Beautiful

By: Juliet Marillier

Narrated by: Gemma Dawson

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

With the Nordic fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon as her inspiration, Juliet Marillier weaves a magical story of a young princess’ search for her true self.

Hulde is a queen’s daughter and lives in a palace. But her life is lonely. Growing up atop the glass mountain, she knows only her violent and autocratic mother and a household of terrified servants.

Then a white bear named Rune comes to visit, and Hulde learns what kindness is.

But the queen has a plan for Hulde. When she turns 16, she will wed the most beautiful man in all the world. Hulde has never met her intended husband, and her mother refuses to explain the arrangement. Hulde becomes desperate to find out more and seeks the help of a magic mirror. Perhaps someone is coming to her rescue.

On her wedding day, Hulde’s existence is turned upside down. For the first time she leaves the glass mountain behind, setting out to be as brave as the heroines in her beloved storybook.

The journey will test Hulde to the limit. Can she overcome her fears and take control of her own life?

©2019 Juliet Marillier (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

A Left at the Door review of Beautiful

I love stories told from different points of view.
What if who you thought was a villain really wasn't?
What if she didn't even know your happily ever after was ruined?
What happens to the troll princess after she gives you back your prince and you ride off into the sunset?

This retelling of East of the Sun and West of the Moon & The White-Bear-King-Valemon is ingenious and fascinating.

The story made me laugh, cry, and left me wanting more. I do hope that one day, Ms. Marillier will consider a sequel to this book so that we can learn more about Hulde’s reign as Queen of the Glass Mountain.

Gemma did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life and made the listening to a real pleasure.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a twist on one of the rarer fairytales of olde.

Mostly great

I really enjoyed this book. I read reviews of people listening to this with their kids. I was ready to have a great book to listen to with the kids, but then they had “the talk”. It wasn’t horribly graphic, but definitely not a book for young kids.

Enchanting

Quick little story. Worth the read; couldn't put it down! Had a brief slow spot, but picks back up.

An okay listen

The story was okay. I didn’t feel strongly one way or the other about. The narrator, although she has a nice voice and does different characters well, doesn’t seem to take a breath between sentences. A number of times I was confused because the thought or dialogue went on and on. I still listened to the whole thing but I wasn’t captivated.

Beautifully perfect...

An unexpected twist on an old tale written by a master storyteller coupled with the perfect narrator make this one of those tales I will listen to again and again. Perfect.

Fun Retelling of a Fairytale

Sweet and engaging fairy story that reverses the rolls of the characters some what. Heroine is someone you can relate to. Gentle story, not Grimm dark.

Loved it!

I would like to see more stories like this, a fairytale/fantasy type adventure. I wish the story had gone on longer, of course, but the characters were interesting and unique but also relatable.

Middle of the road read

Interesting enough to keep me listening. It had a lot of promise at the beginning, but for me, it lagged midway before falling flat at the end. I wish I'd gone to Goodreads and searched for a review that gave the whole plot under a spoiler warning, because if I had I think I'd have enjoyed that more than reading the book itself. Worldbuilding is lacking and several characters aren't very fleshed out. Marillier could have written a much smaller-scope hero's journey for our main lead Hulde that would have led to a more compelling story. The premise is so fresh and intriguing, and I wish it had been done justice.

Eh. Not what I've Come to Expect.

Juliet Marillier is my favorite author. I own all of her books and I respect her immensely. I felt like this book just didn't do her justice. I understand its an expanded short story, but it felt kind of disjointed and I think that it needed more time to sizzle. Some of the things that occurred seemed to happen out of nowhere.

Always Enjoyable

Juliet Marillier writes fantastic tales that always keep my full attention. This one is no exception. Her characters are well developed and interesting. Gemma Dawson performed this perfectly. The only downside, is I wish there was more of this tale to listen to.