A review by curiosityp
Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly

adventurous dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While I love the "be yourself/love yourself" ideology, Arabella had no power to do that in the beginning; her choices were to be herself and continue to suffer the wrath and disappointment of her parents or be the obedient daughter and suffer in silence.  In the end, the real lesson is that it takes a hundred years of imprisonment for her parents to learn their lesson and accept their daughter for who she is and not who they force her to be.

I can overlook the insta-love aspect of the relationship between Beau and Arabella because it's been a very long time since either one of them felt it.  It's just unfortunate that that wasn't more explored/explained in the actual text.

Otherwise, it was a thoroughly enjoyable and original retelling.