I wanted to love this book, I stuck with it to the end so it is readable. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

I loved the idea of one of my favourite fairy tales told from the beast's perspective. The opportunity to get inside his head was really interesting and I enjoyed the darker elements of this story. At times, I found the plot slower paced but I appreciated the descriptive writing style throughout. Overall, this was an interesting twist on a fairy tale and I'll be interested to see what Leife Shallcross writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

"A sumptuously magical, brand new take on a tale as old as time—read the Beast's side of the story at long last.

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.

Lose yourself in this gorgeously rich and magical retelling of The Beauty and the Beast that finally lays bare the beast's heart."

I was so excited about this. I'm a sucker for a retelling and anything Disney, so Beauty and the Beast from the Beast's perspective would be great (or so I thought).

At first, I liked the writing style. It felt very poetic and beautiful but soon it became very dense and difficult to read. It started feeling like the author was just bulking out the novel and was filling it full of descriptive words for no reason.

I didn't understand the relationship between Isabeau and the Beast. I didn't see where this connection came from or why they started their romantic relationship. The characters were flat and there was no chemistry. Isabeau, in particular, was utterly boring. It felt like the author was telling us about all these great qualities she had, rather than showing us.

I don't DNF books often, but it took me 3 days to get 100pages in and I'm quite a quick reader. I was so bored and it got to the point where I was dreading picking it up again.

I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately it fell completely flat for me.

This read was a bit of a mixed bag. I’m a huge fan of Beauty and the Beast, it was my favourite fairy tale as a child, I love the Disney version, I actively seek out retellings, hence why I read The Beast’s Heart. My love of the fairy tale is what kept me reading past the start of the book which was trying to say the least.

35667081When I first picked this book up I didn’t know it was a debut, but the writing style definitely gave it away. Leife Shallcross’s prose was self-consciously superfluous, with every description in the first few chapters utilising every adjective possible, which made it a bit hard going to begin with.

Eventually, though, this over the top description fades away and we’re left with a much more simplified prose style that is more reminiscent of middle grade books. This made me second guess who this book was even aimed at but it is marketed as YA though I wouldn’t class it as such, it doesn’t meet most of the criteria of YA, and it seems to only be placed in YA because that’s where fairy tale retellings thrive.

I’m going to go into the plot a bit now so there will be some spoilers ahead.

Okay so, most fairy tale retellings have a twist, right? Little Red Riding Hood fights werewolves, The Princess decides to live with the dragon rather than be saved, The Little Mermaid fights off people polluting the sea and so on. The Beast’s Heart is told from the point of view of the Beast, Isabeau’s (Belle) sisters are not the spoiled brats in the original tale but become self sufficient and have a much more interesting romantic arc than Isabeau, and there is a hint that the fairy that cursed the Beast was in love with his grandmother.

Having the story told from the Beasts POV was uncomfortable, but that made it a little more interesting at least. I was disappointed that the sisters were much more well rounded characters than Isbeau but I chalked this up to the fact that the Beasts narrative voice was so infatuated with Isabeau that she became just another boring Mary-Sue.

The thing that irked me the most was the fairy’s motives for cursing the Beast. Apparently the fairy loved the Beasts grandmother, an idea I liked as it makes sense that the fairy would know of the Beast before cursing him. Her motives were questionable though, apparently the Beast’s cold heart and his unwillingness to love (due to his emotionally abusive father who he watched abuse many women) caused his grandmother pain, and so the fairy cursed the Beast to wear his beastly form until someone loved him.

This is honestly ridiculous. I just couldn’t see this motive giving the fairy any closure at all about her love dying, she wasn’t presented as particularly evil so I can’t see her as the cruel sidhe type fae to take children leave changelings etc. Not to mention she laid no such curse on his horrible abusive father but instead laid a curse on his abused son? This along with Isabeau’s father attempted suicide happening then literally never being mentioned again I found the whole approach to mental health a bit surreal.

