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A review by spookshow
Tales You Win by Bea Paige
5.0
You can find this review and all my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com
This is the tale of Beast and Grim. We first meet them as cameo appearances in Paige's other series, and now we get to hear their story. Grim is on the cusp of turning 18, she is set to inherit Tales, her father, Carter's, club. Her life is anything but rainbow and butterflies, but it's all that she knows. Beast is Carter's second in command, tasked with protecting Carter's most valuable possession - Grim. So when feelings begin to emerge, Beast does everything that he can to tamp them down and snuff them out, but there's only so many times he can ignore the pull he feels, the way Grim gets under his skin, and how the thought of anyone else touching her just about breaks him. Theirs is not a fairytale, it's a Grimm fairytale, and this is it's beginning.
I've only read one other series of Paige's so far, and I haven't read the one that I probably should have started on. I picked up her Academy of Stardom series on a whim, I came across a book recommendation post in a bookish group on Facebook and figured, why the hell not. I honestly wasn't expecting much, but it really sucked me in and I just couldn't stop reading. I fell in love with the way that Paige really emphasises the use of music in her writing, and it's carried through in this series too. I was really keen to pick this duet up because I fell in love with the cameo appearances of Beast and Grim in the Academy of Stardom series and I was keen for them to get a bit more screen time.
If you pick this duet up without having read any of the previous series, I feel like you'll be missing out on something. This can definitely be read first, the prologue and epilogue will not make sense, and do have slight spoilers for the other series (though we all know how they will end anyway), otherwise there's no reason you couldn't pick this duet up first. I implore you not to, however. I feel like what made this duet so amazing for me was that I already knew the characters. I knew what they would become and I knew how their story was going to turn out. It was that little giddy thrill of "hey! I know these guys!" that I feel really endeared the story to me before I'd even cracked the front cover.
I loved getting to see where Beast and Grim began. We had heard snippets in conversation in other series about little quirks and gestures (that one to do with hearts, I'm looking at you), so it was nice to get the first hand account of these events. I've always enjoyed getting back story to characters when we already sort of know them. Another series I love had little things mentioned from the past in the main story, and then these events were revisited in a collection of short stories, and I felt just as giddy with that one, and I did with this. I just love getting a more rounded view of a character than what I had before. Also, I don't know why, but I was picturing Grim and Beast a fair shake older than what they actually are, so it's nice to have some clarification on their ages. I really enjoyed both of their characters, are they cliche? Maybe. Do I care? No. Beast is your typical alpha-hole, possessive, body guard while Grim is your Mafia Princess, chip on her shoulder, girl on the cusp of womanhood. I also liked that we got to meet Carter, he was a piece of work.
The story itself was entertaining, it was very character driven which works well for me. And getting to see the different ins and outs of Tales before Grim took control was great. Even though I knew how their story ended (up to a point) I still found that I was a bit anxious about things going wrong and the possibility that the Grim and Beast I know would never come to pass. I feel like this really shows that Paige has a great ability in being able to write a dark and gritty story that, even when you know how it turns out, it still has you questioning whether you can believe what you know. Making me believe that there is a possibility that these two characters wouldn't end up together, when I KNOW that they do, is something special indeed. I was shocked by a couple of the revelations, and I didn't see either of them coming. I'm not sure if they're mentioned in the other series (as stated above, I've only read one), but they were surprising to me and I thought that was great.
I feel like this is a guilty pleasure story for long time fans of Paige's work. As said in the beginning, if you haven't read any of the previous series, maybe start there first. I feel like I wouldn't have enjoyed this duet as much if I hadn't had some idea of who the characters already were and some of their backstory. If you're looking for spice, you're gonna have to wait until book two, there's a lot of building tension and agonizing in this one, but I promise, if you stick with it, the spice in book two is definitely worth the wait. Was some of this story and writing cheesy? Yes it was. Am I mad at that? No I'm not. I enjoyed this story for what it was, which is an inside look at how two constant characters in Paige's intertwining stories came to be who they are as we know them now. If you're looking for the next great piece of literature, look elsewhere, this is a fun, dark, gritty and emotional ride that is character driven and delivers on exactly what it promises, and I thoroughly enjoyed every damn second of it.
