Disclaimer: I received this ARC courtesy of Candlewick Press and NetGalley. I am grateful for the opportunity to review an ARC for my readers, but this will not influence my final rating. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and based solely on the book.

Warning: Major spoilers and triggers ahead.

When I saw this book cover splashed across blogs prior to its release, my interest was piqued. I’m in love with fairy-tale retellings and a good book cover just sells me that much faster. After a positive review from a fellow blogger, I was down to provide my own ARC review … though sadly my review will not be as glowing as I anticipated.

Beast moves too quickly for my taste (though this was not a fatal flaw). Within a chapter our narrator, Lucie, is introduced to Chateau Beaumont and her new servant position — which does not seem like a lot, but considering this is to be her home for the entirety of the novel, I would have liked better pacing and more description to help build the mood.

To that, I find that novels that take on historical fiction or fantasy always require more in-depth prose work (in my opinion) because the author is building a world for the reader — opposed to contemporary, for example, where you know the scene already. The world in Beast was not fully constructed and when information was given, it was through information dumps (Lucie will drop everything the reader should know in several sentences) instead of through casual conversation, for example. This was especially prominent towards the end of the novel, when the reader is finally given the majority of the answers to the book’s mysteries … in about three pages, through a huge exposition from one of the characters. It was unnatural and awkward to read, not to mention hard to process all at once.

These two issues are not the ones that stand out to me, though. Beast may be a wonderful book (I do not think so, but will leave the door ajar on this), however, I started severely skimming the book at twenty percent for a major reason. At this point, I’m going to announce SPOILERS AHEAD because yes, this will be a spoiler, but also, this spoiler is the reason for my rating.

The book summary promised that Jean-Loup was massively shady and Beast would explore the Beast’s backstory. (Yes, original, I’m down.) But can I just say, in a complete understatement, that I was no prepared for how shady Jean-Loup was? His first actions were minor (snippy comment, rude looks) and then he rapes the main character.

The scene made me uncomfortable on so many levels. First of all because, as I previously stated, I did not see it coming at all. Lucie had a huge crush on Jean-Loup from the moment she saw him and acted like a middle-school girl around him. At many instances in the book Beast read like a middle-grade novel with Lucie’s simplified thoughts (“He was beautiful!”) and knee-jerk reactions. It was not the kind of writing that I thought would suddenly introduce a rape scene. Second of all, this book is pitched as a love story and our love interest is a rapist? As a reader how am I supposed to accept this???

This is why I went into major skim mode. I had to understand what could possibly happen in the book that could make Jean-Loup an acceptable character to love. Because no way no how could I attribute any good to him after what he did (repeatedly). And I only got my answer at 80% in the book, in an info-dump that did more to confuse me. Which just leaves me with so many questions. 1) Can I forgive Beast knowing the truth of his character? 2) How exactly does Rose play into all this, really though? 3) Why am I left asking myself this after most of all the action is finished?

I understand that Jensen gave a partial answer to the problem by giving Beast “amnesia” but … “I forget I’m a rapist” is not a solution.

So to conclude this review before I pose more questions I will not get answers to: I could not enjoy this book because I spent the majority believing its main character — who is supposed to be a love interest — was a rapist. I was uncomfortable reading this. I did finish this book, it was NOT a DNF, but it was a major skim read and I still feel like so many questions will never be answered even with a full reading.

One star. I do not recommend. If Jensen is trying to pass a message, I am afraid I did not receive it.

Lisa Jensen, who I'd spoken with in 2014 about her historical fantasy Alias Hook, has returned to the literary scene with another new twist on a familiar story. The original fairy tale upon which Beast is based should be apparent from the title, but this isn't the familiar Beauty and the Beast story we all know; tweaking the perspective makes all the difference. Opening long before "Beauty" comes on the scene, Beast is seen through the eyes of a young chambermaid, Lucie. Soon after she comes to work at Château Beaumont, home of the handsome chevalier Jean-Loup, a terrible event spurs her to take revenge — resulting in dramatic transformations involving Lucie, the cruel Jean-Loup, and a beautiful young woman named Rose. The story is set in early 17th-century Burgundy, France, and is geared toward mature YAs and up. Please read on!

