(3 / 5)
I am a sucker for all things “Beauty and the Beast”. I will never get tired of it. It has always been my favorite fairy tale I and love reading all the variations authors take on it. That said, this was not my favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling (I think my favorite is still “Beauty” by Robin McKinley). There was so much I appreciated about it but I didn’t connect with it like I had hoped to.
I LOVE the idea of this book. I loved Yeva’s (Beauty’s) wanderer nature and yearning for something “more”. She was highly spirited (as most Beauty characters are), independent, intelligent-all things I love in a female protagonist. At times I felt the age gap between us which put literal and figurative distance between us and made it hard to understand some of her choices and reasoning. I could easily overlook these things had it not been for the relationship with the Beast. I had read reviews saying that the romantic aspect of this fairy tale was “almost absent” or “a very slow burn” but let me set the record straight. The romantic aspect of the fairy tale is completely absent, there is no romance in this traditionally romantic fairy tale. And I can’t sit here and tell you that I wasn’t disappointed. What I love most about a traditional Beauty and the Beast retelling is how a strong and (generally) healthy relationship transcends all outward appearances and circumstances. This book is about the self discovery and progression of Beauty as an individual. Normally, I love that. I am all about women going out to find out who they are and taking charge of what they want. Had this book been pitched as a “coming of age” book I would have been satisfied with that. But my expectations were misplaced and that is what led to my middling rating of 3 stars. Really it was mostly the end that lost me, all the lead up was about average for a YA novel. The “connection” that Yeva and the Beast finally have at the end was hard to grasp and didn’t make much sense.
This book can absolutely be enjoyed by most fairy tale lovers. It has a wonderful sense of place and balance of characters. The magic is both strange and familiar and I loved it. I would only caution anyone wanting to read a traditional retelling of Beauty and the Beast to embark with the full knowledge that this book is about Beauty. The Beast makes occasional appearances but this book is about her and her road to self acceptance.
Violence: Medium Language: Low/Medium Adult Content: Low