This is a retelling of The Beauty and the Beast, but in a totally unexpected way. A complete role reversal in fact! . Told from the perspective of three main characters, The Sorceress, The Beauty and The Beast, this could, at a pinch, be described as a ' green novel', due to the concerns about felling trees and the innate wonder of a forest.
It is a mixture of Folklore and Fairy tale,but not sure which viewpoint to favour. Full of curses, bad fairies, and wicked and uncaring parents. 
It is a bawdy tale, that at first amuses, and then the novelty wears off,and the magical atmosphere disappears. 
I found the book to be very wordy, full of descriptive writing, but certain events are hammered home so vehemently , that it becomes tiresome. 
I found it to be an odd book,and I just couldn't be persuaded by the story. I greatly admire the novels of Miles Cameron and The Red Knight Saga, and hoped this would be in the same vein, but sadly not. Just not my cuppa tea this time.

Couldn't get into this one at all. As a result, no review will be given elsewhere. Best leave it to those who have something more to say!

This was the Beauty and the Beast retelling I never knew I needed but I loved it!
It's great for fans of Holly Black or Amanda Hocking, and the fact it's set in Elizabethan England just made me want to read it even more.
It's quite a quick book to get through although there are a few different points of view so I did have to check whose I was reading at times.
It's a really interesting and refreshing take on a well known story and anyone who loves twisted fairy tales should read this.

Enjoyed this adult retake on Beauty and the Beast, particularly with the beast being female and the male being a beauty, I found this very refreshing.
I would recommend this to older students, maybe year 10+ to gain a modern perspective on this classic tale.

This novel intrigued me and I am glad that I read it, so thank you NetGallery! 

The novel follows three narrative strands: The Sorceress, The Beast and Beauty. Each one has a different voice and Delaney shows how each interprets situations, although there are crossovers as thoughts are at times heard by other characters. The story starts with The Sorceress awaking to find the arrogant new Lord Rodermere felling her ancient oaks, ignoring her warnings and disbelieving all pagan 'witchcraft' he continues despite her threatening a curse. It is the curse that he brings upon himself and his future children that drives the plot, although do not think that it is the same curse as Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast', as you would be doing Delaney a disservice.

The opening of the novel is focused on The Sorceress and I fell in love with the descriptions of the woods, oaks and the mystical forest. Delaney's descriptive abilities are what engaged me from the start and kept me reading throughout. What I also liked was the fight between pagan and organised religious beliefs, although this is more of a backdrop rather than at the forefront of the novel. I would say the last 100 pages were my favourite as this is when all of the plots begin to merge and you start to gain answers to the nagging questions you've had for a while. 

 Overall, this was an enjoyable read, at times you can feel like you are wading through a sea of characters and can question how these new people are even relevant to the plot... but keep going because all will become clear, and yes they are all relevant!

Thank you NetGalley and HQ for an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I really wanted to like this and I requested it as it said it was a re-telling of Beauty and the beast. I also liked the Blurb of this book describing the story involving faeries, and witches with kings and queens. But that all I liked about it.  The story was told in several points of view but, as the author switched so often, I got confused what character the author was talking about. For me personally , I thought the story was too whimsical  and over the top and when one character started singing about his cock,  I thought that was enough now and I DNF at 30 percent.

Folklore and fairytale entwine in this enchanting re-imagining of the story Beauty and the Beast.  The typical tropes of fairytales are used - curses, beasts who are more than they seem, good and bad fairies, wicked parents and more - and all turned on their heads to bring new life and a rich darkness to the old tale. The atmosphere is wonderful and it is a glorious, bawdy romp of a book. If it has a downside it is that it has a lot crammed into the pages and I occasionally became confused as the book does flit quickly between a lot of different characters and events and some parts felt superfluous, as if they were only there to make a point. For example I felt that the plot line of the lady and her French manservant  was there only to serve the purpose of re-iterating that a woman's lot in life isn't always 
fair in a patriarchal society. That being said, I was sad to let go of the magical world that Wray Delany created and I eagerly await her next book. 
My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

