Publishers Weekly
03/20/2023
Lowham adeptly wrangles classic elements of “Beauty and the Beast” to craft a sensitive and slow-burning retelling that tackles issues of sexual violence. As recompense for the rose her merchant father plucked from the castle garden, 18-year-old Beauty—so named by her deceased mother, who “valued handsome appearance above all other virtues”—delivers herself to the enchanted residence of the mysterious Beast. Intellectual Beauty, who is still coping with having been sexually assaulted by her former suitor, a lord baron’s heir, secretly hopes the Beast will devour her, as she “would rather die” than have to face the suitor again. Instead, the magical, inexplicably empty estate provides an environment in which she and the Beast slowly develop a rapport through reading and philosophy. Beauty finds solace in the castle, and the distance from her family helps her reevaluate her complex relationships with them. Via intense flashbacks to Beauty’s life before living with the Beast, Lowham addresses Beauty’s harrowing history. While this lavish version of the original tale is comfortingly familiar, the creator’s narrative stands out in its portrayal of themes surrounding trauma and recovery alongside familiar musings on perceived differences between humans and monsters. Characters read as white. Ages 13–19. (May)
Compass Book Ratings
"A darker and bittersweet retelling of the familiar fairytale, laden with an equal dose of humor and tragedy. Their relationship felt very sweet and pure, grounded more in simplicity and faith rather than in the fiery passion Beauty indulged in with her prior suitor. I liked that it portrayed a kind of “growing up” on her part, as she moved away from the excitement and thrill of her dangerous lover and delved into a softer, truer type of love with the Beast. The language of this story was really rather wonderful... the author writes with a lyricism that drew me right in. There is heavy content, but the author handled it very delicately, and the actual traumatic scene was much more implicit than explicit, and the effects were mostly made manifest in Beauty’s emotional state."
Kirkus Reviews
2023-02-25
This retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” adds a #MeToo backstory.
Youngest, brightest, and prettiest of three sisters, Beauty is beloved by her brother and widowed father. Her sisters aren’t fans—especially jealous Astra, whom Beauty ridicules. When their father’s financial losses force the family to downsize to a run-down cottage near an enchanted forest, Beauty’s relieved—she has her reasons. Caught in a storm while hunting in the forest, her father stumbles upon a mysterious castle where he’s magically fed and housed for the night, but when he plucks a rose in the garden for Beauty, despite a sign forbidding it, the Beast appears, demanding his life as payment; instead, Beauty takes his place. The castle—more sanctuary than prison and thick with enchantments—intrigues her, as does the shy, smitten Beast she teaches to read in the castle library. A parallel plot addresses why Beauty longs to leave her old life behind (it’s no fairy tale) in suspense-building flashbacks. The book’s soul-searching, cautionary realism doesn’t fit comfortably with the didactic clarity and black-and-white ethics of fairy tales, but despite the stylistic disconnect, Beauty herself is an intriguing, well-crafted original, her story building on the tale’s perennial theme of consent: She goes willingly to a Beast who does not force her into marriage though his life and humanity depend on it. In that respect, this iteration does not disappoint. Characters present White.
Readers who appreciate narrative risk-taking are well served. (Fantasy. 13-18)
