Overview
Warning: There is a rape scene involving the main characters in the beginning of the book.

Lucie, the heroine, was sent away by her mother to obtain a job at the Château Beaumont. She is trained to keep her head low, keep quiet, stay invisible, and do not wander from her assigned chambers. But one day, Lucie catches the eye of the handsome chevalier, Jean-Loup and she is no longer invisible. One night, she forgot to put away an object, and in fear of retribution, she steals the housekeeper’s keys to return the object back in its place. One night, Jean-Loup forces himself onto Lucie, throwing her into a downward spiral that will also lead to Jean-Loup’s downfall.

Thanks to a witch, Lucie was able to view the downfall of Jean-Loup as he turns into a beast. What she wasn’t counting on, was that in her icy rage, she would also be transformed. With her transformation, Lucie was able to watch Jean-Loup rage and despair over his new shape, until one day, she realizes that Jean-Loup was no longer present in the Beast. Beast became his own entity separate from Jean-Loup, with a personality that is a complete 180 from Jean-Loup’s.

And then, what we know as the traditional Beauty and the Beast story begins, but with a twist.

My Thoughts
So, I really wanted to like this book. And to be honest, if I could cut out the first 6 chapters, I think the book would be perfect. Maybe add just add brief back story explanation during flashbacks, in order for the reader to understand Lucie better. But, I do think that I would have enjoyed the book better without the beginning.

I really enjoyed the twist on the story, mainly that the Beast is the true face and the “princely” face was the false face. I have read some other reviews where readers despair that Lucie falls in love with her rapist, but in truth, Jean-Loup and Beast are two completely different people. I felt that the author didn’t do an injustice to Lucie, especially considering the time period this story is supposed to take place in.

As with many books I enjoy, Lucie goes from a simpering, naive girl into a strong woman willing to open her heart and mind. I’m sure the therapist I was seeing last year would have something to say about my feelings on this, but I’m not going to look too much into it. 🙂

Conclusion

So, the copy of Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge that I received was an advanced copy that was not completely edited and formatted for public sale (I hope). It was distracting, but I am holding under the assumption that the actual public sale copy will be edited and formatted better. I will not count off on that.

While I enjoyed the different spin on a beloved tale, I felt that the author probably could have done something different with the beginning. It was a little sluggish and hard to read for the first 6 chapters. But once the witch comes into the picture, the story picked up and pulled me in, and I found myself enjoying the story more.

I give Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of “Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge” by Lisa Jensen. I am sorry to say but this did not catch my attention. The writing felt juvenile and the word choice was rather simple. The story did seem very original. I have read many Beauty and the Beast retellings so it is possible at this point that they are starting to bore me because I have read so many. My main issue was that I didn’t feel a connection with the characters. They were not very relatable or real to me.

Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story, told from the perspective of a servant in the Beast's household leading up to and following the curse by the sorceress. Lucie starts working for the Chevalier de Beaumont when she is pressed out of the household into work by her stepfather. At first, she is charmed by the handsome chevalier, but she soon discovers how cruel and self-serving he is. After one terrible night, she flees to the woods, spilling her story to the old woman who lives in an enchanted cottage. Revenge is swift - the chevalier is turned into the beast, and Lucie is transformed to a candelabra, the only light that shines upon Beast's suffering. Lucie soon finds that it is not just his form, but also his behavior that is transformed - as Beast, the chevalier is kind and gentle and grateful for Lucie's friendship. But before long, a pretty young woman named Rose moves in to the castle, and Lucie fears that Beast and Rose will fall in love, breaking the spell and transforming the kind Beast into the cruel Chevalier.

I had such high hopes from this story. I love Beauty and the Beast in all its forms, and this seemed so interesting to me - getting to read this story from a completely new perspective. And I definitely feel that the retelling itself was original, and I loved the concept of a virtually irredeemable chevalier. However, I had expected more dynamic from the characters, and for better or for worse, this was a fairly straight-forward fairy tale in that way: the good characters are good and the evil characters are evil, with very little gray area. The main character, Lucie, is a kind, innocent character who is wronged and becomes angry and vengeful. I really wanted more from Lucie especially - I wanted to see her have more character growth, feel more sympathy for others, and I don't feel like she ever really got there. Beast had by far the most interesting back story, but even then, he was still an all-good character, willing to sacrifice everything for others. The black-and-white morality reminded me a good deal of a children's novel, but there are a few scenes in this book that made it very much a young adult or adult novel. It definitely needs a TRIGGER WARNING: Beast contains a rather graphic rape scene. So if that is something that you have trouble reading, this one should be skipped.

