First off, our main character Lyssa is my current favorite fictional heroine. She is fierce and vicious, but also… still just a girl! Oh I loved her.

After a monstrous Beast killed her brother, Lyssa has vowed to kill it. She just hasn’t been able to get close. After years of searching, years of hardening herself, killing faeries and other creatures they have made (like the Beast), Lyssa is approached by Alderic, a wealthy man with a love for extravagance. Not only has he found the Beast, he has one of its claws. That is closer than Lyssa has been in thirteen years.

This claw, along with some other important ingredients can be used to forge a sword that can kill it. Lyssa is all in, especially if he has the coin to reignite her search. She won’t tell him the reason she wants to kill the Beast, and it becomes clear that Alderic has some secrets of his own. Their quest starts and these absolute opposites form a friendship… that I LOVED!!! I loved these characters so much.

I knew very little about this going in, intrigued by the cover first. What I found was a beautiful but brutal story of revenge that turns into so much more. I highly recommend this book.

What a master piece. I loved every page and now I think I will be visiting more of Serra's works :) It was an absolute blast to read!

I thought this would be a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast although it is not even though there is a Beast. Lyssa Cadogan (now using the last name of Carnifax) is someone who is tough and unhappy and has searched for 13 years for the Beast who killed her older brother Eddie. She has done this by becoming The Butcher, a bounty hunter who can kill magical creatures such as trolls and faeries and does so to earn enough to continue her search to find and kill the Beast. Lyssa has become able to go in and out of faerie land with the help of the witch Ragnhild and has learned from her how to create swords that can kill these creatures. In this world the faeries are evil but as people continue to populate the land, they are losing ground.
Needless to say, Lyssa is not a person with many social graces. A man named Alderic de Laurent has been trying to procure her services for over a year. She finally agrees to meet him, and he turns out to be a fop who also wants the Beast killed -- and he has some of the magical things needed to do it (and money is no problem). Of course, he doesn't have everything and thus starts a quest to gather them once Ragnhild tells them what they are. Lyssa and Alderic slowly learn to work together but as they are both hiding secrets there are misunderstandings as well. This book keeps you reading.

I love a classic adventure premise, and Kill the Beast delivered on it: kill a monster and get revenge. Two unlikely people coming together with a cast of interesting supporting characters and some light wit peppered in, plus a strong introduction.

Personally, the writing style was not for me. It is accessible and I think for many people this will be very enjoyable, but I found it a bit flat and the characters felt simple. Still, a great premise and interesting world that I am curious to see if the author writes more into down the road!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for the ARC!

A monster-slaying revenge tale with a fae twist? Say less—I was in.

Kill the Beast delivers exactly what it promises: sharp blades, dark fairy tale vibes, and two very different leads forced into an uneasy alliance. Lyssa is all rage and vengeance, single-minded and just a little bit of a disaster (in the best way). Alderic? Fancy, dramatic, and clearly hiding something—but I kind of loved that about him. Their dynamic is the heart of the book, and it never turns into a romance, which honestly made it more interesting.

Yeah, I could see the big twist coming from page one—but the fun wasn’t in the reveal, it was in how we’d get there and what it would mean for everyone involved. The story leans gaslamp fantasy—think redcaps and revolvers—with a great mix of cozy banter and heavier themes like grief, vengeance, and letting go.

There are a few tropes I’m personally a little tired of (looking at you, ex-girlfriend tension and gender role lampshading), but none of it pulled me out. If you like prickly girls with swords, sensitive guys in velvet coats, and murder quests that somehow manage to be about healing, found family, and maybe even self-worth, give this one a shot.

Also: dog companion. Automatic bonus points.

5 stars! I believe this is a debut novel and as one it is really impressive. I will be keeping an eye out for more from this author. I will not lie and say nothing was predictable. It was. BUT, in a way that was not predictable? The tales that were used were turned and twisted in ways I did not expect. I highly recommend this to anyone that is a fan of dark fairy tales and twisted retelings. Also, spice is non existant but the tension is sstill there. Well done.

I received a free copy from Tor Books via Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Publish date October 14th.

I was intrigued by the striking cover and faerie revenge quest premise of this book. In Kill the Beast, Lyssa Carnifex has shaped herself into a tool for killing faeries for the sake of her brother, who was killed by a faerie as a child. Until a reclusive nobleman sends her a letter, promising her the one thing she's never been able to find--the lair of the beast who killed her brother.

Lyssa is a very murder jock character. She's single-handedly focused on revenge to the detriment of all else. She's a bit of a berserker. She's willing to cause a massive scene in a fancy restaurant over one (1) shilling. She has only one problem-solving technique: Shifty employer? Estranged father? Ex girlfriend? Stab 'em. What may be a turnoff for some readers is that Lyssa is also nearly superhumanly dense. Particularly as pertains to Alderic, the young man who hires her, who is immensely fishy to even the most unobservant reader. But not to Lyssa, who has blithely categorized him as Fancy Clothes Guy from day 1 and will not reassess, no matter how brazen the evidence. The more astute readers will see the big twist coming from a mile away.

