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sapphiremarie's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
lisa_beloved's review against another edition
1.0
I am very sad to admit that I really didn't enjoy this book at all. Belles thoughts and actions didn't make much sense and the whole plot felt unnatural and very forced. Slow and rushed at the same time somehow.
The only reason why I have finished this book is that I was hoping for things to get better towards the end. I am sad to say they didn't...
The only reason why I have finished this book is that I was hoping for things to get better towards the end. I am sad to say they didn't...
lumissidy's review against another edition
5.0
I love it. Got confused why they changed the beast name from Adam to lio. Same goes for Lefou why give him a first name.
fernthepanda's review against another edition
3.0
I received an eARC courtesy of Disney-Hyperion/Disney Publishing Worldwide & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
I have a mix of feelings about this title I love concept of a blended fairy tale retelling meets historical fiction. It was great to see familiar faces mingled with new ones. Bu this took me a while to get into. I am, ultimately, glad I stuck it out. The story definitely picked up as it progressed. Though I do have to ding it a bit for taking so long to become engaging-and also for making Lio (aka Beast) a bit of a dolt (listen to your wife!).
Was this story predictable? Yes. So predictable. Will readers enjoy it? Yes. They will. I am intrigued with how this series will continue.
For Libraries: I think this is a good one to take a chance on if you have fans of Disney, fairy tale retellings or historical fiction.
I have a mix of feelings about this title I love concept of a blended fairy tale retelling meets historical fiction. It was great to see familiar faces mingled with new ones. Bu this took me a while to get into. I am, ultimately, glad I stuck it out. The story definitely picked up as it progressed. Though I do have to ding it a bit for taking so long to become engaging-and also for making Lio (aka Beast) a bit of a dolt (listen to your wife!).
Was this story predictable? Yes. So predictable. Will readers enjoy it? Yes. They will. I am intrigued with how this series will continue.
For Libraries: I think this is a good one to take a chance on if you have fans of Disney, fairy tale retellings or historical fiction.
booksarebetter's review against another edition
2.0
Continuation of Beauty and the Beast, not a retelling. I'm not into retellings or continuations apparently. This was a me thing not an author thing.
rayraym2020's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review against another edition
3.0
~POTENTIAL SPOILERS~
I'm finally done with this! And to be honest, even though I liked it, I felt like there still could've been a lot more done with this premise.
But, I do think the premise itself is very nice. I like the idea of connecting all of these stories with an overarching theme of the Queens' Council, which was introduced in the book and made me excited to see all of the different forms it'll take moving forward. I also really enjoy the idea of grown-up Disney Princesses growing into their own right to rule. It's a cool idea because I love the Disney Princesses and want to see a take on the Disney versions after the movie ends. I've see this premise done a few times with the regular fairy-tale characters but Disney has their own unique spins on their adaptations so it's fun to see those versions be realized in more than just their movies. Plus I just like the idea of doing something else other than: 'what truly happened after happily ever after? it sucked'
Not to mention putting the real history and location into their stories? I'm drooling already. I will admit the French Revolution is not really of interest to me and I feel this one was only picked because of the whole 'Belle and the Beast are royals during the French Revolution oh no' meme but I really liked the movie characters in this! I liked seeing the servants go back to their old roles but having trouble coping with their trauma, even the Beast, named Lio in this, has trauma related to the curse and I enjoyed seeing that handled in such a realistic way! Belle was her usual headstrong self in this. I enjoyed seeing her dilemma between wanting to be there for her people when they see her only as a queen and also just wanting to be herself since she was just a regular peasant before everything happened to her. It endeared me to her very quickly since I could easily see Belle having such a struggle. I also really enjoyed seeing more of her intellectual side as she takes over ruling duties and tries to appease everyone to the best of her abilities.
The writing here is also great, evidently this is the author's first book! I didn't even know until I looked it up! It reads very easily, almost Disney-esque in a way, but still complex and beautiful way to keep your mid visualizing and not getting bored.
Aside from those things, however, I feel like this book was just okay purely because the remainder of the characters weren't very well-developed at all. I really wanted to like Marguerite but she wasn't in it too much and when she was she fell flat as a character. Same for her brother, he was mentioned once as not getting along with her, then he shows up once at the climax and suddenly they're close again. It's really a shame since I had interest in both of them as characters, Marguerite especially. You never actually learn what the villain's motives are despite spending basically the entire book with him. You also never fully get a sense of what Lio is like as a literal and figurative changed man because he's always off somewhere else. I get he's the king and all, but the book seemed to be banking on the fact you believed in their chemistry in the movie, and even if I did, there's none of that here which is a shame since I wanted to see that explored too.
