I really liked this take on the Beauty and the Beast legend, probably because I'm a gardener, and McKinley is clearly a real gardener too. The reverential way she treats compost is worth the price of admission. I do find her writing style to be a little lush for my tastes sometimes, and this book is a good example of that lushness. It's very romantic, of course. I loved the cat parts almost as much as the garden parts.