I was wanting a little more from the setting, too. Beast is set in Renaissance France, and while there was some good general world-building going on, I would have liked to see some more concrete details. Perhaps a little more about the history of the region, or any sort of political conflict, or maybe a little more about religion. One of my favorite things about fairy tale retellings is the chance to set them inside of our very real world, and explore how that changes things, but Beast was still pretty vague, and if it weren't for the French names, I wouldn't have necessarily even known that it took place in France.

In all, I'll rate Beast a 7 out of 10. It was a fun retelling, especially for fans of Beauty and the Beast, but I was left wanting a little more substance from the characters and the setting. I think fantasy readers with an interest in fairy tales will enjoy this one, but otherwise you won't miss all that much.

There are no words to express my feelings for this book. Ugh!
I don’t know what to say. I went into reading this, thinking it will be a beautiful love story about beauty and the beast, and well I was quite let down.
At the beginning of the book there is a very descriptive incident that takes place with the main character lucie and a man named Jeanloup , which makes her seek revenge. She meets a witch who can give her exactly what she wants. And so the witch curses jeanloup to become a beast. That is pretty much the synopsis. Whilst I was reading I seemed quite bored with the writing and it seemed as if I was rereading chapters over and over. But what infuriated me most was the ending. It turned out there was a love story after all, lucie fell in love with her rapist. I just can’t.

Beast is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairytale that tells the story of how Beast becomes the beast and the period following that change. It is told from the perspective of a young, very naive girl who comes to work as a servant at Beast's home before he is turned. There is a very disturbing and graphic rape scene at the beginning of this book that was not expected. If these types of scenes turn you off as a reader, I recommend not picking up this book. I did manage to read past this scene, but, unfortunately, I found myself not being able to finish this one because the storytelling was too awkward and repetitive. I could not connect with the main character and found her incredibly annoying and immature. She was so ignorant and gullible about things going on around her. There was little to no character development. Just could not hold my attention.

Thank you Netgalley and Candlewick Press for access to this ARC.

This different retelling of Beauty in the Beast is an interesting take on a classic love story. While it wasn't my favorite due to triggers that will make readers put down this novel you can't help but notice the work Lisa Jensen put into putting this story together in an utterly and drastic way.

love Beauty and the Beast and was exited to read this retelling of this classic. It does have a rape scene in it. I kept reading to see how the author would handle this. She did tell a wonderful tale of forgiveness, loss and redemption. While this will not be for some, I am glad I read until the end, because she did tell a good tale. I do not want to say to much, because of spoilers. If you can get past the rape scene you might see what she was trying to do with the story.


READING PROGRESS
June 17, 2018 – Started Reading
June 17, 2018 – Shelved
June 30, 2018 – Finished Reading

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I give it 3.5 stars

I love Beauty and the Beast and was exited to read this retelling of this classic. It does have a rape scene in it. I kept reading to see how the author would handle this. She did tell a wonderful tale of forgiveness, loss and redemption. While this will not be for some, I am glad I read until the end, because she did tell a good tale. I do not want to say to much, because of spoilers. If you can get past the rape scene you might see what she was trying to do with the story.

So, this books cover intrigued me most. And the fact that I absolutely love Beauty and the Beast- one of my favorite fairy tales. I just had to read this book.

It's not your normal telling of B&tB which you learn early on.

Lucie was sent away by her mother to become a servant- and she travels to Beaumount Chateau, where she meets Jean-loup. She is awestruck by his looks- but once the cruelty of who he truly is is revealed, she wants to watch him suffer- so a spell is placed upon Jean-Loup turning him into a Beast, and only a girl of virtue who agrees to marry him will the spell be lifted. Lucie takes joy in watching her revenge unfold- until she realizes that Beast may not be the same person as Jean-Loup. He is more gentlemanly and noble than Jean-Loup ever was. But what happens when a beauty stumbles upon the Chateau threatening to break the spell?

This isn't your normal telling of Beauty and the Beast. And it does contain some topics that may trigger (rape, abortion, suicidal thoughts & attempts). It took me a little while to get into the story. I didn't care for Lucie's character early on, but liked her more as the story went on. And I loathed Jean-loup's character. And skimmed over their full names almost every single time they were mentioned (way to long). I loved Beast character- and would have loved to see more from him. It saddened me a little that he only went by Beast- since that was what he was- but not who he was. It was an interesting read and a different take on Beauty and the Beast. 3⭐ out of 5 ⭐. After a slow start & quite a few triggers, it picks up a little & has more potential but in the end it wasn't enough to redeem it.

