Bestial

Almost is a good description of this story. It feels unfinished and I have so many questions about the characters. Who was the mouse? What happened to Desiree? What became of the parents? Why is good so frequently punished?I almost gave this three stars, but realized I cannot judge this by my disappointment at the way it ended. There is art here.The author pulled me through the story, consistently teasing me with unexpected twists. She made me feel a full range of emotions, including wanting to throw my Kindle across the room at the end. She explored every relationship: romantic, parental, fraternal, employee, friendship...all with the assumption that if a mistake can be made, humans are most likely to choose willy-nilly to make it, which she included with much Grimm-like finger shaking.Unlike most fairy tales, she refused to gloss over the consequences of magic, and I applaud her for that. I only wish she would have remembered that hope is a human truth, too, especially in readers of fairy tales, and it was only almost present.The lesson is about relationship with the self, but you don't realize it until the end. If she had just written a few more paragraphs, she was so close, almost evoking empowerment in the reader, but the abrupt ending and remaining questions left me feeling this book only almost reached its potential. That said, it's definitely worth buying and reading.

A very intriguing take on the old Beauty and the Beast story. More than just a simple reboot with the gender roles reversed, this book goes beyond the basic plotline everybody is already familiar with and answers the question, "what's next?" The characters take on a life of their own as the story evolves into something much more unique.The writing is really beautiful. I'm hoping for a follow up, maybe a sequel following the same characters? Or maybe a prequel spin-off for Diana? Or more in-depth coverage of Desiré's journeys?

On Valentine’s Day, I am reviewing this tale of troubled love. Warning: contains spoilers.As the mother of a teenage daughter, I have been aware of a cultural undercurrent around fairy tales for many years. Is Beauty and the Beast about domestic violence? Is Twilight about creepy stalker control freak boyfriends that suck the life out of girls? Are they all too much about the value of women’s physical beauty and traditional heteronormative gender roles?Although I never banned any of these stories from our home, I do consider the original story of Beauty and the Beast to be problematic, so I was interested to see what would come of reversing the genders of the two main protagonists and following their journey beyond “happily ever after." Would I like it better that way? Would it be better for women?The answer here was surprisingly, yes and no. Yes because the girl/beast Yvaine becomes the real protagonist of the story and its most compelling character. After the retelling of the original plot, Yvaine goes on a quest, makes friends, solves riddles, confronts magical creatures, and comes into her own as a kick-ass fighter. The writing in this story is especially lovely too, and it carries the reader along, making this a smooth, if not simple, read.But the answer is also No, because in spite of the action, I found it a little too subtle and meandering. I enjoyed both halves of the book but they didn’t seem to have enough to do with each other to keep them in the same novel. It starts out as the story of Beau and Desire and their family, and one by one all of these characters fall away, their motivations inexplicable. The Beau of the second half was virtually unrecognizable to me as the Beau of the first half. Perhaps the loss of his twin brother played some role in his loss of character? The Devil is mentioned, and given the calamities that befall this family, his dark power may have a greater hand in events than is explicitly described. Or not. That’s the problem: I’m not sure.There were other red herrings too, in addition to Beau’s unexpected and confusing behavior. Fitcher? The Devil? The mouse? The riddles? The mundane reason for Yvaine's initial enchantment as told from the witch’s point of view? All were enjoyable to read but a bit of a grab bag. There was also a surprising amount of hacking and chopping and killing with axes. This is definitely a Grimm fairly tale, not a Disney one, and it has the feel of something out of another time, or a dream.At first, I felt it ended too abruptly, and found this frustrating. But days later, the story continued to nag at me and stay with me. I wondered what Yvaine, more powerful alone than she ever was with Beau, would do next. I imagined her taking flight. I was reminded of Twilight at its best, in which the heroine also comes into her own power with a startling transformation. This isn’t your mother’s, or your daughter’s fairy tale, but it is one of the most thought-provoking I’ve read in the genre.

I loved this book! It was an interesting take on an old story. I hadn't read the synopsis before I started, so I didn't know what to expect. Getting to see the elements of the story come together and realizing what it was based on was a great experience. I would definitely recommend this book!

I found it a delightful story. It really kept my interest throughout,and I found it difficult to put it down.

This is a fascinating take on a well-known story. The writing is elegant and enjoyable to read. Great book!