Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Beasts and Beauty by Soman Chainani takes the fairy tales you know and love and took them back to their darker origins but with a spin. The princess doesn’t always need saving, the girl doesn’t always need to fall in love, sometimes there are better loves than romantic, etc.
Twelve tales, some pretty dark, some that put a spin on who is the victim and who is the monster, and some much more enjoyable than others. While a lot of these aren’t horribly new takes on some of the tales they were still written well. The illustrations weren’t finalized in the e-ARC but if what I’ve seen online is an indication of how the rest of them will look I’ll certainly have to get my hands on a copy for my personal collection soon.
Overall a great read.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
Excellent writing, just as I expected. A great collection of stories from Soman's unique perspective.

I’ve read a lot of fairy tale retold and reimagined, but nothing - nothing! - like this. Chainani completely disrupts the old tales and rewrites them ferociously for all those readers who never once saw themselves in those stories.

There is power here - power of women and girls, power of color, power of sex - all woven together into a dark and delicious raised fist to the traditional, exclusionary tales.

Little girls with onyx skin and springy curls will see themselves here, as will beautiful boys who prefer red-haired thieves to brittle wives.

There is anger here, but there’s also righteousness. These are tales for our time.

Highly Recommended.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Forget what you think you know about your favorite fairy tales! Soman Chainani takes twelve of these tales, like Rapunzel, Peter Pan, and Beauty and the Beast, and twists them in such a way you don’t see the end coming. These tales honor the original Grimm stories and some go a bit darker. Do NOT read these and expect a Disney ending – you will be sorely disappointed! I REALLY enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait for the physical copy so I can see the finished art. Highly recommend for grades 5 and up.

#BeastsAndBeautyDangerousTales #NetGalley

I was really intrigued by the idea of reimagining classic fairy tales without the same copy and paste princes and princesses. Beasts and Beauty felt fresh and new in a way I haven’t seen in a fairytale retelling, and we read a lot of fairytale and myth retelling in our house. This book is filled with diverse tales and a different way of seeing old stories. I especially loved seeing ladoo and jalebi in place of traditional European sweets. Overall my favorites were Sleeping Beauty and Red Riding Hood though all of them were really interesting to read and brimming with representation that isn’t forced or stereotypical. I highly recommend this collection and will be adding a physical copy to my library.

Can I just state I loved the School for Good and Evil series, but this collection just blew me out of the water. Every time that I thought I had found my favorite retelling of a fairytale, the next one was possibly even better. I really have no words to describe how amazing this collection is! Each fairytale stays true enough to the original telling that readers will be able to recognize the original tale, but the twists that Soman puts in them makes them both current and makes the reader think about the fairy tales we were always told. I especially loved the Little Mermaid retelling. Such a different view on the classic as we know it. And such a modern look at how people today would deem the original story. I think that I will need to get this book to add to my own collection. I can't wait to share this book with middle grade readers and up! I can never thank you enough HarperCollins Children's Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title. This is honestly my favorite book of the year!

These spooky short stories offer fun and original twists on familiar beloved fairy tales. Give these to your horror fans.

Beasts and Beauty is filled with dark and sometimes disturbing fairytale retellings that offer strong social messages. Overall, I liked the stories. The dark nature of the stories reminded me of the original origins of a lot of the stories that Chainani reimagines for this collection. Some of them are stronger than others, but that tends to be the nature of these types of books. One thing that remains consistent is Chainani's way of engaging the reader. Chainani's writing is imaginative and unique. Overall a wonderful collection of stories.

The book itself is geared towards middle school age, but while reading I thought it would really fit in that junior high age group. Some of the retellings are very dark and can be triggering.

This book is a telling/ retelling of famous fairy tales. 12 tales including Red Riding Hood, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Snow White and many more. Chainani has told parts that would be familiar to us, but added details and twists that change the story completely from what we know.

The cover is AMAZING, and that drew my attention, but I was disappointed by the stories. I guess, I was hoping somehow it would all tie together, but they are all separate tales. The twists and added details didn't keep me reading and I really had to make myself go back to finish reading the book. Just not for me, but maybe my middle schoolers will enjoy it.

I really liked these stories and the ways in which they built on and subverted familiar tales. My favorites were the ones that changed the most or surprised me like Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, and Peter Pan. I also like that it's a story collection that would work for readers of any age. I can't wait to see the final artwork, the sketches were a tease!

WAAAAAAAAOW!!!
I couldn't decide which retelling I loved best out of all the dangerous tales told. Each story made me shudder; from horror, from vengeance, from some part of myself that thirsted for darkness. This book is definitely going onto my shelf as soon as I can get my hands on a physical copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the advanced reader's copy.

