Review: Great book
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 13, 2014
I would describe this as a fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and is entitled The Subtle Beauty.It is the story of a king who made a pact with an “evil” man in order to expand his kingdom, and gained the use of a mystical sword. But by doing so, he became consumed with the power that the sword gave him. Finally, he is so consumed with the power that his wife asks that the gods take her to make him come home and be with their unborn son. The son is born but is deformed as the king is brought to his knees and sent back to his castle, ordered never to go out and try to expand again.Years later, a beautiful daughter of a king falls in love with a falconer and plans to run away and be married to him, but the king has other plans. He wants to marry her to the deformed son of the defaced king so that the kingdoms can be united. The daughter hears of this and devises a plan to run off with her love, but is kidnapped. From there the story is intense, but full of love and loss, and the true face of love is shown as well as what it means to be a man, and a boy.I could not put this story down from the time that I began reading it, and would read it again in an instant. It is the perfect Valentine’s Day story, or the perfect rainy day story, or the perfect story to read to your kids.