This book had quite a slow pace, particularly at the start, and this detracted from my enjoyment of the story. I wish that it had had a faster pace, and maybe been a bit shorter.

The writing style was quite lyrical, which definitely helped to draw me in.

The perspective of the story was a bit odd, and I liked that it tried for something different, but it just didn't really connect with me a great deal. Lucie just never really connected with me, and I didn't enjoy reading from her point of view.

Also, I didn't particularly have strong feelings on who Beast ended up with, which I feel was a key element to the story. I just didn't particularly ship it...

I really, REALLY loved though the distinction between the beast and the prince, and how the ending turned out with the beast, as explained in the author note. This was definitely my favourite part of the story, and I am so happy that it was included!

It was definitely unique though, I don't think I've ever read a retelling of the story quite like it. At the beginning it felt just like all the others, but in the end it was really different.

I honestly devour all beauty and the beast retellings. This was no exception. I loved the imagery used and was so blown away by this new to me author that I will go out of my way to read more from them!

Well, it has been quite a while since I disliked a book this much. I can't even begin to describe how much I started to resent this book while reading it. I absolutely love the story of Beauty and the Beast and I was pretty excited to dive into a story that shows a different side of the well know fairy-tale. My excitement was short lived however.
It started of quite well, because I absolutely adored the little French accents that were interwoven in the story. Beauty and the Beast is set in the French countryside, so these little additions made the overall story feel more real. I would dare to say even a little bit more authentic.
And after that it gets really dark really quickly. About 10% into the book there is a pretty violent rape scene. About 15% into the book there is a suicide attempt. (I am not trying to spoil things, but I think these are things you should know going into this story. Trigger warnings and all..... Let's make it clear that I have no problem with dark stories and I don't shy away from sex or violence in anyway. If it contributes to the story I even applaud it. But in this story it was a plot device. A badly done plot device with a happy ending.

I didn't mind Jean-Loup being a serial rapist. I was even a little intrigued by it. Because turning into a beast is a pretty severe punishment for just pushing an old lady out, no? So I was kindly surprised that Lisa Jensen gave a little extra to the reason why Beast got turned into a beast. But why not let him take responsibility? Why can't Beast have remorse for his actions as a man? Well, because Beast and Jean-Loup are totally different people. They don't even remember each other. Little bit Jekyll and Hyde right? But wait there is more, because the reason Jean-Loup is a horrible person isn't his fault. No it is his mother’s fault
At this point I just wanted to throw the book out of the window or burn it to ashes. (Which of course I couldn't do... because well it was an ARC on my kindle. And I am quite attached to my Kindle.)
All in all... I really hated this book. I honestly think this is the first review I am posting where I use the word hate. But don't let that push you of reading it. Just know you are getting yourself into a very woman unfriendly, abusive, pretty badly written retelling of what is a wonderful story on its own. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that someone ruined my favourite fairy-tale in a little over 350 pages.

The review for this book will be posted on my blog on the 16the of July.

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales, but unfortunately the story just didn't live up to my hopes for it...

My biggest issue is that there were no warnings when I first received the book. The book starts with a brutal rape scene near the beginning, followed by an attempted suicide scene and the cycle of abuse is continued through the book. Themes such as these should be clearly marked as many people might find them triggering or just prefer not to read books containing such themes.

This book just wasn't for me.

I had really high expectations of this book, Beauty and the Beast being one of my favorite fairy tales. Unfortunately the story just didn't live up to my hopes for it..

The book starts with a brutal rape scene, closely followed by an attempted suicide scene. I still decided to give the book a chance, but the story was too slow-paced for my liking and I didn't feel conencted to any of the characters.

This book just wasn't for me..

I was incredibly disappointed in this book, especially since this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. Not only was there no warning that the book would contain a brutal rape scene, but the cycle of abuse in the story made my stomach turn and I thought about not finishing it several times.

Moving past that, the writing was choppy at best and the author seemed to have trouble putting together a story that flowed naturally.

Beast was fantastic. It transcended everything I ever thought about Beauty and the Beast in a truly delightful way. I was always kind of on the fence about the original – but Jensen embraces and departs from it in all the best ways. This is such a unique re-telling that truly hooked me. Not only is there gorgeous writing within Beast, but the storyline is captivating and the characters are compelling.