I loved Chainani's School for Good and Evil series, so I'm going to read whatever he writes.

Story collections always feel hard to review, as not every story hits the same note for every reader. And that's true for me with this collection, too. These modern takes on fairy tales were hit-and-miss for me.

Some I really enjoyed ("Bluebeard" and "Little Red Riding Hood") and some just left me feeling meh.

However, all of them made me think as Chainani turned the usual fairy tale tropes upside down and sideways, particularly by playing with the power dynamics and stereotypes within the stories.

Plus, Chainani's writing is engaging and witty and readable. He kept me turning the pages, wondering what would happen next.

I also want to pick up a final copy to check out the final artwork, as I think it will be an incredible addition to the tales.

All in all, not a must-read, but definitely a good read, and I'll always be looking forward to more from Chainani.

*some mature themes, violence

Thank you to #NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for allowing me to read a digital ARC of Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani. This book will be published September 21, 2021. All opinions are my own.

This book includes twelve stories that you think you know. However, Chainani has reimagined them into new tales of mystery, adventure, and magic. Each tale reveals truths of warning, truths to set hearts free, and truths of that explore life and death.

I love fairytales and really loved these retellings. They are unique, vibrant, and engaging. Each tale is full of whimsy, adventure, intrigue, and wit. Chainani doesn't stray away from hard truths and dark tales. These tales are more similar to the original with bloody and sometimes murderous endings. I liked that many of the stories were flipped and given new outcomes. Does a princess really need a prince to save her? Is love at first sight (without actually talking to the person) real? Is the villain actually evil or have they been painted that way? I found the book so engaging that I was flying through the stories and was sad when there were no more. I can't wait to add a copy of this to my classroom library.

If you are a fan of alternative endings or fairy tale retellings, then this book might be for you. The author takes well-known tales like Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Peter Pan, and others, then gives each story an imaginative twist. Prepare yourself. Not every tale ends happily ever after, and in fact, some of the selections are quite dark. If you are looking for a book of fairy tales to read to middle school students around Halloween, this book would be perfect.

I like twisted fairy tales and new spins. I'm rather partial to dark retelling, and many of the stories in this collection are interesting. It wasn't my favorite because the plots were fairly predictable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you like The School for Good and Evil, you’ll definitely like Beasts and Beauty. The themes echo that of SGE, and readers of SGE will definitely find hidden meaning in the stories. I am not sure if this is just a feature of the eARC, but there are no quotation marks used to designate when characters speak — and this can make the stories unclear at times.

Nice twists on the original stories! Peter Pan was my favorite of the group. All of the stories feel so nostalgic. :’) can’t wait to get the final book with the finished art. Definitely a great beach read (and I mean this literally because I did read it on the beach).

4 stars

This fairy tale collection features a diverse cast of characters and new twists on the ol' tales. The most traditional aspect of these tales is that they tend to run a bit darker than what most American children grow up reading (and so they are truer to early versions across cultures in that way). I love this aspect, but folks looking for a happy ending and a bunch of expected archetypes won't find that in every tale. This collection may also skew toward a slightly older audience for this reason.

Having taught both Children's Literature and Great Myths and Legends at the college level for many years, I have encountered a higher than average number of fairy tale collections from various cultures and time periods and with disparate focuses. Overall, this is one of the more satisfying anthologies I've read, and I'd like to give special props to "Red Riding Hood," "Bluebeard," and "Peter Pan." These were my favorites (and they are in good company with many other worthy options).

I'll absolutely be recommending this one to students and to any reader interested in a modern take on some classic tales!

This is an interesting book, however it didn't fully meet my expectations. I love twisted and fractured fairy tales, these just fell a but short for me personally. A big struggle was that some of the stories seemed much shorter and less detailed than others were. I did really enjoy the Hansel and Gretel story! It was a great twist on the classic tale! I think that even though it didn't hit all my set expectations, I would still consider ordering a copy for my library for the children. :)

This is a collection of fairy tale adaptations that are re-imagined in a more modern way, with more diverse characters (instead of all white Europeans, many of the characters have dark skin and hair, some have non-European names). Some of the tales are funnier than the Grimm's tales, most are a lot scarier. This is the wrong thing for my elementary library, but I'll bet there are lots of bigger kids who would love this one.

If you enjoy dark reimagined fairytales, this is definitely the book for you. Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales, is a collection of thirteen twisted fairytales. My favorite was Sleeping Beauty. I also loved how the author brought diversity to the stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC