3.5/5

I’m a sucker for a fairytale retelling, so I was really excited for this one. And it was… pretty good overall.

The writing itself was really unique. I wasn’t sure if I liked it at first, but as I kept reading I liked it more and more.

Beauty was an interesting character. She wasn’t your typical “Beauty” and for the most part it was pretty fun!

Beast was very sweet and he was probably my favorite character, honestly.

The thing is, I feel like there was more description of all the cool magic than there was about the story or developing feeling between the two. There wasn’t a whole lot of chemistry or anything. It was just.. there.

Also the book deals with sexual assault, and I feel like the author did handle it in a good way. However there was no warning or anything about it until the very end of the book. And I feel like that wasn’t well thought out.

However! I did enjoy the book and once I was in I was in!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I struggled with the trauma. I read books to escape from real life. And some books should have trigger warnings like with this one, there is a rape situation that the main character is trying to overcome.

I liked the flow and I liked the ending. Beauty and the beast is one of my favorite stories.

Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham
I loved this Beauty and the Beast retelling. Beauty takes her father's place at the Beast's castle not just to save him but to run away from her circumstances. This story is full of whimsy, magic, and love. Definitely recommend this story.

TW- Rape
#BeautyReborn #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The worldbuilding and magic system: 4/5
The worldbuilding was rather vague, but that’s fine because this is a more individually focused story than a big fantasy adventure. It did have a magic system involving fairies and enchantments. I would’ve liked to see a bit more context and explanation of that, but overall it was pretty solid.

The characters: 4.5/5
The characters were really good, though I would’ve liked to see more development and depth for the side characters in particular (eg. Beauty’s oldest sister who seemed rather one-dimensional compared to other characters). Both Beauty and the Beast were well fleshed out, and interesting characters to read about. I did find the Beast’s backstory a bit confusing, so I would’ve liked a more detailed explanation of that.

The plot: 5/5
This story gave an interesting twist to Beauty and the Beast. It was quite fast-paced, and I sped through it. I would’ve liked it to be a little longer, but at the same time, maybe a longer length wouldn’t have been necessary. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and recommend it to anyone who enjoys retellings with interesting twists.

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories. The animated version is my favorite Disney movie, and I've read more adaptations than I can count. The gold standard for me has always been Beauty by Robin McKinley. It's a fairly simple version of the story compared to some other tellings, but it does exactly what I want from a Beauty and the Beast story.

This book felt like reading Beauty again, but a somewhat more fleshed-out way. It's almost like this book is the reboot of a past favorite movie or TV show. It adds some things, reiterates on things, but... also has some of the same weaknesses.

To be clear: I really, really enjoyed this book. While I will talk about some of the weaknesses here, it felt like the adult me experiencing what child me felt when reading Beauty for the first time. I loved the experience of reading it, and none of the more negative things in the review bothered me while reading it. I'm still going to recommend the book to the people I think will enjoy it, and I will probably read it again.

I enjoyed the sister having a stronger part of the story, and I appreciated Beauty deciding to go on her own accord rather than being forced, I always love when variations use the daily marriage proposals aspect, and I think it was done well here. Beauty's learning to trust and Beast respecting her and her boundaries was done well. Her love for books and reading is here, and it's done in a sweet way that helps grow their relationship. I liked the prose most of the time. I liked how it was a little darker in parts that are unique for this story but doesn't feel too heavy or dark.

Now the more critical review.

The biggest challenge with McKinley's Beauty is that it's simple. It has some wonderful scenes that take you through the story, but there isn't a lot of character development or description. It leaves you wanting more and feeling like it was short. Which it was. I have all the same things to say about this. While I think this one was longer and it certainly has more elements to it, it still feels like there should be more.

I wish we'd had more of the magic system and the curse, and more about how it worked earlier on in the story. I wish we had gotten to know the Beast better. I wish Beauty had a more distinct personality as her personality was relatively forgettable. I wish their relationship had shown more growth before the end. I wish we'd had more development of the family so we understood better where the sister was coming from because it didn't completely fit. Overall, I wish it had been a little bit less flat.

But I'll still read it again.

Content warning: Mention of rape (not detailed or frequent, but she is dealing with the trauma of it)

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advance copy to review. I can't wait to buy a copy for my sisters and my mom to read.

