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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Set in 1785 on the border between Spain and France, eighteen year old Beauregard Armando Fernandez de Navarre is thief.
While fleeing the authorities, he and his crew discover an abandoned castle.
While fleeing the authorities, he and his crew discover an abandoned castle.
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I hate that I found this book so hard to get in to! However, I’m so glad I didn’t given up because I loved the last quarter of the story.
As a romance girlie I was the romance story had been more substantial.
As a romance girlie I was the romance story had been more substantial.
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is easily the most creative Beauty & the Beast adaptation I've ever read!
I was hooked from the very beginning. The elements you expect to see in a Beauty & the Beast story were all there but they were reimagined in inventive and impactful ways. Beau's first encounter with the castle and the Beast was more thrilling and harrowing than others. The sense of magic, of not-rightness, was woven through the story in ebbs and flows that pulled me further in.
That said, the magic system or curse or whatever you want to call it wasn't explained very well. We get a bit of an explanation at the end but it felt haphazard and forced. In addition to that, there were a lot of things that felt anachronistic. The setting isn't described in immense detail but I still felt that the castle was situated on the French side of the border with Spain. It felt like it fell post-Black Death but pre-Renaissance in time. But words like "cancer" and the variety of names used stuck out in an odd way.
Arabella and Beau have incredible character arcs. There were moments that felt too easy but others were hard-won. It was a pleasure to see.
I enjoyed the social commentary at play here! It was done in an entertaining, gradual way that was easily understood. It felt like a continuation of the conversation started by the original tale, added to and updated for a modern audience.
I'd happily recommend this book!
Many thanks to NetGalley, Scholastic, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was hooked from the very beginning. The elements you expect to see in a Beauty & the Beast story were all there but they were reimagined in inventive and impactful ways. Beau's first encounter with the castle and the Beast was more thrilling and harrowing than others. The sense of magic, of not-rightness, was woven through the story in ebbs and flows that pulled me further in.
That said, the magic system or curse or whatever you want to call it wasn't explained very well. We get a bit of an explanation at the end but it felt haphazard and forced. In addition to that, there were a lot of things that felt anachronistic. The setting isn't described in immense detail but I still felt that the castle was situated on the French side of the border with Spain. It felt like it fell post-Black Death but pre-Renaissance in time. But words like "cancer" and the variety of names used stuck out in an odd way.
Arabella and Beau have incredible character arcs. There were moments that felt too easy but others were hard-won. It was a pleasure to see.
I enjoyed the social commentary at play here! It was done in an entertaining, gradual way that was easily understood. It felt like a continuation of the conversation started by the original tale, added to and updated for a modern audience.
I'd happily recommend this book!
Many thanks to NetGalley, Scholastic, and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
The beginning was so much fun between Beau's snarky attitude and the reader knowing how much trouble he and the other thieves were in when they arrive at the castle. But the Hope and her sisters plotline was dull and at times Arabella's storyline felt repetitive with several scenes of her backstory and her current life basically saying the same thing. I'm personally not a fan of characters learning another's tragic backstory through other means (such as magic mirrors) instead of it being revealed by the character with the backstory. I felt like the author didn't trust the reader to connect the dots or understand the themes and instead of being subtle, picked the most obvious way to convey everything. The beginning will stick with me forever though. The dread that the dinner scene has when you know that this is a beauty and the beast retelling and that Beau and the thieves are screwed, is amazing.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really enjoyed this book once I’d got into it. It was very confusing for the first few chapters though before the puzzle pieces started to appear. Great themes and cleverly written.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes