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A review by egbella
Belle & Beast: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Rebecca Fittery
3.5
3.5 stars!
I went into this book completely blind. I was new to the author and the series, but received it during a Black Friday sale and was intrigued by the premise. I'm always interested to see how other authors tackle retellings, especially of such widely-known fairytales.
Setting: The author clearly put a lot of time and thought into her worldbuilding - so much so that I was honestly pretty lost for the majority of the book. Just when I thought I was settling into the place that she was describing, her characters went to a new part of her world, and the pattern seemed to repeat every time I was close to gaining an understanding. That said, I'm notoriously bad at mental maps, so it could just be me. In addition, I had no idea that series is apparently merging the worlds and characters of a lot of different fairytales so had I realized that sooner, I probably wouldn't have been so thrown off by appearances of Sherwood, etc.
Pros were that although I had a hard time keeping track of specific names, layouts, and countries, the author captured the general feel of each place well. Especially her descriptions of the castle and other nobility residences felt very rich and authentic. She handled the large amounts of details that would go into the royal days well, and I could absolutely picture myself in the midst of the extravagance and bustle.
Characters: Being a very character-focused reader, this is where I struggled the most. I have very mixed feelings about the protagonist, Belle. On one hand, I greatly admire her courage, drive, perseverance, attention to detail, and ability to get what she wants in order to keep herself and her family happy. But there were also times where I had trouble rooting for her because she could come across as cold, haughty, and/or uncaring. In general, she was a strong protagonist, and I did enjoy the softening and growth she experienced by the end.
The prince also started off very seemingly uncaring and cold, but I guess I expected that (he is the Beast after all), so it didn't really bother me. He grew on me quickly, and I respected his hard work for his kingdom, his attempts to keep Belle and his mother happy, and the way he cared for his kingdom. His temper was often too hot for my liking, but he also grew by the end. (yay character arcs!)
If anything, I think that Hazel, Belle's father, and the prince's mother were my favorite characters. They were all kind, resourceful, easy to like, and seemed to be living their own lives but also willing to help the protagonists with theirs. The "Gaston" character threw me for a loop. I liked him (honestly more than Belle) for a good chunk of the book, but wasn't impressed by his rashness and inability to stop and think at the end.
Plot: The plot was very fun. Having recently read up on a lot of the original fairy tales for Beauty and the Beast (like original, original), I enjoyed seeing how much of them the author drew inspiration from. I'd say it was about 50/50 inspired by the original fairy tales vs the Disney version. Much to my surprise, some of the character names were the exact same as the Disney characters, but even if they weren't, you could easily still pick them out. I like the spin that the author put on the original tales - adding a lot more political intrigue and backstory into the history and wars. There was a lot more emphasis on the magic system later on than I expected, but it all mostly made sense. And I anticipate that the author will be explaining more of that in later books.
In terms of flow, the plot moved along pretty well. There were sections that I skimmed, where it was a lot of day to day descriptions or summary, and especially at the beginning, I struggled to stay interested. But by about the 25% mark I'd say, I was interested to see how everything turned out. The farther into the book, the harder it was to put down.
I feel like I really haven't given a good reason for the three star rating, and to be honest, I didn't NOT like this book. I enjoyed the read, and am glad I read it. The take on the original tales were very fun, as were the alludes to the Disney version. I rooted for some characters, disliked others, and wanted them all to have their rightful endings. And I think I'll be reading it again in the future!
My main hesitation is simply that it still felt like an early draft. Some of the story questions that were brought up and not answered, some loose threads, some inconsistent actions by the characters, and some overall roughness to the writing style and prose made me wonder how amazing this book could be with just a little more tweaking. But I can still honestly say that it's worth a try if you enjoy clean and romantic fairy tale retellings! I'm interested to read more from this author. 3.5 stars.
Themes: Family, true love, courage, determination, learning to love, honesty, and forgiveness.
Content warning: Fantasy magic system (animal-like transformations/"were-wolf" esque, objects moving themselves, blood ceremony during marriage, moonlight vigils, etc.). Brief alludes to wedded intimacy (nothing shown or described, and it never happens during the story). A fantasy-world religion similar to Christianity in how it's practiced, with the exception of some elements that reminded me of Catholicism. Light kisses. Mildly-described violence (nothing graphic, but war fighting, injuries, etc.)
I'd recommend it to: Readers 13+ that enjoy fairy tale retellings - especially of Beauty and the Beast - and want to try their hand at an in-depth and politically-rich twist.