I did enjoy the book in some places, it was sweet, and I was looking forward to seeing the love story unfold. However, the ending seemed to happen all at once, much like the Disney version, and everything was wrapped up in a couple pages, which is satisfying on screen but falls very flat on the page.

Honestly, I’d recommend this book to any young kids that are particularly into Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, as it’s almost identical, but aside from that I really didn’t get much out of it.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

https://lynns-books.com/2018/06/05/the-beasts-heart-by-leife-shallcross/
After a rather crazy month of May I’m pretty much dedicating the month of June to catching up with all my errant reviews.

The Beast’s Heart is a retelling of my favourite fairytale – Beauty and the Beast. It’s a rather beautifully written love story told from the perspective of the Beast.

I can say immediately that I enjoyed this book very much. The style of writing is a perfect mix of beautiful description and bewitching storytelling and it’s a tale that I already know and love. I have a couple of little issues that kept this from going from a good read to a great one but overall this was a lovely story that I devoured in a couple of sittings.

I won’t go into the plot too much. I’m fairly sure that most people know the storyline for Beauty and the Beast and for the most part The Beast’s Heart is a faithful rendition that takes the opportunity to give us the Beast’s perspective.

We start off with the Beast living wild in the forest, terrorising the other animals until he remembers his humanity and the curse that brought him so low. After he recalls his past he returns to his home, a fantastic and crumbling chateau that is also cursed. The whole place is bewitched, it has it’s own seasons, the gardens can change at will and the house has it’s own personality being able to change from a place of warmth and comfort to one that is hostile and unwelcoming depending on it’s own feelings as events unfold. Eventually, following the natural course of the fairytale Isabeau comes to stay with the Beast after an agreement is reached that she will stay for the duration of one year.

Gradually the two form a sort of friendship and fall into a daily pattern however their friendship is hampered by the secrets that they both withhold from each other and a general lack of openness.

What I particularly liked about this was the style of writing. This story lends itself so well to the gothic and the author has a lovely way with words that evokes the classics. The descriptions and attention to detail are really well executed and I also particularly enjoyed the way the story splits between the time spent at the Chateau and the glimpses of Isabeau’s family and the lives they are now living, which we are able to witness alongside the Beast using his magical mirror. Isabeau’s sister’s both have their own storylines going on that help to break things up nicely whilst at the same time increasing the tension. I particularly liked that the nature of the two sisters was slightly different here. Yes, they relied heavily on Isabeau but to an extent the fact that she looked after them so thoroughly left them without the will to try things for themselves. When Isabeau left they had to cope and in doing so their characters flourished. Much as Isabeau needed more from her life so did the two sisters need more from theirs.

This is undoubtedly a love story, which I was expecting going in to the read. It focuses strongly on emotions with the Beast’s loneliness and desperation seeping onto every page. He despairs of his current form, he can’t imagine how Isabeau can ever love him and yet every day he persists in asking her to marry him – even though he can see how unhappy it makes her.

The issues I had with this book related to two different things. Firstly, the nature of the Beast’s curse – which was changed slightly but I’m not quite sure why – and in fact it made the whole cursing seem a little unfair to me. The other thing I felt was a lack of ‘beastliness’ from the Beast. To be honest, he was just too damned nice, always charming. Always trying too hard. I realise that he doesn’t want to scare Isabeau away but I almost felt like shaking him at one point. There was one part of the book where the altercations between the two became a bit tedious because of the lack of somebody having a bit more bite or backbone about them. Of course, don’t get me wrong, I can see the motivations for the Beast’s good behaviour but I think I expected every now and again for his animal nature to get the better of him and perhaps we’d witness a teeny outburst.

Fortunately there was nothing that really spoiled the read for me, just a short spell that could have become a little stilted but for the alternate chapters spent with Isabeau’s family.

