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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have a soft spot for fairytale retellings, but especially Beauty and the Beast retellings. This version turns many of the typical plot points on their heads in the best way.
This book is set in France during the time of Voltaire and features a band of wayward backstabbing thieves on the run from the law. It's got so much of what I loved about Tangled but also has the gender swapped Beauty and the Beast. This book is just a fun ride beginning to end and has beautiful writing. The midpoint turn was fantastic.
The main characters are so good for each other!! They heal and learn and grow together. Both guarded their hearts and both learned to let each other in and work through and overcome their guilt and despair. Just an absolutely beautiful love story. Everything you'd want with this style retelling and so much more.
The premise for the curse is different than other iterations I've read. There's something about it that I don't quite like (hence the four stars), but her whole personality and self doubts are all very relatable.
TROPES/THEMES:
Gender swapped Beauty and the Beast
Cursed x Handsome Thief (a la Tangled)
Shrek style consuming of raw onions
Magical mirrors showing glimpses of past
Insta attraction, beautiful love story
THE invitation to dinner, complete with the fancy clothes and the dancing, *chef's kiss*
Beast only calms down for him
Fairytale commentaries nestled into story
Unique chapter style that grows on you
THE wolf attack, as every good Beauty and the Beast retelling must include
Overcoming negative self talk and doubts
They heal and grow together.
Content: unfaithful wealthy mistress, low spice, n*ked scene (makes plot sense, the *act* does not happen), accidental cleavage groping, kissing, shaming women for having ideas and wanting to do more with their lives, accidental m*rder
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.
This book is set in France during the time of Voltaire and features a band of wayward backstabbing thieves on the run from the law. It's got so much of what I loved about Tangled but also has the gender swapped Beauty and the Beast. This book is just a fun ride beginning to end and has beautiful writing. The midpoint turn was fantastic.
The main characters are so good for each other!! They heal and learn and grow together. Both guarded their hearts and both learned to let each other in and work through and overcome their guilt and despair. Just an absolutely beautiful love story. Everything you'd want with this style retelling and so much more.
The premise for the curse is different than other iterations I've read. There's something about it that I don't quite like (hence the four stars), but her whole personality and self doubts are all very relatable.
TROPES/THEMES:
Gender swapped Beauty and the Beast
Cursed x Handsome Thief (a la Tangled)
Shrek style consuming of raw onions
Magical mirrors showing glimpses of past
Insta attraction, beautiful love story
THE invitation to dinner, complete with the fancy clothes and the dancing, *chef's kiss*
Beast only calms down for him
Fairytale commentaries nestled into story
Unique chapter style that grows on you
THE wolf attack, as every good Beauty and the Beast retelling must include
Overcoming negative self talk and doubts
They heal and grow together.
Content: unfaithful wealthy mistress, low spice, n*ked scene (makes plot sense, the *act* does not happen), accidental cleavage groping, kissing, shaming women for having ideas and wanting to do more with their lives, accidental m*rder
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.
I was excited to hear Jennifer Donnelly was releasing yet another subversive fairytale retelling, this time genderbent spin on Beauty and the Beast with Beastly Beauty. I loved the fun twist on the story, with the curse shifting away from impacting the “beastly” lead’s physical appearance to entrapping Arabella in a magical prison she cannot escape. While at times aspects of the curse felt a bit vague, along with the choice to set the story in a vague historical period, these also added to the overall fairytale feel.
Arabella and Beau are both compelling characters. Arabella is a charming, intelligent young woman, living under a terrible and mysterious curse. I felt for her, because she was expected to be gentle and compliant, but she has this fire in her that manifests in anger, which brought this curse upon her, and she’s lost hope over the years as she’s tried fruitlessly to find love. Beau, meanwhile, is a thief, who has had to scrape and steal to survive. I loved seeing them bond over the trauma they’ve experienced, and their love developing amid these intense circumstances.
The story progresses fairly quickly, thanks to the fairly short chapters and engaging writing style. Some of the questions about the entities in the castle are slowly answered, although I liked that there was some solid foreshadowing and breadcrumbing that made it possible to figure it out before the final reveal.
I had a lot of fun with this one, and I’d recommend it to readers interested in a fresh take on the Beauty and the Beast story.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Grief, Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Death
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Blood, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
While I love the "be yourself/love yourself" ideology, Arabella had no power to do that in the beginning; her choices were to be herself and continue to suffer the wrath and disappointment of her parents or be the obedient daughter and suffer in silence. In the end, the real lesson is that it takes a hundred years of imprisonment for her parents to learn their lesson and accept their daughter for who she is and not who they force her to be.
I can overlook the insta-love aspect of the relationship between Beau and Arabella because it's been a very long time since either one of them felt it. It's just unfortunate that that wasn't more explored/explained in the actual text.
Otherwise, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and original retelling.
I can overlook the insta-love aspect of the relationship between Beau and Arabella because it's been a very long time since either one of them felt it. It's just unfortunate that that wasn't more explored/explained in the actual text.
Otherwise, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and original retelling.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
"A girl who cannot control her emotions is no better than a beast."
I absolutely loved this creative retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. I loved the role reversal in that he is the beauty and she is the beast. I loved all the other characters that were introduced through this story. It was such a thrill trying to figure out how each of the characters played into this story.
I absolutely loved this creative retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. I loved the role reversal in that he is the beauty and she is the beast. I loved all the other characters that were introduced through this story. It was such a thrill trying to figure out how each of the characters played into this story.
emotional
mysterious
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
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-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