Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy.

This book is a reimagining of the Beauty and the Beast story from the Beast's perspective. I'm not really sure what is supposed to be reimagined from it as it seemed pretty much like the same story to me. I am a massive Beauty and the Beast fan. As in I have been insanely obsessed with it for my whole life so if there's a retelling, I'm gonna read it.

The book started quite promisingly, and when I read the description of the Fairy that cursed the Prince I thought she sounded awesome. That was maybe as exciting as things got for me. The main issue for me was the overly flowery and descriptive language. It reminded me of when I used to need to reach the word count for an essay so I rambled on and on and included lots of unnecessary words. I found it really distracting and it made some parts really boring. Some things felt a little too similar to the Disney version to me too e.g. the cracked mirror, the destroyed portraits.

Reading the book from the Beast's perspective also just made the story even more weird and creepy than it should be. Deliberately luring Isabeau to the castle and then spying on her and her family. Urgh. We didn't even get any sexy chemistry for our troubles.

For someone who hasn't read as many Beauty and the Beast adaptations as me, it would probably be more enjoyable. As it is, it was inevitable that I would end up comparing this book to those and unfortunately for me it didn't quite measure up.

I have a soft spot for Beauty and the Beast retellings. The Beast's Heart, which is from the Beast's point of view was something which stood out, as so often we follow Beauty.
I found that, of the retellings I have read recently, this one followed the original fairly closely. I have to say that I thought that The Beast was an interesting character, and it was refreshing to read about a male character who felt a whole range of emotions and cried.
The basis for the Beauty and the Beast tale is one, which can often be problematic and The Beast's Heart does not escape that. The repeated proposals on the part of the Beast do become a little much after all we should be teaching that 'no means no'. Though this paled in comparison to the manipulations which Isabeau's father subjected her to, especially his suicide attempt towards the end of the book. Isabeau was caught between the emotional manipulation of both her father and the Beast at the end of the book and that did make me rather uncomfortable.
There were a few interesting additions to the story, which make this tale unique. There was a whole cast of character's which I had fallen in love with by the end of the story, including Isabeau's sisters.
If you like Beauty and the Beast retellings then I would defintely recommend The Beast's Heart as something a little different. It was really refreshing to read the other side of the story.

This is such a fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast! It is carefully written to link it to he original French story. It is just a completely magical read! I was in complete awe of the writing, wanting to just crawl into Leife's creative mind! Such a fantastic debut novel, so thankful for the opportunity to read it!

This was a fantastic retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
To take an incredibly familiar story and still have me wondering what'll happen on the next page is a great feat. It somehow managed to feel very unique and original and I loved that we got to see this story from a different point of view.
The characters in this story are lovable and charming and i thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel.

This is definitely one of the stronger Beauty and Beast retellings I've read. I'm always on the look-out for one that can recreate the charm of the story without glossing over the more unsavoury issues too much. Shallcross does a decent job, partly by telling much of the story from the Beast's perspective and laying down some groundwork for his character and psychology before introducing "Belle" (Isabeau). There's a sense of his punishment weighing on him and the struggle to return from a wholly animal state in the forest to the semi-human state Isabeau meets was a original addition.

Shellcross draws on details of the original fairytale to flesh out her story and her characters, including the sisters cut from Disney's version. Watching them develop from shallow girls too used to relying on their younger sister is an interesting subplot. The Beast's distant observation adds depth to his relationship with Isabeau as he sees her through their eyes and gains a tenderness for her family is a nice touch.

Writing and story are quite traditional, full of enchantment and old-fashioned romance rather than the trend towards plumbing the darker depths of fairytale and myth. This isn't a bad thing. Shawcross's tale is pleasant, escapist magic with just enough depth to hold the interest. Her characters are likable, easy company for a comfortable afternoon of reading.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast from the Beasts POV.

I was going in with high hopes that I would enjoy this book and even though there are some elements that I did enjoy I found that this book and its style for writing was not for me. I liked the idea of having a story told from the Beasts point of view but in my opinion it just didn't have that magical element. I liked Isbeau's character along with her sisters and how the Beast is trying not to be a Beast but that was it.