On the whole I enjoyed reading from the Beast’s pov. The writing was quite captivating and rich with a delicious gothic vibe and I would certainly read more from this author. But – if love stories aren’t your thing – be aware that that is the major gist of the story here.

I received a copy from the publisher courtesy of Netgalley. My thanks for the copy and apologies for the tardiness of this review. The above is my own opinion.

In this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, the focus is on the Beast’s side of the story. A lonely beast, cursed and isolated, has a chance encounter with a lost traveller. In return for saving the man’s life, the Beast gains the company of his daughter, Isabeau, for a year, during which he finds both love and his humanity.

For the first half of this book, I felt a bit cheated. It wasn’t so much a retelling, but rather an almost identical version of the Beauty and the Beast story we’re all familiar with, from the point of view of the beast. To me, this felt like a bit of a cop-out and was a little disappointing. Fortunately, the second half of the book and the details of Isabeau’s sisters did take the story in a new direction.

The magical elements are enchanting. The book is very descriptive and beautifully written with a flowing plot and complex characters. Plus, how stunning is that cover, right?

It’s a classic story, and very well-written, if a little unoriginal. I enjoyed it a lot.

2.5 stars

The Beast was once a man but after being cursed by the Fairy he is now monstrous.
Having lived alone for numerous years, the Beast's loneliness makes him desperate for company. Desperate enough that when a man stumbles across the Beasts's domain, he comes up with a way to meet the man's daughter, Isabeau.
Will Isabeau agree to stay with the Beast for a year?
Could Isabeau be happy living with the Beast?
Will her family cope without her?

Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairytale, so I leaped at the chance to read The Beast's Heart. Plus, the cover is absolutely gorgeous!
The Beast's Heart is told from the Beast's point of view, which I found interesting. It is also more closely based on the original fairytale (from what I can remember) in that Isabeau is the youngest sister and asked her father to bring her back a rose from his travels.
The Beast was an interesting character and I liked Isabeau. I also liked her sisters and enjoyed reading the parts about them.
The plot wasn't particularly surprising and not that much really happened.
I struggled to get into the writing style at the beginning, and while I did ease into it somewhat, I still found it a bit off-putting at times.
I have to admit to being slightly disappointed with The Beast's Heart, and I'm left with mixed feelings.

Overall this was a mostly enjoyable read.

I struggled a lot to get into this book. Once I did I found the story to be uninteresting, slow paced and the characters boring. The premise was good but the outcome was unsuccessful.

This book was a drag.
It took so much effort for me to finish this.
The language is so heavy and descriptive and that just is not my cup of tea. It was not a modern and updated version of beauty and the beast which is what I initially thought it was
Nor is the never ending internal monologue.

The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross

This is a charmingly told, retelling of the Beauty and the Beast.. Poignant, and sensitive, a story of love and redemption. I think Shallcross has told this story in a new way, dealing with the nature of the beast, and of how misfortune can sometimes be the making of us.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and it touched me, how love can triumph in even the worst situations. Beautiful in it's simplicity.

The Beast's Heart is a book I've needed for the longest time, finally a beauty and the beast retelling from the beast;s perspective, and it was beautiful!!

So many of the elements of this book was perfect and as I have read the original tale I can see how close it is in story, normally retellings go through the Disney version so this is definitely a must read!

Beast in this was such an important perspective as you understand what he is going through from before meeting Isabeau until the end of the story. Beast is sweet, caring and even a gentleman, he constantly thinks about how to make Isabeau life in the castle better and improving her family's situation.

The description in this world was beautiful and enthralling, it fully immerses the reader into the story almost like you are living it your self.

The perspectives through the mirror of how Isabeau's sisters are getting on without her is so emotional, you see their development from feeling lost to carving a life of their own, learning how to do everything for themselves.

The romances in the Beast's Heart are perfect, all of the men support the sisters' decisions and take the time to get to know them.

I would fully recommend this book for anyone looking for a retelling or even just for a great character driven read.

