Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis:
I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both.
I am the Beast.
The day I was cursed to this wretched existence was the day I was saved—although it did not feel so at the time.
My redemption sprung from contemptible roots; I am not proud of what I did the day her father happened upon my crumbling, isolated chateau. But if loneliness breeds desperation then I was desperate indeed, and I did what I felt I must. My shameful behaviour was unjustly rewarded.
My Isabeau. She opened my eyes, my mind and my heart; she taught me how to be human again.
And now I might lose her forever.
Review: I definitely give this 5 stars! This book is incredible, there’s just one small thing but otherwise, this book is perfect. I was actually shocked by how much I liked it because this isn’t my usual kind of read but I’m trying more historical contemporary books ( I don’t actually know the genre name, don’t judge me) and so far I haven’t been disappointed by any of them.
This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. As we know, I love fairytale retellings and this one is one of my favourites. This book is actually quite slow-paced, I don’t usually read slow-paced books as I find them boring but this book had me hooked.
I loved the world-building, I could properly envision 17th century France. Also, the descriptions of food and overall scenes were lavish. I could imagine smelling the food and standing in that room. The imagery was vivid and quite magical. I mostly loved the characters the only thing that made me hesitate to give this book 5 stars was the main heroine, Isabeau.
Okay, so most of the time I loved Isabeau. She is quite stubborn and opinionated but still kind and considerate. The only thing that I disliked was that when she rejected the Beast ( or around that time) she wouldn’t talk to him and kind of avoided him. I understand why she did that but it just irritated me. Although looking back at it, it does seem that she is quite depressed. But Isabeau does become herself and happier throughout the book.
The book is actually told from the Beast’s point of view which is quite unusual but it was quite refreshing. Usually a book is told from dual point of view or from the heroines point of view so this was surprising. I enjoyed seeing the full thoughts of the Beast! I enjoyed the story line too. It follows the main story of beauty and the beast however there are some changes and twist which I absolutely loved.
Overall, this book was incredible and although one tiny bit kind of let me down, it makes sense. I give this book 5 stars as the but about Isabeau’s sadness doesn’t really make me like the book less. It’s quite an accurate depiction of the emotions anyone would be going through if this happened in real life.
P.S The book cover is what really drew me in at first!! I love it!!
Diary of a Book Addict 