Interview with the author follows at: http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2018/07/interview-with-lisa-jensen-author-of.html

I typically love retellings of classics and expected this to be dark because most original fairytales are. What made me struggle with this book was the writing and the plot. I felt like the middle of the book was so slow and the ending was unsatisfying. There was so much potential here and it just was lost on me. Also, I think there should be a trigger warning for this book as there is a fairly brutal rape scene early on that almost turned me off to the book. This book was just not for me.

I read this book to aid in selection after seeing mixed reviews with questions about the rape scene. I was drawn in by the writing at first, but had a hard time when the middle of the book slowed down and the plot became bizarre. An interesting attempt, but the plot lost me and the writing became weak as the book reached its conclusion.

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales, hence, I was expecting that this retelling written by Lisa Jensen will be okay. However, I was not amazed, especially on that rape part and to the flow of the story. There are a lot of parts that are uninteresting to look into, remarkably when the Beast and Lucie were the only two left in the Chateau Beamount after the witch, Mere Sophie, cast her spell to Jean-Loup as a form of punishment for his wrongdoings.

Another thing that I find a bit disturbing is reading the master and servant relationship in the beginning, which sounds like an erotic story and what people can just usually read from a Wattpad story. The introduction also of a tertiary character in the story, which was Rose or Belle in the original tale, does not have a great impact because the story could stand without this new character.

In addition, Beast or Jean-Loup was also portrayed as having a dissociative identity disorder, thus there was a change in his personality after being turned into his beast form. When I got to this part, I thought that there was a chance that maybe he was only acting that he doesn't remember how bad he was before. But probably he really has some serious mental disorder that's why he behaved like two different people. And it's was quite predictable that Lucie has realized that she's fallen in love with Jean-Loup. It's ridiculous and absolute nonsense on how the victim got charmed by the one who raped her. For crying out loud, it's the same person

Overall, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge is not a good adaptation of the classic tale that a lot of people got to enjoy. I grew up knowing Beast as ill-mannered, but I'm disappointed that his character was tainted more because how he was depicted in this novel. If you are curious because how the characters were derived from the famous fairy tale, try to check it out, but I assume you might not like it that much.

#BeautyAndTheBeast has always been a particular favorite fairytale of mine since I first read the version by The Brothers Grimm. This imaginative and compelling retelling of the tale is nothing short of spellbinding. I couldn’t put it down. Author Lisa Jensen makes this story her own. The characters live and breathe off of the pages and will grab you by the heart. Cannot recommend this book highly enough!

Lucie is a newly hired servant at the Chateau Beaumont, home of Chevalier Jean-Loup - a total jerk. After experiencing abuse at the Chevalier's hands, Lucie - with the help of an enchantress - places a curse upon him. He becomes the beast, and Lucie a candle to forever watch and make sure Jean-Loup never returns. Things become confusing/complicated when it becomes apparent the Beast has no similarity to Jean-Loup. Lucie and Beast are beginning to navigate life, when a visitor arrives at the Chateau and turns everything upside down. Will Jean-Loup return, will Lucie remain a candle? Who is the true beauty of this story?

Jensen used the more traditional story of Beauty and the Beast, but presented it from Lucie's perspective, which was nice. I liked her take on the Beast Curse and giving the YA crowd a new concept to consider - that "barriers between virtue and evil, love and hate, beauty and beast" aren't always well defined; and that's okay.

Overall, I found the book to be average. I didn't thoroughly enjoy it, nor did I greatly dislike it. I skimmed most of the final 1/3 or 1/4 of the book as I wanted to know how it ended, but wasn't overly concerned with how it got there. Jensen's use of rape in the beginning of the story was an intended shock that I think was too much. I think she had a great opportunity to more fully develop the concept of rape and it's consequences - to victim and perpetrator. Instead of taking advantage of that opportunity, she used it only as a segue to justify the curse. The author has an exciting imagination, and I'm interested to see what her next project will be.

I have to start with a trigger warning: there is a rape scene early on in the book. This review will touch on the impact of that on Lucie, so consider yourself warned if you decide to read on.