*ARC received from publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

This was the first time I’ve read a reimagined fairytale.
It was a cute but slow read for me.
I wasn’t particularly excited or captivated, if I’m being honest.
Although I did enjoy it, I just felt it maybe wasn’t for me. Like, good as a one off.

The author has created a beautiful enchanting world that is easy to imagine and jumps off the page. I adore the backstory and the story itself is wonderfully detailed and complex and I was unable to put my copy down I read this book in two sessions (only split because I prepared tea). Soft spoilers there were a couple of scenes I almost sprung a leak a little welled up but no leak.

There is no mention of dancing or talking furniture or narcissistic noblemen demanding the damsels hand in marriage here (looking at you Mr Disney), just a lonely heartbroken creature trying to preserve his humanity in a decaying castle that’s half prison, half his former home. Before we get all judgy judgy and shame the beast let’s take a minute to imagine spending all those years roaming the forest losing your humanity whilst never knowing how the curse could be broken. I'm sure you would become downhearted and ill-tempered too.

The story starts with us seeing how the beast has been alone with nothing but his own company for far too long. It is made very clear the Beast has forgotten his former, human self. After living in the forest that surrounds his long-abandoned home and intimidates the other creatures that live there. His recurring vivid dreams torment him, often confusing his perception of what is real and what he has dreamt.

When we see Isabeau’s father stumble upon his home, we see that all he really wants is companionship after centuries of isolation. Obviously, the usual trick occurs where the Beast gets Isabeau to come to the castle, it is refreshing too have this told from the beast’s perspective and that he would never have acted on any of the threats he made. There is even genuine remorse in the way he acts at times, furthermore ensuring that we truly see that the beast has retained some of his humanity despite his doubts.

Its good read for someone looking for another insight into ‘The tale as old as time’ I enjoyed the book but I like most retellings as I usually have a soft spot for the originals.. As above mentioned about I read the book in a day and enjoyed it, in my opinion worth the read.

Initially I found the writing a little clunky and the Beast's monologue difficult to get in to, but very quickly I was swept away by this retelling from the Beast's perspective. As a reader I felt emotion for the characters, and I especially loved the twist of the magic mirror and learning more about the sisters: I felt just as deeply for them as I did Beauty and the Beast which is testament to Shallcross' character development.

I was a little put out not to come across enchanted furniture, but the magic in the house and how it reflected the state of mind and state of the curse was another great writing technique. My few criticisms hardly detract from the book. The writing could have flowed a bit better but by the end I was so immersed by the story telling the writing wasn't a hindrance. I felt Belle needed to be more fierce - but that is my depiction of Beauty. And as is the way with retellings, I went into it with my version of Belle and it didn't quite match the version in the story. Still, Shallcross' Belle is likeable. Finally, I much preferred the Beast before he turns human - I feel like all the character development for his is as the beast and when he becomes human he is a stranger even to the reader and I couldn't easily transfer my connection to the Beast to Julien. Again this is my own version of Beauty and the Beast being projected onto Shallcross' work.

Shallcross has done an amazing job and definitely given me a new viewpoint on the story I had not considered. Retellings are tough as the reader has an existing idea of what the story should contain but Shallcross has pulled it off beautifully.

Description
A sumptuously magical, brand new take on a tale as old as time - read the Beast's side of the story at long last.

My review

My ARC was provided by NetGalley and this is my honest review.

Minor spoilers ahead

The Beast's Heart is a story about Beauty and the Beast told from the Beast's view point. It has a similar plot to the original story but there are a few differences in the story that unfolds.

What I loved about this book was the lush story telling and beautiful prose. We see the world through the Beast's eyes and we get to see the experience the beauty of his surroundings from his castle to the wonderfully enchanting grounds! We also get to feel his anguish and torment as he lives out his days as the Beast. We learn about Isabeau's family and the dynamics of her relationship with them makes for good storytelling and adds something extra to this tale. There's magic, there's romance, laughter and more and the cover is also stunning! There's also darker elements to this story that I found problematic and I think these issues that will always arise from this particular fairytale.

