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indecisivesailorscout's review
4.0
I love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling where he doesn't turn back into a man and they still get a happily ever after. Who could learn to love a beast?! Obviously Rose and also me.
It was delightfully old fashioned, which wasn't unexpected since this book is older than I am. For a book that was over 400 pages, it went past fairly quickly, and I do wish there had been a little more to the ending than a quick epilogue to let us know everything worked out. It was doing so good at showing rather than telling up until that point. Despite that, I loved Rose & Jason's story, and delving into the world of Magick.
It was delightfully old fashioned, which wasn't unexpected since this book is older than I am. For a book that was over 400 pages, it went past fairly quickly, and I do wish there had been a little more to the ending than a quick epilogue to let us know everything worked out. It was doing so good at showing rather than telling up until that point. Despite that, I loved Rose & Jason's story, and delving into the world of Magick.
amotisse's review
5.0
This is the third audio book I have indulged in recently and was borrowed on a whim.
The description gave little away of the story and as I listened I became more and more intrigued about the mystery of it all and what would happen next.
It was adventurous and exciting with moments of suspense, full of well written characters that I either loved or despised accordingly. Rose is a wonderfully strong female lead and I loved the mischievous elementals. Eventually there were some predictable happenings as well as some surprises but I wasn't disappointed by anything and enjoyed it so much to finish off the 11 discs in a couple of days.
Loved the imagery, the fantasy, the magic, the costumes...it would be amazing on screen with a dash of steampunk perhaps.
Look forward to reading more in the series.
The description gave little away of the story and as I listened I became more and more intrigued about the mystery of it all and what would happen next.
It was adventurous and exciting with moments of suspense, full of well written characters that I either loved or despised accordingly. Rose is a wonderfully strong female lead and I loved the mischievous elementals. Eventually there were some predictable happenings as well as some surprises but I wasn't disappointed by anything and enjoyed it so much to finish off the 11 discs in a couple of days.
Loved the imagery, the fantasy, the magic, the costumes...it would be amazing on screen with a dash of steampunk perhaps.
Look forward to reading more in the series.
serenova's review
4.0
Well, I finally got to reading the first in this series. It's definitely different in tone from the later books. It's easy to see how things in the book universe developed over time. Overall, I quite enjoyed it.
And yes, I read it in a morning.
And yes, I read it in a morning.
vikingwolf's review
2.0
Rosalind is destitute and accepts a strange offer from a rich recluse to live at his house and read to him from his books through an intercom.She enjoys the luxury of her surroundings,the job itself is good and it allows her to read books that interest her when not working.The only down side is the creepy fellow employee Paul who has an obvious interest in her.And why can she never meet Jason,her employer?What is his secret?
First of all,if you want to keep it a secret why the man has to hide away and not be seen,don't spoil it by SHOWING why on the cover!I laughed when I received this as a bookcrossing ring book as it totally gave away the plot before I even opened the book!Not much action but well written to keep you interested though it was pretty obvious what was going to happen by the end of the book.Not a bad read but not enough suspense or twists to make me read the rest of the series.
First of all,if you want to keep it a secret why the man has to hide away and not be seen,don't spoil it by SHOWING why on the cover!I laughed when I received this as a bookcrossing ring book as it totally gave away the plot before I even opened the book!Not much action but well written to keep you interested though it was pretty obvious what was going to happen by the end of the book.Not a bad read but not enough suspense or twists to make me read the rest of the series.
laurazdavidson's review
3.0
Enjoyable retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in 1906 San Francisco. I liked it, but it wasn't particularly innovative, and the ending felt rushed; [b:Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|41424|Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|Robin McKinley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1294192311l/41424._SY75_.jpg|2321285] by Robin McKinley is a much better choice.
rainbowdragonz's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I love Mercedes Lackey. I love fairy tale retellings. So why did I leave it so late to read the amazing elemental masters series?? This book is amazing, the writing is phenomenal, it's captivating. Mercedes Lackey has done fairy-tale retellings before, and whilst really good they never beat out the Valdemar series. This book is on the podium for favourite book of all time. It's amazing. And hey I learnt some history as well. I fell in love with Rosalind and I fell in love with the world of magic and elementals, something quite different from that of Valdemar. I don't want to ramble but seriously just go read this book. You'll love it. I for one could not put this down.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cultural appropriation
lunaseassecondaccount's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a bit ridiculous, sure, and the writing a touch average, but I can't hate on it. I think it's the sheer ridiculousness and average writing that made it so fun for me to read. After all, there was nothing particular awful about this book for me. With all the horrible reviews, I was expecting something more like [b:Hush Hush|6339664|Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush, #1)|Becca Fitzpatrick|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41WG6WSHdPL._SL75_.jpg|6525609]. Instead, it was a fairly average, maybe slightly bland fairy tale, with a woman who was perhaps a touch too liberated but still realistic, with the cliche terribly evil bad guys, and a somewhat grey good guy. The fact said good guy remains a half wolf in the end made the ending a lot more enjoyable for me.
melissadegraffbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I thought the first half of the story was really interesting, but the ending was kind of lame.
thriftygeek's review
5.0
This book was a beautifully written book. Lackey captures how people would have viewed things in this time period she captures the beauty and the dark sides to this time period so well. This was well researched, and beautifully written. She gives a good lore of elemental magics. I was even content with the ending.