I am so sad that I didn’t connect with the story! Beauty and the Beast retellings are my favorite. It was a very interesting take on the story dealing with the trauma of emotional and sexual abuse. That aspect was handled really well. I just felt like there was no world building and things just surprisingly happened out of the blue. I was a little lost with the storyline. It was great writing though.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Wow. This book was amazing. Beauty Reborn is a retelling of Beauty And The Beast. In my opinions, retellings go one of two ways... and this one was a win.
I loved how fast-paced the plot was. That definitely kept me reading and engaged!
The characters were intriguing and whimsy. The banter between them was brilliant.

Definitely going to check out others by this author.

A twist on my favorite Beauty and the Beast story. This was a short read and while there were some new intriguing ideas to this always retold story, I felt it a bit lacking in my opinion.

I would have loved to see more to the story and see what else it cloud have developed into.

This was a super fast read and while there were pieces that resonated around the Beauty and the Beast story, it felt like Lowham made this her own with a few twists.

I liked the characters and how their relationship built and despite the shortened length, I felt like I was able to get enough that it didn't feel like an insta-love situation.

If you're looking for a quick retelling that will keep you engaged, consider picking this one up. I'll definitely be checking out more from Lowham when I can.

Beauty Reborn is a wondeful addition to the genre of fairytale retellings! Lowham strikes the balance between familiar and unique beautifully, blending the bones of the original tale beautifully with a unique twist on the original tale. These are the hallmarks of the best fairytale retellings; Lowham clearly understands this genre well.

My favorite aspect of this novel is Lowham's emphasis on beastliness being entirely dependent on one's character. The story includes the traditional beast character. Throughout the novel, he is artfully revealed to be entirely different than his appearance and entirely capable of great humanity and compassion. Another conventionally attractive character is gradually exposed as entirely vile at the core. Beauty, in this case, is both a lovely person and a flawed person simulateously; I love how she is depicted so authentically. The cast of characters is kept small, which allows for the message about beastliness to remain very clear throughout.

I appreciate that while her Beauty encounters many challenges and experiences trauma, that the coping with and overcoming are depicted with both hope and realism. In particular, I appreciated this in how Beauty's most impactful trauma was addressed. Sexual assault is no small issue, and Lowham's inclusion in of this in Beauty Reborn was executed with both grace and honesty.

Lowham writes with such lyrical, flowing prose throughout. I often reread sentences so as to fully soak in their meaning. It was absolutely delightful to read, because both the story and the writing are gorgeous!

I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and look forward to additional books from this author!

Thank you to Shadow Mountain, Elizabeth Lowham, and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

It took me a bit to get used to the different writing style and the way the book was written. Beauty was a hard for me to like at first. But continuing with the story, she’d been through a traumatic experience. As the story progressed, she learned how to heal with the help of a Beast. And I appreciated her journey back to family and love.
I received an ebook copy from the publisher. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

Content warning: mention of rape, no details.

An enjoyable Beauty and the Beast retelling. This was a quick read. I liked the variation of this story - Beauty is dealing with trauma from her past and looks to escape to the Beast. I did want more from their relationship and didn’t really feel the chemistry between the two. However, it’s really well written and there are some truly beautiful lines. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys fairytale retellings. Thank you NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for the arc.

A beautiful retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I loved that it followed the basics of the fairy tale. It was easy to see as soon as you start to book that it was a retelling. But what I loved about it was the author changed enough that it didn’t feel like I was reading a word for word retelling. The little things she added made the story flow beautifully.

The siblings added a whole new dimension to the story. Adding them in was so much fun. Each one was so different and added an angle to Beauty’s story. It was just so well done. It is a YA story, so it is fairly short and easy to read. But it didn’t skimp on details or romance!

This is a captivating retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric. The story is familiar but much more meaningful and deep with well-developed characters and family relationships. I didn’t want to put it down. It’s one to read again and savor.

The story starts off right away and is fast paced. Beauty’s dad is a merchant but lost his fortune, so they had to sell everything and move to a cottage next to the forest. Her mother died several years prior leaving four children behind. Rob is the eldest and only brother, Astra is selfish but talented, Callista is more likeable, and Beauty is the whimsical baby of the family who claims her main skill is talking. She is broken inside but nobody realizes it. Stephan thinks it’s his right to take what he wants by force because he is handsome and wealthy.

The main theme is appearances: Beast looks harmful and scary but is good inside, Stephan looks handsome and charming but is a dangerous beast inside. Another theme is everything has a cost. I loved watching the relationship slowly develop between Beauty and Beast as they find similarities between them. He doesn’t realize she’s dealing with trauma that isn’t connected to him which makes everything harder. The ending was surprising but satisfying and I would love to read a sequel telling Astra’s story.

There is mention of sexual assault, but not in detail, and the author includes a note at the end with the number for the National Sexual Assault Hotline. Incredibly this is a debut novel from what I can tell but it is easily 5 stars. Thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC to use for my review.

This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, obviously, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the author's unique take on these characters and their story.

