Scan barcode
rebeccazh's review against another edition
4.0
Beauty and the beast is one of my least favorite fairy tales but I still really liked this one. Took a while for it to get going but the last 40% was really fun to read.
thekatiefu's review
4.0
Reminiscent of the tale we all know and love, this retelling is a more mature story and deviates in an interesting way. I quite enjoyed it and found myself having trouble putting it down.
kdap94's review against another edition
4.0
I found this fairytale retelling so lovely and enjoyable! Nothing very special but I was perfectly satisfied with it!
bookswithlydia's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
marianna001's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
rebeccazh's review against another edition
4.0
Beauty and the beast is one of my least favorite fairy tales but I still really liked this one. Took a while for it to get going but the last 40% was really fun to read.
user613's review
4.0
This was a sweet twist on beauty and the beast.
Prince Severin is cursed by a witch to become an animal and for all his servants to disappear. A kind witch alters this curse, so that only his body is imprisoned inside an animal, his mind is still his own. His servants are mute, and wear masks since they are now faceless. And, he only has to fall in love to break the curse.
Elle falls through a glass skylight into Severin's castle. She breaks her leg, is in lots of pain, and she's forced to stay until she recovers, befriending Severin's staff. And, they all hope she will be the one to break the curse.
Elle is a bit more strong minded than that would've liked and not inclined to play along. And, she has a secret too, one that makes her hate the prince and everything he stands for.
Will the two manage to fall in love and break the curse despite everything?
The actual handling of the story was a bit disappointing.
I almost put it down after the first few pages. It felt like all the details were being shoved in at once, narrated from the top, without really giving away the basic points of what Elle was doing there, or why there was a castle in the middle of nowhere.
What bothered me were the secrets. Which, ironically, surfaced more and more the more I started to understand and care about the actual story.
There was so much potential in them. If only they'd been better handled.
It felt like all the wrong information was being kept from me. There was so much potential for deeper feelings and meaning in scenes if more was shown. But it never was.
We have to wait until the second to last scene to discover every single secret that was taunting us throughout the book.
Elle was a great character. She was interesting, witty and fiery character. And, it was no secret that she was hiding something. In fact, we're told that she's hiding something the whole entire book. However, there was no reason given as to why she would hide it. Or, that Severin's really connected to it, and out of everything she hates about the royal family, she should hate him most. (We do discover all this. At the very end of the book.)
Most of the story, other than Elle trying to hide her intelligence, this secret had no place in the story. During most of the book, there was no purpose to the fact that her secret existed, or to her keeping it a secret.
Granted, it made for a cool scene at the end. And, it added some depth. I wish it was woven into the middle of the story more, though. There was so much more potential.
The middle was the story's strong point. Elle's determination, her relationship with Emele and the rest of the staff, her agreement to try and befriend Severin, and the witty relationship between her and Severin, slowly blossoming into something more.
The book's 4 stars are only thanks to Elle and her interactions with the people around her, which I thought was done really well.
And then, Elle's secret came out, and the story took a big turn for the worse. One second Severin's angry at her, next he realizes she should be angry at him, then he's running off to save her and they're both in love and about to get married.
Their feelings were just solved by deciding they're too much in love to care about what happened between them, and forgiving everything.
Without giving me a chance to understand why this secret was such a big deal, or the reason for their strong feelings.
Content to be aware of:
This was a pretty clean book.
Prince Severin is illegimate. A fact which is mentioned many many times. We never do learn anything more about his ancestry.
Severin and Elle kiss once after Severin sort of asks Elle to marry him. Before that she's carried a few times by Severin (remember her foot broke?), and in one scene he strokes her hair while her head rests on his leg.
There's a lot of violence mentioned, though most of it isn't described. Including Elle's accident after falling from a skywalk and being unable to leave her bed for weeks on end since she's in too much pain, fighting off a bunch of trained assassins, Severin killing a hag witch who wants to eat Elle's heart, and finally, in pain, bleeding, in the snow (but then she's rescued by Severin and all's good).
Prince Severin is cursed by a witch to become an animal and for all his servants to disappear. A kind witch alters this curse, so that only his body is imprisoned inside an animal, his mind is still his own. His servants are mute, and wear masks since they are now faceless. And, he only has to fall in love to break the curse.
