Filled with magic and fierce emotion, Lisa Jensen's multilayered novel will make you question all you think you know about beauty, beastliness, and happily ever after.
They say Château Beaumont is cursed. But servant-girl Lucie can't believe such foolishness about handsome Jean-Loup Christian Henri LeNoir, Chevalier de Beaumont, master of the estate. But when the chevalier's cruelty is revealed, Lucie vows to see him suffer. A wisewoman grants her wish, with a spell that transforms Jean-Loup into monstrous-looking Beast, reflecting the monster he is inside. But Beast is nothing like the chevalier. Jean-Loup would never patiently tend his roses; Jean-Loup would never attempt poetry; Jean-Loup would never express remorse for the wrong done to Lucie. Gradually, Lucie realizes that Beast is an entirely different creature from the handsome chevalier, with a heart more human than Jean-Loup's ever was. Lucie dares to hope that noble Beast has permanently replaced the cruel Jean-Loup — until an innocent beauty arrives at Beast's château with the power to break the spell.
My Review:
I really enjoyed this retelling of Beauty and the Beast! It's one of my favorite Disney movies, mostly because of Belle (Go books!) and I was interested to see how things would play out in this retelling. This was a dark book, probably more like the original then the movie.
The idea that the guy who was transformed in the Beast was both a really, really bad guy and then not the Beast at all, just another person in this different body, was pretty interesting. It's a different take then the guy becoming the beast and learning how to be a better person. So that was very interesting to read about!
I felt bad for Lucie, she's had it tough, being a peasant whose father has died, and basically sent away from home to protect herself from her step-father's wandering eye. But things go from bad to worse because of Jean-Loup. Really hated that guy! But there were some moments once Beast arrived on the scene, were I was like, something bad is going to happen and I don't want to read it!
The actual part with Rose is maybe the last third or so of the book. More important was the things that happened beforehand, like Lucie being a servant, that weird thing with the maybe ghost, and the sorceress lady. But how everything worked out, that was a elegant solution and I loved reading it!
This book was a really fantastic retelling with such a different focus, and I enjoyed reading it so much!
Author: Lisa Jensen
Read: May 10th, 2018
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a 2018 Retelling Reading Challenge Book, Historical Fiction 2018 Book and a SAC 2018 Book!
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Expected Publication: July 10th 2018
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| 5/5 Hearts |
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| 5/5 Books |
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| 5/5 Stars |
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