Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
more of a 3.5 but i like what the story was trying to do so i'm rounding it up to a four
I’d give it a 4/5 ⭐️ maybe a 4.25
I for sure picked this up from the library based on the cover; I love key imagery, and I assumed it would be a Beauty and the Beast retelling from the title.
And it is! It’s a gender-bent Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I think it does justice to the original while remaking it into an empowering story of love and hope and faith.
The theme was excellent (and spoiler-y so I won’t share it); it has an interesting easter egg that is explained and it was exciting to go back and figure it out and start looking for it in the future. That feeling of “OH! I figured it out! I know the thing! Even though they haven’t told me yet!” was nice, and had that a few times.
The writing style wasn’t anything special, but the plot and the characters and the way it’s all tied together is fascinating. The theme (while I enjoyed it) is a little “on the nose” and “in your face/obvious”, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with it.
I don’t much care for “drama/plot obstacles caused by keeping secrets”, which this does almost as a plot device to keep the reader in the dark until The Right Moment. The big reveal is a little anti-climactic. Kind of like it was built up and then left me feeling like “oh, that’s it?” I feel like I would have preferred a bit more during that scene, or maybe something a little different. The scene ended up confusing me a bit with how it was presented, but it didn’t fully take away from the story.
Spice level is minimal - it’s love story, but it’s primarily a book about ✨feelings✨ rather than smooches (but there are smooches)
So yeah, I would recommend it, I think the writing could be better and some of the scenes choreographed a bit differently. Maybe the theme slightly less “on the nose” (though I did end up really enjoying that part so maybe not).
I for sure picked this up from the library based on the cover; I love key imagery, and I assumed it would be a Beauty and the Beast retelling from the title.
And it is! It’s a gender-bent Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I think it does justice to the original while remaking it into an empowering story of love and hope and faith.
The theme was excellent (and spoiler-y so I won’t share it); it has an interesting easter egg that is explained and it was exciting to go back and figure it out and start looking for it in the future. That feeling of “OH! I figured it out! I know the thing! Even though they haven’t told me yet!” was nice, and had that a few times.
The writing style wasn’t anything special, but the plot and the characters and the way it’s all tied together is fascinating. The theme (while I enjoyed it) is a little “on the nose” and “in your face/obvious”, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with it.
I don’t much care for “drama/plot obstacles caused by keeping secrets”, which this does almost as a plot device to keep the reader in the dark until The Right Moment. The big reveal is a little anti-climactic. Kind of like it was built up and then left me feeling like “oh, that’s it?” I feel like I would have preferred a bit more during that scene, or maybe something a little different. The scene ended up confusing me a bit with how it was presented, but it didn’t fully take away from the story.
Spice level is minimal - it’s love story, but it’s primarily a book about ✨feelings✨ rather than smooches (but there are smooches)
So yeah, I would recommend it, I think the writing could be better and some of the scenes choreographed a bit differently. Maybe the theme slightly less “on the nose” (though I did end up really enjoying that part so maybe not).
So listen, I loved the idea of this story. A gender swapped beauty and the beast with Alice in Wonderland Flare. ✨️ The plot was pretty steady, and the placing worked out okay. There were a few instances in which I found myself trying to figure out the POV, so I found the authors interior formatting to be not my favorite with the chapters in chapters. But my biggest problem here was that I liked the side characters more than I liked the main characters. I'm still pretty new to fantasy, so I won't comment on some of my confusion as that's probably my bad.
But I will add to the formatting, the "FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY" brokenly stamped on lines really bothered my adhd brain
It took me FOREVER to get through the epilogue for that reason. I used to work for several authors and understand the importance of it. But why not randomly place the line "for review purposes only" in one line on random pages....?
But I will add to the formatting, the "FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY" brokenly stamped on lines really bothered my adhd brain
It took me FOREVER to get through the epilogue for that reason. I used to work for several authors and understand the importance of it. But why not randomly place the line "for review purposes only" in one line on random pages....?
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
I love her writing style. Donelley’s books are the perfect balance of fantasy and realism, incorporating a true lesson in the story that the readers can deeply feel. As someone who struggles a lot with their emotions, it was a really powerful read for me. The thought that I can be all of me. The good, and the bad. My guilt, my shame, and my fear…but also my compassion, my hope, my faith, and my love. Everything has its place. You can’t not feel because without feelings, who are you. And that’s what the message of this book was. Accept everything about you, keep fighting, and don’t give in to despair. And I think that’s a really important message to have right now.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes