Beauty cover art

Beauty

A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast

 Preview

Get 30 days of Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30-day free trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options
Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

New York Times best-selling author Robin McKinley has won numerous awards for her writing, including the prestigious Newbery Medal. Though her two sisters are beautiful, Beauty, despite her name, is thin and awkward - but she's also courageous. So when her father makes a terrible promise to a Beast living in an enchanted castle, Beauty knows she must volunteer to be the Beast's prisoner.

©1978 Robin McKinley (P)2013 Recorded Books Chapter Books & Readers Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths Fiction Literature & Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
The story has a good twist on the original one. The reader is good at voices. Lots of twists, turns & character development. Enjoyed the other one Robyn wrote about Beauty & the Beast too - both have different feels.

Good retelling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, my friends have similar tastes to me and over the years have all been given a copy of this paperback as I love it so much. It's a fairy tale rewriting of Beauty and the Beast but what is lovely about this is the lead is a bookworm :) a girl after my own heart.

What other book might you compare Beauty to, and why?

Ummm... Beauty and the Beast :) no. Ok, Robin McKinley has gone on to write Rose Daughter another retelling of a classic fairy tale. I would also say Patricia C Wredes Enchanted Forest Chronicles would be a similar read.

What does Charlotte Parry bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I love that it's a British narrator. I've happily listened to America narrators and it's such a delight to listen to a great voice. She brought Beauty to life.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and I did :) listened to it all in one day whilst pootling about the house entertaining the tiddlers and doing some housework.

Any additional comments?

a great standalone listen.

a childhood favourite now available

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Adored every second of it, now keenly to travel forward 20 years for more story

A lovely recommendation from a lovely 'little sis

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed every minute of it. Finished it in 2 days! Found it very relaxing.

Loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this as I'm a fan of the original fairy tale, this retelling had a lovely emotional realism to it that made all the magic seem so plausible as the characters felt really real. Particularly loved the invisible servants they were so funny and charming.

lovely take on an old favourite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews