3.5/5

I loved the premise of this book. I adore Beauty and the Beast retellings, so I was really looking forward to reading. Unfortunately, the beginning felt really disjointed and it was hard to follow what was going on. The author tends to tell, not show, and that made it more difficult to read as well. As I kept reading, it did get a bit easier to understand and I was able to enjoy it more. The moments between Beauty and Beast where they started to learn and care more about each other were really lovely to read and the best parts of the book. The other characters felt a bit flat, and I think the relationship between Beauty and Beast needed more time to develop.

Other than that, I liked this story. If the execution was cleaned up a bit, it would be a really good read!

#BeautyReborn #NetGalley

Best retelling of beauty and the beast I have ever read!! It is definitely a different take on the story, but with so much development and the characters have so much depth, even the extras. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes good writing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lowham for an advanced reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

This 100% needed a trigger warning at the beginning of the book. I would have enjoyed it more had I expected the heavy topic of rape. Especially from a publisher like shadow mountain. I was impressed with the writing and satisfied with the story, the way the rape was handled and how everything tied up, but my experience reading would have been so much better had I been emotionally prepared. I also think it could have used a lot more dialogue to move us quicker through the story.

It’s an important story that needs to be told. But omg use a trigger warning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC! I love a good fantasy retelling, and I enjoyed reading this one! It was a nice quick read, and I needed something light and easy to read after reading a few Agatha Christies.

SO, things I liked about this book! I liked the Beast and Beauty's relationship, they're cute together, and I really liked all the descriptions of the castle. I liked the fact that there wasn't a ton of conflict, because I really didn't want the book to be stressful. I kept expecting the Blue Fairy to be worse, but like the only real big conflict is when Astra goes to the castle and stuff.

Things I didn't like! I think most of the characters were kind of flat, and I found Beauty a tiny bit annoying, but honestly not that much, so I don't mind it. I wish the story had been a bit more of a twist on the original, because while I liked this book, I wish I could have seen more of the author's ideas and creativity in it.

3-3.5 stars really, but I rounded up.

This book starts out all over the place. It was very hard to follow at first. The set-up and tie-in for the classic Beauty and The Beast tale was pretty nonexistent at first. It's a lot of narrative and jumbled thoughts from Beauty, trying to follow the setting, the history, the plot. After the beginning settles down into a consistent timeline, then I was able to follow the story better. The premise is excellent. The retelling with that twist is good and thought-provoking. It's the execution that needed more refinement. There are the similarities to the original (movie I guess since I've never actually read the original fairytale), but it does veer into its own world and own plot. There is a rose. There is a beauty. There is a beast. There is a father and a town and an enchanted castle created by a fairy. But it is completely different at the same time.

The times where Beauty and Beast interact and are growing together and their play/imagination are excellent and the best parts of the book. The past that Beauty is recovering from and healing from needed even more development, in my opinion, to really show the contrast between the two. There's no Gaston/villian-type resolution like there is in the movie (not sure about the original fairytale as I've never read that one). That would have had a tremendous impact on the story as well. Beauty does confront him and get her resolution, but it falls short for the impact.

Beauty's family is bigger than in the movie (again, I'm not sure about compared to the original) so there's more dynamic there, but even that needed more development, at the beginning of the book would have been good, where it was so disjointed that I didn't connect with any of it. For a retelling, there's very little set-up and explanation of THIS story, which it desperately needs. We need to know THIS story, THIS background, THIS setting, Beauty's family in THIS situation explained, developed. And it's all really missing, until further into the book, when I was already confused and struggling. Again, there are such magical moments between Beauty and Beast and the castle and the enchanted objects that I LOVED those, but it came just too late. The set-up needed to be stronger, bigger, more developed sooner. It is heavy and darker/noir-feeling because of why Beauty needs to be "reborn" so that contrasts with the magical/happy moments and does portray the seriousness of Beauty's harsh past with love. Beauty's sister Astra's moment at the end was a bit odd, for me. I could see why it was added, but it felt like it was used in place of the Gaston/villian character and didn't 100% work for me. The fairy was also portrayed so differently in this version than in the movie as trying to help Beast (and others) learn a lesson but just as a mean, though almost indifferent magical character who didn't really care about the people she granted wishes to, only how her magic is used.

