Yes, this book was certainly nice. I liked the style and the characters were lovely but it was just a touch too nice.
Beauty was a plain adolescent, or at least she perceived herself as such, and that is a really good thing in my book since there are far too many stunningly beautiful heroines out there. As far as I can remember the plot follows the original storyline but seems more alife. What I really didn't like however was how the story ended. I don't really want to spoil anything but why did they had to take all the flaws in her appearance away an make her suddenly beautiful? Even though she didn't believe it herself, she was more than pretty in the end and that almost makes me feel cheated. Where's my plain heroine? Does everyone who weds the enchanted prince have to be pretty? And the prince himself, does he have to look ethereal? The more I read the more it seemed to me the author lost her touch. Where at the beginning her style and the twisting of the original story captivated me it soon lost much of its power. It was not the enchanting fairytale its predecessor was and I don't think it was ever designed to be so but I loved it nonetheless... until Beauty reached the castle and met the Beast. Slowly, very slowly the captivation faded because, even though I waited for most of the book for it to happen, once she was in the castle the plot dulled. The Beast was tame, he never really fought with her, said he couldn't deny her anything she asked and even though she had some problems accomodating at first she lead a very eventless life there and soon developed a routine that seemed almost wooden. The few things that did happen (when Beauty got Beast to meat her horse, for example) were not exploited enough for my liking and then far too soon there was the happy ending. Everyone was alife, well, and beautiful and none of it was really described. The end was abrupt, if anything. Everyone here seems to think McKinley wrote one of the best books ever. Well, maybe she did and I just didn't notice... don't get me wrong, I liked the book, that's why it still gets four stars from me (though it really oughta be three and a half) but it has its flaws. It's a pretty little book but the farther you read the more it loses depth. If you're looking for a children's book, this is it, if not, well, you might like it anyway...