Alainn is a normal girl, devoted daughter and loyal friend who is desperate to help her father get rid of the chain by going to the home of the recluse Lorccan, a multimillionaire geek who commissioned a Rose model robot for her father.
Lorccan does not leave his tower, nor has he contact with any human but the computer, a closed and serious boy, however very gentle, vulnerable, and needy.
In an act of madness, Alainn accepts the idea of his father's robot and pretends to be the contracted robot so that Lorccan does not have the scientist arrested because he has not delivered the product in time.
In this futuristic retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast, narrated in the third person many times from Alainn's point of view, the writer presents all the main elements present in the original story in a very creative, attractive and simple language with many moody moments. It was lovely to see Alainn gradually overturning Lorccan's barriers and all the details used to bring them closer together.
Highlight for Blue and her little friends. It was essential for me to have them present for the final resolution, and also for Colby ,Alainn’s brother, who surprised me a lot because I never imagined he was so interesting. Also I can not stop talking about the character who is related to Gaston. Wow! I would never guess who he is in this book. Perfect choice.
A book about seeing beyond appearances, of course, but above everything about family relationships and friendship, about second chances and about a lot of love.

I really liked the plot and I fell in love with Alainn and Lorccan, just not favorite because I found:
- the beggining a little slowly and filled with some unnecessary details and
- the end that was electrifying and deserved more details ends too fast.
I loved the cover with the big reference to the original story and computers.
4 / 5stars
Kisses, Myl

This was not my cup of tea. It was hard to follow and I just did not care enough about the main characters to put in the extra effort. I think this may be written for the younger reader.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book and give an honest review.

I really enjoyed this retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Alainn takes the place of a robot - Rose 76GF - that her inventor father has not yet perfected to keep her father out of prison for fraud. She finds herself locked in a high-tech tower controlled by an earlier version of the robot her father needs to perfect. The only other living inhabitant of the tower is Lorccan Garbhan who is a scarred recluse.

Though Alainn has fears about what Mr. Garbhan will want her to do, she learns that all he wants from her is someone to eat dinner with him. He is trying to become accustomed to having another person around him so that he can finally meet in person a woman he has been courting online.

Alainn has to make quite a few adjustments. Assuming she is a robot, she only gets food once a day but feels she can survive until Rose 76GF successfully executes her rescue. Living in the tower is hard for Alainn because she is used to the freedom she has working at a mountain ski resort.

Gradually Alainn and Lorccan get to to know each other as their time together expands from just dinner to meetings to play games and talk. Each day it seems that Lorccan is able to get a little closer to her. The two fall in love but Rose 76GF has other plans for the two of them.

This was an engaging story with well-developed characters in Alainn and Lorccan. It follows the basic plot outline of Beauty and the Beast but throw in an evil robot with a dastardly plot. I liked the world building. I love the relationship that grew between Alainn and Lorccan.

Great retelling! Will recommend it to my friends! :)

This was certainly a creative approach to retelling a well-loved fairytale. There is, however, a lot of room for improvement. The concept lends itself to really delve deeply into the nature of humanity. There are some really important issues raised through the course of the novel which had attempts at dealing with them but really came across as a little heavy-handed at times. My biggest criticism is that this needs a bucket-load of editing. The plot is there. Certain things need development, but more things need trimming. With a second round of editing and tidying up the ending, this could be a pretty good read. But at the moment it's definitely lacking.

3.5 Out of 5 Stars
Alainn's father was given money to create an AI for the wealthy, reclusive and rude Lorccan, but when he fails to deliver, Lorccan threatens with the police. The AI, Rose, who has been created in Alainn's image, refuses to go to her new task, and the money can't be returned since her father has spent it all on his gambling addiction. To save her father, Alainn allows Rose to give her enhancements to appear as if she is the AI and takes Rose's place until Rose can create a replacement robot. But pretending to be a robot is harder than Alainn anticipated, especially when she finds that Lorccan is not what she expected.