I'm two minds about this book: on one side I loved the world building and the style of writing, on the other side I found the characters a bit flat and I had problems in feeling any connection to them.
There's a lot of potential but I think some more editing could help.
Many thanks to HQ and Netgalley for this ARC

'The Beauty of the Wolf' by Wray Delaney

Wow. Just wow. This book was amazing in so many different ways. With the original 'Beauty and the Beast' being my all time favourite fairy tale, i just had to choose this book as the first one I review and can I just say, I don't regret making that decision at all. I loved the book as a whole but I especially loved how the base plot was similar to the original telling yet it was so different at the same time. My hat goes off to Wray Delaney who was behind this incredible piece of work for taking me back to my childhood with the engaging characters and plot.

A grown-up retelling of a classic story, Beauty and the Beast, that was  my favourite as a child.  The world building is exceptional and for a story that has been retold many times and then some there is some nice originality to be found.  A lovely bit of escapism on a chilly Autumn day.

The Beauty of the Wolf is a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast that starts off beautifully, but then gets lost. 

Total Rating: 4.4/10

Originality: 4/10
Language: 3/10
Atmosphere: 4/10
Characters: 4/10
World building: 5/10
Fun: 3/10
Predictability: 4/10
Believable: 3/10
Relevancy: 4/10
Cover: 10/10

Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Retelling
Time It Took Me To Read: approx. 3 hours

Pretty Cover and promising beginning, that unfortunately does not live up. 

Originality: 4/10
I do not like retellings, but I keep reading them, because I actually read a few really good ones. 

Language: 3/10
What a very very great shame. The book has beautiful passages:

"Come then, follow me down, for I am the crack between the words, a riddle to be solved. Come, follow me, into the shadow of a sorceress' spell and think no more of my presence. I am but the unseen, all-knowing storyteller."

"My mood is black, thick. And sticky is the rage that runs through my knotted veins."

"Why? Tell me why I am a thief?"
"Your beauty has stolen my reason."

But then suddenly the author throws in profanities and words that just rip you out of this world: 

"Once, she longed to return to him, ached to feel his prick deep inside her, to feel his strength contain her, the howl of his whole being released into hers."

"She lifts her silken glove above her belly and lowers her cunny onto his weapon, wet at the point."

And you cannot believe those quotes are from the same story. 

Atmosphere: 4/10
Did you ever have a really nice meal, but then you suddenly bit into something sour or found a hair in it, that ruined the whole meal? That is how the novel made me feel. I wanted to like it. But couldn't. 

Characters: 4/10
I was almost annoyed at the Beauty in this story - this handsome prince, that is also so kind, so friendly, so selfless. So perfect. 
I struggled to understand character's motivation, and many of their 

World building: 5/10
First I believed to be in a fairy tale world - but suddenly characters talk about Christianity and Church, and then we get a Shakespeare Quote. That confused me quite a bit, and made the world crumble from my imagination. 

Fun: 3/10
The book was not only confusing in world-building and language, but perspective, reducing the fun tremendously despite the good basis of a fairy tale retelling. The only thing that indicates change of perspective is cursive writing and non-cursive writing. However, perspectives also change multiple times within pages, making it incredibly confusing, forgetting who is speaking now.  

Predictability: 4/10
The confusion and not being able to understand characters motives, made the whole plot full of holes and unstable. 

Believable: 3/10
I was very confused about a lot of things. Why did the sorceress not just force him to stop cutting the trees, is she is able to curse him? Why has the curse to impact so many people's life? Why is she so obsessed with her coat? 

Relevancy: 4/10
The original story told you no matter what you look like, your character is important. You can still be a hero, be love-able, and in your own way beautiful. But this story... I am not sure what the moral is. 

Cover: 10/10
The cover is stunning, and promises a fairy tale. Also the fact that we see a tree relates to the story, as what kicks it all off is the felling of oak trees. The cover helped me get lost in the beginning of the novel and really feel like I am in a fairy tale.  

