I enjoyed following the story and seeing what happened to the characters. Well written and a great read.

I really enjoy fairy tales and this modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast was fun.

The roles are switched in the teenage romance, with the poor beauty being Beau, and Bett as the haughty beast.

The dialogue was crisp and fun, and the book, while faithful to the fairy tale, offered enough fresh ideas that it made the book enjoyable. I would recommend this book for YA readers who enjoy fairy tales and romances.

I look forward to the next book by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley.com, the author and publisher for my ARC.

This beautifully written story showing how love blossoms in unexpected places was perfect. I personally loved it..

*I was given access to an ARC via Netgalley and so I will be as brutally honest as possible*

Where do I start?
First of all, for the most part this book was short and simple and sweet and had a cute story between the main characters Beau and Bett. I liked the gender reversal when it came to retelling Beauty and the Beast. The pace was also nice and fast which is always nice. I also hope she keeps the cover art because it is beautiful.

Now for the problems:
The moral of the story was a little forced on you at the end of the book. You probably don’t even need those last 2 sentences because the “lucky in love” part was a lot cuter seeing as how it is actually tied in to the rest of the story. And there were some parts that just didn’t matter too much in my opinion.
The whole assigning-animal-spirits-to-people thing was interesting but it might have been better if characters were actually described. Instead, whenever I tried to picture someone, all I could think of was what animal Beau had assigned them and ended up with a zoomorphic character, much like Zootopia or Robin Hood. I didn’t even know what Beau looked like, or his parents, and I felt like that would have been nice to know.
I don’t know if this is Kathryn Berla’s first time writing in a teenage boy’s POV, but it could use some work. I think she should give more credit to boys. I kid you not, one of the sentences reads something like “I feel bad for him because he was overwhelmed by her sexiness. Who wouldn’t be?”, and I just feel like this wasn’t the best portrayal of boys for girls and boys to read alike. Her writing was okay when it didn’t get too intimate with the audience - as in I don’t really like reading ‘hella’ outside of dialogue. All I really learned about Beau is that he is HELLA shallow. (See what I mean? Kind of uncomfortable to read)

I would recommend this book to maybe younger audiences, maybe the 12-15 age range as it isn’t as heavy or deep and is just a simple contemporary read. Bett was my favourite character while everyone else was kind of shallow and hard to take seriously. I hope that Kathryn Berla has a long writing career ahead of her because this book shows great potential and her work can only get better. Just more fine-tuning and character development and this book would have easily received a 4 star from me.

This was, sadly, a DNF for me. I rarely don't finish a book. But a little more than halfway through, nothing had really happened. Though this is billed as "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, gender-swapped, it fell short of the mark. We learn that Bett, the mean rich girl, is called the Beast at school, but at the midway point of the book, there's still no real clear reason why. The POV character is Beau (male Belle), a teenage boy who seems to live nowhere but in his head. He has minimal interactions with his peers, doesn't have any friends, and volunteers to help his mother fix her problem (a car accident with Bett) by approaching Bett's father and offering to work off her debt. There is nothing truly likable about either of the characters, and by the midway point of the book, I wasn't willing to invest any more time in a book that was not holding my interest.

Hoping to right a very expensive wrong, hard working Beau LeFrancois agrees to work off payment on the Diaz Ranch after his mother causes damages to Bettina (Bett for short) Diaz's SUV. Beau can handle just about anything, but Bett is something new altogether. Prone to disappearing in the middle of conversations and not having the best first impression, Beau can't always figure Bett out and wonders why her classmates have nicknamed her "The Beast". As Beau's debt winds down, so do the days left with Bett as he slowly pulls layer by layer back to reveal the raw truth behind her unfiltered, yet guarded social awkwardness that is anything but "beast" like.

Beau and Bett is a short, sweet, contemporary spin on "Beauty and the Beast" with an all too real message in today's world of speaking up and out for yourself. While Bett was hard to like at times if I'm being completely honest, the reasons later revealed behind that behavior made complete sense. She was broken and alone before Beau came along and he was the only one who not only wanted to understand her, but MADE the time to understand her. Sound familiar yet? ;) Allllll the heart eyes!

Of course with stories like these you are not without conflict and there are certainly little pops here and there throughout, but it is with little to no angst (even the lie mentioned in the book blurb) which definitely works in this case. And I'm a girl who loves her some good angst, so that's saying something!