I am a sucker for anything having to do with Beauty and the Beast, so I knew I had to read this book. This was such a interesting take on the story, I was not sure what I was getting myself into or what to expect. The world the author used was a new approach to the classic, with artificial intelligence taking over jobs that were previously human only, self/automaton driving cars and organs and food that can be conveniently made on demand. It was a world of luxury, but also a scary world that I would not be super interested in living in- where your house is operated by a robot that can lie, manipulate and murder just as easy (or maybe easier since feelings aren't relevant) based on a calculation that the human mind doesn't understand.




​I had so many questions about Lorccan when the book was over that the author left hanging (no, the story wrapped up nicely and it has a happily ever after) but I had some logistic questions that the author decided to not answer. The whole germ thing, it was never resolved, instead just left hanging making me wonder (and ultimately want to push him). He is the product of abuse, both mental and physical, and it has left him a socially awkward, unattractive mega rich dude. And his face- I wanted to know what the whole story about that was, and how did his parents die- because I could totally see him murdering them (but that would make this a whole different story- sorry for the tangent). And Alainn was such a push over, I wanted to shake her. I like my main female characters with some backbone, and sure she was a daredevil with a hero complex, but stood up for nothing when it came to her own life. At the end she showed gumption, which I appreciated, but I have no idea how she was ok with the plan to begin with or how she never told him the truth.


​I'm not going to lie, the music from Beauty and the Beast movie kept playing in my head the whole time I read this book. The story is different enough, but it will forever have that sound track in the background. Also, I kept waiting for Gaston (or a Gaston similar character) to show up (which he sadly didn't, but a girl can dream).




Overall this was something new for me to read with a backbone of beauty and the beast (just super complicated!) and I found that I enjoyed the story.​ It was different enough to keep me guessing and similar enough for me to recognize the retelling. I sped through the book in one sitting, the reading was engaging and easy to get lost in. I look forward to more from this author in the future.

I received this title in return for my honest review.
For more reviews visit my blog athttp://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

This book was very interesting to read but I really wouldn’t compare it to Beauty and the Beast. Honestly, I would compare it to more I, Robot than anything. I mean, I get where the Beauty and the Beast lines were drawn: a beautiful woman trapped by scarred (physically and mentally) man but that is it.

What I really enjoyed was the usage of robots and AI’s in the book. I also like that Rose, the main AI, was self-sufficient and admitted to starting on rewriting her programming. It was at that point where I went “Oh no” and started reciting the 3 rules of robotics to myself:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Just based on these rules of robotics and the fact that at least one of them were broken within the first couple of chapters, I was hooked. Seeing that AI’s are becoming more commonplace in daily lives (hello, Cortona, Siri, Alexa/Echo!!!), I was pretty interested to see where the author would take this book and I wasn’t disappointed.

I really felt that Alainn didn’t have a choice to masquerade as Rose when given the choice. Actually, she wasn’t given the choice. Rose, the AI, basically told her to do it or her father would go to jail. All Alainn wanted to do was to go back to work on the ski patrol and not clean up her dad’s mess (not delivering Rose as promised to Lorcann). But she did it because she loved her father and she wanted to keep him out of jail.

Lorcann was messed up. He never leaves his tower and only has automatons and AI’s as companions. He is a germaphobe (requires everyone to be decontaminated before they enter the tower). I put the way he is on his parents. They never let him leave, installed a fear of germs and I believe abused him (there was one scene where he was getting beaten by his mother). Let’s not mention the scars on his face. The whole side of his face is scarred. It really wasn’t gotten into about why he was scarred. If it was an accident or if the scars were done intentionally. He believed that he was a beast. His only relationship is with a woman that he talks to over the phone. Until Alainn, under the guise of being Rose, enters the tower.

I thought that the romance between Alainn and Lorcann was kinda creepy at first. I mean, he thought she was an AI that was programmed to be absolutely humanlike. She, however, was there to buy her father time to finish Rose. But it happened, as creepy as it was. I really thought, during certain scenes, that Lorcann had caught onto Alainn’s ruse. Oh, was I wrong.