I was constantly surprised by this book, and I love when an author takes a well known fairy tale and gives it a different spin, views it from another angle, takes it down a different path. This Beauty & the Beast story is told from the point of view of a maid named Lucie, who finds work in the house of Jean-Loup (who is the handsome and arrogant prince of this story for all intents and purposes). She's infatuated with his handsome face and gets a rather brutal awakening when he lures her to his room one night and rapes her. The rest of the book has a lot of content dealing with Lucie's feelings about being raped and her desire to get revenge on Jean-Loup. The witch or enchantress or whatever she is arrives and turns Jean-Loup into a Beast, and Lucie - who desires to watch him suffer - she turns into a candlestick so she may stand silent sentinel while Jean-Loup pays his penance.

I'm seeing a LOT of 1 star DNF reviews for this book that are upset, and I can't really go into that without spoilers, so - (view spoiler)

The spell turning Jean-Loup into Beast can only be broken if someone agrees to marry him in his beastly form, so when Rose (aka Beauty) comes around and starts getting some delusions of grandeur, Lucie is immediately on her guard. Past wishing to watch Jean-Loup suffer, Lucie has grown to care for Beast and knows that if Rose should marry him it will mean the return of the evil Jean-Loup. I love that Rose is kind of a pain in the ass. I also love the weaving of elements from the original verion(s) of the story with the Disney version (hello, talking candlestick much?) I'm not saying this book doesn't have its issues, but overall I liked it and it was definitely a very original take on the beauty and the beast story. That being said, this definitely isn't a story for everyone.

This book had so much potential for me, but getting into the story, my hopes for it quickly did a 180'.

First off, this book is a lot darker than I thought it was going to be. A few chapters in and the main character experiences rape which completely took me by surprise. One minute I'm thinking that the two characters were going to begin to connect (in a more positive manner), but then all of a sudden the act is happening. Unless it went over my head, I saw no indication that this book was going to head in this direction.

But when you think about it from the main character's perspective, is there an indication that someone is going to pursue this? So in a way, it was written in a more realistic circumstance. I just wasn't expecting the story to take this route.

The writing had me confused throughout the book. I was having trouble figuring out what was going on and the whole concept of the re-telling and where the plot was leading to.

Even though there are elements of Beauty and the Beast between the two characters and the curse that is put into place, I felt like it wasn't a re-telling that I found to be in the same category of the original title. I am a huge fan of reading re-tellings of my favorite stories, but this one was too dark and romanticized the 'Beast' for his actions.

Another problem I had was how I had to check the 'YA' category for the story as it felt more of an adult re-telling, but I think it is categorized this way as the main character is a teenaged girl.

I gave this book 1 out of 5 stars. This was just not what I was expecting from my absolute favorite fairytale, and the concept of the master and the servant seemed to be degrading enough that there were a ton of times I wanted to DNF it.

Oh, my word! I cannot believe I forgot how much I love the Beauty and the Beast tale.

This one was better in my opinion, more real and honest, in a sense. There is still magic and enchantments to this tale of love and beauty. Yet, in this one, the curse runs deeper than you will initially think.

The writing style is practical and enticing at the same time. Although it takes a while for the story to start completely, setting the scene and foundation, it is worth the read. Also, the plot twists are great, if not a bit predictable. There are some changes, but the essence of the Beauty and the Beast story is alive in this retelling.

Lucie is a wonder-filled character at the beginning; innocent, sweet and naive. She grows up and gets strong and proud as we read further. This makes her the protagonist. (I don’t want to spoil this, so that’s all I’m saying).

Also, Beast – what a difference from the start to the end. I was so infuriated at one point, thinking this will end in disaster, without Lucie getting her prince. (Oh, the spoilers!)

And Jean-Loup – he’s the villain you will love to hate for sure…

Get this book, read it and enjoy the classic tale with some spins and improvements. This story will be better suited to older readers and there is a bit of a dark beginning that sensitive readers (toward rape) might need to be aware of. Other than that, no spoilers, I’m for sure going to keep supporting Lisa in her writing journey. This was a great read!