If you are a fan of "Beauty and the Beast" retellings or just enjoy a good, sweet, clean contemporary with an important message, this is the book for you!

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. I enjoyed this retelling of beauty and the beast. It was a bit slow to start but got better as the plot progressed. The author did some clever twists from the original story. Not the best retelling I've read but overall, enjoyable.

· “If you were lucky in love, you sure as hell were lucky in life.” ·

I guess it’s only fair to begin my review by admitting the obvious—I’m a big sucker for Beauty & The Beast retellings! But this one? This one took the retelling to a whole new level, for there’s a very clever swap in characters’ roles and that’s what sold me the story in the first place!

Btw, can we take a moment to stare at the cover? Isn’t it just beautiful ♥?

Now, let me point out a few of the things I loved about this book. The first one is no doubt the POV—we have a first person male protagonist that manages to drag us into the story in a very convincing way. In my opinion, Beau makes for a great narrator, showing us his world and Bett’s too through his eyes and keeping it real all along (even when he’s describing Bett’s many outfits, he sounds like a guy, which is obvious but does mean the author did a great job at knowing her characters). That being said, the story flows beautifully and it kept me wanting to know more.

Another thing I loved was to be dissapointed. Yes, that’s right. I was slightly dissapointed at the way Bettina turned to develope as a character because it was nothing like I expected her to be. However, that was a very good thing. Because I was pleasantly surprised. The more Beau described her, the less I felt I knew her and the more curious I became.

And even though Bett’s story is a sad tale, it was really nice to discover she wasn’t that clichè “beast” I was expecting, but something entirely different.

Lastly, Beau’s family is also an important element I’d like to point out. The LeFrancois’ may not have it all (in fact, they may not even come remotely close to having it all), but they have love and they have each other and that pretty much means the world, right? After all, knowing you have a family you can count on to celebrate a special ocassion or to rely on in a time of need is priceless.

So, in short, I’d say that “Beau & Bett” made for a great retelling with some excellent twists, a beautiful narrative voice (and cover!), and great morals.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC! I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, so I prefer not to leave a negative review. Thanks!

I received an ARC of the book from Amberjack Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Beau and Bett is a contemporary young adult novel by Kathryn Berla.

---

SUMMARY:

After Beau LeFrancois’s mother wrecks Bett Diaz’s luxury SUV, his family faces an impossibly large bill—with no car insurance to help pay it. To pay off the debt, Beau spends his weekends working at the Diaz Ranch.

Beau’s prepared to work, but he’s definitely not prepared for the infamous temper of Bett Diaz, also known as “The Beast” at school. As Beau learns the secrets behind Bett’s tough exterior, he finds himself falling for her … until he catches Bett in a lie.

A contemporary twist on a classic fairy tale, Beau and Bett is a timely story of family, friendship, and the power of speaking out and standing up for yourself.

---

Beau and Bett is a novel that you will finish in one sitting. It is described as a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and although I usually love retellings of fairy tales, this story ultimately fell flat for me. Bett, the female protagonist is supposed to be equivalent to the Beast. However, I had a hard time making the connection as to why Bett and Beast were considered to be alike. There is a given reason, but it does not really make sense to call her a beast. She does not share the same characteristics as him. It makes more sense to see Beau being compared to Belle but even that is considered quite a bit of a stretch. I wish the author hadn’t labeled this novel as a retelling of Beauty and the Beast because it really does not feel like that at all. But even if this novel hadn’t been considered a modern twist of a classic story, it is hard to feel the connection between the two main characters.

There are parts of this book I like, and other parts that I don’t like. Kathryn Berla’s writing is sweet; I did enjoy how she manages to work in big themes such as conflict, isolation and friendship into the novel naturally. That being said, I think at certain parts of the novel her writing did not flow very well. The pacing was slow, and sometimes it felt too slow for my liking. The dialogue did not feel natural; most of the conversations in the book felt a little boring to me as I read them. It is great to see that the gender roles for Belle and Beast are switched in this story, as that is the one thing that makes the book stand out. But my biggest problem with this novel is that both of the main characters were undeveloped, and although they were presented with their own personalities, these personalities were never fleshed out during the story. I wish the author spent more time trying to figure out this story and I believe if she focused on better developing the story overall that this novel would have been much stronger. I suggest this book to anyone who wants to read a short and sweet novel. This book teaches you that it is important to remember to never judge a book by its cover.