The setting is early Edwardian, with electric lights and cars, although the country names are fictionalized. The fairy elements are loosely drawn and impressionistic, but it's all fairly familiar English stuff--redcaps, goblins, witchcraft, and so on, not to mention curses and oaths. While the worldbuilding was fairly generic for a fantasy novel, Swift's approach to character relationships was strikingly original. I was genuinely surprised that there was no romance between Lyssa and Alderic, and I think this choice made the book much stronger rather than threatening to lapse into cliche.

A fast, snappy, engaging faerie story, although the youthful hotheadedness of the protagonist makes it feel a touch young.

DNF at 23%, the writing was really not for me personally, the author's style felt very juvenile and rather cringe, which was a massive turn off, nevermind the fact that the characters had me rolling my eyes every other page.

Kill the Beast by Serra Swift, a good read that felt a tad lacking in certain areas of the story. I do think others will enjoy it and do plan to recommend it.

It was beautiful.
This is a masterfully tale about accepting yourself, others, and the love and support they can offer.
The writing is absolutely perfect, packed with magic and emotions, and I loved every page of it.
Thank you Tor Publishing Group for this ARC!

The premise sounded interesting and even though it's pretty obvious who Alderic is (even before starting the book), I couldn't get into the writing. I just felt like it was flat and a bit rote. Didn't connect with Lyssa or any of the characters, really, and thought there were inane details, i.e. it just has to be mentioned that Alderic is "one or two" inches taller than Lyssa's 5'10". Like, why? She has to look up at him a second after she notices this and I mean... How far does one have to look up for an inch of difference??? Thanks to the publisher for the access but this one didn't hold my interest.

If you need your fairy tales with romance, this might not be the book for you, but if you appreciate a book that elevates the love between friends, this beauty and the beast inspired tale may be just the book for you.

I'm always going to be a fan of fairytale inspired books and this one landed perfectly between comforting predictability and refreshing enthralling. There was something so sincere and hopeful about the message woven through this story, especially with the sweet platonic friendship that only strengths after each character's ugliest parts are revealed. I stayed up late into the night to finish this and found myself thinking about it first thing when I woke up.

When I saw this book announced as a story about a monster-slayer warrior woman and a decorative noble sidekick, I knew I have to read this. I love tough fighter women, and I love men who defy narrow gender roles.

So how did this one measure up? Pretty good.

Pluses:

* Easily readable, fairly "windowpane" prose, 3rd person single pov following Lyssa, the fmc.

* Lovable dog companion.

* Worldbuilding presenting a mix of familiar with fresh: it's a secondary world fantasy taking place in an equivalent of the 19th century with pistols, gas lamps and early electricity. There are also fae and other common mythological creatures from this folklore, like trolls, redcaps, ogres, mermaids; there's also a division similar to high fae and dark fae where ones are more noble but haughty while the second are wicked and spiteful.

* Found family vibe.

* Quest fantasy that didn't feel boring thanks to the amazing character interactions and witty banter. I must say I'm pretty picky and easily bored with quest fantasy if it's too straight-forward.

* Slow reveal of clues that feels both suspenseful and natural.

* Elements of a fairy tale retelling I didn't immediately guess but in hindsight it all made sense.

* Interesting exploration of grief.

Minuses:

* The biggest minus imo was that Lyssa felt like a very flat 2-dimensional character, and because of that the trajectory of her character arc became extremely obvious and a preachy moral lesson. She was so addicted to her revenge and hatred for the fae & their creations as a "cope" for her grief everyone can already guess what will the imparted lessons be...

* This is like the 3rd book this year I'm reading with the trope "fmc has an ex-girlfriend with strained or outright hostile relationships with her". As much as I love the rise in bisexual representation among protagonists, I'm starting to really get tired of the ex-gf trope. Sometimes I wonder whether the only way to prove mc is queer is by giving them a same-gender ex? The trajectory of these characters' subplots are also extremely similar, somehow. And nope, when fmc is straight there isn't a mandatory ex-bf plotline, from what I've observed.

* Alderic's "conditioning" by his mother. Can't a male character for once be soft, kind and pretty without it being pinned either on queerness or something forced during upbringing? Feels like the equivalent of the old trope "she was tough because she grew up with 4 brothers". Even though Lyssa's reasons for why she's more stand-offish, aggressive and tough seem to be just rooted in her experiences of grief and poverty, and aren't really tied to her queerness (that's a plus).

