It's rather a lovely cover, don't you think? More than one person has told me the cover was what caught their eye in the bookstore and insisted on being taken home. It's also a rather lovely 400+ pages. Plenty of time to get to know the characters and their world, which is good as they are both quite intricate. Despite the cover (and title), the princess and her hound are not the main characters in this story. The narrative centers instead on a boy named George. Prince George, to be exact. And Prince George possesses a pack of problems. His mother died when he was young, leaving him alone in the world with no siblings to share his grief and a father who knows how to rule a kingdom but understands nothing of how to be a father. On top of which, George has the dubious gift of animal magic. He can speak their language and feels most comfortable out in the wild, conversing with the animals, than around humans. Trouble is, animal magic is feared and loathed far and wide in George's world and he quickly determines he must keep his talent a secret if he wishes to live long enough to inherit the throne.

When it comes time for George to do his princely duty and marry to preserve the kingdom, he goes forth to meet his betrothed with a strong sense of duty, if not alacrity, for the task at hand. The Princess Beatrice proves to be a particularly fierce young woman whose life has been as bleak as George's own and who has a few painful secrets of her own to guard, as well as a hound she refuses to be separated from. It's clear to the reader from the moment these two meet that they need each other desperately and would do well to stick together, that is if either of them could see past their own troubles long enough to recognize what's standing right in front of them. Beatrice, however, shows even less interest in the match than George, and the two of them are rarely ever in the same room together long enough to go about the business of getting to know each other. And marriage negotiations aside, there is a truly creepy mystery running throughout the book, to do with a potentially mad doctor moving from kingdom to kingdom bent on revenge.

Yep, it's a recipe for success. And it succeeds...for the most part. I liked the dark, creepy feel that pervaded the majority of the story. This is not a gentle fairy tale, by any means. Characters such as Beatrice's father and the mysterious doctor brought to mind the evil Cabbarus of Westmark (Firebird) fame (never a bad thing), and I liked George's journey from frightened boy to capable ruler. There were a few very poignant scenes, particularly between George and his father, that struck me. I even liked Beatrice, despite how off putting and seemingly lacking in all emotion she was throughout the book. The problem was in the unrealized potential between these two characters who needed each other so badly. Yes, I realize Beatrice's secret made realization a bit difficult on the whole but, when it finally did come out, things wrapped up rather quickly and coldly and I couldn't quite buy into the abrupt shift. I felt like they needed more time to cement things between them. And, I will admit, the ramifications of the revelation proved a bit too bizarre even for me to stomach. On the whole, THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND was a complicated and intriguing tale which I felt need a little more refining to smooth out the bumps and cracks along the way.

A great take on Beauty and The Beast. I really enjoyed it and would love for my daughter to read this.

At first glace, The Princess and the Hound has one of the most beautiful covers. A sucker for YA romances, I couldn't wait to dig in. It's a magical, cute, and tragic fairy tale of complex, lovable characters. This is one book that will keep its place in my personal library.

The Princess and the Hound is a wonderful (non)-retelling of The Beauty and the Beast, but this time, the girl is the beast. The story begins with Prince George as a young boy first discovering his animal magic. However, in the kingdom of Kendel, having animal magic is seen as a great evil, for which a person is burned. Throughout the book, George struggles with having animal magic, and eventually finds a solution for all.

Meanwhile, when George is an adult, he must marry Princess Beatrice of Sarrey, to unify the two kingdoms after a long war. When he goes to visit Princess Beatrice, he discovers that she is never without her hound, Marit. He later discovers that Marit and Beatrice have actually switched bodies, and he is the only who can switch them back.

I found The Princess and the Hound to be a wonderful story of its own, and didn't really find it to be a retelling at all (this is a good thing, in my book). The characters had depth and the writing was wonderful. There was also a little something for everyone; romance, adventure, magic. The only problem I had with it was that I found the bond between Beatrice and Marit confusing. All in all, I loved it, and would recommend it to anyone, especially those who enjoy fairy tales.

I am incredibly impressed by how Mette managed to create a world where there is descrimination against a people who are unable to help what they are, and an aim to allow those people to not only escape their forced internal imprisonment but also allot for a potential change. She does not create "the perfect world" where once Prince George proclaims his own animal magic, but shows that not everyone is willing to change or show tolerance to those different to themselves; that bridges gaps beyond a fantasy world, and touches home to our own world.

I absolutely adore the fact that she wanted this to be a "Beauty and the Beast" type of novel, but in fact I see more relevance in comparing it to "Deerskin". While Deerskin is far more tragic, it has the same change-like qualities as well as the Princess and her own hound who share an unbreakable bond. That bond ultimately saves the main character's life. If you liked "The Princess and the Hound" definitely check out "Deerskin."