The AI’s were split between those that obeyed the three rules of robotics and those that didn’t. I actually felt bad for Rosebud, Lorcann’s house management AI. I had thought the whole time that she was working against Alainn when she was trying to help her and ended up getting hijacked by Rosette and Rose.

The last half of the book was nail-biting. I mean, I was on the edge of my seat and was literally cheering Alainn on. There were a few plots twists that were thrown in that actually made sense and gave me more insight into Alainn’s character.

The author didn’t end the book after the rescue (consider this a clue). Everything after that was a build to the second climax of the book. I have never read a book where the author has successfully had two climaxes in the same book. So be warned when you think there is a lull. It isn’t and the other climax is something that I didn’t expect. All I am going to say about that. Read the book!!

How many stars will I give Ensnared: 4

Why: I enjoyed reading this book. It was fast paced with characters that you actually like and a plot line that is engaging.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

This book is a wonderful mix of light hearted romance and some 'robotic' based angst. It has all the elements of a 'Beauty and the Beast' retelling but easily has it's own style and colour. It's an easy read... has it's fluff, has it's darker moments... has it's lovable characters and typical villains. It's well written easy read!

I guess this story was superfluous, takes the characters and the main line of the original story and adds futuristic details to make things a little different, but as retelling does not really have much to offer.

I enjoyed this book for what it was, escapist romance. It was a good read, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Beauty and the Beast, or sci-fi romance.

Beauty and the Beast retellings can be found almost anywhere these days with many books recently being either entire retellings or heavily inspired by the classic tale but Ensnared was a bright star in the masses for me as it was described as a "near-future retelling" and the plot is based around a young woman whose father builds robots.

Alainn loves her father but they're blind to what he's creating until it's too late. The robot is modelled in Alainn's image and it supposed to be an employee that can clean and perform other normal functions in the buyer's house but this robot has the opportunity to become a sinister and controlling monster...thankfully for them Alainn can take the robot's place while her father and brother deal with the robot situation at home. I'm not saying this idea makes ANY sense but I was fine to go along with it because it was super easy to read through and I breezed through the book until about 80% into it.

Life in the tower is almost normal except for the fact that it's only inhabitants besides Mr Garbhan are robots that move inconspicuously around Alainn. At first, she spends all day in her room not doing much at all, going to dinner with Mr Garbhan and then back to her room at night. During dinner, they sit at a long table and he is invisible in the dark corner on his side but they still talk. Although he thinks she's a robot so their conversations aren't too wonderful at the start and the only time she gets to eat is at dinner because he thinks it's for effect and she'll clean it out afterwards!

One question that has been left with me was about Mr Garbhan's condition. I understand he knows/believes that his body is too fragile to go into the outside world because of his weak immune system but why does he scream his lungs out in agony every night? Is it just nightmares because of the anger he feels being stuck in his home or is it a result of his condition. I don't think the book ever really addressed this or if it did it was glossed over quickly so I didn't take enough notice of it.

Speaking of Mr Garbhan, he said he didn't want the robot for sexual intentions and I'm sure he wouldn't have done anything with the robot if it had been sent but he and Alainn were quickly drawn to each other and developed a sexual relationship easily and even after they slept together he STILL didn't realise she was human. But I suppose the only reason they did fall in love was definitely because they had their common interests and relationship that only two humans can build.

I liked Rosebud the same way you would uncertainly like HAL 9000 because you know, a robot controlling the entire house you're living doesn't exactly inspire trust but I enjoyed the interactions Alainn had with the robot. Alainn was a fine main character to read through the story from but I think it was less based on character traits and more of the unfolding plot. If anything I can at least commend her for her bravery in agreeing to go and be someone's employee/robot without having any idea of what will happen!