Total Rating: 4.4/10
What an odd novel. The author can clearly write well, and I read somewhere a good author knows how to write - the story is secondary. So either this book was experimentation, or the author is still trying to find its feet. 
I believe this novel can easily jump to a good 6-7 rating if reworked.

This one wasn’t for me, unfortunately, and suffered from a number of flaws that outweighed the good. 

This initially drew my attention because of the wonderful synopsis that mentions faeries, monstrous girls and a cursed prince but the plot was just so slow. Nothing happens for at least 40% of the book, and I found myself really having to force myself to read it. It didn’t help that there are so many points of view too, so I had little time to develop any real connection to any of the characters, and was relatively confused on several occasions as to who was telling the story and what was happening. 

The writing and prose were also overly flowery, which is one of my pet peeves, and didn’t add anything to the story. If anything it made it harder to read, and disrupted the flow of the narrative to the point where at times it felt like treading through treacle just trying to move forward with the plot. I got bored, and I honestly can’t think of anything worse when trying to immerse yourself in a world. 

A lovely idea, but this fell well short of the mark.

This is a classic story- which is well written. Unfortunately I just could not get into the story. Thank you to both NetGalley and HQ for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Sadly not for me. 
The synopsis stood out for me as well as the beautiful cover and I do like a beauty and the beast retelling but sadly I just didn’t enjoy the book. The changing of povs without warning meaning I couldn’t tell who was narrating was frustrating and I couldn’t finish it. 
Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free e-book to review for an honest opinion.

I was torn on the as I really wanted to like it and I persevered to the end, but in hindsight I should have marked as DNF.
The story is a beauty and the beat retelling and the synopsis held such promise, but sadly it was lacking.  I found the writing style incoherent, the constant changing of POV meant even with the chapter telling you who was narrating I still had to double check ! The language used felt out of place often , sometimes inappropriate (I am no prude but it affected the story telling) I could see the attempts to try to make the story feel dramatic and otherworldly, but sadly this failed.  I loved the character of Randa and she was the only character in the book I felt was truly fleshed out abdicate held empathy as a reader for.  I like Beau at the start but his character became too self involved and I am aware that was part of the plot but felt it detracted any care or feeling I had for him. I found the narration from the sorceress to be annoying and was often treating the reader as dense, as if they needed the lot explaining. Overall I feel I am sad as the book had promise, there were parts I loved like Randa and her story, but sadly the rest was just lacking.

Honestly I wanted to like this book. I mean whats better than a book piqued as a beauty and the beast retelling? 
The Synopsis sounds promising and the cover is gorgeous but my love for the book ends there.
There is a lot of underdeveloped characters in this book and it flits to different povs  which I didn't really care for.
The language in this book I found difficult and quite Jarring. The writing style clearly aims to be gothic and armospheric but didn't really deliver. The other thing I found irritating is the swearing. I mean it floats along in a fragile fairy tale way and then is punctuated with the words "prick" and "shit" I just don't get it.
I enjoyed the world building in this book but the rest of it I felt was confusing and tedious.

Thank you to Netgalley, Wray Delaney & HQ for my arc of The Beauty of the Wolf. 

Ah this book has been a conundrum for me. I really loved the idea of it. 

During the reign of Elizabeth I, Lord Francis Redmere lay waste to a forest to build his mansion home, despite pleas from the sorceress who lives in the forest, he refuses to stop. So she curses him. A faerie child will be born to him and his beauty will be his death. Meanwhile in the cellar of an alchemist in London, a monster is born. In an attempt to save his baby's life, the alchemist creates a monstrous creature, half girl, half beast. 

So there's only a couple of reviews for this book so far and it's not got a great rating but I really wanted to give it a try, and at first I was pleasantly surprised. I went into it thinking I wouldn't enjoy it and really did, for the first few chapters. Then it went downhill. I ended up DNFing at 32%. So what didn't I like: 
 
The pacing - the pacing was super slow. By 32% nothing had really happened. The action (for what little there was) didn't feel like action, it wasn't fast paced, it didn't get my blood pumping or make me excited. It just happened. Then we moved on to the next event. 