Elle falls through a glass skylight into Severin's castle. She breaks her leg, is in lots of pain, and she's forced to stay until she recovers, befriending Severin's staff. And, they all hope she will be the one to break the curse.
Elle is a bit more strong minded than that would've liked and not inclined to play along. And, she has a secret too, one that makes her hate the prince and everything he stands for.
Will the two manage to fall in love and break the curse despite everything?
Spoiler
The short answer? Yes!The actual handling of the story was a bit disappointing.
I almost put it down after the first few pages. It felt like all the details were being shoved in at once, narrated from the top, without really giving away the basic points of what Elle was doing there, or why there was a castle in the middle of nowhere.
What bothered me were the secrets. Which, ironically, surfaced more and more the more I started to understand and care about the actual story.
There was so much potential in them. If only they'd been better handled.
It felt like all the wrong information was being kept from me. There was so much potential for deeper feelings and meaning in scenes if more was shown. But it never was.
We have to wait until the second to last scene to discover every single secret that was taunting us throughout the book.
Spoiler
Elle was a great character. She was interesting, witty and fiery character. And, it was no secret that she was hiding something. In fact, we're told that she's hiding something the whole entire book. However, there was no reason given as to why she would hide it. Or, that Severin's really connected to it, and out of everything she hates about the royal family, she should hate him most. (We do discover all this. At the very end of the book.)
Most of the story, other than Elle trying to hide her intelligence, this secret had no place in the story. During most of the book, there was no purpose to the fact that her secret existed, or to her keeping it a secret.
Granted, it made for a cool scene at the end. And, it added some depth. I wish it was woven into the middle of the story more, though. There was so much more potential.
The middle was the story's strong point. Elle's determination, her relationship with Emele and the rest of the staff, her agreement to try and befriend Severin, and the witty relationship between her and Severin, slowly blossoming into something more.
The book's 4 stars are only thanks to Elle and her interactions with the people around her, which I thought was done really well.
And then, Elle's secret came out, and the story took a big turn for the worse. One second Severin's angry at her, next he realizes she should be angry at him, then he's running off to save her and they're both in love and about to get married.
Their feelings were just solved by deciding they're too much in love to care about what happened between them, and forgiving everything.
Without giving me a chance to understand why this secret was such a big deal, or the reason for their strong feelings.
Content to be aware of:
This was a pretty clean book.
Spoiler
Prince Severin is illegimate. A fact which is mentioned many many times. We never do learn anything more about his ancestry.
Severin and Elle kiss once after Severin sort of asks Elle to marry him. Before that she's carried a few times by Severin (remember her foot broke?), and in one scene he strokes her hair while her head rests on his leg.
There's a lot of violence mentioned, though most of it isn't described. Including Elle's accident after falling from a skywalk and being unable to leave her bed for weeks on end since she's in too much pain, fighting off a bunch of trained assassins, Severin killing a hag witch who wants to eat Elle's heart, and finally, in pain, bleeding, in the snow (but then she's rescued by Severin and all's good).
midnightsharkist's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
l1l1thmaes_'s review against another edition
2.5
- ⭐️⭐️.5
- The premise of this book was surprisingly good, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get behind the main couple
- The FMC was basically a stranger to me, and I was barely rooting for the couple
- Like how the hell does this girl not understand the fact that you have to repay someone if you lose them money? She’s mad at the Royals because she needs to pay back the money that they were guaranteed to get back
- The plot twist was so weird that even though I didn’t expect it, I still didn’t care
- This author made the side characters and their romances more interesting than the main couples, which is annoying AF
- How the hell did the side characters have more memorable quotes than anyone else?
- I’m also not a big fan of the fact that she used one of my favorite things a.k.a. not forgiving immediately against me
- I don’t understand how the hell this man managed to forgive her after everything she did because what just happened?
- Like you didn’t even talk to her for months and you were holding this random grudge and then suddenly decided to forgive her??? No. Just no.
- I don’t hold anything against insta-love but you have to give me something to work with
- I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style either
- Everything just went downhill after having such a nice premise
- Also, the guys brother was weird as fuck and honestly, I kind of hate him
- And another thing! How the hell did no one comprehend the fact that she was supposed to be the one that loved him?
- This story made no sense and it dragged and it brought my expectations up only to bring me down so much so I will be taking a little break from reading