This is the tale of Beast and Grim. We first meet them as cameo appearances in Paige's other series, and now we get to hear their story. Grim is on the cusp of turning 18, she is set to inherit Tales, her father, Carter's, club. Her life is anything but rainbow and butterflies, but it's all that she knows. Beast is Carter's second in command, tasked with protecting Carter's most valuable possession - Grim. So when feelings begin to emerge, Beast does everything that he can to tamp them down and snuff them out, but there's only so many times he can ignore the pull he feels, the way Grim gets under his skin, and how the thought of anyone else touching her just about breaks him. Theirs is not a fairytale, it's a Grimm fairytale, and this is it's beginning.
I've only read one other series of Paige's so far, and I haven't read the one that I probably should have started on. I picked up her Academy of Stardom series on a whim, I came across a book recommendation post in a bookish group on Facebook and figured, why the hell not. I honestly wasn't expecting much, but it really sucked me in and I just couldn't stop reading. I fell in love with the way that Paige really emphasises the use of music in her writing, and it's carried through in this series too. I was really keen to pick this duet up because I fell in love with the cameo appearances of Beast and Grim in the Academy of Stardom series and I was keen for them to get a bit more screen time.
If you pick this duet up without having read any of the previous series, I feel like you'll be missing out on something. This can definitely be read first, the prologue and epilogue will not make sense, and do have slight spoilers for the other series (though we all know how they will end anyway), otherwise there's no reason you couldn't pick this duet up first. I implore you not to, however. I feel like what made this duet so amazing for me was that I already knew the characters. I knew what they would become and I knew how their story was going to turn out. It was that little giddy thrill of "hey! I know these guys!" that I feel really endeared the story to me before I'd even cracked the front cover.
I loved getting to see where Beast and Grim began. We had heard snippets in conversation in other series about little quirks and gestures (that one to do with hearts, I'm looking at you), so it was nice to get the first hand account of these events. I've always enjoyed getting back story to characters when we already sort of know them. Another series I love had little things mentioned from the past in the main story, and then these events were revisited in a collection of short stories, and I felt just as giddy with that one, and I did with this. I just love getting a more rounded view of a character than what I had before. Also, I don't know why, but I was picturing Grim and Beast a fair shake older than what they actually are, so it's nice to have some clarification on their ages. I really enjoyed both of their characters, are they cliche? Maybe. Do I care? No. Beast is your typical alpha-hole, possessive, body guard while Grim is your Mafia Princess, chip on her shoulder, girl on the cusp of womanhood. I also liked that we got to meet Carter, he was a piece of work.
The story itself was entertaining, it was very character driven which works well for me. And getting to see the different ins and outs of Tales before Grim took control was great. Even though I knew how their story ended (up to a point) I still found that I was a bit anxious about things going wrong and the possibility that the Grim and Beast I know would never come to pass. I feel like this really shows that Paige has a great ability in being able to write a dark and gritty story that, even when you know how it turns out, it still has you questioning whether you can believe what you know. Making me believe that there is a possibility that these two characters wouldn't end up together, when I KNOW that they do, is something special indeed. I was shocked by a couple of the revelations, and I didn't see either of them coming. I'm not sure if they're mentioned in the other series (as stated above, I've only read one), but they were surprising to me and I thought that was great.
I feel like this is a guilty pleasure story for long time fans of Paige's work. As said in the beginning, if you haven't read any of the previous series, maybe start there first. I feel like I wouldn't have enjoyed this duet as much if I hadn't had some idea of who the characters already were and some of their backstory. If you're looking for spice, you're gonna have to wait until book two, there's a lot of building tension and agonizing in this one, but I promise, if you stick with it, the spice in book two is definitely worth the wait. Was some of this story and writing cheesy? Yes it was. Am I mad at that? No I'm not. I enjoyed this story for what it was, which is an inside look at how two constant characters in Paige's intertwining stories came to be who they are as we know them now. If you're looking for the next great piece of literature, look elsewhere, this is a fun, dark, gritty and emotional ride that is character driven and delivers on exactly what it promises, and I thoroughly enjoyed every damn second of it.