This isn't the first M/M retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" I have read, and whilst it has a sweet main lead and an original idea for a story, I think it suffers from issues in the execution.

For a start, the motive for the curse lacks depth. The villain curses Florian because of pure greed with a dash of homophobia thrown in to make him more cartoony than need be. The villain could've had a backstory that would explain why he was pushed to curse his own brother, but instead he's left with the thin characterisation of an one-dimensional film baddie, and that was a turn-off for me. One of the first things I look into in a B&B retelling is the handling of the curse plotline, because therein lies just how much the retelling will follow the fairy tale's overarching theme even if the story and elements are different. With a cartoonish villain and no redemption story, this criteria isn't met, and the retelling turns into merely a tick-the-boxes exercise.

And tick the boxes "The Fatal Rose" does, borrowing all the elements from and following the tale's plot too closely. The merchant father losing his fortune, the lone cargo that returns long after, the parent stumbling into a hidden castle in a snowstorm, the theft of a rose, the cursed servants, the angry Beast, the dining & wooing scenes, the falling in love rather quickly, the breaking of the curse and vanquishing of the villain... They're all there, but without the core theme, they become predictable writing.

I don't like to say "I wanted to like this book," because it sounds as if you had tried to force yourself to like something you weren't going to. But sometimes there's no better way to express the frustration of not liking something you thought you would. I liked Ren, the French-Japanese "Beauty" figure, and I liked his pluck, his backstory, his struggles, and although I didn't care for aristocratic spoiled boy Florian in the least, I would've liked their story together far more if not for the paint-by-numbers storyweaving and the inability to suspend disbelief when noticing things that stretched believability.

Things like the absolute lack of realness for the world Florian comes from. I mean, I get this is a version of France where magic used to exist, but the author doesn't even bother to identify the time period and simply says "18th century." Well, that's 100 years, so when in the 18th century did Florian exist? The early 1700s weren't like the mid-1700s that weren't like the late 1700s. This vagueness doesn't help with either worldbuilding or credibility, it feels like the period and France were used as pretty theatre decorations. Also, Florian is too modern for a man from 300 years ago, takes too quickly to modern objects and tech, and to modern attitudes too. For a man from an era when homosexuality was if not illegal then terribly closeted for fear of social ostracism, it doesn't take him a second thought to immediately accept that he can marry another man in our time. This lack of struggle and wonderment makes him so one-dimensional and unbelievable as a character.

It was a nice concept for a retelling, but didn't work for me in the execution. The "castle frozen in time" trope for fairy tale retellings is already a challenge for believable storytelling, but the issues with characters never feeling like people from their time and never having much trouble with our modernity simply make them hard to enjoy for me.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to rant because I really wanted to enjoy this book. Florian feels like a really fake entity, really underdeveloped and literally just feels like a plot device,,,,,not realistic enough to connect to in any way. The magic world premise is confusing, mostly because Florian barely gets any character development or background development during which we'd also learn more about his world. Ren is a super cool character and has so much potential,,,,but he's static asf. The intimacy that builds between the two happens way too quickly and isn't really built on anything at all to the point where it feels really fake and cringe like shitty rom com energy. The whole relationship is just really annoying because they feel like a combination of old married couple and 27 year olds who have never before found love but they're supposed to be young adults. By the time they're calling each other "sweetheart" it just feels wrong and too much. They feel too old when it comes to how they treat each other and once Ren meets Florian he gradually stops having any remotely teen vibes (and Florian never had any) but at the same time they're written as sexually innocent. It just has 30 year old living vicariously through "teen" characters and getting a creepy kick out of romanticizing them losing their virginity energy. There are also just a ton of little things that make no sense...Why was the kiss when Florian was about to die different from any other kiss? Why did that kiss finally break the curse when it didn't break before? Why did Florian have to make sure the blood deaths were paid? Was he just choosing to kill people? Why?? That makes no sense for his character so why was there no explanation?? How did Ren not get torn up during all the hooking up they did? If Ren was so uncomfortable being objectified, how did he get over it after a single experience with Florian that was also his first sexual experience ever? This was a cool concept but poorly executed.

While there were a few plot points I wasn't a fan of (the dreams, Saule), overall I really enjoyed this Beauty and the Beast retelling. I loved Sarah Bryant's take on the curse and was thrilled that someone FINALLY decided to explain why picking a flower is such a big freakin' deal!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of The Fatal Rose by Sarah Bryant.. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC to review.

The Fatal Rose is a retelling of the fairytale Beauty and the Beast, but it was the creative filling out the narrative which elevated The Fatal Rose to something unique. Florian and Ren were so well developed that the time flew by, and I was very invested in them attaining their happy ending. But it was not just the OTP (one true pairing) that I enjoyed. The creation of the cursed castle and its inhabitants was fascinating and helped flesh out the beautiful world-building. I give this book a solid 4.5/5 and would happily read another work by this author.