Overall, the 3-3.5 stars rating. So why did I round it up to 4? Because of the good moments, the excellent writing moments, the hope and promise and redemption for Beauty and Beast that do come, the ending portrayed in the epilogue, and the potential I see in this writer for further books to develop even more on these good moments she showed in this book.

Content: Clean, although there is the subject of rape and mention of when it occurred, although not overly described in graphic detail. This is not a light, happy retelling. It is dark/noir/heavy in a lot of ways, but the moments that are bright are wonderful. If this is being billed as a YA book, I disagree. More for older/New Adult readers instead, in my opinion.

I was pleasantly surprised with this story. The beginning was a bit slow for me, but once I understood more (by continuing to read) I became invested in the story.

While drawing closely to the normal fairy-tale, I think there are enough differences to call it a retelling. The character arcs were by far my favorite aspect of the story. I loved Beauty’s reflection upon herself, her actions, and the treatment of her family. The lessons she learns in while in the castle and the slow rebuilding of trust were extremely well written.

I love the humility of Beast. He had truly changed as well and while we don’t see that change on page, we see the effects of it. I also really enjoyed how Beauty was able to help him.

I was concerned with the depiction of God and religion in the beginning, but I also realized that Beauty had changing to be done, and there was growth that need to occur so I continued to read and I was glad with the later mentions of God and religion.

While I ultimately enjoyed the book and found much to compliment it on, I would not label this as YA. The sexual assault, while also off page, is a heavy topic and leads to heavy feelings and lingering issues for Beauty. I have a teenage daughter and I would not be comfortable with her reading this. It was too much for YA in my opinion. I do think it is fine for an adult level.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

It started out a bit weird for me and was a little hard to get into but overall the story was okay. It feels like it could have been fleshed out more but I'm guessing that's the trade off for only 208 pages.

It was a weird retelling of Beauty and the Beast that promises much but delivers nothing of what's expected. It works on the plot premise, very positive in my opinion, of giving Beauty a different reason to go to the castle of Beast on her own without the usual father messing up (... much) and give Beast a different reason for being turned into a monster than in the fairy tale and most other retellings.

That alone would've been one wonderful premise to build on. I mean, how many retellings have we already got that go for the usual rose theft or debt? And how many retellings have we read in which Beast is unwillingly shapeshifted for pissing off a magical being with zero sense of humour? Too many! So, if Beauty goes to the castle due to the workings of a rival that manipulates his way into her life and Beastie boy becomes Beastie boy for not being careful about what he wished for, the story is going to be promising, right?

Oh, no, you're a too optimistic person, Marquise. Always expecting good premises to end in good execution. When will you ever learn? Never, apparently. So I was deeply disappointed by the absolute lack of spine and character shown by both Beauty and Beast here. Especially her, the banana I just hate has more spunk than that girl, and I still feel like I'm insulting the banana. I'm not trying to overdo sarcasm here, it's seriously a lackluster main female lead, which is surprising in itself given how easy Beauty is to write. Even the evil sister had more backbone, and that in spite of being a bit of a caricature villain. And, it pains me to say because Beast is my favourite, he's a wet dog of a monster, about as scary as a toy poodle trying to posture in front of a Great Dane. The rival for Beauty's affection easily outshone him.

I can't believe I'm writing this, the baddies are the stars! And they're not even complex and nuanced baddies. You can't root for the main couple because they have little to no chemistry, and you can't root for the evil ones because they're not fetching villains, so you're left with just a sauce that has all the ingredients but no spice.

I absolutely loved this book. A beautiful retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Beauty is a strong, brave, and clever heroine who leaves her family to find out about her self and save a cursed prince.

2/5 stars! I love a good fairytale retelling. My concern will this story is that it was barely a re-telling. It was almost just the normative Beauty and the Beast by a new author, rather than a unique re-telling utilizing only some of the original constructs. An enjoyable read but it doesn't feel fair to rate something so unoriginal higher.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

First of all, thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

I do quite like fairytale retellings in general, so I was really looking forward to this one! I did find it quite slow…this story is definitely more about conversations and character interactions rather than action and major plot points for me. The world building was done really well, I would have liked a bit more background building. Also, check TWs! Overall, a solid, mostly enjoyable book without being particularly brilliant.

2.75 stars out of 5.