* Tying to the above, not every book needs to be a spicy romantasy, but there's a noticeable trend that exceedingly commonly when I pick a book with a less "traditionally masculine" mmc he's either gay, asexual, or the romance never comes to fruition, or best case it goes very "cozy, chaste and wholesome". As a certified lover of bishonens I want to see those characters being deemed worthy of the same roles as all your typical broody shadow daddies and growly alphas.

There's something in our culture tying overt sexuality with masculinity and also masculinity with "being desirable for women". By making these kind of characters either "not for women" or "chaste", it reinforces the stereotype that only a true masculine man can have a sizzling steamy whirlwindy relationship with a woman, for everyone else, it's the friendzone.

Anyway, most of my gripes (including the obligatory line how fmc was 5'10" but mmc was 2 inches taller) are my personal grudges against the typical tropes and narrative devices plaguing gender role reversal stories and unless someone is, like me, specifically searching for them, and then seeing all the uncanny subconscious stereotypes repeating across them, these won't be a detriment.

In the end, it's a well written book full of suspense and vivid character interactions. If you like prickly / unlikeable female protagonists or a quest road trip style fantasy with fae lore, you'll very likely enjoy this book.

It's a short, concise standalone you can possibly read in one sitting or two.

I'm not sure whether the "cozy" label from the blurb matches, because content warnings for: grief, murder, violence, attempted suicide in backstory and injury to an animal. I would say it's a gaslamp adventure fantasy.

However, these days marketers put everything into either romantasy, epic or cozy and I swear half the time the shoe doesn't fit.

4.5 stars rounded up.

I would definitely be interested in seeing what else the author writes next.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor Books for the ARC!

I could probably quibble with parts of this if I wanted to, but there is such an overwhelming sweetness and gentleness to the way this story approaches healing without ever losing sight of the ugliness of trauma that I truly found at the end that I did not care about any roughness as the edges. This is the conflicted, often cruel protagonist I often feel is buried just under the surface of the fighter girl archetype, and I adored the mess she made in her wake.

Also, the cover is gorgeous and I absolutely wept at the ending. Which means nothing to anyone but me, because I know I literally never cry at books. Something about this just absolutely got to me.

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book's cover grabbed me immediately, and I'm so glad it did! The book strikes a strong balance with its enjoyable character growth, where characters that could have proven one-dimensional and frustrating develop realistically over the course of the book, without completely changing personalities.

The writing itself was great, and the plot moved along at an exciting pace, and the ending wrapped everything up nicely, but left room for a sequel that I'd absolutely be interested in!


****SPOILER*****
Personally, I loved that the relationship ended platonically as well, and it really felt like it was perfect for the characters.

I really loved this! Kill the Beast is a fairy tale-adjacent fantasy, and while the reimagining aspect (and gorgeous cover) are what initially drew me to it, the developing relationship between Alderic and Lyssa is what made me love it. You can see where the story is going from a long way off, but that only adds to the emotional punch of this fun, bloody, and phenomenal book. Definitely read this one for queerplatonic friendships, a feral bisexual main character, fairy adventures, and a lot of heart!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Tor Books for the ARC of Kill the Beast by Serra Swift.

I genuinely can't read the title without starting to sing the Beauty and the Beast "The Mob Song"...."Through a mist, through a wood/Where within a haunted castle/Something's lurking that you don't see every day!/It's a beast!...Kill the beast!" Singing this song actually ends up feeling appropriate to the story itself given that while our main character, Lyssa is like a Witcher, (and thank goodness this is much better written than the Witcher books which I have a personal angst toward) she is also like a reverse Belle. I would say the book description of comparisons to Howl's Moving Castle also matches.

Lyssa has spent significant time in poverty, and, ever since the loss of her brother she has been on a path toward revenge, eschewing friendship and relationships in search of vengeance. This all catches up to her when she meets Alderic and finally has a path to fulfill her oath to avenge her brother - who is she without this goal? Or is she just setting herself up for her own death?

Al provides both comic relief and serious contemplation as a character - his mentions of self harm and his own losses are dark as Lyssa's struggles. He somehow has held onto his kindness, even if he is more likely to be drowning himself in a pint some days.

Paired together by Lyssa's witch mentor, the two must combine the remaining articles needed for Lyssa to craft a weapon to kill the beast. In their adventures, they learn more about each other on multiple levels, and begin to form a real friendship.

Swift writes this more as a cozy fantasy, so the clues dropped about the plot twists were pretty obvious to everyone but Lyssa. I think the pacing slowed a bit in the midsection for Al and Lyssa to build more on their relationship, but there was a lot of action in the beginning and end tying everything together and making for an overall sweet story.

As a debut goes, this is solidly put together and fits very ideally into the cozy fantasy genre. It's a nice standalone, even though it could be open to further adventures -- in that way it's a bit like Emily Wilde -- there is no cliffhanger or expectation, but I would keep going with it if it headed that direction.