Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours, Cyla Panin, Netgalley, and Amulet Books for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

I personally really liked the twist of Beauty and the Beast for this story, and I adored the sister relationship that we got to explore in this story. It’s always interesting to see just how far people will go to protect their loved ones, and we could see that Marie would go pretty darn far. I like that Marie knew about Ama’s curse, since that would help keep suspicion at bay, and she was able to kind of “curate” Ama’s victims. Yes, that sounds really terrible, but would we rather have Ama killing anyone and everyone? No? Didn’t think so!

All that ended up changing though when a young boy was found killed one morning, and Marie starts to think that she is losing control over her sister’s beast. Was Ama responsible for killing an innocent child? Is her beast not responding to the perfume that Marie makes, essentially marking the targets that Ama should be killing? What happened in this case? Marie goes to find out by going to the place where Ama was cursed in the first place.

It works out so much better that Ama and Marie are in this together. Even if Marie wasn’t cursed herself, Ama doesn’t have to deal with the curse alone. I could only imagine the kind of guilt she must feel at having to kill, but maybe that guilt is a little subsided by the system that she and Marie have. Maybe.

Again, I really liked the dynamic between the sisters, and seeing how much Marie is protective over her little sister and wanting her to be able to have a life with a good husband. I like that Marie did what she needed to in order to try to cure her sister, although it sucks that she had to get suspicious of her sister in the first place. This was my first time reading a book from Panin and I thought it was a good first impression. I’m curious to see how I feel about future books from her.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

The writing needed work but overall, this was a short and compelling mystery set in a France-inspired setting with an interesting female character. While I often struggled to understand her motives--and saw the major twist of this book coming within the first few chapters of the book--I will admit that it was hard to put down. Largely, this felt like a younger YA than I'm used to but that is by no means a bad thing. Enjoyable.

in exchange for an honest review, I received an e-arc from Netgalley

Stalking Shadows is a book filled with lush imagery, and engaging characters. One moment you are reading, the next, you are sitting next to Marie, the smell of honeysuckle ripe and fragrant in the air. Every time I picked up this book, I was transported back to 18th century France (muddier than I expected). This book has little something for everyone, some romance, some fantasy, some mystery, some historical fiction to boot. It is a really different take on the beauty and the beast myth, and I LOVE unique tails ;)

I was hesitant to read yet another beauty and the beast retelling but I genuinely enjoyed this! It was unique and well written. I loved the genderbent aspect and think the author wrote it well.

Overall, I think this is a fun book with a few beauty and the beast vibes.

Certain plot points are easy to call. Others not so much.

I’m still not entirely sold on the whole Emmeline thing. Like yeah, wolf hybrids exist, but what’s the point of unleashing them as monsters. How does that ensure her family is regarded well?

The middle section of the book spent at the Manor and trying to help Lucien was a little repetitive. But once you got to the second half of the book, it just ramped up and was hard to put down.

The French word scattered throughout I think really helped to set the mood.

Fun book, totally recommend!

Stalking Shadows is a beautiful, gothic debut novel by Cyla Panin. Marketed as a dark, gothic twisted Beauty and the Beast retelling does not do it justice. It was so much more than that. The prose was lyrical, moving and oh so twisty; the descriptions so lush that I could smell the beautiful scents of the perfumes, feel the cold, dark, and late-autumn atmosphere.

Marie and Ama are the sisters of the plot. Ama is a young woman who is mysteriously cursed to turn into a beast once a month with the full moon. Marie, her older sister, makes perfumes to mark/scent the targets for Ama’s beast to kill. I absolutely loved the morally grey tone of both these sisters. Marie When it becomes apparent that Ama’s beast is taking more and more of her, Marie decides it’s time to find a cure instead of just controlling the beast, so she finds her way into the Lord’s mansion where her sister worked as a servant the year before and is sure she was cursed in the mansion.

I loved Marie and Ama’s sisterly bond and the brotherly bond between Lord Sebastien and his younger brother, Lucien. I greatly enjoyed the scenes between Marie and Sebastien, the budding relationship that wasn’t too sudden for the book. I loved how the author keeps you guessing on who is killing the children of the small village. Some surprises were done so well and the story was exciting to the end.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. It was a beautiful story and although not quite a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it definitely can stand on its own. I cannot wait to read more by Cylan Panin and I hope that she continues with the gothic vibes in her novels.

After reading the synopsis of this book I really thought I was going to love this one. I absolutely adored the précis of this book however the execution fell flat to the point where I almost DNF'd (did not finish) the book after the initial 30%. The beginning started off strong but eventually started to painfully drag out. Nothing really happened until the last 60% of the book to which the plot then begun to make no sense. The romance and dialogue between the main character and the love interest held no chemistry and felt forced. I did appreciate the ambience of the book however, as well as the aspects of originality that this retelling held. Overall, despite the enchanting writing I felt super disconnected to this book and found myself not enjoying it as much as I originally anticipated.

Stalking Shadows by Cyla Panin is an inspired retelling of Beauty and the Beast with the curse this time around being placed upon a woman. I was definitely intrigued!

The overall writing was lovely and the plot drew me in but I found myself starting to feel uninspired about halfway into the story. I just wasn’t feeling connected to the characters. Normally, these are my favorite reads but I just wasn’t feeling it. I will say the cover and inside of the books was simply gorgeous and I wish I could have finished the book.