My favourite quotes:

“That’s the sort of story folk love – a clear moral, a happy ending. It comforts them to think the barriers between virtue and evil, love and hate, beauty and beast, are so clearly defined. The tempest of emotions that roil in our hearts every day, the struggle that never ends to master the monsters within, to love, to live, to survive, those stories are not so comforting, nor so easily told. Happily ever after takes hard work, but folk don’t like to hear about that.”

“The heart is a dark wood – dangerous, compelling, and profound. Its pathways can be frightening, but only by plunging into its depths are we fully alive.”

“The heart revels in its mysteries. Defy them at your peril. Embrace them if you dare. That is where magic begins.”

PLEASE don't let this book pass you by. Lisa Jensen's personal spin on a "tale as old as
time " is perhaps one of my favorite retellings of Beauty and the Beast. People,
it's full of magical goodness and I slowed my pace with the last few chapters because I LOVED it!

We have peasant girl Lucie, who narrates our story. Lucie find herself working at the Chateau Beaumont for the selfish and cruel Chevalier Jean-Loup. A man who treats Lucie in the worst way a woman can imagine(Major trigger warnings). Angered and bent on revenge, Lucie seeks out a local woman that puts all under a spell and turns the nobleman into a ferocious creature. Enter magic and roses and a young woman named Rose and you might believe we are going to get the classic B&B tale, but prepare to fall in love with the Beast! But not the Chevalier -he's still pretty despicable!

(Review will go live on blog 7/18/18)

Oof, another challenging "Beauty and the Beast" retelling. I think I could probably write an entire PhD on the pitfalls of re-telling this fairytale. When I first saw the book description, I was excited to read a version that was seemingly focused on an entirely new character, not "Beauty" herself. And while that aspect was still interesting, the book itself was very difficult to read and I will have a hard time recommending it to others, unfortunately.

Lucie is a servant in the house of the rich lord, Jean-Loup. After a horrific event, she is the one to wish the worst on her master, resulting in him turning into a beast, and her into a sentient household item. As time passes, she begins to suspect that this new, beastly version of her master might not be the same, and when a stranger arrives on the scene, the world begins to change once again.

So this is obviously not a positive review, but there are a few things I'd like to highlight as positives for this book. One, I still very much appreciate the originality behind the concept of this story. We've all read a million and one versions told from various "Beauty's" perspectives. Some are better than others, but the basic construct is the same. They all arrive on the scene, confused and scared. And slowly come to change their minds and fall in love with the Beast. Here, Lucie knows Jean-Loup before his change and her experiences with him as a Beast are from the perspective of a servant, not the traditional heroine's role. What's more, Lucie isn't even the "Beauty" in this story, and that character does make an appearance and play a part in the story unfolding. It's a very creative take on things, and I truly wish that other choice had been made that would have allowed this new version to stand well on its own.

Further, I did like the writing for the most part. The "voice" fits well with the re-telling of a fairytale. It verges on rather simplistic and "younger" sounding, but I think that, done right, this tone actually works really well for fairytales which can be unique for having a different cadence, such as this. However, the writing also directly lines up with some of my major criticisms of the book.

It is very simplistic and straight forward. As I began reading, I started thinking "Huh, ok. So this is maybe more of a middle grade version of 'Beauty and the Beast.' Great!" Mentally, I started aligning it with the words of Shannon Hale, who's written a bunch of fairytales, many of which have a younger-sounding voice and simple story-telling technique. But alas, this comparison died a sudden, very harsh death only a few chapters into the story.

(This might be a spoiler, but it's pretty crucial to understanding the negative reaction I've had to this book, so if you want to go in blind, skip the rest!)

The prologue to the story sets it up that Lucie is the one who directed the fairy to go "all in," as it were, on the curse on Jean-Loup. So we know that something awful has to happen to inspire this level of hatred. And something awful does indeed happen, in the form of a graphic sexual assault scene.

