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Claire Delacroix Message Board


Valarie posts on 1/28/2005 1:56:38 PM After just finishing the book "The Beauty Bride" and after just reading Harriet Klausner's review of this book on this site, I have to question whether Ms. Klausner actually read this book in its entirety as she is way off in her plot description, as well as her summary of the plot action. For plot action, Ms. Klausner writes "search for magical solution." Excuse me? There was no searching for any kind of magical solution in the book. Yes the gem that Madeline received from her mother "seemed" magical, but it was just a mood stone & mirrored Madeline's feelings, the same way that "mood rings" nowadays do, and yes Madeline misinterpreted the colors and their meanings, but there was nothing magical about it. Ms. Klausner also describes Madeline as "the oldest human female". Was she under any illusion that Madeline was anything other than human, because I wasn't. Nowhere in the book is Madeline described as fairy-like, or fey, or any other similar description, and it was never hinted that she was. Ms. Klausner also describes "an angry spoiled Reginald Neville seeking mishcief" after he loses the bidding for Madeline's hand in marriage. Yes, Reginald is spoiled, yes he was angry that he didn't get to take Madeline to wife, but "seeking mischief"? He disappeared from the story shortly after the auction, and he wasn't even the villian of the story. I will agree that there was some magic to the story in the form of a little fairy, or spriggan named Darg, but she was a small part of the story, nor did she provide any type of magical solution to the trials and tribulations of Madeline and Rhys nor of anybody in the story. The spriggan Darg just enjoyed causing mischief. Yes, Darg was angry at Rosamunde for "stealing" the treasures that Darg had claimed as her own, and she caused a bit of mischief with Rosamund, towards the end of the book, but she never exacted any type of revenge on Rosamunde. But, since in the first chapter of the book Darg decided to try to get revenge against Rosamund, I can see where Ms. Klausner got this idea from. Everything that Ms. Klausner describes in her review occurs within the first five or so chapters of the book, and if that was all that she read, then I can see how she could misinterpret the story to this degree. I didn't find the story line complicated at all because the eight siblings were not a major part of the book and were only mentioned in passing. Only a two of Madeline's sisters and her olderst brother were a big part of the story and that was because Vivienne & Alexander are the ones that are getting their own stories in the next 2 books, so the reader was able to get to know the characters. If this is the types of reviews to be found on this site, then I will not be using this site for my book-buying decisions.


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