The Princess and the Hound

The Princess and the Hound defied my expectations. I couldn't fathom how it was a 'retelling' of Beauty and the Beast at first and it was only after discussing the book with my sister that I began to understand. Instead of the traditional status of Beauty as the girl and the Beast being the love interest, in this we have instead Beauty and Beast being intricately entwined with and other.

At first I couldn't stand George. His detached way of viewing things irked me. He admits at least once that the growing wall between himself and his father, after his mother dies, could have been avoided if he had reached out to his father. Yet, he still regards his father with civility alone and is troubled when his father tries to approach anything show more close to a 'normal' relationship with him.

Beatrice was a harder read. I spent a lot of time trying to deduce the riddle the title presented. Of all the theories I came up with however, none of them adequately covered the truth and so when the reveal came I was left delightfully surprised. I liked her better for it as well. The relationship between Beatrice and Marit (the Hound) is part of the puzzle, but Marit as an individual is equally interesting to read about. Her interactions with George are a little heart-wrenching and the connection between the three is tense.

On the one hand George has these memory like dreams of what Beatrice was like younger--less blunt, a little softer, smiled a little more (though her history isn't a happy one). But the Beatrice of now is blunt, harsh, rude and indifferent towards him more often then not. He's falling in love with the Beatrice of the dreams, but can't reconcile how she could change so greatly.

The 'villain' of the piece is a magician from a long time ago. However its honestly more truthful to say that not any one person is at fault. Though the magician did what he did out of revenge and anger over what happened to his daughter, Beatrice's father and George's father were both at fault. So busy with their wars and games they didn't pay attention to anything else. Or in Beatrice's father's case he only noticed the faults his daughter possessed, none of the good. Every single one of the character's is flawed, but communication (and lack thereof) is the biggest fault any of them have.

George doesn't talk to his father about his fears about being the King one day, George's father doesn't talk to George about the death of his mother and how much they both miss her (and how guilty he felt), Beatrice doesn't talk about her true feelings with George, Beatrice's father only yells and rails at his daughter for all her perceived problems. George and Beatrice don't discuss, until much later in the book, their feelings on the marriage and how they can come to an easier accommodation. George's mother didn't tell him about the dangers of his power to understand animals. And half the time the people did it because they wanted to protect the other.

The sequel, The Princess and the Bear, is about two characters (both introduced in this book) and the connection they forged by the end of this novel. I enjoyed this book, enjoyed its interpretation of the fairy tale and the twists it took. I wish we could have seen things from Beatrice's viewpoint, instead of hearing everything second hand, but overall I was very happy. show less

This book clearly proves the notion that not every book is for every person. I think it might be just a "me" thing, because I absolutely *hated* this book! Usually, there are good elements and crappy elements in just about every book I read, but this one was just "off". To be fair, I thought the book was pretty decent until about half-way in, then it went gradually downhill until about the last 1/4 of the book, and then the rest of the plot just plummeted. The book sets up as some sort of quasi-"Beauty and the Beast" retelling, and yes, there are a few elements from the original tale that can be found here, but the allure of the mystery surrounding characters' identities kept me going until I found out who exactly the "beast" is show more supposed to be, and it just didn't work for me. A lot of my other goodreads friends have rated this book highly, but if I get weirded out enough by a story, and when my reading emotions border on "uncomfortable," I'm going to take off some stars... The story itself was just really convoluted. I'm sure it all came together quite nicely in Harrison's mind, but for me it was just too much. She never really did a good job (in my opinion) of establishing what in the heck is going on, and it seems to me that she takes a simple and interesting premise and just really twists the heck out of it until what remains hardly resembles a story at all, but rather some tangly mess. I read most of this book on my flight home today, and it got to the point where I was just begging for it to end. Usually, a successful story will make you feel the opposite. Besides the story, I really couldn't stand the characters, either. Another bad sign. George is too wussy and indecisive for my taste (my ideal man certainly wouldn't sit like a dumb sack while his fiancee is verbally abused and disrespected, that's for sure) and Beatrice is too self-absorbed and insolent. She starts out this way, sure, but my problem lies with the fact that she never undergoes any character change. She's too selfish, yet Harrison portrays her as some kind of model for a Strong, Modern Woman. Here is where I gag. I hated their relationship...if that's even what you could call it. It all revolves around what the guy can do for the girl, how he seemingly bends over backwards to change for her, and yet she doesnt change for him. She's pretty much a female chauvinist, and yet Harrison seems okay with that. Apparently, as long as a female character is strong and seemingly independent, that's all that matters. It annoys me to think that this is what YA-aimed female characters have become. If your goal in a relationship is to maintain your independence, you don't need to be in a relationship, gah! Am I reading too much into this? Probably. But see, I'm one of the folks who believes that books have power, books carry messages and books have the potential to shape or manipulate how people see/relate to life...and I wasn't thrilled with the picture that this book painted. I'm still not sure, but there may even have been overtones of bestiality toward the ending... Another reviewer wrote this, and I agree: let's keep "romantic love" specific to our own species, please. Human/dog and human/bear is weird at best and downright disgusting at worst. I'm not entirely sure what Harrison was thinking when she wrote those scenes, but they just didnt work for me. So yeah, I was not in the least bit impressed with this book at all. Take my advice and skip this one. show less