Yes, Beauty goes in her father's place to pay a debt to the Beast, but she does not do so out of loyalty or even altruistic love. Instead, she is running from a traumatic experience, dealing with the aftermath, and hoping that by sacrificing her life to her captor, the pain will stop.

I thought the storytelling was very engaging and loved the enchanted castle setting and how the present and past narratives are woven together. This story also has a different take on how the Beast's curse came about, and while I do wish his character had a little more development and personality, I thought the slow build romance between the MCs was well done.

Overall, this was a heartfelt retelling of a classic story, one that delivers on the romance, but more importantly shows how beauty and new life can come from horrible and traumatic situations.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fantasy Fairytale Retelling
Age Level: Upper Young Adult
Content: sexual assault (not described, but on page)

An original take on one of my favorite fairy tales, Beauty and the Beast has always been the tale that spoke to me, taught me the lessons it was supposed to, made me look at what's inside of a person's heart rather than what they look like, and made me think of others before myself.

I went into this book thinking I knew everything about these characters, but this book, made me look at every character I thought I knew differently and it was such a roller coaster of emotions.

We all think we know the story, of Beauty being torn from her family to pay the price of a stolen rose, but what if Beauty made that choice for herself, to escape a life filled with terror, to save herself?

Beauty Reborn tells many tales spanning the best and the worst of humanity, with moments that make you remember that some people can be so much worse than Beasts while others can be kind for no reason other than kindness and it reminds us that what's on the inside is really what's important.


I have to say I found Beauty's love of music to be something that made me look at her in a completely different way, it just gave her more depth and made her a more complex character.

The letters, reading poetry, the interactions between Beauty and Beast, there were moments of such tenderness that I found myself wanting them to find love in this situation, it had started in desperation for both of them and I wanted them to have their own happily ever after.

On the other hand, we have Stephan, oh Stephan how could you be such an evil evil man and yet fool everyone, even Beauty's sisters had stars in their eyes where he was concerned if only Beauty had listened to her brother.

As the story goes on and you see what drove Beauty to make her decisions, what Stephan had done, some moments will be triggering to some but explain so many of the moments we have in this book.

It's a lovely example of visceral storytelling, I could picture the castle, I could sense the wonder of the magic, and I began to feel for almost all of our characters while being enveloped in this familiar story that's just different enough to keep me wondering what would happen next.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The story is a reimagined version of beauty and the beast. While, this is one of my favorite fairytales, I wondered, how many retelling can I read? I was pleasantly surprised at the similarities, and yet quite different view, the author portrayed. Beauty was raised in an affluent home. She, being the youngest in the family consisting of an older brother and two older sisters, she was surprised that the son of a baron was interested in her. He asked her multiple times to marry him, but her answer was always no. Each time she refused him. He became more aggressive and more angry. When her father lost his business and livelihood, she thought her suitor would leave her alone. But he was determined to make her his, to the point where he went to her sick bed and defiled her. I appreciated the author using discretion and handling the situation tactfully. Beauty did not tell anyone what had happened. One day her father came home, after a bad storm, telling tales of a mysterious castle and the beast inside. Her father had clipped a golden rose as he left, and the beast said he had to pay his debt. When beauty heard of this, she took the opportunity to run from her demons, not caring what happened to her as long as she could pay her father’s debt. I truly enjoyed the characters in the story. They were well defined, and I found the story quite charming. It is a fairly short book and yet I thought it was packed with a lot of depth. I believe this is the first book from this author. I am quite intrigued to read more from her. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

A Beauty and the Beast retelling, where Beauty isn't there to save her father, but in hopes of being eaten.

She is suffering from a secret traumatic event and ends up sticking around an enchanted castle and talking to a beast who won't let her see him.

She may find healing and he may find the solution to his curse? Read it!

Beauty reborn

It took me a while to decide what to rate this one, but in the end, I've gone with 3 stars. Please check the content warnings. A big part of this book is the main characters trauma following a sexual assault. I will say I think it was dealt with in a sensitive manner, and the actual assault is not described.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, Elizabeth Lowham, and the publisher for the opportunity to read the book.

I wound up really liking the book, who doesn't love a magic castle that can provide an entire library for you. The journey the main characters go in together towards healing themselves and each other was nice to read. Especially her teaching him to read and him helping her see thay she can allow herself to relax and feel safe even if it's just for a little while. Beauty's character development is very well summed up in this quote
"There is a piece of me, I said, taken by force. That is yours. Content yourself with it. My hope is that it will become a fire, and on your lowest night, it will turn on you and scorch your conscience. "

It took me a while to connect with the main character. The overuse of the word whimsy was definitely a contributor to this issue. We get it you're not like the other girls, but it just detracted from the other aspect of her that i did like. I also wish the character wasn't just named beauty, I found that quite off-putting for some reason.

I think the book could maybe have benefitted from being slightly longer. It would have given more time for romance and maybe even the beasts point of view. It would have been interesting to see what was going on in his head.

I liked this different take on Beauty and the Beast, which is famously my favorite Disney Princess movie and has made me slave to retellings. Beauty goes to the castle of her own volition, and Beast doesn't have the usual arrogance/anger issues seen in other retellings. I thought it was very cozy and enjoyable.