My ranking 4 stars

I am a SUCKER for fairytale retellings. and this one was just amazing! I fell in love with it right from the get go. It wasn't your typical Disney version there were some dark undertones and I was totally here for it! I loved the detail of the palace and the enchanted woods. Beauty was just an awesome main character. I also LOVED the ending. You never really get a glimpse into the future after the main plot ends its always they lived happily ever after or they didn’t. I liked that it gave us a glimpse of the future. I would stock this in my store and constantly push it on my customers that like fairytale retellings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for providing me with the arc in exchange for an honest review.

🇺🇲:

TW: sexual assault (off page)

Beauty Reborn is a Beauty and the Beast retelling that follows our main character, Beauty, as she goes to the Beast's castle in her father's place after he stole a golden rose. In the castle, not only the bond between her and the Beast develops into a lovely friendship (and possibly more), but she also starts a path towards her own healing and rebirth.

This might be a short book but it certainly has a nice character-driven story. I really liked Beauty as a main character, and the Beast is adorable. The story is fast-paced but we still get to know the characters in a deep way, specially Beauty: her past, her healing journey and acceptance of herself. We also get to see her relationship with her father, brother, sisters, and a man named Stephan. Through the Beast, the author established a clear contrast with what Beauty experienced from her past relationship with that other man, and who the real monster is. Speaking of the Beast, I liked how he has the appearance of one, not like in other retellings where they're irresistible, gorgeous men *eye roll*, so it's refreshing to get a retelling where he is turned into an actual beast. He is shy, soft-spoken and endearing, showing Beauty a different kind of relationship, and in trying to break his curse she also learns a lot about herself.

Overall, Beauty's arc, her growth through the story, and exploring her past and present, is the highlight of the novel. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book, highly recommend.

CW: Sexual assault
3.5/5 stars
Fairytale retellings are a sweet spot for me and they are hard to resist. This retelling is emotional and dark considering what Beauty has endured before even meeting the Beast. I found the plot to be surprisingly fast-paced, especially considering that there aren’t many characters to drive it forward.

In this rendition of Beauty and the Beast, Beauty’s journey is explored. It’s less about the Beast and more about the healing that Beauty is seeking after her sexual assault. There is an exploration of what beauty is, that goes deeper than just the traditional tale of a man who was a transformed into a beast because he was a jerk to a fairy.

Beauty is also stuck on the fact that people consider whimsical. She talks about it a lot… But it’s because others feel threatened by her wit and intelligence. An important part of her self-discovery is accepting who she is and embracing her wit as a positive trait instead of one that others find off-putting. Her time spent with the Beast is good opportunity to explore this because he appreciates her personality.

Another concept explored is Beauty’s post-assault frustration of finding men untrustworthy. The tension between the present Beast and his seemingly compulsory need to ask her to marry him during each of their interactions and the distaste left after her rejection of her boyfriend’s proposal for marriage is a main thread in the narrative. The comparison/contrast between the two men is pretty straightforward and it’s evident who is the actual beast. The complexity of the story lays at Beauty’s journey to self-recovery.

I just couldn’t finish this. There’s no world building or character building. It’s all over the place. The summary sounded promising, but I just couldn’t read it

Well done retelling. It was sensitive to the issue of sexual assault. I liked beauty and how she handled her situation.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast tale. A slightly different outcome than usual. Beauty comes to realize she hasn't been as good a a person as she should be. She learns to grow beyond mistakes and her past. Not everything that goes wrong is her fault.
Although it reads similar to a children's
book, I would not recommend it for teenagers.

Another take on Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed it for the most part, It still read like the fairy tale but with a magnifying glass reading between the lines. I enjoyed it when she taught him how to read and write. That was endearing and a way for Beauty to get closer to Beast without him running skittish. If you enjoy Beauty retellings, this is the novel for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

It's baffling to me how this book is being marketed as a feminist retelling of Beauty and the Beast because I would not place feminist anywhere near this book. On paper (hehehe) this plot SHOULD work. It could work. Does it work in this case? Absolutely not. At least not for me. We get a reason for Beauty to end up at the castle of her own accord, well...kind of...and in a sense, she mostly makes decisions herself? But my god, as a character, Beauty is difficult to read and care for. With how weak of a character Beauty is, it made reading this an absolute slog. I mean, it felt like WORK reading this book. I couldn't care less for Beauty and her desires. I cared more about her nice sister and her villainous sister. Honestly, all of the characters were so one-note and so static. The writing itself wasn't good enough, in my opinion, to even keep my attention. I fought to finish this one.