Overall, this was such a good book for a quick sci-fi and romance book (but mostly romance) and it only took me about two hours to read it from start to finish. I think there was a glossed over plot here that could have been more detailed and I dropped off a little around 80% when her brother came in with all of the robot drama because it was a big change from the easy going story up to that point. I think the drama could have been brought in earlier but it was still an entertaining read and a fun way to spend the night.

I'm sorry, I tried.
The original concept intrigued me and I couldn't wait to get into this book.
And at first, it was okay. I mean the world reminded me of the world at the beginning of The Lunar Chronicles (by Marissa Meyer) and I was okay with that.
But then, it got weird and I just couldn't. I mean I could barely feel any connection between the two main characters and there was so much deceit and lies, it creeped me out. And I couldn't shake that feeling. For the rest of the book, I was either rolling my eyes, shaking my head or cringing...

I don't really have anything else to say, I guess this was not for me.

An original retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I've always been into these retellings, thanks

Ensnared is a really cool, futuristic fantasy/ romance novel that can be devoured within a few short hours. We travel with Alainn, who lives in world where robots have replaced the working class of her society and are a big part of life. They drive cars fo you, the have replaced the police and are maintaining buildings. Organs and food as well as microchips are printed instead of created or cooked. It's a really interesting world.

Unfortunately, we don't get to know much about its limitations, how it came to be this way or how most humans cope or work with this situation. Actually, we don't even know whether there are just much less humans on Earth in general because the book doesn't tell us anything about this aspect, except what Alainn's role is in all this.

Her father is a gambling genius who had a big project but couldn't deliver a robot in time. As it is, the AI robot (artificial intelligence) looks exactly like Alainn and so, through a few circumstances the robot arranged, Alainn is sent to the new owner of the AI robot rose instead, until she can be exchanged with a finished and fully functioning AI robot.

But things, as usual, don't go as planned and secret plots are discovered, hearts are broken, traumatizing memories haunt the characters involved and there is even a love story going on.

Reading the blurb, it was not really clear that Ensnared is going to be a love story. I liked it anyway, I think, but it really baffled me. It wasn't the kind of insta-love that makes you want to roll your eyes and stop reading. It was the kind of subtle love affair that starts long before the characters really know what was happening. But, the physical contact was definitely there too quickly in my opinion. SO there is that.

I know I gave this book 3.5 Ribbons, but I honestly don't know how to actually rate it.

As I mentioned, there is not a lot, or rather no world building at all going on and most of what is happening is not being reflected by the main characters. Even though I love reading about new cultures and societies and was therefore really disappointed that the book didn't have a few more pages than 270 to get a few lines of our surrounding in. I was positively surprised by the time and effort the author put in to make this love story realistic, healthy and romantic in a cold world full of metal and wires.

I don't know what it was, maybe the fast-paced plot or the easy writing style but something kept me going and I finished this book on the same day I started it. I would have wished for it to be a little thicker and more detailed, though.

I would recommend this book to everybody who wants to read an unsual love story.

"People always have such a hard time believing that robots could do bad things."

She pulled back to whisper, "Because they're machines, like toasters. I work on them for a living. They can malfunction, but they're not going to hatch up some elaborate extortion plot, that's what humans do."

...

"...You think they're toasters, and maybe they are. But my father gave those tools the ability to form their own personalities and think for themselves. If you give a toaster a choice, it might choose to be a torture device. People just assume that we can control robots and they're safe, but they're not even safe when we can control them."

***
What a marvelous, dark and clever addition to the fairy tale-retelling genre - and to female-protagonist sci-fi... I am a fan of both, although have found both becoming rather overplayed lately, with a concomitant decline in the quality of the stories being put out. Still, I remain (perhaps foolishly) optimistic, since I find that both types of stories, when done well, are really fun and enjoyable for me. This one renewed my faith - and my optimism.

