Beauty by Robin McKinley

Last week I had this really awesome dream that I was reading a book that had adventure and magic in it and a great love story on the side. When I told my husband about it he said "You dreamed you were reading a book??" in a tone that said he thought I was a complete nerd. But it was a great dream and it made me want to find the perfect book to read. After searching through Goodreads for recommendations, and cross-referencing with my local library, I finally settled on Beauty, by Robin McKinley. Not exactly the adventure-romance I was looking for, but a fun read nonetheless. Fairy tales are fun.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, this version goes into pretty good detail of Beauty's family and her life before she meets the beast. I've only ever known the Disney version of the story (I know Disney is not the best source of info, but don't judge) so I was interested in the back story. This was a really fun, interesting, and quick read, and I was overall pleased with all but the ending. McKinley took her time describing Beauty and her sisters and father and their whole life together in great detail, and all of the sudden the book ends after a page and a half of resolution. Wha??? I can't figure out why the ending was so rushed after so much thoughtful storytelling. Didn't make sense to me and I felt robbed of my (I mean, Beauty's...) happily-ever-after.

With a good ending this book could have earned a 4 out of 5 from me.

Unfortunately it only gets a 3.

Not bad, but not great.