From Publishers Weekly
Revisionist fairy tales with a message are definitely a '90s thing, and Wilson's lightweight but strained debut is a retelling of the classic story of Beauty and the Beast. The latter is Leland Crompton, a rich recluse who lives on a remote estate in New Hampshire's White Mountains, writing mysteries under the nom de plume of Harris Bellefleur and hiding his grotesquely deformed face. Yet family tradition dictates that his portrait must be painted, and Alix Miller, aka Beauty, is the latest of her family of artists to accept the commission. Of course, Alix, who narrates, has an unworthy boyfriend-oblivious and selfish photojournalist Mark. And, of course, she is ready for true love. Wilson spins her tale with some skill, but her stilted dialogue is clunky with platitudes ("You know that the friends of adversity are friends forever"). Leland is an appealing character, however. With his generosity and his gracefulness as he skates, he demonstrates that real beauty is active, found in movement and deed, not in the static medium of a portrait. His self-effacing humor is refreshing: When posing for Alix, he quips, "As you can see, I have no bad side." In opting for a weeper of an ending, however, Wilson pushes her love story over the brink into the kind of bathos that only romance addicts will embrace.
From School Library Journal
YA-This novel based on the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" makes no attempt to duplicate the fantasy and magic of Robin McKinley's Beauty (HarperCollins, 1978), but the love story told is equally compelling. This is a Beauty of the '90s, facing her beloved father's death from cancer and involved with a handsome man wrapped up in his career. Beauty, an artist, meets Beast, a reclusive writer, when she is asked to paint his portrait. She ultimately proclaims her love for him, but he rejects her; the final metamorphosis of Beast is not a physical, but an emotional one: he must recognize that he is lovable in spite of his misshapen face and body. YAs will enjoy this romance, and will be challenged by the issues it addresses: how one can be a loving daughter or son to a dying parent, and how one faces the possibility of conceiving a child who may be born with a severe genetic defect. Finally, how does one get beyond appearance to find the heart and soul of a person?
Revisionist fairy tales with a message are definitely a '90s thing, and Wilson's lightweight but strained debut is a retelling of the classic story of Beauty and the Beast. The latter is Leland Crompton, a rich recluse who lives on a remote estate in New Hampshire's White Mountains, writing mysteries under the nom de plume of Harris Bellefleur and hiding his grotesquely deformed face. Yet family tradition dictates that his portrait must be painted, and Alix Miller, aka Beauty, is the latest of her family of artists to accept the commission. Of course, Alix, who narrates, has an unworthy boyfriend-oblivious and selfish photojournalist Mark. And, of course, she is ready for true love. Wilson spins her tale with some skill, but her stilted dialogue is clunky with platitudes ("You know that the friends of adversity are friends forever"). Leland is an appealing character, however. With his generosity and his gracefulness as he skates, he demonstrates that real beauty is active, found in movement and deed, not in the static medium of a portrait. His self-effacing humor is refreshing: When posing for Alix, he quips, "As you can see, I have no bad side." In opting for a weeper of an ending, however, Wilson pushes her love story over the brink into the kind of bathos that only romance addicts will embrace.
From School Library Journal
YA-This novel based on the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" makes no attempt to duplicate the fantasy and magic of Robin McKinley's Beauty (HarperCollins, 1978), but the love story told is equally compelling. This is a Beauty of the '90s, facing her beloved father's death from cancer and involved with a handsome man wrapped up in his career. Beauty, an artist, meets Beast, a reclusive writer, when she is asked to paint his portrait. She ultimately proclaims her love for him, but he rejects her; the final metamorphosis of Beast is not a physical, but an emotional one: he must recognize that he is lovable in spite of his misshapen face and body. YAs will enjoy this romance, and will be challenged by the issues it addresses: how one can be a loving daughter or son to a dying parent, and how one faces the possibility of conceiving a child who may be born with a severe genetic defect. Finally, how does one get beyond appearance to find the heart and soul of a person?