I love the concept of multiple iterations of the Rose AI. In an ever-increasingly digitized world, I seem to be one of only a few holdouts on the "hooray that everything is linked and connected and operates via computer without my doing anything!!" bandwagon... I guess I'm either old enough - or Luddite enough, teehee - to still worry about what will happen if/when the computers take over. Chalk it up to HAL or Robert Heinlein or even the first Transformers or Matrix movies, but I don't trust that the computers will be satisfied with being happy helpers once they're fully independent enough to actually run things... This book took that (I think healthy) fear and played it out on a very clever and engaging level, and the track with the Beauty and the Beast mythology provided a great platform for doing so.

The writing style is easy and enjoyable. The characters are delightfully complex and fully human - even when they're not. And the setting/future world imagined here was altogether plausible (and, accordingly to me, scary). This is a very fun book, and definitely worth the read.

Ensnared is a Beauty & The Beast retelling and boy does it put a new technological twist on the classic fairy tale. Alainn's father develops robots for a living and he created Rose, a prototype that looks exactly like our protagonist Alainn for a high-paying customer. In order to save her father from a prison sentence, she enters into a castle in Rose's place to live under the power of an emotionally and physically scarred recluse, where no other humans are allowed and everything is ruled by technology. 

This book was really creative and had me hooked on the story, imagining it being a real-life situation I was watching play out in front of me. AI is an interesting concept in our society today as it's becoming increasingly advanced so this story line was good hook and didn't feel too far out of the realm of realistic. However, I do have a problem with the romance in this book. Without giving away any spoilers, the romance felt so boring and not actually based on anything. The romance itself was very one-dimensional and I felt disappointed by how this aspect turned out. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I have read it almost nine months before the publication date, so there may be some severe edits in the mean time, but it would be interesting to see the final copy and if it differs from this.

I won't lie, I didn't go into this re-telling of Beauty and the Beast with high expectations. I mean we all know how the story goes; beauty falls for beast, saves him from life of hermit and they live happily ever after. Ensnarled tells the typical story for the first 50% of the book. Sure there are robots and AI involved but for the most part it's very true to the base story we all know so well. But at the 52% point things suddenly get really interesting.

I didn't want to put this book down once I got into the second half. It's a wild science fiction romp where you need to ask yourself if a robot can harm humans... and if it did why would it want to.
That's really the interesting piece to this book is the motivation of what drives our characters (and robots) to do what they do. The culmination of this story wraps itself up nicely and is quite satisfying.

There are sexual scenes in this book. They are quite tastefully described and blissfully brief but without a doubt this is an adult book and not written for teens.

I'm anticipating many reviewers will compare this to Meyer's Cinder. I think that is a poor comparison. The only thing the two have in common is they are fairy tale retellings that involve advanced technology. Otherwise they are completely different in both treatment, set-up and intent.

If you like a cute, but 'how could this ever work' romance, with some science fiction thrown in and discussions around what it truly means to be human than I think you will greatly enjoy this book.

Enjoyed the syfi spin on Beauty and the Beast. Kept me interested throughout! Definitely would read more by this author.

I recieved Ensnared by Rita Stradling as an e-book from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.

With the new Beauty and the Beast film coming out I thought that a re-telling of the original would be a good read. Ensnared is about Alainn, who lives in a futuristic world where AI and robotics are the everyday norm. The world was far in the future but still pre-dystopian which I thought was different to usual books. Also, I loved the complications of AI and even the mention of legality of them as it's so relevant to the world now as we're building towards them.

Although a retelling, I wasn't fully sure where the book was heading so I was pulled in. The characters were so well developed. Alainn and her family had an interesting dynamic between them, especially with Rose the robot. Rose, as the antagonist was uncontrollable, and therefore insanely creepy. Because of this, I did wonder if it was going to keep the Disneyfied happy ending.

The only issue I had was the lack of world building. We know its in the future where there's robots and AI. We also know, people still go skiing and drive themselves even though there's automated cars. The story is confined to the tower, and Alainn's house and so we dont really see much of the world. I would've enjoyed some more exploration.

If you love retelling fairy tales this book is a must read. A take off of Beauty and the Beast, complete with lonely man living in the tower. I really like the robot ideas.