I really really wanted to like this one. It sounded so promising and the premise, again, looked promising on paper. Unfortunately, the lack of character and the boring plot made this book a hard one to get through. I would not recommend and I genuinely do not understand all of the 3+ star reviews.

I was really impressed by this book. I picked it up because I love the cover and I'm always a fan of fairy tale retelling. I didn't realize until I got started that this is a book about a girl who has been abused and how she works through the trauma in her life. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into at that point. As I read I was very impressed by how the author handled the theme. It was very interesting to watch Beauty work through her trauma as she developed her relationship with Beast. The retelling of all that had happened was delicately handled. The romance is sweet with just a few kisses. Seeing Beauty overcome her fears and traumatized thinking because of the kind and compassionate Beast made for a beautiful story.

I love Beauty and the Beast and I love retellings. This book has a unique take on the Beauty and the Beast. There are definitely triggers if you have ever been or know someone who has been sexually abused. The book doesn't go into details, it is more alluded too.
I love the relationship of trust that is slowly built over time between Beauty and the Beast. The kindness that he shows to her and the patient friendship.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast that had me confused at the beginning that I initially thought was the case because I don’t normally read retellings of fairytales but as I continued I started to see the storyline emerge more fully. I really didn’t care for Beauty’s family, she was portrayed as the black sheep because she wasn’t like her two older sisters. Beauty was whimsical, and I think a good description of her would be more inclined to pursue a more intellectual environment.

I enjoyed the relationship between Beauty and the Beast, it slowly developed and it didn’t lack for showing each character's personality. This was slow for me because I am guessing I am not a huge reader or the right target reader of fairytales, but my enjoyment of the story of it did increase as I read.

My gratitude to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain. All opinions are mine.

I received an arc from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

I read the prologue and part of chapter 1, and the MC isn't likeable. She's a little insufferable and likes to talk talk talk talk. She thinks she's witty, and it's unfortunate we see how the story unfolds through her eyes.

There's a lot of telling, not much showing. It's like reading a long summary without the unique voice or narration of the MC. It's dry, dead, colorless. And there were weird jumps between sceneries/settings. This might be due to the excessive telling.

I wanted to like this book since its a retelling of my favorite fairytale. I would have given this 1 star only, but gave it 2 instead for the effort.

An excellent retelling with an entirely new spin on the original Beauty and the Beast. Beauty is both kind and stubborn, great traits to have in her environment. She did not fall into the magic of the castle as quickly as I thought she would. Beast brings great contrast to the story. We see him as shy and uncertain yet hopeful. The castle's curse remains similar but with delightful differences. I enjoyed seeing deeper into Beauty's family and her motivation behind going to the castle. This book has a bit of a darker tone but I loved how the author handled each situation. Stunning prose kept me reading and brought the whole thing to life.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book was slow paced but I like how I could put it down and whenever I picked it back up, I felt immersed in the story. The author did a fantastic job regarding imagery and I found the story very atmospheric. The main character's journey of healing from her trauma didn't feel rushed. I enjoyed seeing the character regain her confidence and find her strength again.

First off I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this for a review. All opinions are my own.
I am an absolute sucker for a Beauty and the Beast retelling so when I saw this I knew I wanted to read it. Overall, it was a good story. The concept was unique enough to make it interesting but could have totally been fleshed out a little bit. The first bit of the story felt a little disjointed and rushed making it difficult to really get stuck in to. I almost dnf'd the book twice in the first 25 pages. I am glad I ended up finishing it though.
Beauty Reborn will never make it into my top faves for Beauty and the Beast re-telling but it also isn't the worse. I think fleshing out the first quarter of the book by giving a bit more backstory to Beauty's home life especially her motivation for leaving and a little bit of space before she runs off would really serve the later story.
CW: sexual assault