This was shocking to see on several accounts, but not least of all is the direct contradiction that the graphic nature of this scene lays across the middle-grade nature of the writing itself. I was mentally comparing this book to Shannon Hale, of all people, based on the writing style itself. The most sweetest fairytale writer you can find! And that's a problem. Likely, the type of reader who is going to appreciate the tone of this writing style is going to verge younger. Even for me, a fan of middle grade and YA fiction, I was distracted by the simplistic nature of this writing. So those who may truly enjoy it are going to be young. And then you get a scene that could have been straight out of "Game of Thrones." It's going to be tough to read for even the most hardened among us who are semi-used to running across scenes like this in adult fantasy, let alone younger readers. But, on this side of things, readers who are prepared for this type of dark scene, are likely going to be completely turned off by the young-sounding writing. So there's a contradiction there where the writing and content are, conversely, going to turn off both options for a reader-base.

Beyond this, I have problems with the actual story line, having included a scene like this as the basis for Lucie's hatred of Jean-Loup. For all intents and purposes, Lucie ends up as the romantic interest for the Beast, instead of Belle. The book tries to roll out the tried and true rug of "magically separated/changed selves" that would absolve the Beast of past actions, as he is now no longer truly that person. I will always struggle with this type of wand-waving. Regardless of the fact that the "reasons" that Lucie points to as evidence that these two beings are inherently different are horribly minor (like food preferences and fears of spiders), there's always going to be an insurmountable hill, in my mind, between forgiving an attacker (a hard ask on its own) and falling in love with him. I just can't get behind that story, and I don't think this book did nearly enough, even, to highlight any exception that could be made.

While the latter argument could be a matter of personal preference (though I still don't think there is a huge swath of readers out there who are just searching for that great tale highlighting a victim falling in love with her attacker), my first point about the very real conflict between writing style and content is enough for me to give this a low rating. I honestly just have a hard time really focusing in on who exactly the audience is supposed to be for this book. At the very least, I wasn't part of it.

Rating 4: Not for me. I don't think this is a message we want to send out, regarding victims and their attackers, and the writing style was in direct conflict with the content.

<b>The Plot</b> Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge is, it will surprise no one, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. However this time it's from the pov of young, naive servant girl, Lucie. We start the story much earlier ('Beauty' is somewhat incidental to the entire plot) and see the young chevalier in his chateau well before he becomes the beast. Here's the first stumbling block: The chevalier rapes Lucie about 10% of the way into the book. He is conceited, pleasure loving and entitled, cruel and greedy and thoughtless in the worst possible way. For those of you troubled by rape scenes, it's on screen and in the pov character's experience. Lucie then finds she is pregnant and tries to drown herself in the river. She is saved by an old wise woman. Lucie begs the old wise woman for revenge - and incidentally a way to get rid of the child (which is so poorly explored and so contrived in how it happens, it's laughable or would be if it was a less serious subject than 'I don't want to have my rapist's baby'...yeah just let that sit for a little bit.) The plot then swings into the familiar (thanks to Disney) version of the original fairy tale - the old woman punishes the chevalier with a monstrous beastly form. Lucie gets turned into a candlestick, incidentally - not the magical, mobile Disney kind either. She is literally a consciousness trapped, immobile in an inanimate object. The fairy tale is more or less faithfully followed, with a slight detour through Jean Cocteau's 1948 film La Belle et
le Bete, before coming to a very bizarre and slightly tasteless ending.

<b>Before we get to the tricky stuff</b>

Honestly, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this if the author had picked a different idea to explore in this book and a different twist at the end. I wasn't especially keen on the style of the narrative, the pace was slow and having an inanimate object narrate a good portion of the book made it even slower since Lucie is literally sat in a cupboard or on a table for most of it. It didn't embrace any of the deep point of view or close psychic distance, or the multi dimensional characterisation I personally look for in a book. I continued to read because it was an ARC not because I was enjoying the experience. So in that respect the book wouldn't have been for me anyway. It was just an additional disappointment that it mangled a favourite fairy tale, showing little understanding of the original while it was at it.

<b>Problems</b>

A glance at the other reviews will show you how many people were offended by that rape scene, especially with how it resolved with the rest of the story. I wasn't offended but I found it contrived and I did roll my eyes at the ending. Lucie falls in love with Beast. It's a bit more complicated than 'girl falls in love with her rapist' but it can certainly be read that way so I'm not surprised other readers were upset.

