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Belle: A Retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" (Once Upon a Time) | 
| Author: Cameron Dokey
Creator: Mahlon F. Craft
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
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You Save: $2.98 (43%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 55668
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4 x 0.7
ISBN: 1416961313
EAN: 9781416961314
ASIN: 1416961313
Publication Date: November 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
Belle is convinced she has the wrong name, as she lacks her sisters' awe-inspiring beauty. So she withdraws from society, devoting her time to wood carving. Secretly, Belle longs to find the fabled Heartwood Tree. If carved by the right hands, the Heartwood will reveal the face of one's true love.PDuring a fierce storm, Belle's father stumbles upon the mysterious Heartwood -- and encounters a terrifying and lonely Beast. Now Belle must carve the Heartwood to save her father, and learn to see not with the eyes of her mind, but with the eyes of her heart.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Not worth it December 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Cameron Dokey's Belle takes on the story of Beauty and the Beast. It does not vary much from other retellings I've encountered before. The one thing different is that Belle carves. A side note: I've read several of Cameron Dokey's books, and there were some I've liked and did not like. This newest retelling is a major letdown.br /br /First of all, the main character came off as very shallow. The author continually has her obsessing about her physical appearance for nearly 80 pages of the book (almost half of the entire story), and this is extremely tiring. It went on and on and on until I started wondering if there really was going to be a plot. Because of this, I did not like Belle at all. Her character never improved for me. All she did was complain about her looks.br /br /Another thing that I did not like was that the story did not really begin until about page 100. This is Beauty and the Beast; I expect the Beast to be a participant in the story and one of the main characters, not a kind of after-thought that is tossed in near the end. Belle does not meet the Beast until the book is almost half over (the first half of the book was spent going over Belle's childhood). They spend about 3 times together (that is seen by the reader), though the author claims that many weeks have passed. These 3 instances were not enough to make the relationship believable in any way. Belle did not come off as any more endearing. It only served in harming the story. br /br /And, finally, the end of the book was just too much. It was corny and felt like the author was trying too hard. You probably don't know what I'm talking about, but it has to do with love. I'll risk sounding mean by saying that it was ridiculous. It was supposed to be philosophical, and it was just dumb.br /br /This is not a good retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Others have compared it to Robin McKinley's version, and I would not even compare it to that. I really wanted to like this book, but I could not at all. I have only one good thing to say about it: the cover is beautiful; that's it. With the overly philosophical tone, the story fails big time. With characterization, it just falls flat. I did not like the simplistic message at the end; I did not like the main character, and I did not like that the part of the story I was most interested in reading did nothing to improve the story. This version of Beauty and the Beast is predictable and brings hardly anything new to the original tale. br /br /I suggest skipping this one.
 Favorite Fairy Tale December 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It is hard for me not to enjoy this book simply because this is one of my favorite fairy tales. On top of that, Cameron Dokey is the best out of all the authors writing for the Once Upon a Time series. Although Belle may have similarities to McKinley's book, it should not be dismissed. While McKinley is a master when it comes to re-telling Beauty and the Beast, Dokey adds her own elements to the story. While the author does not fully describe certain aspects of the original fairy tale, such as the magical element, I do feel she has added her own twist upon the tale in the form of the heartwood tree. There is just something that rings true about wanting to see your true love's face. The book deals with the idea of true beauty in a unique way. By not being able to see what the heartwood branch holds, Belle starts to question herself and the world around her. She learns that she has to have patience and see the people around her in a different light than she is used to. Of course, this transformation does not start when she joins the Beast in his castle. All the members in her family (except perhaps her father) start to change as soon as they move into the country. Still, the symbolism found throughout the castle serve to further her realization. I suppose what I like best about this book is how deftly the author has interwoven the theme of true beauty. She doesn't waste any words, she doesn't have any unnecessary side plots. And it's a tale that needs to be heard. After all, don't we all need to learn how to see true beauty in both ourselves and others?
