Beauty vs The Grey Fairy Book: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Folklore, Fairy Tales, Children's fiction
Beauty
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A retelling of the story Beauty and the Beast. There is also a sequel available titled Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley.
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The Grey Fairy Book
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A collection of thirty-five fairy tales from the folklore of Lithuania, Africa, Germany, Greece, and France, and other parts of the world.
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Grey Fairy Book has the widest readership — 1266 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Beauty | The Grey Fairy Book | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.0 (1266) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (118) | 2.5 (9) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (148) | 4.5 (5) |
Reception
| Beauty | The Grey Fairy Book | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 148 | 1266 |
| Editions | 31 | 384 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 2900 |
| Reading it now | — | 158 |
| Written reviews | — | 61 |
| Wikipedia attention | 40539 | 3679 |
| Pages | 247 | 178 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Beauty or The Grey Fairy Book?
Beauty has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Beauty 4.1/5, The Grey Fairy Book 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: Beauty or The Grey Fairy Book?
The Grey Fairy Book is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Grey Fairy Book (178 pages, ≈ 3 h 18 m); Beauty (247 pages, ≈ 4 h 34 m).
Which is harder to read: Beauty or The Grey Fairy Book?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Beauty: Light; The Grey Fairy Book: Moderate.