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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Rebel Rose takes place a few months after the curse is broken by the Beast and Belle. Belle does not want to take any titles and must find her way with the Prince. The Prince-Lio, and Belle go to Paris to meet with his cousin Bastien. Revolution is occurring in Paris. Will it escape into their kingdom?
I really liked the imagined world of what life would be like for Belle and Lio after the curse is broken. There is a lot of political intrigue in this novel. I guessed who the villain was very short in the story though.
I really liked the imagined world of what life would be like for Belle and Lio after the curse is broken. There is a lot of political intrigue in this novel. I guessed who the villain was very short in the story though.
challenging
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
I knew it’d get intense towards the end. I didn’t think there’d be kidnapping and an assassination attempt, but intense it was.
I enjoyed reading this book so much. There was so much politics though, which made it boring in some parts, especially since it’s a relatively slow-paced book, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I like that we all were on the journey with Belle, we were as uncertain and doubtful as Belle because it was unclear to the readers also what the motive behind the rest of the characters actions were. It was slightly predictable from both directions, but the fact that both the directions the book could take were predictable, made it a lot more unpredictable.
What I absolutely loved about this book was the romance between Belle and Lio. I loved that Belle was absolutely sure of one thing in this whole book and it was her love for Lio. There was no chance that Belle would leave Lio ever at any point in the story, despite not wanting to be Queen, despite being torn between two worlds. In some books, the character tends to run away, which is fun to read sometimes, but it was really refreshing to read about this headstrong, brilliant, brave, kind, loving, intelligent, bookworm female character who knew her responsibilities and would never abandon those who she loves. Belle is a Queen - in every sense of the word.
On another note, Cogsworth and Lumiére (not sure how to spell his name) were ever the same!! I love that the author managed to keep their conflicting comedy personalities and the friendship and interaction between them as shown in the movie. It was really nice. Mrs Potts was the loving mother figure of the palace - and especially to Belle - and I love her. Maurice is also the father figure, but he was gone for the whole book even though they said at the start that he’s coming home, like what’s that about?
I enjoyed reading this book so much. There was so much politics though, which made it boring in some parts, especially since it’s a relatively slow-paced book, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I like that we all were on the journey with Belle, we were as uncertain and doubtful as Belle because it was unclear to the readers also what the motive behind the rest of the characters actions were.
Spoiler
Heck, even I suspected Marguerite to be the bad guy instead of Bastien at one point, so either way I wasn’t sure which way the book would go.What I absolutely loved about this book was the romance between Belle and Lio. I loved that Belle was absolutely sure of one thing in this whole book and it was her love for Lio. There was no chance that Belle would leave Lio ever at any point in the story, despite not wanting to be Queen, despite being torn between two worlds. In some books, the character tends to run away, which is fun to read sometimes, but it was really refreshing to read about this headstrong, brilliant, brave, kind, loving, intelligent, bookworm female character who knew her responsibilities and would never abandon those who she loves. Belle is a Queen - in every sense of the word.
On another note, Cogsworth and Lumiére (not sure how to spell his name) were ever the same!! I love that the author managed to keep their conflicting comedy personalities and the friendship and interaction between them as shown in the movie. It was really nice. Mrs Potts was the loving mother figure of the palace - and especially to Belle - and I love her. Maurice is also the father figure, but he was gone for the whole book even though they said at the start that he’s coming home, like what’s that about?
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5, rounded up to 3 on Goodreads.
Full review here
"Fear was as much a motivator as hate. Fear made monsters out of men".
"She would take their unease over their disdain. She thought perhaps it was time for men like them to fear what a woman could do".
Full review here
"Fear was as much a motivator as hate. Fear made monsters out of men".
"She would take their unease over their disdain. She thought perhaps it was time for men like them to fear what a woman could do".
challenging
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Great story. But the writing was off for me. Too much repetition of summarizing sentences throughout the text. Team Belle for life!
I'm giving this 3.5 stars for a retelling/continuation of Beauty and the Beast, but 4 stars as a book on its own. I hope that will make more sense as I continue with my review.
First of all, I love the cover and the premise of this story. I was hooked from the moment I heard Beauty and the Beast, and it quickly became one of my most anticipated reads for 2020. While I enjoyed it, I do think one should know going in that this isn't the Belle and Beast from the Disney movie. I mean, technically it is, but not how I imagined them. Let me explain.
Rebel Rose follows Belle and Lio (the Beast) after they break the curse with their love, causing the Beast to turn human and the castle and its inhabitant to return to what they once were. Newly married, the couple travels to Paris as part of their tour-of-the-country honeymoon. Only, Paris isn't the city Belle once knew and loved. Set at the onset of the French Revolution (Bastille Day included), Paris is full of riots and marches as the people urge their King hiding in Versailles to hear them. Frightened of what will happen to their own kingdom of Aveyon, Belle and Lio, along with Lio's cousin from Paris, return to Aveyon to stop the unrest from following them home.