I could hardly have wished for a better Christmas present to myself than reading this book. I didn't want it to end (and yet I couldn't bear to slow down to make it last longer), and when it was over I found myself looking forward to reading it again. Harrison made me really care about her characters (especially George, who is gentle, reserved, and damaged without being in the least wimpy or contemptible), and although I could sort of mistily foresee where the story was going in the end, the journey always kept me guessing. Really well done.With lovely writing and an unpredictable plot but a classic fairy-tale feel, The Princess and the Hound reminds me of everything I loved about Robin McKinley's short story collection The Door in the show more Hedge (which is my favorite McKinley book). I'm really looking forward to the sequel. show less

Prince George has a secret. He's fought to keep it hidden ever since his mother died when he was eight years old. But now it is getting harder and harder to maintain the private knowledge that frightens all the people in his kingdom of Kendel and forces him farther and farther away from his father and those that could care for him.

The prologue of this books tells the tale of King Richon who is transformed into a bear because of his mistreatment of animals and he will remain a bear, according to the legend, until he can be loved as he is - a Beauty and the Beast tale. But as the book starts, Prince George is a person who has inherited animal magic from his mother - the ability to talk to all animals in their own language (Dr. Doolittle show more eat your heart out). The ability to communicate with the animals has become a fearsome power and just the idea that a person has this magic could get them burned at the stake.

Now that George is betrothed to Princess Beatrice of Sarrey, he must travel to her father's kingdom to make the final negotiations for the arranged marriage. When he finds Princess Beatrice with her hound (they are inseparable), George realizes that if he is to have a true marriage, he must reveal himself to her and find out Beatrice's secret as well.

This story, beautifully told from the viewpoint of the Prince for a change, is of self-acceptance and tolerance of others. What a beautiful way to teach our young adults that differences amongst us is not something to be afraid of but to be treasured. Definitely a book for all ages. show less

Harrison is a new discovery for me--I only found her as I was looking for more Shannon Hale on the library shelves at the high school where I teach. I am a sucker for a retold fairy tale!

That said, the connection to "Beauty and the Beast" is very faint, and can, in fact, be ignored.

I loved that the story was told, for once, from the prince's point of view, and we got to see his struggles. The limited omniscient point of view was a definite key in maintaining the suspense of the character development. George is definitely a sympathetic character, and his conflicts are human and believable.

A reviewer below, who only gave the book one star, seems to have misread the budding relationship between George and Beatrice. I don't think she was show more harsh to him as he "bent over backward to please her." The revelation of why her character is what it is more than makes up for any difficulties between the two.

I am partway into the next book, "The Princess and the Bear," and was glad to see George and "Beatrice" again, though their struggles are not over.

Harrison's narrative moves along at a nice clip; I read this book in only a couple of days, wedged in around other responsibilities and capped off by one late night--precious time when I have to be in my classroom before 7:30 in the mornings! I have already recommended this book to my grown-up daughter and another friend, and will recommend it to students as well. With a Lexile level of 730, even some of my less-adept readers should enjoy it, and it makes a nice change from vampires! show less

This retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" is unusual, to say the least. It's told from the prince's point of view, for one thing. Prince George has grown up with a double curse: he must succeed in his father's footsteps as king, a role he is not eager to fill; and he also possesses animal magic, which is feared and outlawed in his kingdom. As the prince turns 17, he is betrothed to Princess Beatrice of a neighboring kingdom, but he soon senses something unusual about the princess and her hound, who are inseparable. The story wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was interesting nonetheless, and I was especially pleased by the last third of the book or so. The first part is a bit tedious, since it starts all the way back with George's show more childhood. But I'd recommend this book to fairy tale lovers. show less

The author of this story uses a story-telling type of style that is almost formal, and which usually turns me off. But this author crafted the style with such exquisite care and beauty that I couldn't resist. The story itself, although in my opinion somewhat impeded by the formalness of this style, was nonetheless realistic, unique, and touching. If you can make it past the first part of the book, told from the perspective of the protagonist as a young child, then you are in for a delicious treat!