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A review by betharanova
The Beast Is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale
5.0
I was immediately drawn to this book because the cover offered me something I am always hungry for: fairy tale style stories that are full of monsters. This book was both everything I expected from it and a complete surprise.
It is about monsters. It is deeply about monsters: what makes them, how they change, who they are. What they want. Why some people give in to them. Its descriptions and magic system (for lack of a better term; this was not fantasy-book spellery) were definitely the stuff of dark fairy tales, but different enough to stand out. Monsters were more essence than image; magic was a deeper connection to the world, almost something spiritual.
But the reason I blazed through this book in three evenings was the characters. Alys is a strong protagonist who stole my heart and ran through the whole story with it. And the supporting characters tried the same trick. They feel real. I especially enjoyed that the author wasn't afraid for characters to change, and that Alys could be wrong in her first impressions of them. Everyone was complicated, and no one who was developed stuck to a single role.
I have only two complaints. First, the romance felt a little pushed upon me when I would have rather stumbled on it naturally. Second, though the conclusion was great, the way we arrived at it was different than I expected. Time and reflection will tell whether I'm actually disappointed about it.
Overall, I enjoyed the heck out of this and can't wait to see what this author does next!
It is about monsters. It is deeply about monsters: what makes them, how they change, who they are. What they want. Why some people give in to them. Its descriptions and magic system (for lack of a better term; this was not fantasy-book spellery) were definitely the stuff of dark fairy tales, but different enough to stand out. Monsters were more essence than image; magic was a deeper connection to the world, almost something spiritual.
But the reason I blazed through this book in three evenings was the characters. Alys is a strong protagonist who stole my heart and ran through the whole story with it. And the supporting characters tried the same trick. They feel real. I especially enjoyed that the author wasn't afraid for characters to change, and that Alys could be wrong in her first impressions of them. Everyone was complicated, and no one who was developed stuck to a single role.
I have only two complaints. First, the romance felt a little pushed upon me when I would have rather stumbled on it naturally. Second, though the conclusion was great, the way we arrived at it was different than I expected. Time and reflection will tell whether I'm actually disappointed about it.
Overall, I enjoyed the heck out of this and can't wait to see what this author does next!