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The Princess and the Hound Mette Ivie Harrison Books

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The Princess and the Hound Mette Ivie Harrison Books

Interesting story 'narrated' from the prince's perspective. I say 'narrated' because the story is told from a pretty boring authorial POV. More than just the lack of character in the voice--3rd person omniscient isn't bad--is the fact that it's a RETELLING rather than creating a story. Dialogue is implied and everything is in a weird past tense that doesn't invite reader connection. I had to put it down after four or so chapters of just summary--loads of info dumping without character development. I thought, maybe this is just setting up the background, setting up who the prince is to become, but no. Flipping through, were just chunks and chunks of more retelling.

Not a good 'story'.


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The Princess and the Hound Mette Ivie Harrison Books Reviews

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 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.
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.
The Princess and the Hound - PG
Violence implied
Sex none; a couple of very sweet kisses
Language two swears
I had to force myself to continue reading. Very, very boring. I can usually deal with fantasy/magical realism, but this was not interesting. Also, either I wasn't following very well, or this needs another pass by an editor because towards the end, a character spoke (King Richon) who wasn't even present and had not been mentioned. I read over that part several times to make sure I had read it correctly. Very weird. I'm so bummed it's too late to return it.
Interesting story 'narrated' from the prince's perspective. I say 'narrated' because the story is told from a pretty boring authorial POV. More than just the lack of character in the voice--3rd person omniscient isn't bad--is the fact that it's a RETELLING rather than creating a story. Dialogue is implied and everything is in a weird past tense that doesn't invite reader connection. I had to put it down after four or so chapters of just summary--loads of info dumping without character development. I thought, maybe this is just setting up the background, setting up who the prince is to become, but no. Flipping through, were just chunks and chunks of more retelling.

Not a good 'story'.