The book is enchanting with gorgeous magical elements but I think due to me going in with high hopes it just didn't meet them.

Am usually a fan of fairy tale retellings, but this one missed the mark for me. It seemed the descriptive prose that was suppose to evoke a sense of old-time charm and wistfulness created an incredibly slow pace and dull tone. The Beast came across as a creepy stalker instead of a tortured heart-broken soul. I have never before thought about how much of a boring and idle life Beauty and Beast would have had.

Unexpectedly, the most enjoyable parts were the snippets showing our 'Beauty's' family. In most stories they are usually portrayed as evil selfish sisters or forgotten entirely. Their inclusion was a real gem.

Beauty and the Beast is a story many are aware of from film, musical and animation. Leife Shallcross has retold the story from the perspective of the Beat himself. 

There are various things that remain a constant from the various versions of this classic children's story. A man cursed to live his day as a beast until he finds someone who loves him for what is on the inside rather than what we see on the out. There are also the gardens, the magic and for all bibliophiles  THE LIBRARY..........

While this is a very good read and sticks to my memories of the story I read as a child, I did find there where parts that did feel a little bit repetitive. Now as an adult it may be that I am being overly picky with a book aimed at younger readers, so I am now wondering if this is actually a way of showing a younger reader the time that the two characters spend together in each others company, building up a friendship and also the trust. 

I did like this story and from the point of view of the Beast, it gave this character a chance to say his piece and express his feeling and thoughts as well as expressing the hope that Isabeau (Beauty) is the one to break the curse.

As well as the Beast and Isabeau's story there is also the story of the family that Isabeau left behind while she stays with the Beast. I did really enjoy this section of the story as it went into how the family left behind had to deal with this change to the family, and adjustments to be made.

This is a book that I do think younger readers and also early Teens would enjoy. It is the perfect story for readers who like the traditional "once upon a time...happily ever after" fairy tale.

The idea of retelling Beauty and the Beast from the Beast's perspective is, on the surface, a wonderful and intriguing thing. You hope to understand his history, his motivations, his emotional depth and his growth as a character. Whilst this is covered to some extent, the relationship between the Beast and his captive lady is rather stilted and awkward. It is a little like watching teenagers take their first steps into dating.... For a novel that touches on quite dark themes such as suicide and abuse, there is a lack of a mature tone of voice. I was not expecting singing tableware, but I was expecting a lot more depth and insight into a well loved fairytale.

"'There is always a way to break a curse.'"



Okay, so, Beauty and the Beast is quite possibly my favourite fairy tale of all time, and I was nervous going into this reimagining because I badly wanted it to do the original tale justice.

I was not disappointed.

Told from the perspective of the Beast, we see the intricate details of what makes people fall in love with who a person is rather than how they look. The Beast attempts to clumsily charm Isabeau into falling in love with him, in an utterly devoted, love-stricken account that saddened my soul. Life Shallcross writes so beautifully. The imagery in this novel is captivating, and the deep description of rose gardens, and forests, and chateau rooms, really brings the setting to life.

Although this proved to be unnecessary; initially I thought that there would not be an adequate amount of plot to truly be entertained with, therefore the careful use of semantics, descriptives, verbs, nouns, similes, would be required. The novel has this, and more.

The addition of the sisters was a smart choice. Adding the activity and romances of Isabeau's sister's, Marie and Claude, gave the story a little something extra so the reader doesn't get bored with the long process of winning Isabeau over.

The story unfolds at a slow and steady paced; nothing is rushed, and I was enchanted. The author wrote like everyday with the Beast and Isabeau was crucial, and held a turn in each encounter.

Overall, the story was enthralling, utterly magical, with unimpeachable romance, lighting up the dark, murky corners of the Beast's nature with it's personal hope.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a good, ostéalgie read, especially as I had only just watched the Disney remake (which omg it’s so good!!) and I really liked reading it from the beast's perspective because normally you’re rooting for a girl to escape her prison and a creepy captor, so it was nice to see a less psychopathy take. Also I love love loved the bits of French, because, I mean, it’s set in France so it seems logical that THERE SHOULD BE FRENCH AND FRENCH INFLUENCES but I’ve literally never seen that before, go figure, so that was a really awesome addition. In conclusion, we liked this.

