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A review by haleyandherbooks
Rebel Rose by Emma Theriault
Well shoot. I really really wanted to love this one. I swear! There’s nothing I love more than a fairytale reimagined. Life after The Beast turns into Adam? I need it! And I loved the idea of Belle navigating through the politics of the revolution in France.
Unfortunately… this was a miss for me. Adam – though he’s called Lio in this book – is hardly in it. He’s always conveniently going away on business to do some thing or other and leaving Belle to figure out how to run things in his absence. The problem with that is his cousin Bastien, who has come to live with them from Paris, is a nightmare – and determined to undermine Belle at every turn.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Belle is headstrong and brilliant. She wouldn’t let some little man stop her from doing what’s right. But this Belle is so full of self-doubt and continually backs down from challenges. It was so uncharacteristic of the Belle we know and love. It just didn’t really make sense. And the whole story is so steeped in politics that it becomes a bit redundant.
The parts that I really enjoyed were Belle’s interactions with Mrs. Potts and her new friend Marguerite. I like that Belle doesn’t want to become a princess or a queen. She wants to stay true to her roots and be able to connect with the people, no matter the social ramifications of her not taking a title. Marguerite seems to be as open minded and forward thinking as Belle and I think they make a good team.
I also enjoyed the ending. I think there were some characters who certainly surprised me. And some characters who got a little bit of redemption – or the justification of their actions was made a bit more clear. The mystical witch woman (I don’t know what she actually was – oracle maybe?) who comes to queens in their time of need was cool. I would liked to have seen more of her, but look forward to her role in subsequent books.
Unfortunately… this was a miss for me. Adam – though he’s called Lio in this book – is hardly in it. He’s always conveniently going away on business to do some thing or other and leaving Belle to figure out how to run things in his absence. The problem with that is his cousin Bastien, who has come to live with them from Paris, is a nightmare – and determined to undermine Belle at every turn.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Belle is headstrong and brilliant. She wouldn’t let some little man stop her from doing what’s right. But this Belle is so full of self-doubt and continually backs down from challenges. It was so uncharacteristic of the Belle we know and love. It just didn’t really make sense. And the whole story is so steeped in politics that it becomes a bit redundant.
The parts that I really enjoyed were Belle’s interactions with Mrs. Potts and her new friend Marguerite. I like that Belle doesn’t want to become a princess or a queen. She wants to stay true to her roots and be able to connect with the people, no matter the social ramifications of her not taking a title. Marguerite seems to be as open minded and forward thinking as Belle and I think they make a good team.
I also enjoyed the ending. I think there were some characters who certainly surprised me. And some characters who got a little bit of redemption – or the justification of their actions was made a bit more clear. The mystical witch woman (I don’t know what she actually was – oracle maybe?) who comes to queens in their time of need was cool. I would liked to have seen more of her, but look forward to her role in subsequent books.