I think the author was exploring the 'magic bullet' argument. If you're not familiar with this argument, it is a thought experiment whereby anyone can be rehabilitated of the past crimes and violent proclivities (rape, murder, torture, paedophilia etc) with a single one shot cure. The thought experiment assumes that everyone is completely rehabilitated, no back sliding - the perpetrator becomes a literally different person. The question this experiment poses is this: does the cured perpetrator deserve to be punished for the crimes of the person they were before the cure rehabilitated them? So in this case the chevalier raped Lucie - and was apparently no only a serial seducer and philanderer but a serial rapist as well, whose behaviour was rooted in his own awareness of his physical beauty and prowess and his privileged, wealthy position - whereas Beast has no memory of being the chevalier and is kind, compassionate, thoughtful and desperately lonely. Beats is literally a completely different person, so should he be punished for the crimes of Jean-Loup? (And I did laugh at that name - John Wolf? C'mon!) The conclusion Lucie comes to as she pursues her revenge (fairly ineffectually since her revenge consists of her sitting motionlessly and gloating on the Beast's suffering) is that no, he shouldn't be punished.

I think the author was trying to open a debate on punishment versus revenge. It's a shame she completely bypassed important aspects such as accountability and atonement. Logic would state that the only realistic answer to the 'magic bullet' argument is 'no, that new person does not deserve to be punished for the crimes of the old person'. If you answer 'yes' then your concern is with revenge not punishment and therefore you are part of the problem. What the thought experiment does not take into account is that the victims of crimes, especially terrible crimes such as rape and murder and child abuse, have rights too. All too often victims of rape and paedophilia are not listened to, their voices go unheard. The desire of certain contingents of people to not address their suffering and listen to the terrible things that happened to them, but instead to focus entirely on the perpetrator and consider it a success if they are rehabilitated, robs them of their voice even further. In those circumstances, it would be hard as a victim not to draw the conclusion that the perpetrator's life and well being is considered of far more worth than theirs is. Since it was this low grade, constant back ground hum of 'you're less valuable than the man who wants to rape you' that is rape culture in its essence, the 'magic bullet' argument simply adds another note to this already crushing song. And so does this book in that respect. Instead of taking a brave step into the unknown and having the chevalier learn and understand the sheer breadth and consequences of his actions upon another, having him suffer and rehabilitate somewhat that way, the author has taken what I feel to be a cowardly decision and allowed Beast not to be held accountable for the actions of Jean-Loup. It simply isn't good enough. Don't we have enough books and films and magazines and reality shows already carolling that 'boys will be boys' and therefore won't be held accountable for their actions, without adding yet another one? Because that is how this reads.

Beast never really feels responsible for the harm done to Lucie. They both start talking of the chevalier as if he is a separate person. Then it turns out that Jean-Loup is a sort of parasitic sub persona, cast over the poor innocent Beast like a mask. Beast is real. Jean-Loup is not. Hmm ok so the man who raped Lucie isn't real so doesn't it follow that she wasn't really raped by that logic? This is a dangerous line to walk because it is literally mirroring the minimisation so many rape survivors experience. Having Lucie then fall in love with Beast is just the final rotten cherry on a very distasteful cake. Because Lucie doesn't heal and move on by herself. She needs to fall in love with another man (ok a beast) in order to do that. The tiny amount of agency the character has at that point just evaporates. It would be lovely if writers could establish that a character who experiences rape can and will recover without the interference of a better man. In fact if writers could just hand power back to characters who have been raped and let them make conscious decisions to be with someone or not, maybe explore the ramifications if they decide they do want to be in a relationship, that would be awesome.

This is the problem with rape as a plot point. It has a history of silence and shame behind it so if you drop it on the table, you damn well better be prepared to discuss it properly. It is the kind of subject that will take over if not handled with care. In my opinion it hasn't been handled with care here at all. And here's the thing - it didn't have to be rape. Why couldn't the chevalier have seduced Luci and got her into bed with her consent? Why couldn't he have then grown bored with her and gone on to the next conquest? If Lucie had discovered herself pregnant then, it would have been a much more interesting discussion on love and betrayal. Rape needs to stop being the go to plot point just because it's short hand for 'this guy is ee-villlll', seriously try some characterisation and stop being so lazy.