I went into this book completely blind. I was new to the author and the series, but received it during a Black Friday sale and was intrigued by the premise. I'm always interested to see how other authors tackle retellings, especially of such widely-known fairytales.
Setting: The author clearly put a lot of time and thought into her worldbuilding - so much so that I was honestly pretty lost for the majority of the book. Just when I thought I was settling into the place that she was describing, her characters went to a new part of her world, and the pattern seemed to repeat every time I was close to gaining an understanding. That said, I'm notoriously bad at mental maps, so it could just be me. In addition, I had no idea that series is apparently merging the worlds and characters of a lot of different fairytales so had I realized that sooner, I probably wouldn't have been so thrown off by appearances of Sherwood, etc.
Pros were that although I had a hard time keeping track of specific names, layouts, and countries, the author captured the general feel of each place well. Especially her descriptions of the castle and other nobility residences felt very rich and authentic. She handled the large amounts of details that would go into the royal days well, and I could absolutely picture myself in the midst of the extravagance and bustle.
Characters: Being a very character-focused reader, this is where I struggled the most. I have very mixed feelings about the protagonist, Belle. On one hand, I greatly admire her courage, drive, perseverance, attention to detail, and ability to get what she wants in order to keep herself and her family happy. But there were also times where I had trouble rooting for her because she could come across as cold, haughty, and/or uncaring. In general, she was a strong protagonist, and I did enjoy the softening and growth she experienced by the end.
The prince also started off very seemingly uncaring and cold, but I guess I expected that (he is the Beast after all), so it didn't really bother me. He grew on me quickly, and I respected his hard work for his kingdom, his attempts to keep Belle and his mother happy, and the way he cared for his kingdom. His temper was often too hot for my liking, but he also grew by the end. (yay character arcs!)
If anything, I think that Hazel, Belle's father, and the prince's mother were my favorite characters. They were all kind, resourceful, easy to like, and seemed to be living their own lives but also willing to help the protagonists with theirs. The "Gaston" character threw me for a loop. I liked him (honestly more than Belle) for a good chunk of the book, but wasn't impressed by his rashness and inability to stop and think at the end.
Plot: The plot was very fun. Having recently read up on a lot of the original fairy tales for Beauty and the Beast (like original, original), I enjoyed seeing how much of them the author drew inspiration from. I'd say it was about 50/50 inspired by the original fairy tales vs the Disney version. Much to my surprise, some of the character names were the exact same as the Disney characters, but even if they weren't, you could easily still pick them out. I like the spin that the author put on the original tales - adding a lot more political intrigue and backstory into the history and wars. There was a lot more emphasis on the magic system later on than I expected, but it all mostly made sense. And I anticipate that the author will be explaining more of that in later books.
In terms of flow, the plot moved along pretty well. There were sections that I skimmed, where it was a lot of day to day descriptions or summary, and especially at the beginning, I struggled to stay interested. But by about the 25% mark I'd say, I was interested to see how everything turned out. The farther into the book, the harder it was to put down.
I feel like I really haven't given a good reason for the three star rating, and to be honest, I didn't NOT like this book. I enjoyed the read, and am glad I read it. The take on the original tales were very fun, as were the alludes to the Disney version. I rooted for some characters, disliked others, and wanted them all to have their rightful endings. And I think I'll be reading it again in the future!
My main hesitation is simply that it still felt like an early draft. Some of the story questions that were brought up and not answered, some loose threads, some inconsistent actions by the characters, and some overall roughness to the writing style and prose made me wonder how amazing this book could be with just a little more tweaking. But I can still honestly say that it's worth a try if you enjoy clean and romantic fairy tale retellings! I'm interested to read more from this author. 3.5 stars.
Themes: Family, true love, courage, determination, learning to love, honesty, and forgiveness.
Content warning: Fantasy magic system (animal-like transformations/"were-wolf" esque, objects moving themselves, blood ceremony during marriage, moonlight vigils, etc.). Brief alludes to wedded intimacy (nothing shown or described, and it never happens during the story). A fantasy-world religion similar to Christianity in how it's practiced, with the exception of some elements that reminded me of Catholicism. Light kisses. Mildly-described violence (nothing graphic, but war fighting, injuries, etc.)
I'd recommend it to: Readers 13+ that enjoy fairy tale retellings - especially of Beauty and the Beast - and want to try their hand at an in-depth and politically-rich twist.