ALot like Beauty by Robin Mckinnley. December 15, 2008
Beauty is one of my favorite books by Robin Mckinnley so it was very hard not to compare. I like the other books written is this series a lot but I am a fairy tale junkie. But this one just didn't hit the spot for me.
good, but... December 8, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I love fairy tales, I love fairy tale retellings, and to date I haven't been disappointed (too much) by the various offerings in the "Once Upon a Time" series. Cameron Dokey has been a strong contributor to the series, and I've looked forward to her entries. "Belle" is a good read... but after having said that, I'm not sure how I feel about this book.br /br /We all know the story of "Beauty and the Beast," right? Beautiful girl saves a mysterious beast from himself as she learns to love the potential good man she sees inside him. There's not much you can do to improve upon that basic storyline.br /br /But as I was reading this book, I kept thinking, "This book reminds me of another favorite..." That would be "Beauty" by Robin McKinley, published in 1985. Part of it was the dreamy tone of "Belle" - but there were also way too many similarities for me to ignore.br /br /In both books, there are three sisters, with Beauty (or Belle) being the youngest. Both times the elder sisters have names that suit them (in "Beauty" they have names of virtues like Hope, in "Belle" they have lofty visual names like April Dawn). But the youngest, whose name means Beauty, feels she doesn't live up to her nickname, and this is a prevailing theme in both books. The father, a merchant, pins the family fortune on his ships, and they get lost at sea. Oh, and one of the elder sisters is in love with a captain on one of these ships and is distraught when her love goes missing along with the ships. When the family loses all their money, moves to the country are found in both books, with the mysterious forest nearby that has all these local legends attached to it. When Beauty/Belle arrives at the Beast's castle, doors swing open but no one is around; food magically appears and all the servants are invisible. There is a horse around who is Beauty/Belle's only friend. And then of course there's the Beast's persistent question every night.br /br /In fact, the only differences I found were: the mother is still alive in "Belle;" instead of roses (as in "Beauty") Belle must discover the secret found in a magical tree; and Belle's Beast asks her to look into his eyes for five seconds instead of for marriage ("Beauty"). Also, because "Belle" is shorter, there's less characterization and more unanswered questions (like who are the invisible servants, something addressed in McKinley's book). br /br /If you're unfamiliar with McKinley's work, then this book probably won't bother you. And by itself, it's still a good read in a overall strong series. But if you're familiar with other fairy tale retellings, the similarities between this book and a well-loved work might disturb you.
Belle's Story December 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having been a fan of this series, especially Snow and both Dokey's and Wryn's tales, I eagerly anticipated this novel. I bought it the day it came out and read it before going to bed. It was a quick and easy read, holding my attention. br /br /Dokey does an excellent job at creating lovable and realistic characters complete with human nuances and flaws. I adored Belle's oldest sister, the realness about her, and the relationship between her and Belle seemed tangible. Belle's family unit was fun to watch and learn about. br /br /The stories of the Wood, incorporating the Beast, and creating a visually delicious setting also added to the retelling of the story. I liked the unusual "rose" of the story, and enjoyed the tales behind the tale. Dokey's unique twist on the story did not take away any of the essence of Beauty and the Beast. br /br /The one complaint I had for the story was it was more a story of Belle and less of Beauty and the Beast. I know the title of the story is called Belle, but the interaction with the Beast did not come into play until halfway through the novel. While I feel this is not necessarily a flaw, I found myself impatiently waiting for the conversations and interaction of Belle and the beast. When they did meet, I felt it was slightly rushed. While I believed the relationship between the two characters, it was not as potent as Beauty Sleep, Story-teller's Daughter, and other romances in her other novels. br /br /Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and enjoyed seeing more of Belle's life and how she became who she was. I just wanted a bit more of her time with the beast, too. The story is well worth the read if you are a fan of the fairytale and series, and definitely a good rainy day read.
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