<b>The Problem of Lucie</b>

Lucie is a supremely unlikeable and rather dull character. She is irritatingly naive at the start, and while the attack on her is not her fault at all, you do find yourself rolling your eyes at her obsession with the handsome chevalier. After she gets her revenge, she is even more unlikeable. It's hard to like anyone so consumed with hatred and a desire for revenge, especially when they have no agency to act on it. I suppose Lucie becoming a candlestick could be a heavy handed metaphor for being so blinded with hatred that you can't move on but it just didn't work for me. Reel in Rose (aka Beauty) and we get another of my pet peeves - a subtle but constant waft of girl on girl hate. It's noticeable in the way that Lucie finds Rose's choice of reading materials to be frivolous, that she is reluctant to admit Rose is brave or kind, that Rose is a merchant's daughter looking for money etc etc. Rose herself has little characterisation - like most of the other secondary and tertiary characters tbh - and at points you wonder why the hell she's even in the story.

<b>Contrivance</b>

So much of this plot is contrived. The magic system and the curse don't make sense. The character journeys feel forced. The weird appearances of Jean-Loup's mother are out of sync with the plot. I really hate contrived resolutions and that's how I felt about the 'twist' at the end of this book.


Ultimately this just didn't work for me. I don't think the author was setting out to offend people and if I'm right and this was the 'magic bullet' argument, then I guess I can kind of see what she was doing. I still feel it was a cop out. Worse, I feel it's added to a body of literature stretching back into history that all reinforce the idea that it's beholden of the victim to forgive on terms and time that suits society and even the perpetrator, rather than leaving at least that much power in the victim's hands. I feel it's also added to a number of other problematic arguments around rape culture. Honestly, I don't recommend this but if you're a die hard for Beauty and the Beast retellings, go for it. I'm not offended, just mildly disappointed - I probably won't be reading anything by this author again.

One of my favorite books while I was growing up was the Beauty and the Beast. I usually love retellings,as they show me a different side of the story that might be, that I have never considered before. This book, however, almost ruined it all for me. The only reason it didn't was because I wouldn't let one bad retelling to ruin my childhood favorite!

The story is about Lucie, who is a servant in Jean Leup's palace. Through Lucie's story, we see Jean Leup as a horrible person who only cares about money and the respect he received from his aristocratic community. He treats the servants badly and doesn't even bother to look at them.

Lucie likes the thought of him. He is a very handsome man, and all she dreams about is for him to notice her. And one day, he does. And something really bad happens. Jean Leup does something horrible to Lucie.

[SPOILER - PLEASE CONTINUE CAUTIOUSLY]

He rapes her. And not only that this scene was very disturbing, it was also three pages long, with broad descriptions and it made be cringe badly. It made me hate everything and this was the part where I almost quit on reading this book]

[SPOILER FINISHED - YOU CAN CONTINUE READING]

After this big spoiler scene, the first reaction Lucie has is to kill herself. I am aware that this was a huge trauma for her, and people react differently, but if the author gives me this as a solution to her problem, do I want to continue reading? Is this really the lesson she learns?

With a bit of help of magic and wisdom words, she decides that now she wants for Jean Leup to suffer, and she wants to be able to see this happen. Suddenly, wish becomes a reality and the next thing we know, she is a candle that can't move, and Jean Leup has turned into a Beast.

Do you get the Beauty and the Beast reference now? We see the story from the candle's point of view, who is Lucie.

Well - not really!

Because here's the twist - the Beast doesn't remember what happened before. He doesn't know he was Jean Leup. He doesn't know he was bad in the past. The Beast is good by default, and a bit sad that he's alone in a big castle. So I have to ask again - Where is the lesson? Where is the punishment? If he can't remember he was bad, he'll never learn why he is a Beast.