Beauty and the Beast was one of my favourite films last year so it’s safe to say that the idea of a re-telling gets me incredibly excited, especially when I still have the movie on my brain and this was a brilliant read. Leigh Shallcross is a fantastic author and I absolutely devoured this re-telling. Next one, please!

3.5 stars.
I liked this but didn't fall in love with it as much as I had wanted. I adore fairy tales and fairy tale retellings so this is completely my cup of tea. However, for the retelling to be successful it has to do something different with the source material, not just rehash it.
Things this book did well were the Beast's perspective, fleshing out the characters of Isabeau's sisters and describing the beautiful enchanted mansion, with magic that seems to have a mind of its own.
Things it didn't do so well were making Isabeau a sympathetic character, establishing much chemistry between the Beast and Isabeau, or keeping the pace of the story up by having things happen.
I have no problem with books in which very little happens because I am all about the character development (one of my favourite books is Mansfield Park in which nothing happens but we spend time seeing Fanny's character grow), but there were times when the story lagged a little for me. As it is a retelling, the readers already know or at least have some idea what is going to happen. So the small details or character interactions have to be even more carefully constructed.
In many ways, I found Isabeau's sisters and their love stories more interesting than hers and the Beast's, partly because her character suffers from only being seen through the Beast's eyes.
I also felt a bit short-changed when we found out the reason for the Beast's enchantment as it really seemed as if his father should have been punished, not him!
I would recommend this for fans of either the original story or the Disney version, or for readers who can enjoy the beautiful descriptions without worrying too much about a pacy read.

This book is beautiful.

Which is kind of why I feel so disappointed. I had such high hopes for this book. I thought it was going to be a 5 star read. That I was going to love it and fly through it in like a day. Fairytales are my weakness. Those and fantasy, epic or otherwise.

I honestly don't know why I didn't exactly get along with this book. I mean in no way is it bad it just took me so looong to read. I feel like I've read nothing else all month and that I'm so far behind. It took me TEN DAYS to read a 300 page book. Seriously? I'm annoyed at myself.

I feel like such a shitty person giving this a bad rating it just didn't pull me in. I felt not emotions or chemistry between Isabeau and Beast and at times preferred reading the parts about her family.

Maybe this just wasn't for me.

This was a unique concept really, switching it to the beast's POV, but I wasn't as swept away as I wanted to be. It had some beautiful moments, though!

Monsieur de la Noue was a successful businessman but having been ruined he lives in a tumbledown cottage with his three daughters. Having travelled to Rouen in the middle of winter he and his exhausted horse decide to take a shortcut through the forest where a beast lies in wait. However after being taken in to a beautiful chateau, fed and watered overnight and sent on their way, he falls for a trick and plucks a rose from the garden as a gift for his youngest daughter, Isabel. The Beast demands that he bring his daughter to him but this is no ordinary beast.

At face value this is a simple retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale but from the perspective of the Beast. However it is also a love story about two lonely people and a sense of honour and duty. I found it compelling and incredibly emotional. The writing is very assured for a debut novelist and both Isabel and the Beast are far more complex characters than the reader initially thinks.

This book was exactly what I needed after the somewhat disappointing Fearie Tales (please see last week’s epic review for details) because it was wonderful. I LOVE Beauty and the Beast, so much so that it has had a major influence on my own book-in-progress. Of course, it isn’t a story without its faults – keeping a woman prisoner in an attempt to make her love you is in fact not romantic and is in fact a crime – but my love for it refuses to die. The Beast’s Heart takes the original tale and the subsequent popular culture built around it and retells it from the perspective of the ‘Beast’, cursed for his cold-heartedness and trapped both within his own monstrous body and within the lands he once owned.

When Monsieur De La Noue stumbles across the grounds of the castle, The Beast sees his chance not to be alone, and when he takes a rose from the gardens for his youngest daughter Isabeau he unwittingly choses the Beast’s companion. The curse seems to act independently of its caster – who may or may not be a majestic lesbian fairy, let me know your reading of it! – and while it affords the Beast some control over his domain, it increasingly disobeys him for its own agenda as the novel progresses.

