I love Beauty and the Beast re-tellings and want to read them all haha. It took me a while before I was able to pick this one up, but I finally got around to do so. It’s been years now since I got this e-arc and I’ve read a lot of other books in those years. I feel like I would’ve loved this book more if I’d actually read it all those years ago. Nowadays it’s a bit more difficult for a book to really impress me, especially in specific kind of sub-genres like romantic fantasy and such.

It’s promoted as a multi layer story, but for me those layers weren’t really always present I’d say. Was expecting a bit more detailed in depth story-writing here and there. It’s a fun ya re-telling for younger readers though, but it couldn’t really persuade me to fall in love entirely.

This was a decent retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I was able to enjoy the book for the most part, but it did have some dark elements that were hard to get past as I didn't feel they were handled the best.

I always enjoy a fairy tale retelling, but this one wasn’t quite for me. In Beast, Lisa Jensen aims to retell the Beast’s side of Beauty and the Beast. There were some twists and turns, but I didn’t love how a traumatic event was handled.

This one was a DNF for me. I will not be posting a review of it but thank you for sending. it just wasn't for me. Thank you again for the copy

I did not finish Beast: A tale of love and revenge due to unexpected content in this book. Thank you for the chance to read and review.

This book is till in my tbr because its still something that I am interested in reading. Im not sure why I never got around to it but still will purchase this and read. Hopefully I love it.

I am a huge fan of retelling and read a lot of them. Therefore, I am very picky and look for the highest quality. This just wasn't up to my standards for retellings. Especially when there are so many good Beauty and the beast retelling sout there.

Unfortunately this one is a DNF and it failed to capture my interest.. All the bad parts of the tale without the good one, and I could not manage to like the MC

I could not finish this. The opening scene was horrifying and the synopsis made it seem like the prince would be getting a pass for his actions since he is a different person as the beast. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.

I adored Lisa Jensen's previous book, Alias Hook, which was quite a romantic yet melancholy take on Captain Hook. I was quite surprised after the romantic leaning Peter Pan retelling to find her take on Beauty and the Beast to be so lacking in romance.
This is highly original take on a very well known fairytale and pulls off something most do not - it keeps the audience guessing. The beginning paints a very bleak and problematic portrait that, as a reader, I felt compelled to unpack.
While the writing was beautiful and the story immersive, the ending left me feeling unaccountably dissatisfied. I think I expected a darker twist or more philosophical point to the conclusion that I got. That said, it was a well crafted and highly enjoyable book that I would recommend.

I started reading this one but didn't hold my interest. I though the concept was good but I wish I could have connected with the characters more.

Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairytale, and I love retellings, but this Is not a book I can recommend to anyone. Rape is just not on my list of things I want to read.

When a book starts out with rape, it doesn't bode well on the feel of the book. To me, this book was sold as a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast in modern time. This book didn't have that feel to me and to be honest, I DNF this book. I tried reading it in 2019 when I received the book and couldn't get past chapter 2 and tried again in the last few weeks. I just couldn't get past chapter 3.
Sorry.

I didn't finish reading this book. It was a little too long and didn't keep my attention. The main idea was really interesting though. And I liked some of the characters.

I love Beauty and the Beast retellings but I wasn't a huge fan of this one. It was creative but I feel the characters lacked development. It didn't keep me interested, unfortunately.

"They say Château Beaumont is cursed. But servant-girl Lucie can’t believe such foolishness about handsome Jean-Loup Christian Henri LeNoir, Chevalier de Beaumont, master of the estate. But when the chevalier's cruelty is revealed, Lucie vows to see him suffer."

-I was mislead. I thought this book was going to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast....turned out it wasn't. Lots of rape...just not a good book.

A very interesting take on the classic tale. I enjoyed dit but I craved more development when it came to the characters. Still, fans of the fairytale will appreciate this.

Spoilers contained in this review.

I am shocked at this take on Beauty and the Beast. Horrific message and plot aside, the writing style of this book is a slog. There is very little dialogue and the majority of the book is told in the protagonist’s meandering and dull inner narrative.

The twist in this retelling is that despite being raped by the human form of the Beast, our heroine needs to stop letting revenge and hate for that man consume her and instead forgive him, because it was the evil human who did it and not the beast. Apparently the Beast is his true soul and the actions of the human were the real curse. Lucie forgives and absolves the Beast, because “it wasn’t him who raped her and countless others, it was his cursed Jean Loup the evil Chevalier form, so totally not his fault at all “. Not only does she forgive him but she falls in love with him and they end up together.

I’m honestly floored that this story was told in this way, romanticizing a love story with a rapist and preaching that the victim also had a lesson to her in the form of letting her hate and vengeance go. This is by far my worst read of the year and possibly of the last few years too. I do not recommend it.

DNF - I was enjoying the story until we got to the highly graphic and unnecessary three page rape scene. The story was jumpy and wasn't the best writing I had read. I also hated the characterization.

TW: RAPE SCENE

I kept putting off reading this book for the trigger but decided to give it a shot and skip over that part. The writing is awful, and the plot of Lucie being a candlestick was unique but the beast is still an abusive jerk. So hard pass.