By luck, when Beauty's father stumbles upon the Beast's castle, he sets off a series of events which lead to Isabeau coming to the castle and agreeing to stay for a set term. I found myself torn between the Beast's behaviour which is out of desperation and partly because of his love (or is it an obsession) for Isabeau. Towards the beginning of the book I felt his behaviour was totally manipulating, but really putting myself in his shoes gave me an understanding of what lead him to make the decisions he did to blackmail Isabeau's father to get her to stay. Who's to say what a lifetime of living a cursed life in total solitude without human presence or touch would do or how desperate it would make us. So I did have some sympathy for the Beast and his plight. On one hand he wasn't an awful monster with no chance at redemption. He could be kind, thoughtful and attentive, however there were some elements in the book that I found very problematic. The mirror watching was a new addition that pulled the elements of the story together but it also made the Beast come across as obsessive and creepy, and he was constantly watching her move about the castle (without her knowledge). Also the Beast, desperate in his plight to break the curse asks Isabeau to marry him at dinner and she turns him down. The first time he asked was a bit uncomfortable to read but he continues to ask her every night after that despite her saying no. Isabeau's obvious distress at his repeated request is hard to read and highlights the imbalance of power in the relationship between the two. Add Isabeau's father's controlling and manipulate behaviour to the mix and I began to feel sorry for Isabeau. She does get her happy ending and Leife wraps everything up nicely.

Despite the issues I had with the behaviour of some of the characters, on the whole I did enjoy reading this book and I loved Leife's story telling. I would definitely love to read more of her books (especially original content) because she writes so beautifully.

*The book also touches on issues like (attempted) suicide.

Beautifully written, a wonderful take on a much loved disney classic which is one of my favourites. This did not disappoint.

This book was such a magical read for me, when it comes to fairytales then Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favourites – I was hooked on the Disney version as a child! Leife’s take on the tale is so unique that at times it’s difficult to remember that this is a retelling of a classic.

Instead of the common take of Beauty/Belle’s point of view (in this story, her name is Isabeau), The Beast’s Heart is from the perspective of the Beast himself. The story starts with us seeing how he’s been alone for far too long, and instantly you can’t help but feel sorry for him. Even when we finally see Isabeau’s father stumble upon his home, we see that all he wants is for human company after centuries of isolation.

Of course, the usual trick occurs whereby the Beast gets Isabeau to come to the castle, but we read from his perspective and see that he wouldn’t have acted on his threats to her father. We even see that he genuinely regrets the way he acts at times, furthermore ensuring that we truly see the humanity within.

Leife also tells us about Isabeau’s sisters, Claude and Marie, and how them and her father are faring whilst she lives with the Beast. She uses the enchanted mirror in the Beast’s home to show this, and it really helped with the story’s development on the whole and also with showing how Isabeau felt without changing the point of view of the story. The sisters were also just so sweet that it was great to see how they were handling Isabeau being away.

And Isabeau! She was such a great character, I love how Leife made her strong and caring. During the times when she refused to marry the Beast I found myself wanting to shout at her to tell her to stop being stubborn. They have such a sweet relationship where she plays music for him, he reads for her and, owing to the magic of the house, they have times they’re able to just watch fireworks and beam at each other.

I think reading from the Beast’s point of view also really helps you see why Isabeau falls for him, Leife is able to really show his personal journey and make it the most intriguing part about the story. Although this doesn’t really pick up pace until the last parts of the story the rest is still written in such a lovely and lyrical way that you can’t help but love it.

Absolutely a 5 star read, and I’d love to see more novels of a similar fashion from Leife in the future!

My Rating: 3. stars.

Beautifully written, Charming retelling, Lays bare the beasts’s heart, Enjoyable read.

