I am an avid fan of fairytale retellings, particularly those of Beauty and the Beast. As a kid it was one of my most favorite “princess” Disney movies, keeping in mind I am a 90’s baby. I did not have any human siblings growing up, my family consisted of my parents and 3-4 dogs. To say I was raised in part by wolves is not a far stretch. So, movies that showed a strong relationship with animals or beasts were always my favorite, as they were the ones I understood and could relate to best. Now approaching 30 I still find myself drawn to books that deal with beasts and monsters and how, more often than not, they are simply misunderstood creatures.
I came upon Of Beast and Beauty by Chanda Hahn by way of one of my daily BookBub emails featuring severely discounted and even some free eBooks. If you’re not a subscriber to their daily emails and you’re a book-lover you should absolutely check them out, it’s FREE!
Anyhow, back to the task at hand.
SPOILER ALERT – I will try not to allow any spoilers into this review, however I will be describing some of my favorite scenes so if my enthusiasm gets the better of me I thought it best to warn you all ahead of time.
Book Blurb
Everyone dreams of marrying a prince—except for me. I am nothing more than a pawn in my adoptive mother’s diabolical plot against the seven kingdoms .I was the chosen tool, her sharpened blade that would cut the deepest into the heart of the Kingdom of Baist. But like all deadly weapons, my wedding is two-edged sword that could cost me my soul.
For I am Rosalie, one of the adopted daughters of Lady Eville, and it is my duty to enter into a loveless and hate-filled marriage with the narcissistic Crown Prince of Baist. My choices and heart are not my own to give. Yet even in the thick of dire situations, beastly vengeance can give way to beautiful attraction.
What I Loved
The Beginning
Sometimes a good story starts off with a long background information dump and descriptive narrative. Others throw you right into the action. This book is part of the latter category, and as you progress you get bits and pieces of what happened immediately preceding the beginning. It’s an effective tool to tease the curious and build suspense in my opinion so I appreciated this approach instead of a long and drawn out character descriptions and backstory. We’re thrown right into a tension filled room with some of the main pieces of the game.
Main Protagonist
The main character, Rosalie, is quite the lovely badass. It’s become more of a common theme to see strong and independent female leads and I’m not looking for that to wane anytime soon. Soft characters have their place, and make for amazing leads as well, but I personally love me a good rebel woman who packs a punch. Rosalie is just that, with attitude, power, and wit. It’s hard for me not to like her even if she does have a temper (maybe I’m just relating too much here? 😂 ) and makes some questionable choices. All in all, really came to love her as the leading role.
The Fae
As I said above, I love the stories that deal with monsters and beasts and that transcends into the Fae in whatever form an author may have them take. Goblins, brownies, pixies etc. Whatever they may be, it’s fun for authors to include them. You’re writing a story, why stick to a cat or a dog (albeit great companion and friend choices) when you can create a banshee who has lost her voice?? The possibilities are endless and the playground is as well. Of Beast and Beauty doesn’t have the widest variety of Fae, but the inclusion of them in this first of the series makes me hopeful there will be more to come in later books.
Similar but Different
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast as the title implies, but I must say it is one of the most distant ones I’ve come across yet. So many have pretty strong parallels that it is quite easy to predict the flow of the story and what’s going to happen. You may even have the same type of characters; soft and demure female lead and the gruff “beast” of a guy/monster. This retelling did a good job of projecting that tale in such a way that the notes were similar but as a whole it is on the edge of retellings verging on it’s own beast (pun intended) which was honestly quite nice.
Family
Now, I can’t go too much into this category for risk of spoilers. In fact I don’t know if I can say much of anything. Just that I love what family is in this book. Once you’ve read it, I think you’ll understand too.
What I Didn’t Love
The Prince
It’s stated in the book blurb, but the Prince…man, I don’t want to ream the guy, but the author did an excellent job of making me dislike his narcissistic, judgmental, and what I consider toxic personality. There are some reasons behind his behavior, and there were brief moments of possible redemption moments. However, as a whole I was not a fan of his character even at the end of things. But as it is a Young Adult novel, which seem prone to the macho/alpha/jerk main male persona, it’s not something I’m totally holding against the book. I was young and angsty once too, so I can see the appeal. As a nearly 30 year old, I’d probably nut-punch him and move on. Que sera sera.
Story Progression
The beginning of this book was quite appealing until it wasn’t. I thoroughly enjoyed being thrown into the tension, but then we have some moments of very mundane, very counter-productive scenes that I honestly had to force myself to re-read because I found myself skipping ahead to find exciting words or phrases. Luckily this wasn’t too long and it did get much better toward the last half to quarter of the book, but I feel like the story could’ve been laid out in a better way to have better flow.
Family
Again, I can’t say much of anything. But when you read it you’ll know. Can’t all forms of family be both a blessing and a curse? You’re relating right now are you? Well so it is in this book. Enjoy!
In Conclusion
Of Beast and Beauty, the first in the Daughters of Eville series, received 3.5 out of 5 Paws (an appropriate Wolfcraft scale if I do say so myself) because as a Young Adult retelling of Beauty and the Beast it does an excellent job of separating itself from it’s heritage yet still paying homage to it. We get to walk the story with a strong and clever female lead, and although there is a Prince, there are enough outside threats and mystery to keep it from being a typical, romance focused, retelling. That is something I can wholly appreciate. As it is a first in a series it succeeded in reeling me in enough that I will be looking to read the next book for sure, if not the series. I’m quite intrigued by Mother Eville.
Until next time,
Interesting book to read. I’m quite new to fairytale retelling. But I’m interested to learn about it. This book might be a good kickstart for me. Thank you for sharing.
I love the look of the book, the cover is stunning. I really like fantasy stuff, I watch quite a lot of it but haven’t actually delved into fantasy books, I too am drawn to beasts and monsters. I’d definitely like to give this a read just to see what it’s like. I’m like you, I’d be skipping ahead to find more interesting bits as well. Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts