hairstyle, the Me generation, the continuation of the Cold War, the end of the Vietnam war, and death of the hippy trail.  It was also... Read more

Best Strong Female Heroine Fantasy Books

Whenever friends lament that there are no strong, realistic female leads in fantasy literature; I am astounded. Not that I'm surprised that there is a prolific amount of novels in... Read more

Other books by Mckinley, Robin

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The Hero And The Crown

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The Blue Sword

The original "strong heroine" fantasy author, McKinley broke new ground with her work in the 80's. Harry Crewe feels restless, insignificant, invisible. Until kelar, a kind of magical force handed... Read more

A Knot In The Grain And Other Stories

A mute healer who meets the one man who can hear her thoughts, an abandoned princess who discovers the truth behind the mysterious stagman, a modern girl who finds the... Read more

Imaginary Lands

A fascinating illustrated tour of the fabled places in literature and folklore that have awed, troubled, and eluded us through the ages. From the epic poets of antiquity to contemporary... Read more

The Stone Fey

Maddy, a young woman who runs sheep on her family farm, develops an unusual relationship with an elusive mountain creature called a fey. Read more

Deerskin

An author who writes mesmerizing fantasy stories with an almost lyrical, dreamlike style. Her prose is always outstanding, top notch and beautiful to read. Deerskin is perhaps her best, most... Read more

Sunshine

From award-winning and national bestselling author, Robin McKinley, comes this dark, sensual vampire fairy tale. "A gripping, funny, page-turning, pretty much perfect work of magical literature."--Neil Gaiman “Sunshine” is what... Read more

Beauty

This rendition of the classic fairytale inspired the Disney cartoon of the 90's, and the live action film in 2017. The fairytale I grew up with featured the typical ugly,... Read more

Sunshine

This exceptionally entertaining novel features a highly likable and relatable protagonist and a bunch of vampires that are a far more accurate representation of the blood sucking fiends, in comparison... Read more

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