Fantastic new version of Beauty and the Beast! What if the Beast is actually the hero? There are two young women characters here: Rose, who falls for the handsome prince, and Lucie, who loves the true Beast and fights to protect and restore him. Who really is the more beastly? Very well done. The language is flowy and imbued with the right mix of medieval-ish historical times and fairytaleness, if that makes sense. I dunno, I just loved the way it read. Loved the idea of Lucie being enchanted into a candelabra, so she can watch her revenge take place; there are more than two transformations taking place here, though, and Lucie is a great heroine. Love the opening quote from Greta Garbo after seeing a film version of Beauty and the Beast: "Give me back my beast!" ( )

Beauty and the Beast told from the perspective of … the candlestick?

Lucie is sent to work as a maid at the Chateau de Beaumont, where she encounters the handsome but self-centered and arrogant Jean-Loup. When the enchantress arrives at his door and punishes him for his cruelty, Lucie is only too happy to see him get what he deserves. As all the other servants flee the grounds, she chooses to remain and bear witness to Jean-Loup’s suffering, and so the enchantress gives her a new form that will be safe from the Beast’s abuse.

But there’s one problem: Beast isn’t suffering. Because Beast doesn’t remember being anyone but Beast. And as Lucie gets to know this new creature, so unlike the monstrous Jean-Loup, she starts to think she might even like to be friends with him.

Until the day a beautiful girl arrives at the castle, whose very presence threatens to undo the curse and unleash Jean-Loup back into the world. Lucie is determined not to let that happen.

It’s a story of (like the title says) love and revenge, of second chances and learning to let go of hatred. It has some very interesting twists that I’ve never seen before in a BatB retelling! Skillfully done! ( )

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One of my favorite books while I was growing up was the Beauty and the Beast. I usually love retellings,as they show me a different side of the story that might be, that I have never considered before. This book, however, almost ruined it all for me. The only reason it didn't was because I wouldn't let one bad retelling to ruin my childhood favorite!

The story is about Lucie, who is a servant in Jean Leup's palace. Through Lucie's story, we see Jean Leup as a horrible person who only cares about money and the respect he received from his aristocratic community. He treats the servants badly and doesn't even bother to look at them.
Lucie likes the thought of him. He is a very handsome man, and all she dreams about is for him to notice her. And one day, he does. And something really bad happens. Jean Leup does something horrible to Lucie.

[SPOILER - PLEASE CONTINUE CAUTIOUSLY]

He rapes her. And not only that this scene was very disturbing, it was also three pages long, with broad descriptions and it made be cringe badly. It made me hate everything and this was the part where I almost quit on reading this book]

[SPOILER FINISHED - YOU CAN CONTINUE READING]



After this big spoiler scene, the first reaction Lucie has is to kill herself. I am aware that this was a huge trauma for her, and people react differently, but if the author gives me this as a solution to her problem, do I want to continue reading? Is this really the lesson she learns?

With a bit of help of magic and wisdom words, she decides that now she wants for Jean Leup to suffer, and she wants to be able to see this happen. Suddenly, wish becomes a reality and the next thing we know, she is a candle that can't move, and Jean Leup has turned into a Beast.
Do you get the Beauty and the Beast reference now? We see the story from the candle's point of view, who is Lucie.

Well - not really!

Because here's the twist - the Beast doesn't remember what happened before. He doesn't know he was Jean Leup. He doesn't know he was bad in the past. The Beast is good by default, and a bit sad that he's alone in a big castle. So I have to ask again - Where is the lesson? Where is the punishment? If he can't remember he was bad, he'll never learn why he is a Beast.

To continue and shorten the story - Lucie (the candle) can talk to the Beast through her mind. The Beauty (Rose) comes to the castle and the story goes on. Lucie decides that she is in love with the Beast, and I won't reveal the rest, in case you want to read the book and see for yourself.

Now - I know that the author's point wasn't the lesson that the Beast learns as in the original story. Her point was to tell the story of the Beast, and Lucie, and how this tale can have a different plot, and ending, and back story. But I really believe that this was the wrong way of saying it, and it didn't leave a clear message.

The writing was poor, and it went from one moment to another, leaving me there in the middle, wondering what happened. One scene begins, and another starts before anything is finished. It was disorientated, and I felt lost in the first 40 pages.

This is a no from me, and I will give it 2 stars because I managed to finish it.

Thanks to Candlewick Press for providing me with an ARC e-copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I suppose this book started decent enough. It was interesting to see how someone could bring in rape, yes there is rape in this book (just once), into a story like Beauty and the Beast because embarrassingly enough, my impression of this story is like, 80% Disney.

It was also nice to read about this twist to the story! Definitely not what I was expecting, but then again, this book was just...so different from what I usually knew, I quickly lost any expectations I had for this book. And that's not a bad thing!

I've never really thought of the human and the beast as literally two separate characters before...I've always known them to be one and the same, and the evil human has to become a monster before he re-emerges as a nice human.

ALSO! I absolutely loved that both female protagonists in this book got their happily ever after! As I was reading through the book, I was mentally preparing myself to take sides...but turns out, I didn't have to! They both win at the end!

Also, side note: I've always thought beast looked better than his human half. ( )

Content Warning: graphic rape scene

I tried really, really hard to like this. I usually love retellings, and Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales. In the end, this book didn’t work for me for a number of reasons.

Jean-Loup Christian Henri LeNoir, Chevalier de Beaumont, is cruel. And Lucie, a servant-girl, suffers at his hand. When she runs into a wisewoman, her wish is granted: the chevalier will suffer. He is turned into a monstrous Beast. And yet…the beast is kind-hearted, soft, patient, and remorseful, and Lucie feels herself starting to hope. Until a young woman arrives at the château, with the power to break the curse.

This was definitely an interesting take on the old tale, but it also didn’t seem that different from the original. The setting was quite similar to the original story, and the story itself wasn’t that different either. Nevertheless, I liked the twists that the book did have.

The rape scene was disturbing, but I also just didn’t quite get the purpose of it otherwise. It seemed almost as if it was used as a plot device, for the main character to feel enough emotion to set the curse in motion. It was mentioned briefly at the end when things were being explained, but in the bigger picture, it just seemed unnecessary.

Overall, the writing style just wasn’t for me. Some reviewers have called it lyrical, and while I can see that, it dragged out for me. While it definitely fits the setting and time period of the story, I just wasn’t engaged by it. ( )