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labyrinth_witch's review against another edition
5.0
This was a wonderful and original reimagining of the beauty and the beast tale. First, the author is marvelously attuned to the lore of wisewomen and accurately depicts the witch. She also imagines the beast as the beginning of the green-man and pan lore, which was such a wonderful conclusion to the story. I love that she made the candelabra female and the main character of the story. And while she didn’t use the name Gaston, I love that she combined the arrogance of the character and the softness of the beast into one being. So much about this story that I love. The enchantments, the idea of beauty being corrupting, the difference between cruelty (inattention) and love (attention), about the power of hate and love to cause transformations in people, about action and consequences, about the power within each of us to affect our own person transformation. Such a good book.
waywordxwitch's review against another edition
~ARC provided by NetGalley~
First of all, I love me some fairytale re-tellings...yum! Second, I absolutely love Beauty and the Beast, it is my favorite. That being said it pains me to say I DNF this book...... I barely got into this book...... I did not make it out of the first chapter. Sorry to the author but the scene in this first chapter was too much (not even going to go into detail because I've previously read others have) and I just could not go on.
First of all, I love me some fairytale re-tellings...yum! Second, I absolutely love Beauty and the Beast, it is my favorite. That being said it pains me to say I DNF this book...... I barely got into this book...... I did not make it out of the first chapter. Sorry to the author but the scene in this first chapter was too much (not even going to go into detail because I've previously read others have) and I just could not go on.
pagesandteastains's review
4.0
Thanks a lot to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC of this book, I had a fabulous time reading it!
Alright, so, I'm not too big on Beauty and the Beast but the blurb for this caught my attention. And I'm surprised to say but this has become one of my favourite retellings of BatB.
What I liked was the how faithful the story was to the one we are so familiar with. But the take on this worn out story was fresh enough to be intriguing and the plot twists were great. It was also set in our world which made it have such a realistic feel to it - almost like historic fiction, as much as it can feel like that. The author managed to fit in beloved features and references from the Disney animated movie and the actual fairy-tale and I really appreciated that. There are times during the first half that things feel super slow but that part of the story was my favourite.
I can't say anymore without spoiling the entire plot but I will say that there should be a trigger warning because there is a major scene that comes out of nowhere and can be upsetting and disturbing for many readers.
I will be getting into spoilers from this point on because I feel like discussing an aspect of this book that a lot of people are pointing out and have stopped reading the book because of it.
There is an explanation for this and for me it was quite satisfactory. I do wish it had been explained with more depth but overall I loved how the book ended. Especially the fact that Beast remains in his beast form because that is the entire point of the book -as the author explained in her note at the end - that it is the Beast the Beauty falls in love with and so it should remain so. This is a point my mum and I have debated on many times. She didn't like it when the Beast turns into the human prince and I couldn't understand why she would think so. But after reading this book, I get it. I understand now what she meant and I give the author props for giving us this take on the story.
3.75 stars
Alright, so, I'm not too big on Beauty and the Beast but the blurb for this caught my attention. And I'm surprised to say but this has become one of my favourite retellings of BatB.
What I liked was the how faithful the story was to the one we are so familiar with. But the take on this worn out story was fresh enough to be intriguing and the plot twists were great. It was also set in our world which made it have such a realistic feel to it - almost like historic fiction, as much as it can feel like that. The author managed to fit in beloved features and references from the Disney animated movie and the actual fairy-tale and I really appreciated that. There are times during the first half that things feel super slow but that part of the story was my favourite.
Spoiler
I loved how the castle is empty and Lucie and Beast are the only ones there and how we start getting to know the Beast and, along with Lucie, start to like him. Especially the part where the Beast waters the roses, my heart. He was so precious. Also, how freaking cool was it that Lucie turned into candle-stick? I thought that was brilliant. I loved reading about their interactions.I can't say anymore without spoiling the entire plot but I will say that there should be a trigger warning because there is a major scene that comes out of nowhere and can be upsetting and disturbing for many readers.
I will be getting into spoilers from this point on because I feel like discussing an aspect of this book that a lot of people are pointing out and have stopped reading the book because of it.
Spoiler
Early on, Jean-Loup is shown raping our MC and it was genuinely shocking and horrifying. And as a reader, I honestly really appreciated how the author took this story to that level. Now the greatest concern was how can Lucie, and the readers, forgive this act? I have seen a lot of people getting angry over this and dropping the book and while I completely understand where they are coming from, I do urge you to go on.There is an explanation for this and for me it was quite satisfactory. I do wish it had been explained with more depth but overall I loved how the book ended. Especially the fact that Beast remains in his beast form because that is the entire point of the book -as the author explained in her note at the end - that it is the Beast the Beauty falls in love with and so it should remain so. This is a point my mum and I have debated on many times. She didn't like it when the Beast turns into the human prince and I couldn't understand why she would think so. But after reading this book, I get it. I understand now what she meant and I give the author props for giving us this take on the story.
3.75 stars
mandajo's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The characters really frustrated me and it was a pretty dark story. Trigger warnings for those who have dealt with SA, suicidal thoughts or attempts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
samidhak's review against another edition
1.0
TW: Rape, sexual abuse, physical abuse.
I skim read most of it, and so I totally did not understand half of what was happening. However now that I’ve read some reviews, I am glad I skim read the book.
Do not recommend.
I skim read most of it, and so I totally did not understand half of what was happening. However now that I’ve read some reviews, I am glad I skim read the book.
Do not recommend.
mandyslaw's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.25
explorer_of_legends_and_ink's review against another edition
The main character is sexually assaulted. I don't want to read a redemption story about the person who assaulted her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
thepoetcatari's review against another edition
dark
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
mercipourleslivres's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 People really hate this book but I thought it was fine. Much ado about nothing.
goaskalix's review against another edition
1.0
I am one big sucker for fairytale retellings—most especially beauty and the best ones—but I don’t even know what I just read.
* be warned, spoilers ahead *
For a good 75% of this story, our protagonist slash narrator is a LITERAL candlestick. So like... that’s cool. Except a candlestick doesn’t see much, and experiences even less. So actually, totally boring.
Then there’s the part where the usually grumpy, dark, and wounded beast is typically endearing in these retellings—except for in this one, where he is a LITERAL rapist. So like... that’s not cool.
Oh, and then there’s the part where the story finds the laziest character redemption ever in that TA DA, all of a sudden rapistbeast becomes an actual furrybeast and—in an even shockingly lazier twist—is a dreamy (fuzzy) prince who has no memories of being a rapist literally like, the week before.
So overall, a totally enraging dud. UGH.
* be warned, spoilers ahead *
For a good 75% of this story, our protagonist slash narrator is a LITERAL candlestick. So like... that’s cool. Except a candlestick doesn’t see much, and experiences even less. So actually, totally boring.
Then there’s the part where the usually grumpy, dark, and wounded beast is typically endearing in these retellings—except for in this one, where he is a LITERAL rapist. So like... that’s not cool.
Oh, and then there’s the part where the story finds the laziest character redemption ever in that TA DA, all of a sudden rapistbeast becomes an actual furrybeast and—in an even shockingly lazier twist—is a dreamy (fuzzy) prince who has no memories of being a rapist literally like, the week before.
So overall, a totally enraging dud. UGH.