This book is beautifully written, combining the lyricism of classical literature with some of the humour and awareness of modern writing – Isabeau and her Beast have some very funny moments, and she is afforded much more agency and personality than in the original tales and those of the time. When the Beast asks her to marry him – which he does a lot, a point not working in his favour given her repeated uncomfortable responses – she is allowed to say no, she is allowed to leave, she is not threatened by his proposals, only sorry that she cannot give him the answer he wants. Given that she doesn’t think he is human, and he is bound by the curse not to tell her that he is, the fact that they fall in love is handled very well. She forgets, with his human attire and habits, that he is not human – and longs for a world where he is.

I like that we see his selfish intentions – if she loves him, he’ll be free, so she must love him – gradually give way to an earnest desire to please her even if it displeases him to do it. She is never his prisoner, he makes it clear she may leave, she is never bound to accept his proposals, he makes it clear she may refuse. He is desperate, but not desperate enough to demand anything of her – even her stay in his castle is voluntary after all.

You see the actions of Isabeau’s family during her absence, you grow fond of them, you root for them and you watch as they cope – or don’t cope – with the idea that Isabeau may never come back. It’s a very emotional story, and it manages to inject some humanity into the fairy tale. Her father especially struggles with the disappearance of his youngest child, fighting to keep a roof above the heads of his other two daughters and blaming himself for the misfortune that has begun to haunt their family.

I also want to add a quick shout out to the invisible, magical servants that maintain the Beast’s chateau, for putting up with this melodramatic man-beast for so long and somehow managing to be sarcastic despite being both invisible and silent. The magic in this story and how it works is definitely one of my favourite aspects of the book, it’s wonderful. It’s also the ultimate wing-man, single handedly setting up foods and events that will impress Isabeau when the Beast himself is slightly clueless.

This is a book about allowing yourself to feel emotions, instead of pushing them away or denying them, and accepting fault instead of placing it on others. It is about two people falling in love – albeit under very strange circumstances – yes, but it is also about a man unable to look at his own portrait for fear of what he will see there, learning to accept his part in what has happened to him and fight to change.

I would highly recommend this book to any fantasy and fairy tale fans out there, and any Beauty and the Beast lovers like myself. It was an absolute pleasure to read, and I adored it.



A copy of The Beast’s Heart was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I’m disappointed I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would. The pace felt quite slow and although I really wanted to like the characters I just couldn’t connect with them. The relationship between Isabeau and the beast as well just felt a bit wooden for my liking and considering (understandably) a fair amount of this book revolves around a romantic plot it just really wasn’t for me.

I received with thanks an ARC copy of The Beasts Heart from Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley.

This is my true and honest review of The Beast Heart by Leife Shallcross. This was published on 3rd May 2018

3.5 Stars - This book is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite stories and have enjoyed most adaptations of this classic tale. This was good, and I found this to be enjoyable read.
Great book for YA fantasy and fairy-tale retelling lovers.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast, told from the Beast’s perspective in a YA tone. I was drawn to the new take on one of my favourite fairy tales, (and the cover, which is beautiful) but a lot of this just didn’t really work for me.

One thing I really liked was the magical aspects, which manage to keep this feeling like a fairy tale without overpowering the story. The secondary characters, the castle and other settings really help set the scenes and are the world building is good, with vivid descriptions that really help put the reader into the castle with the Beast.

I think my major issue was the writing style. Told in first person with a rather ‘old’ voice, I found it a bit stilted and unemotional. This made it difficult for me to really connect with any of the characters, and I felt little sympathy for the Beast and his growing feelings for our ‘beauty’, Isabeau. A lot of the plot is devoted to the romance, as I would expect it to in a retelling of this kind, and although rather contrived at times, there’s a decent amount of development over time (no instalove here). Unfortunately, I just couldn’t really get invested in the relationship, and at times it I do think it verges on unhealthy and manipulative.

The pace is also slow at times, primarily because of the focus on the romance. For a long time, not much else happens, and the ending is then rushed. I also didn’t really understand the side story involving Isabeau’s family and the enchanted mirror, as I didn’t think it really brought anything to the plot.

I loved the ideas behind this, and believe there’s a lot of potential here, but unfortunately this just didn’t work for me.