Is there even more to say? Beast is littered with highlights. Actually that sounds so much worse. It is adorned with highlights that just demonstrate how beautiful the writing was to me. Not only was it gorgeous, but it was insightful. There were quotes that kind of stopped me in my tracks because they were so poignant.

I love Beauty and the Beast, and I like retellings for B&tB, but not this one. First off, there’s a brutal rape scene which was just awful and almost made me DNF the book. Second, the writing felt choppy and didn’t flow well. Not impressed at all. And the ending, just nope. I just can’t accept that ending. In all honestly, if this wasn’t a Netgalley ARC, I wouldn’t have finished this book.

Ok, so there are parts of this story that I really enjoyed, and other parts I didn't. Essentially, the first 25% of this book was pure drudgery for me. I hated the fact that our "beast" character was a rapist. This story point ended up tainting a lot of my potential to enjoy the story. There is a plot point that some would say fixes this later in the book, but it still doesn't excuse that this was a focal point in this novel.
I also had a love/hate relationship with Lucie, our main protagonist. She was mostly so milk toast through the whole novel. I want a character with some strength to her. I do feel that she finds this by the end of the novel, but I was vert disappointed with another plot point that kept her around. It works, but its a little more weird than what I wanted to walk in to.
I wanted to DNF this book multiple times. This retelling was a bit of a hot mess for me, and I really love retellings.

I'm in awe and humbled by this clever tale told through the eyes of a lowly chambermaid. I was expecting splendor and grace, I wasn't prepared for the cruelty that comes with the abuse of power and wealth.

It is a wonder how stories are told of "the prince as the hero and the Beast as the spell" when in truth the Beast is more deserving of love and beauty. We are often disillusioned by a handsome face instead of recognizing a kind heart, a gentle soul.

Beast is completely captivating. It is beautifully written and powerful in truth.

I received a copy of this for a fair and honest review. I love fairy tales. This a Beauty and the Beauty retelling. This is a much darker and sinister adult version the classic children's version I have known. It is no Disney version either. Long the way you meet characters such as Lucie, Jean-Loup, Madam Montant, Mere Sophia and even Rose.  As the story goes on it makes my challenge all that I know of the classical version. Don't get me wrong the main parts of the story are still the rose, candlestick, the library and the underlying love story. Just another way to tell the story. There were moments I was so angry I did not want to read more. There were moments that were tender and loving. There were moments when I wanted to cry. That is something all great stories should do and that is keep you emotionally invested until the very last word. That is exactly what this tale did for me. I would recommend it to anyone who loves the classic version, but I have warned you that it can get a little twisted as well.

I think I've read at least half a dozen Beauty and the Beast-inspired books in the past year in historical romance, contemporary romance, and young adult. It's one of my favorite types of stories. This one is unique in that it takes place during the original time period in France and features some wonderful twists that turn the story on its head. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The first difference you'll notice is that this story is narrated by Lucie, a young woman in desperate need of a serving position. Despite the frightening rumors about Chateau Beaumont and its handsome young master, Lucie inquires about work and is grateful to receive a position as a maid. All is well until the master, Jean-Loup, returns to the chateau. At first Lucie can't understand why he has such a reputation. He's breathtakingly handsome, and she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him. But Jean-Loup soon shows his true colors and commits a horrible crime against Lucie, one that leaves her heart hardened, her hopes shattered, and revenge her sole reason for living.

Enter an enchantress who also believes a reckoning is due for Jean-Loup, and you know the rest . . . or do you?

In her author's note, Lisa Jensen says she's always loved Beast more than the prince, and so she set out to give him the happily ever after he deserves. In Jensen's tale, nothing is quite what it seems. Even Beauty--or Rose, as she's called in this tale--has ulterior motives. And Lucie, who could never have imagined what her fervent desire for revenge would set into motion, is consigned to watch it all unfold, shocked to discover her heart is not dead after all, and helpless to prevent Rose from bringing Jean-Loup back.

I was so smitten with Jensen's creative spin on the story that I could not put it down, and I could not wait to see what would happen and who would get their happily ever after. I've seen more than a few readers say they could not get past Jean-Loup's behavior in the beginning to read the rest of the story, but if they had kept reading, they would have seen an entirely different story than the one they imagined. This is a brilliantly creative retelling of the classic tale that held me spellbound from beginning to end.