All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The first 60 pages of this book I didn’t really like it that much, it dragged on for me and didn’t have that much depth. The second part picked up its pace and was way better.

I did not love this book as much as I thought I would though, the characters didn’t have that much depth to me and the story itself like I mentioned before took a really long time for me to get into.

Overall it was good, but maybe with more pages it couldve given the characters more personality traits other than Whimsy and a Beast. I know almost nothing about Beast, except for what he was and that was at the end of the book.

I did find the way of healing very comforting in this book, please check the trigger warnings if you’re going to read this book by the way!

I was able to read this as an ARC provided by Shadow Mountain Publishing and Net Galley

I love fairy tale retellings. I love Beauty and the Beast. So, it was enjoyable to get another take on the tale with the author's unique perspective and approach to the tale.

The author remains true to the classic tale we all know, with the magic of fairies and curses that make a man a beast and a castle alive with helping hands.

Something I do appreciate about this book is how the author ties in real issues like sexual assault and emotional abuse in family dynamics. So, it was good to see that approach and have that representation and I liked seeing that growth and how it was addressed especially in building trust with someone new.

There were some developmental things that I had issues with, plot wise especially, and I feel like we could have gone more in depth with character and explored this world a little more. It felt basic, surface level. I wish we could have explored the magic of the world a little more and that the side characters felt more fleshed out and less cartoonish, especially in regards to the sister. But I think this is still a good book and I would recommend it to others!

A lovely retelling of beauty and the beast embedded with the very difficult theme that many can relate to. It reminded me of McKinley's retelling of Beauty as well as Deerskin and the trauma that comes from assault. While I found a few gaps in the narration and character development they were minor; I enjoyed the book and would read more by this author.

#BeautyReborn #NetGalley

ARC provided by NetGalley. Thank you!

Beauty Reborn is a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast. Beauty is battling her demons due to a tragic thing happening to her. Beast is a poor fisherman's son that made an ill-advised wish from a fairy. When Beauty takes her father's place for stealing a rose they get to know each other and (spoiler alert?) fall in love.

Beauty and Beast are both developed characters. It was easy to imagine their story and invest in them. The book did not describe and detail why I should be invested in their lives and love though. The story followed the plot that you would expect from a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast.

Unfortunately, I did not love this book. I found myself bored with the chapters, finding them dull and a bit boring. Often I skimmed the pages rather than reading and savoring the words. It was obvious the author wanted to highlight religion, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but very much not expected. Then there was the underlying storyline of rape. While not graphic and blatantly spoken as being rape it was there in context. Honestly, if I was to read the book at 13 I wonder if I would even pick up on what was being alluded to.

This book is described as being for young adult; I would add a content rating for rape with an age range of 16+.

If this was re-directed as an adult re-imagining with more detail of the world and lives I am reading about this would have been a very enjoyable read. As is it didn't hit the mark.

I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! It captured my interest from the very beginning and I quickly and instantly fell in love. I wish I could read it again for the first time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain for approving my request!

Overall I thought the book was good, the written was phenomenal, Beauty's character was really good. Beast I can't say a lot because he didn't talk that much lol.
This retelling is very close to the Beauty and the Beast, no much different.
I just wished there was more romance, and that the beast would had talked more.
I thought that the first 70% of the story was OK, after that it picked up and the real drama started lol.

⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️⚠️ ⚠️ ⚠️
Reference to S.A.

Well, like I said the book was good and I would recommend it.
Hopefully there is a sequel about Astra. I would love to read it and find out what happens with her character!

I have always loved Beauty and the Beast and most retellings. This is a worthy addition!

A short read but once you get into it, it draws you in and then this passage knocked me over:
“I lived in a different castle once.” I swallowed. “And I gave a man a room. But when I wouldn’t give him anything else, he took the castle by force. And then I had nothing left to give.”

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pleasantly surprised by this book. There are many beauty and the beast retellings but I found this one whimsical, fast paced, and and an overall enjoyable read. I liked the characters but didn’t feel like they had enough development (my only complaint). But overall, I really enjoyed this and the writing style.

I love a good Beauty and the Beast story. This one was unique and touched on a subject that is often not talked about and hard to read about, but it was done in such a way that was healing and hopefully helpful for anyone who has had that trauma happen in their life.