A review by scribesprite
Belle: A Retelling of "beauty and the Beast" by Cameron Dokey
4.0
Nothing like true love to make a Fairytale story magical. The book doesn't start that way but the beginning is just supposed to lead up to that.
It starts with Belle saying how beauty is not -as some people would have you believe- in the eye of the beholder. Her two older sisters are considered beauties but for different reasons. The oldest is the dark haired mysterious type and the second is blond with the sunshine just bursting out of her. It's good to see the author show that beauty isn't restricted. However I don't see why they have to have unique eye colors. Green isn't really that common though you'd think so by how much people claim they have it.
She goes on to say how she doesn't think that she had any self-pity when she was younger because she isn't as beautiful as her sisters. I think she did. She isn't her name so it feels like it's a lie and that is what she doesn't like. People expect her to look beautiful and she doesn't. Belle comes to accept her looks just as they are when she grows older. Her relationship with her sisters strengthens when things start to go wrong. And you see that Belle's sisters are more than just their pretty faces.
The magic of the story doesn't take place until the last quarter of the book. In fact I don't see where the beast will come from until half the book is through. You don't see a lot of the beast at all until near the end. These are what kept me from giving it 5 stars. That, and that it was a bit cheesy. But that doesn't bother me so much. Its stays pretty true to the tale except for the fact that Belle isn't beautiful. Belle is a straight-shooting character so I like it.
It starts with Belle saying how beauty is not -as some people would have you believe- in the eye of the beholder. Her two older sisters are considered beauties but for different reasons. The oldest is the dark haired mysterious type and the second is blond with the sunshine just bursting out of her. It's good to see the author show that beauty isn't restricted. However I don't see why they have to have unique eye colors. Green isn't really that common though you'd think so by how much people claim they have it.
She goes on to say how she doesn't think that she had any self-pity when she was younger because she isn't as beautiful as her sisters. I think she did. She isn't her name so it feels like it's a lie and that is what she doesn't like. People expect her to look beautiful and she doesn't. Belle comes to accept her looks just as they are when she grows older. Her relationship with her sisters strengthens when things start to go wrong. And you see that Belle's sisters are more than just their pretty faces.
The magic of the story doesn't take place until the last quarter of the book. In fact I don't see where the beast will come from until half the book is through. You don't see a lot of the beast at all until near the end. These are what kept me from giving it 5 stars. That, and that it was a bit cheesy. But that doesn't bother me so much. Its stays pretty true to the tale except for the fact that Belle isn't beautiful. Belle is a straight-shooting character so I like it.