LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
May 2024 Book of the Month
Another powerful and hugely enjoyable feminist retelling of a traditional fairytale, following on the success of Poisoned and Stepsister which reworked Snow White and Cinderella respectively. Here Jennifer Donnelly turns her modern gaze upon Beauty and The Beast and encompasses a gender swap in the process, which enables her to explore themes like societal expectations, stereotypical gender roles and self-acceptance.
The original tale is thought by some scholars to have originated in 18th Century France as a cautionary tale to prepare young women for marriage to ‘beastly’ older men, as was so often the case.
Set in the same period, Arabella was a rebellious and headstrong young woman who is cursed to be a beast because she dared to wish for more than just marriage and to let her anger get the better of her. After being cursed for so many years, she loses hope that the curse will ever be broken. Enter Beau, a handsome thief who breaks into her castle with his gang, but then is abandoned and trapped.
At first, we have no more idea than Beau about who or what the Beast is, but he is as determined to solve the mystery as he is to escape. As each of their back stories is revealed we see that Beau and Arabella actually share a common struggle with their self-perception and self-image and neither think they are worthy of love, so how is the curse to be broken?
This is absolutely enthralling storytelling, full of rich symbolism, psychological depth and a touch of magical realism, as well as an occasional thoughtful commentary on fairy tales. The romantic chemistry and witty banter of the lead characters is most enjoyable, but the well-drawn minor characters have their moments too. The reader is thoroughly invested in everyone’s survival in the dramatic race against time as the curse counts down. Another winner!
Joy Court
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About
Beastly Beauty Synopsis
From New York Times bestselling, Carnegie-award-winning author Jennifer Donnelly comes a revolutionary, gender-swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast that will forever change how you think about beauty, power, and what it really means to follow your heart.
What makes a girl "beastly?" Is it having too much ambition? Being too proud? Taking up too much space? Or is it just wanting something, anything, too badly?
That's the problem Arabella faces when she makes her debut in society. Her parents want her to be sweet and compliant so she can marry well, but try as she might, Arabella can't extinguish the fire burning inside her - the source of her deepest wishes, her wildest dreams. When an attempt to suppress her emotions tragically backfires, a mysterious figure punishes Arabella with a curse, dooming her and everyone she cares about, trapping them in the castle.
As the years pass, Arabella abandons hope. The curse is her fault - after all, there's nothing more "beastly" than a girl who expresses her anger - and the only way to break it is to find a boy who loves her for her true self: a cruel task for a girl who's been told she's impossible to love. When a handsome thief named Beau makes his way into the castle, the captive servants are thrilled, convinced he is the one to break the curse. But Beau - spooked by the castle's strange and forbidding ladies-in-waiting, and by the malevolent presence that stalks its corridors at night - only wants to escape.
He learned long ago that love is only an illusion. If Beau and Arabella have any hope of breaking the curse, they must learn to trust their wounded hearts, and realize that the cruelest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780702334740 |
| Publication date: |
9th May 2024 |
| Author: |
Jennifer Donnelly |
| Publisher: |
Scholastic |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
321 pages |
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Author
About Jennifer Donnelly
Jennifer Donnelly lives in Brooklyn with her husband, daughter and two greyhounds. She grew up in New York State, in Lewis and Westchester counties. As a child, she loved to write and often inflicted really dreadful poems and stories on her family and friends. She loved to read, too, and the high point of her grade-school week was a Saturday trip to the library.
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