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alexiachantel's review
An interesting take on Beauty and the Beast. A villain with a plan and a young woman thrown into a situation that demands trust and smarts.
Unfortunately for this reader the characters didn’t keep me engaged.
Unfortunately for this reader the characters didn’t keep me engaged.
alice2000's review
1.0
DNF at 300+ pages
Here goes: I quite enjoyed Rose and the world building. Jason, well he's supposed to be Beastly and is that way because he isn't the best of people. That's fine. I expected to not like him and be won over as Rose was.
SPOILERS...
Then there's Paul, employed by Jason, who is the bad guy. And by bad guy I mean he gets his kicks from raping and torturing young girls.
The sticking point for me: Jason, the freaking 'hero', knows about it. And has done nothing because well men have little quirks and it's not like he's picking women of good fortune.
Done and done.
Here goes: I quite enjoyed Rose and the world building. Jason, well he's supposed to be Beastly and is that way because he isn't the best of people. That's fine. I expected to not like him and be won over as Rose was.
SPOILERS...
Then there's Paul, employed by Jason, who is the bad guy. And by bad guy I mean he gets his kicks from raping and torturing young girls.
The sticking point for me: Jason, the freaking 'hero', knows about it. And has done nothing because well men have little quirks and it's not like he's picking women of good fortune.
Done and done.
nmmac's review
5.0
I reread this and it doesn't make me quite as happy as it did when I was young. I do still love the way that Lackey champions female intelligence and makes the main character her own hero.
emmapants's review
3.0
Read my full review and comparisons to other books at my blog: http://shorteasywordsreviews.blogspot.com/2011/02/yeah-people-really-like-this-book-but-i.html
brenn's review
4.0
I keep the Fire Rose around for a specific reason: For when I need to read something and don't need to brain to do it. I have several books that fit this category. Very problematic, and and a definite do-not-read after serious feminist works. But if you're able to put aside critical thinking (or need to), it works as a bubble gum read. Or, if you prefer a different term, cotton candy for the brain.
peshkforge's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
inthelunaseas'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.
crystalroses68's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
stuffandwhatnot's review
3.0
Amusing re-telling of the "[b:Beauty and the Beast|41424|Beauty A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast|Robin McKinley|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169613617s/41424.jpg|2321285]" fairy tale, set in the Bay Area just before the Great San Francisco
Earthquake.
The world is interesting--territorial 'elemental' wizards quarrel with each other while working to control their elements. The 'beast' is a fire wizard disfigured by a spell gone wrong. He's unable to read due to changes in his eyes, so he hires Rose, an impoverished scholar, to read his magical texts to him as he searches for a spell reversal.
All in all, a decent bit of fun.
Earthquake.
The world is interesting--territorial 'elemental' wizards quarrel with each other while working to control their elements. The 'beast' is a fire wizard disfigured by a spell gone wrong. He's unable to read due to changes in his eyes, so he hires Rose, an impoverished scholar, to read his magical texts to him as he searches for a spell reversal.
All in all, a decent bit of fun.
wordnerdy's review
2.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/10/2015-book-235.html
Mercedes Lackey has written like ten million books, so I've never been sure where to start, but someone suggested I might like her Elemental Masters series. This first one is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with some fun additional plot--it's 1905 California, the Beast is a powerful sorcerer dude/railroad baron who tried to transform into a wolf and the spell went badly wrong, and the Beauty is a great academic girl who finds herself in dire straits and ends up taking a job reading and translating books for the Beast (who can't read b/c he's a weird wolf-man). Now, this book was mostly enjoyable, but I had a few problems, primarily the bad guy, who is beyond villainous. Like, his hobby is actually raping girls who have been tricked into sex slavery. I'm NOT making that up or exaggerating, it's what he does for fun, and he totally wants to rape the main character. I also could have done with less of her assuming no one will ever like her b/c she's an academic/plain. Like, paragraph upon paragraph is devoted to her thinking this. We get it. But I mean, obviously rapey villain is worse. I also thought this was too long--it dragged quite a bit in the middle and I was eager for things to just HAPPEN already, and then everything happens all at once in like the last five pages. By the end, I was sick of both of the main characters and I am not planning to read any more in this series. B-.
Mercedes Lackey has written like ten million books, so I've never been sure where to start, but someone suggested I might like her Elemental Masters series. This first one is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with some fun additional plot--it's 1905 California, the Beast is a powerful sorcerer dude/railroad baron who tried to transform into a wolf and the spell went badly wrong, and the Beauty is a great academic girl who finds herself in dire straits and ends up taking a job reading and translating books for the Beast (who can't read b/c he's a weird wolf-man). Now, this book was mostly enjoyable, but I had a few problems, primarily the bad guy, who is beyond villainous. Like, his hobby is actually raping girls who have been tricked into sex slavery. I'm NOT making that up or exaggerating, it's what he does for fun, and he totally wants to rape the main character. I also could have done with less of her assuming no one will ever like her b/c she's an academic/plain. Like, paragraph upon paragraph is devoted to her thinking this. We get it. But I mean, obviously rapey villain is worse. I also thought this was too long--it dragged quite a bit in the middle and I was eager for things to just HAPPEN already, and then everything happens all at once in like the last five pages. By the end, I was sick of both of the main characters and I am not planning to read any more in this series. B-.