Readers follow them along as they fight to make the changes necessary to keep Aveyon safe and happy from the unrest in the rest of France. Revolution is coming, but can Belle and Lio stop it from taking over the kingdom they just saved from a 10-year curse?
I loved the idea of historical fantasy mixed with a fairytale retelling, however, the version of Lio and Belle I got from the book is not the Belle and Lio I loved from the movie. Belle adamantly fought against the title of princess and queen, to the point where I found myself annoyed as she put herself in front of the kingdom she supposedly holds dear to her heart after years of yearning to leave it behind.
The writing style itself leaned more towards a running course of Belle's thoughts, which was an interesting approach to the story. But, she spent too much time wanting to be the peasant she once was rather than embracing her role and changing things to suit her fellow commoners. I didn't get a lot of the "rebel" qualities from her that I felt when watching the movie. I felt as if she took a step back and became a different person.
Lio also felt like a step back from the Beast we got to know in the movie. But, this is probably rather obvious seeing as he's no longer a beast. However, I think part of my expected those hard parts of him to stick around in his personality in some ways, especially when it came to being a leader. But, that was not the case. Instead, I felt like he and Belle both became meek and mild, which was a little disappointing.
However, the book itself was pretty great. If you don't look at it as a retelling or continuation of Beauty and the Beast, then I think it makes a really interesting historical fiction book. I loved the addition of the French Revolution, and I also loved the new characters in the book. I think without the connection to Belle and her beast, the book stands very well on its own and is quite enjoyable!
First of all, I love the cover and the premise of this story. I was hooked from the moment I heard Beauty and the Beast, and it quickly became one of my most anticipated reads for 2020. While I enjoyed it, I do think one should know going in that this isn't the Belle and Beast from the Disney movie. I mean, technically it is, but not how I imagined them. Let me explain.
Rebel Rose follows Belle and Lio (the Beast) after they break the curse with their love, causing the Beast to turn human and the castle and its inhabitant to return to what they once were. Newly married, the couple travels to Paris as part of their tour-of-the-country honeymoon. Only, Paris isn't the city Belle once knew and loved. Set at the onset of the French Revolution (Bastille Day included), Paris is full of riots and marches as the people urge their King hiding in Versailles to hear them. Frightened of what will happen to their own kingdom of Aveyon, Belle and Lio, along with Lio's cousin from Paris, return to Aveyon to stop the unrest from following them home.
Readers follow them along as they fight to make the changes necessary to keep Aveyon safe and happy from the unrest in the rest of France. Revolution is coming, but can Belle and Lio stop it from taking over the kingdom they just saved from a 10-year curse?
I loved the idea of historical fantasy mixed with a fairytale retelling, however, the version of Lio and Belle I got from the book is not the Belle and Lio I loved from the movie. Belle adamantly fought against the title of princess and queen, to the point where I found myself annoyed as she put herself in front of the kingdom she supposedly holds dear to her heart after years of yearning to leave it behind.
The writing style itself leaned more towards a running course of Belle's thoughts, which was an interesting approach to the story. But, she spent too much time wanting to be the peasant she once was rather than embracing her role and changing things to suit her fellow commoners. I didn't get a lot of the "rebel" qualities from her that I felt when watching the movie. I felt as if she took a step back and became a different person.
Lio also felt like a step back from the Beast we got to know in the movie. But, this is probably rather obvious seeing as he's no longer a beast. However, I think part of my expected those hard parts of him to stick around in his personality in some ways, especially when it came to being a leader. But, that was not the case. Instead, I felt like he and Belle both became meek and mild, which was a little disappointing.
However, the book itself was pretty great. If you don't look at it as a retelling or continuation of Beauty and the Beast, then I think it makes a really interesting historical fiction book. I loved the addition of the French Revolution, and I also loved the new characters in the book. I think without the connection to Belle and her beast, the book stands very well on its own and is quite enjoyable!
This book was a mixture of many things good and bad. I really liked the premise and most retellings I'm game for, so this book was up my alley for sure. There were times I liked the book and enjoyed it, and yet other times it was frustrating and not what I had hoped it would be. The hard part with referencing a major movie and keeping the main cast of characters for your book is that I already have ideas and thoughts about them, so trying to have these characters continue on, you need to be careful because it's not characters you created. It was just not a fluid book for me, the characters lacked and no real progression was made except for Belle in a way. Not to discourage readers from this book as it had it's moments that were fun and enjoyable, and if you like Beauty and the Beast you might enjoy this book. However, for me this book fell too flat to be something exciting or a favorite. It was a decent read, but not something I'm going to be chatting about.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!