Cover Image: Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge

Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge

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Member Reviews

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.

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I did not get very far in this book before choosing not to finish it. I wish I would have known about the rape scene before requesting this advanced reader copy or purchasing the title for my library.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I REALLY wanted to love this book but I kinda felt like there was something missing. The characters weren’t as likable as I would have liked and I found myself not really caring about the outcome. It a quick read, so if the description entices you give it a try BUT it wasn’t my cup of tea.

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This is one of my least favorite retellings of the classic Beauty and the Beast story. I felt the characters to be a little flat, and I just expected more from this author. A bit disappointed. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it.

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As an avid fan of Disneys Beauty and the Beast, I jumped at the chance to red this arc and it did not dissapoint. Both dark and delicious, I think it was a perfect retelling of my best loved fairy tale.

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I think I appreciated the premise of this book more than the actual execution. Such a shame because I was looking forward to it.

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I had to give up on this book quite early on and after reading other reviews on GoodReads found that many others were surprised by the rape scene in this novel. I was excited by the premise but unfortunately could not continue after this.

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This book turned me off very early with a brutal rape scene, so MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING for that, and it should be in the Goodreads blurb so that any rape survivors know ahead of time before stumbling on that by accident.

I read 22% of the book in and I cannot possibly see how this man can get transformed into a beast and redeem himself. Because, see, here's the thing: I don't give a SHIT if the beast acts like a completely different person that expresses remorse for what he did. The fact of the matter is that he's not. He's still a man that RAPED someone (and maybe others) and I don't like how that is completely brushed aside. It's problematic as FUCK. I don't like that somehow Lucie falls in love with the beast (HER RAPIST) because that is disgusting and not at ALL realistic.

I'm not sure how this book got published. But I'm FURIOUS.

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A review of this title is avaliable through Goodreads - and later through my blog. The Goodreads link is available below!

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How in the hell is this a YA book? I could not get past the vicious rape scene. I would not recommend this book to anyone and I would not ever let anyone read it! Giving it a 1 star because I cannot give it a 0

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I love Beauty and the Beast retellings and this was no exception. Full of adventure and intrigue, I couldn't put it down!

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Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale and I can't resist reading any sort of retelling of it, but this one was strange, icky, and boring. I don't mind having unique elements in the story to keep it fresh, but I was absolutely not okay with the rape that occurred. I understand what the author's intent was, but that doesn't mean I liked it at all. From there, I was mostly bored.

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I usually love re telling a of fairytales, but I did not love this one. From the very beginning I found the book to be quite boring. I really like any of the characters either. It was just blah. The only good thing about this book is the cover picture.

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This isn’t my favorite retelling of Beauty and the Beast but it was a decent story overall. There wasn’t much that made it stand out above others that I have read with a similar plot line.

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DNF around 35% and 1.5 star. Why did i subject myself to another terrible re-telling?

THE GOOD
1) The potential and/or attempt at creativity. From what I read what I learned through other reviews, this is less a story about Belle and the Beast as it is about the candlestick and the Beast. Belle comes into the picture later, which could have opened doors for a unique and creative retelling like The Beast.

But...nope.

2) I love it when Beauty and the Beast re-tellings go the route of more realistic, time-period medieval settings like Beauty of the Beast . Even though this version still went the route of the magical enchantment, we started going the route of period France.

3) I respect what Lisa Jensen tried to do with this novel, I do. Here is a blurb from her author's note:

So why is it the prince who gets the “reward” of Beauty’s love? And why is Beauty so ready to forget the Beast she says she loves and marry the prince? Doesn’t Beast himself deserve to be the hero?

As someone who’s always loved Beast more than the prince, I thought: wouldn’t it be more interesting if there was another woman involved, one who wants to preserve Beast and make sure the prince never returns? So, in my version, there is a good reason the young chevalier is transformed into Beast: his handsome face conceals an evil and corrupted nature. And no one knows it better than my heroine, Lucie.

As much as Beast deserves to be the hero in my book, I wanted to create, in Lucie, a heroine openhearted enough to care for Beast just the way he is —and strong enough to fight to preserve him. In Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, they both deserve a happy ending.


THE BAD
1) If you're going to write a novel from the point of view of a speechless, immobile candlestick...you better be one heck of a writer. Lisa Jensen doesn't quite reach that mark, I'm afraid, and as a result much of what I read skimmed was narrative exposition as Lucie the Candlestick sits in a cupboard and thinks our story for us. Yaaaawwnn.

2) Yes, the Beast rapes Lucie while she's still human and yes, it's devastating for her. The Beast is also a despicable person to other people and animals alike, and seems ruthless and cruel. On one hand, with a skilled writer there could have been potential in that. The prince/Beast is, after all, supposed to be a detestable human pre-curse so if we hate him so much by a few chapters in, we're on the right track. One could argue this was merely going to be a very grim and realistically evil portrayal of what a truly deplorable human being would act like with no holds barred.

3) I just got so bored right away.

Pick up literally any other Beauty and the Beast retelling out there -- there are at least a dozen mature, fantasy-based one star that are terrific.

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Put Down At ~40%

I wasn't really that interesting in this book after the beginning and found the characters quite dull

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In the end, I would recommend the book. It wasn’t a favorite, though and I would rather read other books before this one. However, it was worth it to see a unique take on an age-old fairy tale.

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