Robin McKinley writes very well indeed, but if this book is anything to judge by, her plotting is lackadaisical. This builds up slowly towards what should be a strong finish; the villain is revealed in all his blackguard villainy - and is then flicked out like a light - poof! After that, we meander to another climax, which is dealt with in an equally desultory fashion. A character who has been flitting in and out in mysterious ways since the beginning subsequently pops up to explain the whole intrigue behind the Beast's predicament, but the explanation seems contrived and unconvincing. We are left to understand that the real villain - not that one, another one - has in some way or another been hoist by his own petard.

I read this because Ursula Vernon recommended it, and found in it inspiration for her own retelling of the tale. Vernon's version is more vigorous and a lot more fun, McKinley's poised prose notwithstanding. Neither of them are able to shake off the bourgeois moralism of Mme Leprince Beaumont's tale. Vernon does catch the echoes of Bluebeard that are heard even more clearly in earlier versions, such as Straparola's Re Porco.