Book Review: Reading Beauty
Title: Reading Beauty
Author:Deborah underwood
Illustrator: Meg Hunt
What’s it About?
In this Sleeping Beauty reimagining, Princess Lex learns that, when she was born, a fairy cursed her. In an attempt to prevent the
curse from coming into fruition, Lex’s parents remove all of the books in their reading obsessed land to ensure that Lex never gets the prophesized paper cut. But this is unacceptable to Lex and she insists on finding the fairy that cursed her to convince the fairy to reverse the curse.
Favorites:
Favorite Character: Lex. I love her blue hair and her love for reading. I adore how she loves to learn and how she’s independent and strong. She doesn’t need a boy to save her, she can save the world.
Least favorite: I don’t have one for this storybook because this book isn’t about good or bad. There doesn’t always have to be a hated or bad guy in every story.
Favorite Part: When Princess Lex tricks the fairy into thinking she’s sleeping. Honestly, mostly because I get it.
Least favorite part: Easily when they took the books away. I literally said out loud, “Noooo! Not the books!” It made me sad.
Other Thoughts:
If you haven’t realized already, I have a thing for fairytale reimaginings. Combine that with the fact that the title includes the word reading in it, I don’t think anyone is surprised I had to read this.
The first thing I noticed
when I opened the book was Lex’s blue hair, which I instantly fell in love with. And then there was the fact that Lex, a single child who happens to be a princess, has a dog named Prince! I love it so much! How cute is that? And then there’s the fact that fairy isn’t evil. She misunderstood a situation and made bad choices.
But what I may have loved most of all was that Lex didn’t need a boy to come save the day. She didn’t need to be kissed without consent to be awoken. She used her intelligence to save the day with Prince by her side. I loved that Prince was able to save the fairy becuase love doesn’t have to be romantic. Love can come in many forms and Prince loves everybody.
Basically, I just really enjoyed this book and the adaptations made to the beloved story. I loved that an old spinning wheel isn’t the threat, but a paper cut which, really, kind of seems silly. I mean, they can hurt but it’s not generally dangerous, a paper cut!
I’d totally recommend this book for any classroom or personal library curated for young readers. Though, I know some adults that wouldn’t mind it, either.
My Ratings:
I give this book a
6
out of
10 Misunderstood Fairies
But that’s just what I think. What do you think? Did you like the story? Did you like the changes or did they just not do it for you? Let us know what you think in the comments.