So the story of Beauty and the Beast is my all time favorite. ALL TIME. I went into this expecting to like it just based on the fact that it is another rendition of it. What I wasn't expecting was to completely be blown away by it, and left in a book hangover afterwards.

Ya'll. This writing. HOLY COW. Blew me away. And the story? Aaaaaaamazing. I have no other words other than that, as I can't seem to form words that properly describe how wonderful this story was.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let me recognize upfront that I knew that this was a YA gender flip take on Beauty and the Beast and while it was a cutesy version of the story, I felt it lacked real substance or character development. It was a blah/meh type of book.

This... was incredibly underwhelming. Throughout the novel nothing developed.

I’m a big fan of beauty and the beast, so when I heard about this modern retelling I was honestly so excited. In this scenario the girl (Bett) is known as “the beast” but she.. isn’t even beast like in any way? People began hating her because she was the victim in a sexual assault scenario however she was not cruel or anything like the beast we are used to seeing in B&TB retellings. I found both Beau and Bett to both boring characters with no development. As for the plot, nothing really happens. At the beginning Beau’s mother hits Betts car resulting in Beau making a deal with her father to work on their ranch. After that, nothing happens. There was room for a potential love triangle which would have made things more interesting, however the author did not go that route. Masie as a character was pointless and added nothing to the story. Beau and Bett had very little chemistry and I just could not picture them as a couple. I thought that this was going to be a hate to love scenario but it really wasn’t which I found disappointing.

Overall, I just didn’t connect with this book. It just felt very underdeveloped and didn’t meet my expectations.

This book was such a sweet read. You can really see details from the original tale but it didn't feel like a retelling, which I loved about that. I wasn't overwhelmed with the old material, it really felt like a sweet contemporary romance with hints to "Beauty and the Beast". Beau felt like a refreshing male character and that's what I loved about him. Bett was also a very nice surprised, I loved how hardworking she was.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a gender reversal modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This is a short, easy read and I liked the idea of a role reversal. It was a cute story but not an amazing one. The concept was good but I think the writing just fell a little short. The character development was lacking, especially Bett. She was very one dimensional and flat. Unfortunately it's a forgettable read for me.

Beau’s prepared to work, but he’s definitely not prepared for the infamous temper of Bett Diaz—also known as “The Beast” at school. As Beau learns the secrets behind Bett’s tough exterior, he finds himself falling for her. That is, until he catches Bett in a lie.

A contemporary twist on a classic fairy tale, Beau and Bett is a timely story of family, friendship, and the power of speaking out and standing up for yourself.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publishers for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I haven't read many Beauty and the Beast retellings that take place in a very contemporary setting so this was something new and exciting. It took a while mentally to adjust to the characters but I gradually grew to root for them. The story is a quick read that explores the adventures of an unlikely romance between two different social classes and touches on topics such as the importance of family and owning oneself's identity.

Beau and bett is a modern day beauty and the beast retelling and don’t get me wrong if it didn’t say that on the cover I definitely wouldn’t think it was don’t get me wrong I loved the gender swapping from the classic and the little here and there’s that we’re definitely similar with the original such as if u know the avocados instead of a rose swap and few more.

Beau and bett is about the slow burner and will they won’t they romance that’s start of with beau mother crashed into Betts car so to repay them back beau decides to go to Betts house and starts working for the family to pay back the debt from the car crash. Throughout the book U see the slow burn friendship between both the main characters which is hard at first because bett is kind of a introvert and quite a lonely and sad person which u find out why later on in the book. So beau tries his hardest to talk with her but could be hard for him. This slowly turns into liking Bett and wanting and waiting for bett to say that she want him back.

Overall for me It was a good book the main character beau at points could be quite annoying but overall It was good so I gave it a 3 stars.

Arc provided by netgalley

Book was very difficult to get into. I found the principal characters to be lacking and found no emotional attachment to them or their stories.

This is supposed to be a gender-twist, modern day retelling of Beauty & the Beast but Aside from their name: Beau (male version of Belle) and Bett (female version of Beast), I can't find other similarities. And how Beau got her moniker "The Beast" at their school was pretty ridiculous. The story and characters lacks depth. It's pretty short and should be easy to read but it's quite forgettable