That said, I felt like the author gave too much away too soon. Right on the first page we find out that Beauty was raped (though not in so many words), and I felt it would've been better storytelling to withhold that information for later. If we had just been told that something happened between Beauty and Stephan to end their relationship, I would've been more curious and more inclined to keep reading to find out what it was. I do appreciate, though, that the author never goes into explicit detail about what happened, but tells the reader just enough that we know what happened.

Overall, I was expecting a bit more from this, but I'm not disappointed with what it ended up being.

I was thrilled when I found another retelling of Beauty and the Beast. In my opinion there is never enough of them. However I like for them to have a special sort of twist something to really hook me. I'm not sure that this book had that. It just seemed more of a typical retelling of the story. It wasn't terrible but it isn't the best either. It is a quick read though which sometimes is just what you need.

Thank you to #Netgalley for sending an eArc in return for an honest review.

3.5 stars
This cover is so pretty! So, I was excited to try out this book but it was a little harder for me to read. Beauty Reborn is written by Elizabeth Lowham and it is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty was an interesting character, she got on my nerves a bit. However I grew to understand her as I read the book. I loved how Beauty was herself but she also grew throughout the book. Beast was a sweetheart and I loved getting to know him. He was different from other beasts and he seemed kind.
The storyline was interesting and it was an intriguing twist on Beauty and the Beast. It did take me harder to get into this book but I did end up enjoying it. I am excited to see if there will be more books in the series. The side characters were honestly a bit annoying and had some growing up to do. However I would still recommend this book. I would recommend Beauty Reborn to those who enjoy fairy tale retelling but are ready for a heavier sort of book.

Content warnings: sexual assault and the repercussions of it

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

“For all the thorns I’d faced, at last I’d found the roses.”

Fairytale retellings are definitely a favorite genre so I jumped at the chance to read this book. Beauty Reborn is a creative if darker twist on the much beloved Beauty and the Beast fairytale. It’s a story of the deepest hurts and struggles combined with second chances and hope.

The story begins much like several retellings. For me it most closely resembled Beauty by Robin McKinley and the Disney cartoon version. However, for all the similarities like the father picking the rose and Beauty taking his place, the magical castle, Beauty’s love of reading, and of course the Beast himself, there are compelling differences which drew me into the story. It’s a little confusing in the beginning because Beauty’s story switches back and forth between the past and her present circumstances, but I was soon drawn into the narrative and found I couldn’t put it down.

At first, Beauty comes off as somewhat unlikable. She’s the youngest of three sisters and thrives on her intellect. She’s often described as whimsical. But, what makes her unlikable is her personality when she becomes enamored with Stephan. All too quickly, she learns that he’s not what he seems. He leaves her so broken that she revels at the chance of going to Beast’s castle to be eaten by him. Little by little my attitude about Beauty changed as she reveals more of what happened to her. I soon understood her fears, melancholy, and distrust of not only Beast, but all men.

I absolutely loved Beast. His reason for being a beast is different than any previous retelling I’m aware of and I enjoyed the way his story is revealed through the stories Beauty reads to him. He’s extremely sensitive to Beauty’s needs and infinitely patient with her. I enjoyed the way the author portrayed Beauty’s healing process as she helps the Beast learn to read and write. I also enjoyed their play acting scenes. The ending was fast paced and I’m hoping that we’ll get Beauty’s nasty sister Astra’s story and that she’ll learn her lesson much like the Beast.

This author is definitely one to watch out for. I enjoyed her writing style and was impressed by the depth of emotion she put into the book. Just a word of warning, this book deals with some deep topics like sexual assault and the aftermath, including suicidal ideation. While the author handles this very sensitively and nothing is described in detail, I’d still recommend it for older, mature teens. I received an advanced complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own and voluntarily given.

I’m always interested to see how people reimagine fairytales, so this retelling of Beauty and the Beast caught my eye as I was browsing on NetGalley.

I like the juxtaposition of the handsome man who is a monster on the inside versus the man who is outwardly a beast, but inwardly gentle and self-contained. It’s a more extreme version of that idea than I’ve seen done in other stories, and it also allows the story to focus on what it is like as a sexual assault survivor to face a new opportunity for relationship.

I liked the pacing of the story, too. The relationship between Beauty and the Beast gently builds, showing the progression of the friendship and deepening affection between them. I also really liked the way the story shows Beauty processing what happened to her and her journey of healing.

BEAUTY REBORN is a shorter book at under 200 pages, so it was a really quick read. Parts of it reminded me of Robin KcKinley’s BEAUTY, but new elements and twists kept the story fresh and me engaged. All in all, I think this is one fans of the original fairytale do not want to miss.

I loved this book! Beautifully written, Beauty is a clever, witty, and a strong female lead. This retelling has intriguing twists on the original tale, without losing any of the original enchantment. I loved the witty banter throughout the book. The conflict between the siblings had me angry and frustrated along with the characters. The story had a buildup that left me on the edge of my seat at the end, despite already knowing the ending to beauty and the beast, I felt desperate for a happy ending, and curious to how it would come along. I look forward to reading this book again and highly recommend it.