daemonad's review against another edition
2.0
I read this whole monstrosity despite the terrible prose and stupid characters because at last the scary dark and sexy man was truly scary and did not care for the petty humans one bit. I liked that. I have even overlooked the poor writing because it was told from the First-Person POV of the two main characters, neither one of them possessed the soul of a poet, certainly not our little heroine. She was a sweet little simpleton and the writing fit her. The man was more complex and here the writer failed. Half way through, the story began to draaaag. The incessant showers, outings and horrid weddings became more torturous than pulling the nails from some screaming woman. The end was utterly predictable and disappointing. I admit I am a little envious of those readers who were shocked by the end. I wonder how they would feel if this antihero killed the friend, her ugly brother and then after the heroine gave birth, killed her too and raised the child by himself.
daisy_dean's review
4.0
This story is twisted. And dark. Very dark. And I couldn't NOT finish it (and I'm so happy the heroine's story continues). Ms. James has a slow, methodical way of revealing a story that is perfect for the genre-mashing and fairy-tale upending. A 'Beauty' with a monstrous 'Beast' inside? Clever.
yulannu's review
2.0
I read this whole monstrosity despite the terrible prose and stupid characters because at last the scary dark and sexy man was truly scary and did not care for the petty humans one bit. I liked that. I have even overlooked the poor writing because it was told from the First-Person POV of the two main characters, neither one of them possessed the soul of a poet, certainly not our little heroine. She was a sweet little simpleton and the writing fit her. The man was more complex and here the writer failed. Half way through, the story began to draaaag. The incessant showers, outings and horrid weddings became more torturous than pulling the nails from some screaming woman. The end was utterly predictable and disappointing. I admit I am a little envious of those readers who were shocked by the end. I wonder how they would feel if this antihero killed the friend, her ugly brother and then after the heroine gave birth, killed her too and raised the child by himself.
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