(Review with spoilers)
This book was a delightful debut, with a gritty concept for a well-known fairytale. The atmosphere was pretty apt, and I think the author had a lot of strong, feminist threads interwoven, which I automatically give props for. Who doesn’t love strong female characters when we are stuck in a man’s world? And one with a palpable love for her sister? The only thing that prevented this from being a four star read was the fact that the magic really caught me off guard. I know the fact that her sister can turn into a wolf is its own magic, but (and I’m not sure if this will make sense), I consider is an assumed magic that is very different from say, witchcraft and turning back time, etc. So when we see that a character is kept on the brink of death, it is just very jarring. That, and the fact that Sebastian immediately understood that Ama was the beast with very little questioning/arguing/disbelief, and was immediately willing to stick by Marie made it seem a little unrealistic to me. Also the resolution with the townsfolk seems harebrained at best (if Seb really cared for Marie, that was a real risk outing her to the town, and I don’t really think there was much to hint it would work). I think the world could be fleshed our better to fit in this magic, and also to give some more nuance to the characters. That being said, I can tell Panin set this up with the possibility of continuing, and I would probably read it.

Seventeen-year-old Marie makes perfume with her sister to sell at the market everyday, but there’s a secret behind the perfume. Some of it is laced with a scent that marks the wearer as a target for her sister, Ama, when she turns into a beast once a month. Marie limits the people that Ama kills to ones who won’t be missed from the village, so it doesn’t draw attention to her sister. However, when people are killed between the nights when her sister becomes the beast, Marie gets concerned that their secret will be discovered. Marie goes to the place where her sister became cursed: the home of Lord Sebastian LeClaire. While looking after Sebastian’s sickly younger brother, Marie searches for the cure to her sister’s beastly curse.

This story was an original version of the Beauty and the Beast tale. Instead of the Beauty and Beast characters being female and male, the two characters were sisters. This increased the intensity of their relationship right from the beginning, since Marie was trying to save her sister, rather than being in an enemies-to-lovers relationship like in the original tale.

Though there were some intense moments and high stakes in the story, it was a little slow paced. I would have liked to see more danger and tense moments with the “beast.” There was a lot of reflection and details, but I would have loved more dramatic action.

Stalking Shadows is a great original Beauty and the Beast story!

Thank you Amulet Books for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was super lucky to win an arc of this book from one of the author’s giveaways! I've only just now managed to finish reading it, however if I had had the time I no doubt would've binge read this in just a few days! From the first line I was obsessed with Cyla Panin’s haunting and detailed writing. I also immediately sympathised with Marie and was fascinated by the layers upon layers of mystery. Simply put this book is a magnificent retelling with realistic relationships and surprising twists all told in a dark, poetic style. If you want a good book to curl up with this fall look no further and add this to your reading list!

I am a huge fan of retellings and this book blew me away! It was so beautifully rich and poignant and definitely had me in my feels. This is a truly fantastic debut by Cyla Panin and I think she is definitely one to watch!

This is the perfect fall read. It has witchcraft, a spooky old manor, lycanthropy, murder, and large beasts stalking the forest. I loved the relationship and special bond between Marie and Ama. Ultimately, this is about a girl that is forced into serving the Lord of her town in order to find a cure for her sisters’s curse. She discovers so much more than anticipated, and quickly realizes nothing is as it appears to be. Uncovers so much more than she bargained for.

I was not sure what to expect from this novel. I was extremely pleased I put the time in for this one, it was much darker and twisty than I bargained for. I highly recommend it!

I was granted an advanced copy of this novel through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated are my own. Thank you!

Beauty and the beast retelling are my reads. That and pride and prejudice. With retellings being the hot trend in book stores I was so excited for this book.

I loved the gothic aesthetic, spooky, and a badass main girl? Yup! It was perfect. The writing was lyrical and beautiful. Added it to the retelling endcap, has been doing very well!

DNF at 18%

A Beauty & the Beast retelling? The beast is a woman this time? Heck yes! Unfortunately this story was so slow and didn’t pick up quick enough. I really am struggling to get into this and I have no interest in continuing at this point in time.

I liked the idea, but it definitely needed to hook me more and have some more action. Maybe I just am not the right audience for this book but I just couldn’t get into it.

With lyrical prose, and morally gray characters, and all the Gothic vibes, STALKING SHADOWS is a feminist take on Beauty and the Beast, and I loved it! I can't wait to read more from this author!

This loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I fell in love with it early on but as the story progressed the story fell stagnate and just boring. At around 50% I just gave up. I couldn't do it anymore. The story had gotten so tied up with twists that just didn't work to further the plot or story.

Stalking Shadows was such a fantastic quick! I’ve read quite a few Beauty and the Beast retellings but I loved Cyla Panin’s fresh take on the tale. The loose rendition is just enough to make the story completely its own.

Marie is a seventeen year old girl that has protected her sister, Ama, from the beast that haunts the town. This beast? Ama herself. While turning back to being human is getting more difficult for Ama, Marie sets out to try to find a cure for her sister. She’ll do anything to help her - even going to the place where everything went wrong.

Marie is the perfect protagonist that you absolutely want to root for. There are plenty of characters throughout that give such great depth to the book. The gothic mood of the book brings forth a creepy feeling to the atmosphere. It makes the story that much more enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this one to YA Fantasy readers!

Thank you to TBR and Beyond Books, Cyla Panin and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Stalking Shadows by Cyla Panin was beautifully written and reminded us of a combination between the classic Jane Eyre with the lovable Beauty and the Beast. With realistic characters and an intriguing plot that will keep you thinking, it was hard to put it down! Although we felt that the end was a little rushed, this standalone YA fantasy novel is definitely worth the read.