No emotional connection - there were so many perspectives; the sorceress, the lord, the lady, the steward, the alchemist, an omniscient narrator, Beau, Randa, it was impossible to connect with any of these characters. I couldn't even feel a tug of emotion when an animal died and that's like my super big weakness! 

Unnecessary, vulgar and distasteful sexual references and swearing - now I am not prudish by any means. I've read (and enjoyed) books like Fifty Shades of Grey, A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass which all have a healthy dollop of sex in them. But in this it just felt wrong. It may have been the fairytale language of the narration which caused a shockwave as the word 'pr*ck' or 'sh*t' was dropped in. But at the point of some line that went something like 'if he kissed the pulsing fruit between my legs' I had to just put it down and stop reading. Just not necessary. 

So yeah, this one wasn't for me. Too many perspectives, too much weird sex stuff thrown in to a fairytale setting. A bit weird and not my cup of tea.

This one, sadly, did not work for me at all.

The description sounds amazing! I mean, I LOOOOOOOVE genderbent Beauty and the Beast, and the only other one I can think of is Nalini Singh's Lord of the Abyss. But I kind of could tell that the book wasn't for me almost as soon as I began, although I soldiered on to 24% before giving up.

Let's catalogue the stuff I couldn't deal with:

1. Commas. Delaney (which is a penname for Sally Gardner, actually) loves long sentences, but commas were frequently omitted from places where they really should've been included. The effect was to make the sentences feel like they were hurtling forward at breakneck pace, without giving anyone time to breathe, and this kind of pacing was completely unsuited to the story. 

2. The writing. Most of the time it wasn't really bad, but it tried to be atmospheric and IMO failed pretty drastically. There were these weird words constantly thrown in, like 'prick' and 'shit', that felt super jarring because they didn't mesh with the delicate fairytale vibe the book was going for. Also, there were sudden tense changes halfway through paragraphs, and I was like huh???? I get that she was probably hoping they added to the air of faery-struck confusion, or whatever, but they just threw me out of the story in a major way. 

3. Also, the POV kept changing, which is bad because the characters all felt vaguely flat in the first place. So being in a new character's head every five pages meant I couldn't connect with anyone. 

4. (Not a spoiler!) A major plot point in the novel is the fact that the sorceress gets a piece of her petticoat stolen, so she's pissed and wants it back. I mean, okay, but the book was trying to blow this up to massive proportions, like OMG SHE HAD A SCRAP OF HEMLINE STOLEN FROM HER!!!, and it got slightly ridiculous. If it had been explained why her petticoat was so important this would have worked better. 

5. I got the whole thing with the sorceress being angry because her trees were being cut down so she cursed the earl responsible, but a whole bunch of random side-people appeared and muddled the main plotline. So I got kind of confused which quickly led to being bored. 


I think that's everything! It's shame, as I was really looking forward to it, but I think I've struggled enough with this one.

This was an amazing adult re-imagination of a classic story! I absolutely loved the plot and the ending! The characters were fantastically written! The mythology in general surrounding was well searched and well done! If you love retellings pick this one up as it shines out in an over saturated market.

This was a clever and involving retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast story, with the roles reversed and an influx of magical mayhem within a historical setting.

A boy cursed with Beauty and a girl born in secret, half monster, hidden from view. A curse hangs over them all as the Sorceress seeks her revenge...

This is definitely an adult retelling, if I had one small bugbear with it, it is that the author sometimes seemed to take great pains to point this out, with some more, erm descriptive stuff dumping me out of the plot, but that's purely subjective and overall the story flows out beautifully, complex within it's themes and intriguingly plotted.

The oft told story is at the heart of it but Wray Delaney builds a whole mythology around it, keeping things unpredictable as to their final outcome. 

The ending was classic and beautifully done, the writing is immersive and a little edgy and it was fun to read a book where the traditional concept is turned on it's head and given new life.

If you like this kind of reimagining then you'll like this. I look forward to more from this autho