Several aspects of this book seem to be taken from the live-action adaptation such as the Enchantress being involved in kingdom politics, Lio's relationship with his parents, and Gaston's backstory. I didn't mind that actually since I liked seeing the two mediums be combined together into a more fulfilling story. I also appreciated all of the callbacks to the original movie that were in here.
Speaking of Gaston though, one of the familiar faces we see here is LeFou but I also feel that was such a waste. There was a lot of great potential for his character, I could see what they were going for, he wasn't genuinely malicious, he just went along with Gaston's schemes because that's what one does, but since he was barely in the story his redemption along with Belle finally learning his name didn't really feel earned. If we spent more time with him, even just a little bit, it would've felt more natural.
I also feel like the whole climax and ending were rushed. At first the book progressed slowly and built up a lot of things, then all of a sudden everyone is running around, getting kidnapped and thrown into the dungeons, oh never mind everything is okay now, they're crowed now! Maybe it was just me but it really felt like it came out of nowhere with little progression, but given the context maybe it was on purpose?
Overall, this was a decent start to a series with a few things I really liked, but the bulk of it could've been a lot better. However this was also primarily an introduction to the remainder of the story so I hope the rest from here will only get better and better. Some ideas I want to see; Pocahontas as a super cool Chieftain of her tribe and ten years later John Smith comes back and the two try to make a new settlement together or something, or Jasmine as a badass Sultana with Aladdin by her side, I'm mainly thinking of the live-action version because she wanted to rule in that version but I could also see the animated one wanting to take over after her father, and how about Tiana and Naveen traveling the world and making the world a better place especially after the Great Depression, and don't forget about the older princesses, I'd love to see Aurora and Prince Phillip trying to catch up on their lost childhoods together, and Aurora getting some well-needed bonding time with her parents too, and Prince Phillip's parents too as they teach them how to rule, and maybe adding some other 'Disney Ladies' to the mix who aren't princesses but might still be interesting, like Megara or Esmeralda, especially considering they wanted to make a sequel for Hercules primarily focusing on Megara so the authors could reference that.
Also, I'd like to thank this book for giving a friend and I the 'Communist LeFou' joke we reference sometimes so the book is a masterpiece from that perspective.
Overall, a decent start, but not super developed on its own terms.
I'm finally done with this! And to be honest, even though I liked it, I felt like there still could've been a lot more done with this premise.
But, I do think the premise itself is very nice. I like the idea of connecting all of these stories with an overarching theme of the Queens' Council, which was introduced in the book and made me excited to see all of the different forms it'll take moving forward. I also really enjoy the idea of grown-up Disney Princesses growing into their own right to rule. It's a cool idea because I love the Disney Princesses and want to see a take on the Disney versions after the movie ends. I've see this premise done a few times with the regular fairy-tale characters but Disney has their own unique spins on their adaptations so it's fun to see those versions be realized in more than just their movies. Plus I just like the idea of doing something else other than: 'what truly happened after happily ever after? it sucked'
Not to mention putting the real history and location into their stories? I'm drooling already. I will admit the French Revolution is not really of interest to me and I feel this one was only picked because of the whole 'Belle and the Beast are royals during the French Revolution oh no' meme but I really liked the movie characters in this! I liked seeing the servants go back to their old roles but having trouble coping with their trauma, even the Beast, named Lio in this, has trauma related to the curse and I enjoyed seeing that handled in such a realistic way! Belle was her usual headstrong self in this. I enjoyed seeing her dilemma between wanting to be there for her people when they see her only as a queen and also just wanting to be herself since she was just a regular peasant before everything happened to her. It endeared me to her very quickly since I could easily see Belle having such a struggle. I also really enjoyed seeing more of her intellectual side as she takes over ruling duties and tries to appease everyone to the best of her abilities.
The writing here is also great, evidently this is the author's first book! I didn't even know until I looked it up! It reads very easily, almost Disney-esque in a way, but still complex and beautiful way to keep your mid visualizing and not getting bored.
