Beastly beauty / Jennifer Donnelly.

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Title:

Author:

Donnelly, Jennifer, author.

ISBN:

9781338809442

9780702334740

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

321 pages ; 22 cm

Abstract:

When handsome thief Beau enters the castle that appeared out of nowhere he finds himself trapped in Arabella's curse, which can only be broken if she finds a boy who loves her for her true self--a seeming impossibility for a girl who has been told she is impossible to love.

Reading Level:

Ages 12 and up. Scholastic Press.

Grades 10-12. Scholastic Press.

Subject Term:

Blessing and cursing -- Juvenile fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Juvenile fiction.

Beauty and the beast (Tale) -- Adaptations.

Fairy tales.

Blessing and cursing -- Fiction.

Interpersonal relations -- Fiction.

Bénédiction et malédiction -- Romans, nouvelles, etc. pour la jeunesse.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Fairy Tales & Folklore / Adaptations.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / Paranormal.

Beauty and the beast (Tale)

Blessing and cursing

Interpersonal relations

Genre:

Added Uniform Title:

Adaptaton of (expression): Beauty and the beast. English.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library	Teen Fiction Book Hardback	120791003135733	T DON	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

*"A dreamy, sublimely written tale." -- Publishers Weekly , starred review

From New York Times bestselling, 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.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up--With this novel, Donnelly has written a familiar but unique story. Beau is a thief who relies on his good looks to get away with his crimes. While working with other thieves, he stumbles upon a castle that seems to have magically appeared. It is too tempting for the thieves to ignore, so they go in, but are almost killed by a beast. Beau lives but is trapped at the castle where he meets Arabella, the head of the house. Arabella's ladies-in-waiting carefully guard her, and they are only one of the mysteries surrounding the castle. Beau's main concern is getting out of the castle, but he also wants to learn the secrets that everyone is hiding. Arabella and Beau, different as can be, are drawn to each other. From the start, it is easy to like Beau's charming character, while Arabella is initially a harder character to discern. Via painful flashbacks, readers see how Arabella, who once had a mind of her own and spoke up for what she believed, has been reduced to a character who cannot even remember what she loves. By the end, readers will be rooting for her. Along with setting a beautiful scene, Donnelly has written a story where readers will be turning pages to see the main characters find each other. VERDICT Middle and high school librarians will want this in their collections.--Michelle Lettus

Publisher's Weekly Review

Donnelly (Molly's Letter) submerses readers in a historical romance rich with emotional turbulence in this lushly rendered "Beauty and the Beast" reimagining. Beau is, as his name implies, beautiful. In the band of thieves with which he rides, he's the seducer, making off with targets' hearts alongside their jewelry and silver. As Beau and company careen through the woods of France post-heist, they come upon a castle whose banquet tables are lain with a feast. Confronted by a beast as they contemplate looting the residence, the rest flee, sacrificing Beau. As he plots his escape, he meets the household's warm and strangely caring servants, as well as a vicious group of ladies-in-waiting who attend to the castle's proprietor, the lovely yet cold Lady Arabella. The more Beau sees of his new home, the more he questions his primal need to flee--even in the face of the beast that roams the castle at night. Delicately limned characters brimming with tenable desires and fears provide the foundation upon which Donnelly presents life lessons about chosen family, self-empowerment, and personal truth, and levying moments balance this dreamy, sublimely written tale. Ages 12--up. (May)

Kirkus Review

A fairy-tale twist on expectations. Beau is a thief. After the black-haired Spaniard's good looks get him into the good graces of rich women, his robber band swoops in to monopolize on his ill-gotten insider knowledge. Their last job went sideways, and as the group rides for their lives through the woods in France, they stumble upon a castle, imposing and empty, with a feast laid out in the great hall. All too soon, a wolflike monster attacks, and as the men flee, the bridge--which is the only way out--collapses, leaving a terrified Beau behind. The castle is not abandoned, after all, but is filled with servants, a court of odd ladies-in-waiting, and, at their head, a beautiful woman named Lady Arabella. Beau needs to escape to help his sick brother, but he's intrigued by some sort of secret--maybe even magic?--at the heart of this castle. Plus, blond, gray-eyed Arabella is beautiful when she's not in a temper. With this gender-swapped "Beauty and the Beast," Donnelly has crafted an absorbing fairy-tale retelling. Each of the main characters is complicated, possessing good intentions that have been buried thanks to harsh circumstances. The main pleasure of this book, aside from the witty dialogue and the delightful suspense of the slowly unfurling mystery, comes from witnessing two lost souls finding each other and becoming better people for it. Ultimately, this story is about learning to love oneself, despite what society has deemed "beastly." A joy. (Fantasy. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.