Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly
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Web ID: 18496975Insightful
BEASTLY BEAUTY by Jennifer Donnelly I loved this witty and imaginative retelling of the old tale. A beauty, a beast, a thief, the reason for the curse . . . all surprising. The metaphors and lessons are wise and worldly, and Hope, Faith, and Love will accompany you. <3
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beaty and the Beast but with a unique twist!
A Beauty and the Beast fairytale retelling with a twist! Now, I’m a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings and I will always pick up one I come across, but I’ve never read anything quite like this before. Beastly Beauty tells the tale as old as time but from swapped viewpoints. In this story the female is the Beast, and the male is the Beauty. I thought it was brilliant of Jennifer Donnelly to write the story swapping the gender roles. It’s what most intrigued me about the book and it’s something I’ve never seen done before. I loved the concept of this book. I appreciated how this book gave you a backstory from each of the characters own perspectives. You see the diversity Arabella is faced with being a woman in her time period. You see the challenges Beau must cope with being a poor member of society. Throughout the book you see more and more of their past and the choices that led them to get to where they have gotten. It really humanized them to me and made me understand them better. I also really enjoyed how the story dived deep into the exploration of human emotion and the effect that can have on us and those around us. I found the books exploration of the good, the bad, and the ugliest parts of us fascinating. It brought to light how the dark things we tell ourselves in the corners of our minds and how the way we see ourselves can so strongly influence how our own stories are told. While I did feel the book was a bit slow paced in the beginning, it picked up pace about halfway through the book. The ending was very satisfying and well done. The message it was trying to send was beautiful. This truly is a unique spin to the classic fairytale while still managing to stay true to the original story we all know and love. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who also loves fairytale retellings and empowering feelings.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Entirely Original Beauty Gender-Bent Retelling
A beautifully crafted, wholly unique gender bent Beauty and the Beast awaits you within these pages. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, i.e. loved, every Jennifer Donnelly fairytale retelling I’ve read and this was no exception. A hero and a heroine from thoroughly different backgrounds and with distinct personalities and motivations, a curse that presents itself in a devastating and original way, easter eggs galore for fans of the Disney movie and original story both – this book has it all. I will say the synopsis led me slightly astray; it dwells first and foremost on Arabella’s situation as this story’s “beast” – but the story begins and is told mainly from Beau’s perspective. It took a bit of time to shake my expectations away and lose myself in the tale. But once I did? Dang. A couple small logic/worldbuilding things snagged my attention as I was reading, but they were never major enough to distract from the story or detract from the emotional weight of it all. And boy, was it emotional. I FELT for Beau and Arabella, rooted for them to get what they wanted and realize their worth. The reason behind the curse is absolutely heartbreaking and the solution most definitely surprising. I couldn’t recommend more, especially for those who have a million fairytale retellings like I have and are craving something new. Beastly Beauty does that and more.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Definitely a split decision
My thoughts on this book were definitely a split decision. Overall, I felt this was a good read. The author offered an intriguing take on this fairytale that was inspired and fresh. That being said, I sadly felt that the story never reached the potential It had shown. Truly the worst thing for me was the romance. It is what I love and what I read for. I really didn't feel any chemistry between these two and I didn't feel any real connection to Beau and Arabella. Sure, I could sympathize with them in general but that was all.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beautiful story of redemption, faith, hope & love
Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly Genre: Fantasy; Romantasy; Fractured Fairytale; Gender-swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast New Release: May 7 What I loved: Symbolism The Redemption The magic Suspense The dance Kisses Romance between Arabella and Beau Ok, this book was not at all what I was expecting. I wasn’t expecting the mystery, suspense, and symbolism aspects. But surprisingly enjoyed this book so much the more because of them. So many life lessons about overcoming greed, redemption from the past, and finding Faith, Hope, and Love again after left so long to dark, selfish emotions. Beau and Arabella’s story is beautiful and both of their character arcs were well written. At first, the beginning was highly confusing and there were parts that didn’t make too much sense. But in the end, everything came together for a beautiful story with so many great life lessons about embracing both beautiful and ugly emotions and learning to forgive and love oneself despite past mistakes and character flaws. I really liked it. I felt some of the messages were ones I needed to hear personally. I just reviewed Beastly Beauty by Jennifer Donnelly. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Content Warning: frequent swearing, mild suggestive content, violence Trigger Warning: difficult past, cruel parents, death, other hard topics
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beauty and the Beast retelling
Beastly Beauty is a young adult gender-swapped retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," featuring a thief who wanders into a castle in search of food and riches and a young woman who has been trapped there for a hundred years. Beau and his band of thieves cannot believe their luck when they stumble upon a castle with the gates wide open and food ready on the table. But when a beast appears and they run for their lives, only Beau doesn’t make it across the bridge before it crashes into the moat. When he meets the lady of the house (Arabella), he discovers that the castle is under an enchantment, and he won’t be able to leave. He will need to outsmart Arabella’s court of strange women, build a new bridge across the moat, and help her break the curse if he ever wants to return to Barcelona to help his ailing younger brother. This "Beauty and the Beast" retelling started strong with Beau and his band of thieves but quickly lost steam. I found the curse overly complicated with too many players, and the reason behind it disappointing. Since we already know the original story, at the very least, a retelling can provide a few fresh takes and be entertaining, and I didn’t find either of those to be true. There are some interesting thoughts based on other fairy tales, which I appreciated and wished this book had. Unfortunately, the chemistry between Beau and Arabella didn’t jump off the page, and the various court women with their scrambled-up names based on emotions (Rega, Espidra, Hesma, etc.) became annoying as the book went on. I spent the last 20% just wanting to wrap everything up and see how the curse would be resolved. Beastly Beauty has a beautiful cover and attempts to look at "Beauty and the Beast" in a new way with female empowerment, self-love, and forgiveness as the main themes. But the overly complicated curse, courtly women with their word scramble names, and the lack of chemistry between Beau and Arabella made it a slog for me. 2.5 stars
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Another great reimagined fairy tale from Donnelly
Another great reimagined fairy tale from Jennifer Donnelly. This story was captivating and I enjoyed every minute of it. Beau is trapped in a mysterious castle that is full of strange characters and servants. As he's trying to regain his freedom to get to his ill brother he starts to fall for the lovely princess of the manor. The message in this book came through to me at the end and reading it to get to that point was a pleasure. All of the books in this series have a strong positive message.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Magical
Jennifer Donnelly has such a talent for reimagining fairy tales and making them so much more than you thought possible. Beastly Beauty is another win to go along with Stepsisters and Poisoner. I loved the gender-flipped beauty and the beast tale. More than anything this story is an allegory. One about our inner demons, our need for love, acceptance, and the grace we need to give ourselves. I also liked how Arabella isn’t cursed for being a horrible person like the beast usually is. I won’t spoil the twists, but they were well done. They were easy to figure out, but I definitely feel like we were meant to figure them out to see how long it took the characters to catch up. I loved Beau too, plus all the servants in the castle. I definitely got emotional and teared up several times. This tale is so poignant and beautifully told, and I highly recommend. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com