My Thoughts

The Beauty & The Beast is one of my all time favourite fairytales. I adore retellings of stories and have read many for The B&B. When I saw a proof copy of The Beast’s Heart in the summer of last year, I was ecstatic! The cover was beautiful and I was so excited for the book after reading the synopsis. So naturally I requested it as soon as found it on Netgalley and couldn’t wait to read it!

Honestly I am disappointed. I wanted to love this so much and am so sad with how I feel about it. I suppose I just expected more and was anticipating something amazing and this just wasn’t it for me.

The writing is beautiful, it truly is, but I found a lot of it so unnecessary. There was an abundance of extravagant descriptions of things and the explanation was just too much and it wasn’t needed. I found the story dragging in some parts because of this and it sadly took away some of the magic of the story for me.

In the places were more information was needed, there was none. The details of how the magic worked was a bit lacking. Like I know it’s magical but I felt like I needed a bit of an explanation and didn’t really get one, so it was slightly confusing for me and didn’t end up blowing me away like I wanted it to and like it should have.

Aside from these negatives, I did enjoy the story. Some of this comes from my love of the fairytale itself though.

I really did love the Beast and I felt very sorry for him. I enjoyed the scenes with him alone the most, which is unusual for me, I usually lean towards the gushy scenes between the two characters, but I felt like they didn’t cut it. Isabeau was quite cold for a good part of the story and I never truly warmed to her. So this made what should have been the gushy lovey dovey scenes quite lukewarm and I felt really dissatisfied with them. There wasn’t enough emotion from her side and she was a tad annoying.

I was fond of the scenes through Isabeau’s family’s point of view. I enjoyed learning about those characters and seeing how their lives were faring without Isabeau. They ended up being more interesting to me than they probably should have.

Overall I did enjoy the story and was pleased with the ending, but I was frustrated with certain elements and feel a bit let down. I was so excited for the book and it just didn’t live up to my expectations. If you are a fan of retellings then give it a go, you might like the aspects that I didn’t and the writing was really beautiful.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending the book my way in return for an honest review.

Sarah xo

The Beast's Heart tells the story of Beauty and the Beast from the Beast's point of view. The plot itself is fairly familiar and it is not a retelling as such as the events are the same but the story is told by the Beast.

I really enjoyed the writing, especially the descriptions of the castle and its grounds. However the characters fell flat for me. Even though the Beast is the narrator, I couldn't tell you exactly what he saw in Isabeau. He seemed to just be drawn to her, presumably because she is the only woman around? I suppose it is a fairytale so we have to accept to a certain extent that love just happens in these stories. Isabeau and the Beast go for long periods of time without actually speaking to each other yet he still manages to fall in love with her. He also spends a lot of time just watching her. Even when they do spend time together, Isabeau seems very distant so there's no sense of them getting to know each other.

While a lot of the story was actually fairly dull, some of it was quite disturbing. I think this is somewhat inevitable in a version of Beauty and the Beast which is essentially a story about a girl being held hostage until she falls in love with her captor, but I didn't feel like the Beast redeemed himself at any point in this book. It feels more like a story of obsession than love, and I didn't like the way the Beast reacted angrily every time Isabeau referred to him as her 'friend'.

I question whether we ever needed a version of Beauty and the Beast from the Beast's viewpoint. I don't think this book particularly added anything valuable to the story. At no point did I find myself desperate to know what would happen next or how it would all end.

I have given it two stars here because, although I thought the writing was good, my feelings towards the Beast ultimately made me dislike this book

I loved seeing a book telling us of the Beasts POV. I've only seen one other take on it, and both are so different that it was great. I loved the history of the Beast - the backstory was filled out nicely and it was one of my favourite bits. I also liked the way the mirror was used in this book - to only see Isabeau's family, and only when the magic allowed it. In fact - the magic of this story was what drew me in the most - it was so intriguing!
Definitely a fun read for those interested in Beauty and the Beast, but it did take me a while to get into it.