ideefixe13's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
emmagray13's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
leannj's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
rtc
fleurhoplof's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- 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
goatsinspace's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
ejoyce's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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? N/A
3.25
michaela_lubbers's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
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? Yes
3.75
TL;DR: Excellent retelling of Beauty and the Beast featuring humor and mild horror elements. If you're new to T. Kingfisher, you'll likely enjoy this more if you start here, rather than work through her whole catalog and end here.
Overall, an excellent retelling of Beauty and the Beast. There's a strong dose of T. Kingfisher's delightful, dry humor and a mild, creeping horror, which I've discovered is also Kingfisher's milieu. It's a good book - the reason I'm only giving it 3.75 stars is twofold. First, the book itself feels a bit...green. Having read several other Kingfisher novels, I got the distinct feeling this was an early attempt at adult fiction. This was such a strong feeling, I bothered to look it up - and yes, this was one of the first books published under the T. Kingfisher moniker. (Ursula Vernon wrote children's books and chose a nom de plume for her adult works to prevent confusion.)
It's a genuinely enjoyable story and captivated me entirely. I feel a bit odd about rating it so relatively low, considering how much I enjoyed it, but I just can't shake the feeling that if the T. Kingfisher of today revisited the story, it'd be absolutely tremendous.
The other reason for a bit of a downgrade is edition-specific. Justine Eyre's accent choice struck me as odd. The narration grew on me, I admit, but I never really liked it. For all that the text emphasized Bryony's sarcasm and snapping, Eyre's reading of her veered more startled and earnest. Certainly, Bryony has plenty of startled and earnest moments but her sniping and her teasing banter sounded about the same. I actually stopped listening to the audiobook very early on the first time and decided to just read it. I only did listen to it because I had a long drive that demanded entertainment.
Overall, an excellent retelling of Beauty and the Beast. There's a strong dose of T. Kingfisher's delightful, dry humor and a mild, creeping horror, which I've discovered is also Kingfisher's milieu. It's a good book - the reason I'm only giving it 3.75 stars is twofold. First, the book itself feels a bit...green. Having read several other Kingfisher novels, I got the distinct feeling this was an early attempt at adult fiction. This was such a strong feeling, I bothered to look it up - and yes, this was one of the first books published under the T. Kingfisher moniker. (Ursula Vernon wrote children's books and chose a nom de plume for her adult works to prevent confusion.)
It's a genuinely enjoyable story and captivated me entirely. I feel a bit odd about rating it so relatively low, considering how much I enjoyed it, but I just can't shake the feeling that if the T. Kingfisher of today revisited the story, it'd be absolutely tremendous.
The other reason for a bit of a downgrade is edition-specific. Justine Eyre's accent choice struck me as odd. The narration grew on me, I admit, but I never really liked it. For all that the text emphasized Bryony's sarcasm and snapping, Eyre's reading of her veered more startled and earnest. Certainly, Bryony has plenty of startled and earnest moments but her sniping and her teasing banter sounded about the same. I actually stopped listening to the audiobook very early on the first time and decided to just read it. I only did listen to it because I had a long drive that demanded entertainment.