Aside from those things, however, I feel like this book was just okay purely because the remainder of the characters weren't very well-developed at all. I really wanted to like Marguerite but she wasn't in it too much and when she was she fell flat as a character. Same for her brother, he was mentioned once as not getting along with her, then he shows up once at the climax and suddenly they're close again. It's really a shame since I had interest in both of them as characters, Marguerite especially. You never actually learn what the villain's motives are despite spending basically the entire book with him. You also never fully get a sense of what Lio is like as a literal and figurative changed man because he's always off somewhere else. I get he's the king and all, but the book seemed to be banking on the fact you believed in their chemistry in the movie, and even if I did, there's none of that here which is a shame since I wanted to see that explored too.
Several aspects of this book seem to be taken from the live-action adaptation such as the Enchantress being involved in kingdom politics, Lio's relationship with his parents, and Gaston's backstory. I didn't mind that actually since I liked seeing the two mediums be combined together into a more fulfilling story. I also appreciated all of the callbacks to the original movie that were in here.
Speaking of Gaston though, one of the familiar faces we see here is LeFou but I also feel that was such a waste. There was a lot of great potential for his character, I could see what they were going for, he wasn't genuinely malicious, he just went along with Gaston's schemes because that's what one does, but since he was barely in the story his redemption along with Belle finally learning his name didn't really feel earned. If we spent more time with him, even just a little bit, it would've felt more natural.
I also feel like the whole climax and ending were rushed. At first the book progressed slowly and built up a lot of things, then all of a sudden everyone is running around, getting kidnapped and thrown into the dungeons, oh never mind everything is okay now, they're crowed now! Maybe it was just me but it really felt like it came out of nowhere with little progression, but given the context maybe it was on purpose?
Overall, this was a decent start to a series with a few things I really liked, but the bulk of it could've been a lot better. However this was also primarily an introduction to the remainder of the story so I hope the rest from here will only get better and better. Some ideas I want to see; Pocahontas as a super cool Chieftain of her tribe and ten years later John Smith comes back and the two try to make a new settlement together or something, or Jasmine as a badass Sultana with Aladdin by her side, I'm mainly thinking of the live-action version because she wanted to rule in that version but I could also see the animated one wanting to take over after her father, and how about Tiana and Naveen traveling the world and making the world a better place especially after the Great Depression, and don't forget about the older princesses, I'd love to see Aurora and Prince Phillip trying to catch up on their lost childhoods together, and Aurora getting some well-needed bonding time with her parents too, and Prince Phillip's parents too as they teach them how to rule, and maybe adding some other 'Disney Ladies' to the mix who aren't princesses but might still be interesting, like Megara or Esmeralda, especially considering they wanted to make a sequel for Hercules primarily focusing on Megara so the authors could reference that.
Also, I'd like to thank this book for giving a friend and I the 'Communist LeFou' joke we reference sometimes so the book is a masterpiece from that perspective.
Overall, a decent start, but not super developed on its own terms.
idahobekah's review against another edition
3.0
Rebel Rose is a sequel of what happens after Beauty and Lio (formerly The Beast) get married. Belle always said she wanted more than a provincial life. This book takes the time to explore that adventurous side of Belle, and takes time to shine a light on how a peasant girl would adjust to life married into a prince.
A lot of this book parallels the themes and lessons of the original fairytale. That’s not to say it’s exactly the same, as this book shows it under a historical and political lens. On the surface, that premise sounds kind of boring, but as someone who never found history all that interesting in high school or college, I thought that the backdrop of the French Revolution was really well done and added to Belle’s dilemma of not fitting the mold.
This book tries super hard to incorporate the French language into just about everything. Sometimes it deepens your immersion, and other times it’s just distracting and/or confusing. You’ll want to make sure you have google translate handy or are using an E-Book that allows you to translate as you go. Once you get used to certain words and other context clues, it becomes easier to understand, but it does take some adjusting if you don’t have much experience with the French culture or language.
A Few General Notes—
SETTING- I’ve never read historical fiction, and the way that our author writes about France and “Aveyon” during the Revolution is just enthralling. I love the inclusion of real world events into this tale as old as time. It really helps bring these characters to life. Who’s to say Belle didn’t actually live through this?
PACING- There was a part early on where Belle admits that she needs to leave Paris. Within 3 chapters she still hasn’t left and yet most of the other nobles (who had no plans to leave) were already fleeing. All this to say, I think pacing was my biggest issue with the book. As much as I love taking my time with the characters, I felt like we the ready already knew how Belle was feeling- and didn’t need yet another recap. I wouldn’t say the pacing was horrendous, it was just very slow at times, and then randomly the pace would pick up only just to slow back down again the following chapter.
