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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
readsforlove's review against another edition
1.5
Skipping over the usual problematic parts of the source material that this book tries to fix in one conversation 85% through the book (spoiler: it doesn't work), this book was just ... GAH.
Let's start with Yeva. She is ... stupid. But that foolishness is not very consistent, which is so. infuriating. The scenes where she is first captured by the Beast (and being held in a cell until she gets sick and almost dies) were probably the most infuriating part of the novel, because she just ... is so naive? And comes up with these assumptions with no fucking grounds for them??? like. girl.
She had the potential to be a good character, and I did like the heart of what the book was trying to say (chasing the things you want and turning again and again to the next thing in the hopes of finding it, but never succeeding) but the ending just completely negated that theme (as well as, you know, most of the novel also negating it). I can kind of see what this book was trying to be, but it just ... failed. Miserably. The Beast wasn't cruel, but he hurt her and manipulated her and I just don't get why??
Anyway, I'm already tired of writing this review so I'll end with the reason it gets a star--the writing was pretty. It felt really haunting and scary (would have worked so well as a horror, I'm telling you), and the magic system was really cool too. I loved the various magical creatures. They really took my breath away and heightened the fairytale experience of reading this.
Okay I'm going to go take a break from B&tB content to purge my weary soul of the ick.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood
nancy163's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
plainromance's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Suicide attempt
roguem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I truly enjoyed this book. Making Yeva a hunter and capable in her own right. Having a mix of previous versions of the story, and a believable progression in the relationship between the two. So good.
My only gripe is that I wanted a little more from the ending, as in how things turn out. Also I'd liked a bit more of the father's downward spiral at the beginning of the book, but those are minor complaints.
Moderate: Death and Blood
tkatt20's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
If you'll allow me to gush about this book a little more, ill provide some more reasoning as to why i love this so much, other than "i loved it". Starting with the characters, every one of them were interesting and they each had depth to them that made it very easy to love reading about them. They all had very good and nice personalities, but I didn't find it boring. Usually, in the typical YA fantasy, you'll have a character that ends up being a villain and often times end up hating that character, but that wasn't the case here. That may not make a lot of sense but I felt like this story needed this to portray the message that the author wanted. And it works. I wasn't bored reading about them for even one minute, each interaction betweem the MC and each side character makes sense. There's no unnecessary diolouge or scenes, and while having a majority of good characters may be boring to some, I think it helps break up stereotypes and make this story unique compared to other Beauty and the Beast retellings. I thought the pacing was perfect for a slower story even up to the end where I usually find the endings of YA standalones to be rushed and convenient, but that wasn't the case with this one. Sure I predicted a few things here and there but there were some amazing parallels between the beginning and the end that you usually wouldn't find in a standalone. Plus, because this story had a slower pace to it, it allowed the writing style to really stand out, and for a story with such beautiful writing, it just added another thing to my list of everything I loved.
Overall, I was so pleasantly surprised by this. I can see why some may not love this as much as I did, but if you want something thats slower paced with an amazing message, then look no further. But in the meantime, im off to buy every edition of this book that I can find.
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment
Minor: Domestic abuse
sarah_thebooknerd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I read this book as a buddy read in memory of a Booktok friend who passed away. This was her favorite book.
This is one of the better beauty and the beast retellings I have read. The beginning of this book was slower but once it picked up it just kept going. I loved the relationship between the sisters.
There is some cool formatting with the physical book that I found to be really immersive.
If you loved the Winter Night Trilogy by Katherine Arden I think you would also love this book.
My big wish was more from the beast POV but I would recommend this book!!
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
ems_rxlibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
marareading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Yeva is trying to find her father, who disappeared in the forest. He was convinced something was hunting him.
What does the story look like when Beauty is a capable hunter and is hunting the Beast?
I loved the folklore tied into the story. This will always be one of my favorite books now. I loved the ending.
To Karen ❤️
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
hillarym's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Domestic abuse