To continue and shorten the story - Lucie (the candle) can talk to the Beast through her mind. The Beauty (Rose) comes to the castle and the story goes on. Lucie decides that she is in love with the Beast, and I won't reveal the rest, in case you want to read the book and see for yourself.

Now - I know that the author's point wasn't the lesson that the Beast learns as in the original story. Her point was to tell the story of the Beast, and Lucie, and how this tale can have a different plot, and ending, and back story. But I really believe that this was the wrong way of saying it, and it didn't leave a clear message.
The writing was poor, and it went from one moment to another, leaving me there in the middle, wondering what happened. One scene begins, and another starts before anything is finished. It was disorientated, and I felt lost in the first 40 pages.

This is a no from me, and I will give it 2 stars because I managed to finish it.

Thanks to Candlewick Press for providing me with an ARC e-copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really tried to read and like this book but it was not for me. I ended up not finishing it.

I was looking for a good fantasy book but for some reason I couldn't connect with the characters in this series. I read 30% and couldn't take any more.

This retelling broke my heart because it ruined one of my fairytales. The beasts actions portrayed him as such that he shouldn’t be responsible for his actions and that women and their mothers must take the blame if they are treated morally inappropriate. This is a retelling that I wouldn’t want to put in the hands of young adult readers in my school today.

I was sent Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge by Lisa Jensen to review through Netgalley. This is my personal onion of the novel. Overall the story was meh. It took far too long to get into the story. 3/4 of the book was a lot of slow story telling that did not add to the overall story. The last 1/4 I actually enjoyed. I had to force myself read this for the most part.

This is a different sort of version of Beauty and the Beast, and I was really into this book in the beginning, but then at around the 12% mark the prince who later is turned into the beast rapes Lucie. It was rather shocking and unexpected and I just couldn't see how he could ever be redeemed. How was Lucie supposed to later fall in love with this person? So I put the book aside and looked at some reviews that other people had posted. After reading quite a few of them I was able to understand how Lucie falls for the beast. This is a situation where the prince and the beast are two different people. The best comparison I can think of right now is when Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde. Only in this book the beast is the true form and the handsome prince is the monstrous imposter.

I did pick this up again and skim through it near the end, but I just didn't really care for this version of the story very much. I wasn't crazy about the idea that "Beauty" -Rose in this book- was not the person who ended up with the beast, and I wasn't crazy about the idea that a human woman ends up with a beast either.

Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for providing me with a copy of this book.

I enjoyed this Beauty & The Beast re-telling much more than I originally anticipated! It was a bit slow-going at first, but once the prince is turned into Beast, the story and characters take off. I really liked what the author did with Lucie, the house servant turned into a candelabra and how her friendship with Beast blossomed. And I was impressed with the twist of events involving the so-called witch and Rose (aka Belle). Originally thought to give this 3 stars but I liked the ending so much I bumped this up to 4 stars.

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I am apparently on a roll with fairytale retellings this summer! Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, a re-imagining of the Beauty and the Beast story full of gorgeous writing, challenged my expectations in all the best ways. Here are my top three reasons to read Beast this summer:

#3: The writing. Oh. My. Gosh. The writing! Beast is a powerful book, and Lisa Jensen is clearly a word ninja. She is a master of knowing the exactly right verb to pull the reader not just into the French countryside, but into the characters themselves. As I read, I was experiencing the action alongside Lucie. I thought it would take some work to make an immobile candlestick compelling, but the author does it effortlessly.

#2: The story goes in unexpected directions. After the events that put Lucie on the path of revenge, I just could not think of any satisfying way for the author to resolve the conflict. The obvious options would be a disservice (potentially a dangerous disservice) to the characters and the reader. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it, but I was so happy with the resolution. There are few things I enjoy more in a book than when an author plays on my preconceptions and gives me a great twist ending!

#1: Beast is a challenging book. Not in the sense that the language is difficult or that the story is slow, but rather that Beast forces the reader to confront her own notions of beauty, forgiveness, and revenge. I know we're on summer break right now in the USA, but a little deep thought and philosophizing is perfect for a long summer evening. And this book will definitely make you think.

A glorious summer read!