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kara_c 's review for:
Beastly Beauty
by Jennifer Donnelly
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).