4.25/5
this book was wonderfully written! our main character Ren grew up reading fairy tales to his younger sister and accidentally finds himself wrapped up in one in this queer retelling of beauty and the beast. the author does an amazing job of taking the classic tale and adding unique elements, creating a slightly darker story, and producing anxiety-inducing moments as Ren and Florian find themselves desperately searching for ways to break the curse and find their happily-ever-after.

i really enjoyed reading this book, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to dive into a fairy tale retelling with some twists. featuring a heartwarming gay romance and a found family trope, this book was magical to say the least.

To start off, this book is written beautifully in a haunting way. The prologue is a very promising start with a distinct time period stated clearly and unlike many books, I didn’t think it was ridiculously vague or irrelevant. To the present, descriptions and exploration of the French chateau really sets this book apart from other Beauty and the Beast retellings, or that it’s a MLM romance. The two main characters are Ren and Florian who are equally compelling yet different to each other and I enjoyed the interactions with other characters residing within the chateau walls. This was a truly special read with subtle updates making the story fresh, so I believe the story does enough to provide the reader with something unique. I was hooked before the 25% mark and the plot is solid. This book delivers on all fronts and I was very pleased with this book. One of the best reads of this year. An easy 5 stars. My only criticism is that I think the character perspective changes could've been made more clear.

Gahhh this was super cute: Beauty and the Beast but make it gay!

Florian is your average 18 year old... if by 'average' you mean over 350 years old and horribly, irrevocably cursed. Florian can see the light at the end of the tunnel and is chagrined to find anything, or anyone, able to stop him from reaching it: enter Ren. Sweet, down on his luck and cursed with exceptionally good looks, all Ren wants is to keep his family fed and safe (without resorting to anything illegal). So when a mysterious ship once belonging to his long-deceased father filled to the brim with riches washes ashore, Ren feels that the situation is just too good to be true.

Ren and Florian could not have met under worse circumstances, but from their anger and despair maybe something beautiful can grow. And although all Florian has ever known in his life has been thorns, perhaps Ren can help him to see the beauty that is in his life, or maybe the clock will run out on their real life fairytale.

I really enjoyed this read, a sweet YA fantasy about two boys from literally two different worlds coming together to save one another. A great read for fans of Beauty and the Beast or just retellings in general!

A loose M/M retelling of Beauty and the Beast, The Fatal Rose tells the story of noble Florian - cursed by his jealous brother to a lifetime of imprisonment in their family castle - until Ren appears to save his mother, and begins to uncover the truth behind the thorny appearance of the Master.

My favourite part of The Fatal Rose was probably all the exploration of Florian's cursed chateau, and I thought the twist on the curse and the significance of stealing a rose was very clever and powerful. The wording of the curse, too, and what this means for Florian's understanding of his own sexuality and how it leaves him doomed, was poignant and moving. I was a little worried about how concepts of purity and virginity were combined, but in the end these were appropriately subverted for my preferences. While no explicit labels are used, I got the sense that both Ren and Florian were on the asexual spectrum, possibly demisexual or otherwise grey-ace, and I thought they complimented each other well as characters. I also really liked how Florian's compassionate nature was demonstrated in his attitude towards his little sister, compared to that of his family. It was a lovely surprise to find some sensitive trans rep, and as the novel unfolds, I really liked the found family vibes as well.

There were some aspects of the novel I was not too sure about, specifically time period and realism. The main storyline seems to be set in present day contemporary France, but a lot of Ren's initial conflict and the general tone of the story seems better suited to a typical Eurocentric fantasy. I found it odd to hear Ren talking about how his friends have been prostituting themselves since they were twelve, being ogled in his workplace, then talking about modern conveniences. This sexually darker aspect, too, seemed somewhat out of place for a book marketed towards teens, Since prostitution had no major role in the story, I think it would have worked just as well had Ren been concerned about gangs or a life of crime more generally.

Overall, I would have loved to see these characters and their story transplanted into more Adult territory. Despite the awful curse, Florian's thorns aesthetically look incredible in my head, so I would have loved to have seen a bit more of a 'no holds barred' enemies-to-lovers dynamic between him and Ren. There, I could have seen how the prostitution angle would have fitted better to the age range and genre, with 'Belle' the prostitute stumbling into the life of Florian the tortured 'beast', and everything kicking off with his thorns and their complicated understanding of their complex sexualities.

All in all, The Fatal Rose is a fun read that takes aspects of Beauty and the Beast but updates them with compelling and interesting new lore and interpretations. Even if some aspects weren't to my personal preferences, I would still recommend anyone who likes the look of the premise to give this story a go. I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. These opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishing house for allowing me to read this e-arc in exchange for honest feedback.
Great book! im so happy i read this during pride month. They got me all up in my feels.