LENGTH- I was initially a bit intimidated by the length of this book, but the pages go by a lot quicker than you’d expect. However, a lot of the same ideas were expressed multiple times- even just within the first 100 pages. I felt like parts of this book could’ve been cut down. Cutting down the length of the book probably would have improved the pacing elements as well.
WRITING STYLE- Overall, it was fairly easy to read. There were so many things that I read multiple times— not because I didn’t understand them, but because I loved the way the author wrote it. There were so many things worth highlighting! This is for sure the part of the book that I enjoyed the most!
FOR FUN— Here’s a recap of some of the things I felt super eager to highlight as I read…
- Pretty much any time that Mrs. Potts leant Belle her wisdom. So beautifully written!
- Parallels & Metaphors.
- Belle standing up for the less fortunate.
- Belle breaking normal protocols.
TL;DR - Read this book if you would like to see Belle struggle with finding her purpose in a new social class with the French Revolution as a backdrop.
Overall: 2.75 ⭐️ rounded up to 3⭐️for Good Reads. While it wasn’t executed perfectly, ultimately I thought it was a setting worth visiting and I’m interested in reading where this series goes in the future. It did a good job at exposing me to Historical Fiction- I’m not as scared to dive into another book within this genre! Wouldn’t recommend unless you’re very interested in Historical Fiction, The French Revolution, Politics, and Beauty and the Beast.
A lot of this book parallels the themes and lessons of the original fairytale. That’s not to say it’s exactly the same, as this book shows it under a historical and political lens. On the surface, that premise sounds kind of boring, but as someone who never found history all that interesting in high school or college, I thought that the backdrop of the French Revolution was really well done and added to Belle’s dilemma of not fitting the mold.
This book tries super hard to incorporate the French language into just about everything. Sometimes it deepens your immersion, and other times it’s just distracting and/or confusing. You’ll want to make sure you have google translate handy or are using an E-Book that allows you to translate as you go. Once you get used to certain words and other context clues, it becomes easier to understand, but it does take some adjusting if you don’t have much experience with the French culture or language.
A Few General Notes—
SETTING- I’ve never read historical fiction, and the way that our author writes about France and “Aveyon” during the Revolution is just enthralling. I love the inclusion of real world events into this tale as old as time. It really helps bring these characters to life. Who’s to say Belle didn’t actually live through this?
PACING- There was a part early on where Belle admits that she needs to leave Paris. Within 3 chapters she still hasn’t left and yet most of the other nobles (who had no plans to leave) were already fleeing. All this to say, I think pacing was my biggest issue with the book. As much as I love taking my time with the characters, I felt like we the ready already knew how Belle was feeling- and didn’t need yet another recap. I wouldn’t say the pacing was horrendous, it was just very slow at times, and then randomly the pace would pick up only just to slow back down again the following chapter.
LENGTH- I was initially a bit intimidated by the length of this book, but the pages go by a lot quicker than you’d expect. However, a lot of the same ideas were expressed multiple times- even just within the first 100 pages. I felt like parts of this book could’ve been cut down. Cutting down the length of the book probably would have improved the pacing elements as well.
WRITING STYLE- Overall, it was fairly easy to read. There were so many things that I read multiple times— not because I didn’t understand them, but because I loved the way the author wrote it. There were so many things worth highlighting! This is for sure the part of the book that I enjoyed the most!
FOR FUN— Here’s a recap of some of the things I felt super eager to highlight as I read…
- Pretty much any time that Mrs. Potts leant Belle her wisdom. So beautifully written!
- Parallels & Metaphors.
- Belle standing up for the less fortunate.
- Belle breaking normal protocols.
TL;DR - Read this book if you would like to see Belle struggle with finding her purpose in a new social class with the French Revolution as a backdrop.
Overall: 2.75 ⭐️ rounded up to 3⭐️for Good Reads. While it wasn’t executed perfectly, ultimately I thought it was a setting worth visiting and I’m interested in reading where this series goes in the future. It did a good job at exposing me to Historical Fiction- I’m not as scared to dive into another book within this genre! Wouldn’t recommend unless you’re very interested in Historical Fiction, The French Revolution, Politics, and Beauty and the Beast.
bradle22's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I devoured the audiobook in a day. I really liked this-especially since I have been getting into historical fiction. Great B&B sequel. The only thing that really bothers me is the “it was for your own good and for the good of your people” victim blaming excuse for what had happened..