I really wanted to like The Rose Kiss. Unfortunately, I just did not. The book just did not hold my attention.

A very good twist on the classic tale but unfortunately it fell flat for me and i did not enjoy it as much as i wished i could have.

Ops! Sorry there. I guess I missed the archived date. Ugh! I can't believe I was this stupid. 😭😭😭😭 The blurb seems really interesting. And cover is pretty too.

Title: The Rose Kiss: Beauty and the Beast Retold
Author: Esme Rome
Pub. Date: May 1, 2020
Rating: 2

This will be a short spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I’m a sucker for a BATB retelling, so when I saw this pop up on NetGalley, I knew I wanted to give it a go.

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you what happened in this book.
It honestly started off strong. I was pleasantly surprised with how vivid and engaging the start of this book is. The way it open is an instant hook and it made me think that this was going to take the typical BATB format, and really turn it into something new.

And I think that was the goal. But in doing so, in adding so much extra stuff, and switching around the plot, it became confusing.
I know I was confused.
I finished the book and just sat there trying to process what I’d just read, and I was coming up blank. Where there needed to be detail and description there wasn’t, and when it was mundane stuff, it was overly detailed. It kind of felt like maybe the author took all her favorite parts of various BATB stories and tried to mash them into one.
It didn’t work for me. I thought a 200-page book would be easy to fly through, but I kept putting it down with no real drive to pick it back up. I just didn’t care and as the story progressed, the vividness never went away, but engagement vanished. I kept hoping that it would pick back up and get better. But ultimately, I think that there was too much going on and everything got lost in itself.
I’m bummed this was a miss for me, but it happens.

thank you netgalley for his arc in exchange for an honest review.

i picked up this book because i love beauty and the beast retellings and while i enjoyed the book on surface level, i felt like there were problems with the storytelling and worldbuilding that held the book back from it's full potential.

i loved the writing of the book as it was very whimsical and made me feel as though i was reading a dark fairytale. the atmosphere of the novel and the descriptions were also very well done too. i just felt that the plotholes in the story left me confused and wondering if i was missing some pages of the narratives. also, the inserted bits of fairy tale within the story itself felt very jarring even if i enjoyed their purpose within the story.

and as a romance, the main couple of the story left much to be desired and i didn't really feel the connection between them. i feel like the author relied too heavily on the fat that their story is a beauty and the beast retelling and didn't develop the world or the characters enough for them to stand on their own outside that.

overall, it was a fun story to read, but could've been improved with reworking the narrative and fixing some gaps in the plotline.

I loved the detailed descriptions in the book. Readers can really put themselves in the characters shoes. See the colors, clothing, and settings. There were times when you thought did you miss something but the story is captivating.

A promising concept that didn't quite live up to its potential. It felt as though there were gaps in the narrative so I had to keep checking that I hadn't accidentally skipped a page. I did enjoy the twist in the classic story and am intrigued to see what is done with the next fairytale.

This is supposed to be a retelling story of Beauty and the Beast, but in fact, is like the same story with very few changes. The character Belladonna (Lana) has a prophecy and that's like the difference, the rest of the characters lack in description and depth. The worldbuilding was not good enough it's set in France in 1700 and definitely, there is a lot the author can take from it, the story plot definitely missed some marks, and the romance was not really developed, definitely needs a buildup, I would recommend rewriting it and getting more into it, I received an arc and I understand there might be edit and mistakes, hopefully, those are all corrected before publishing version.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like every time there's a retelling of anything - I will automatically jump into it. Especially when Disney is somehow involved. So it's safe to assume that I was really excited to jump into The Rose Kiss because Belle is my freaking girl. I've always been jealous of the library scene in Beauty and the Beast. I'm also still going to have my own secret library room whenever I find my dream house.

So, I'm just going to be honest here people. I'm really sad and disappointed with how much I didn't love this. I liked it enough and Lana was a pretty interesting character in this. Her love of books and reading brought me joy. I laughed when her dad got upset that she was buying all these books but kept reading the same one every time he saw her.

It's a serious problem for all us book lovers. Trust me.

Other than that, this book definitely gave me some people to hate and I felt like this was really lacking in the romance department. The little that I got didn't satisfy me one bit. I also feel like the pacing was a bit off because it definitely dragged during some chapters for me at least. It has potential to be better and I'll definitely give the next book a shot just to see if things do get better in this series.

Firstly a big thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me and I found it rather difficult to read to the point that I decided to put it aside. I'm sure it will appeal to others though and I wish the author all the best.

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Lana is the new Belle and Hadrian, the new beast. Trying to escape a series of bad suitors and a mysterious event, Lana flees and finds herself in a castle. Hadrian must keep himself hidden from her because of the curse.
Opinion
I love fairy tales reinvented! This one holds pretty close to the original but has some new twists along the way. This book will not disappoint the younger child in your heart.
Many thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Who doesn’t love a Beauty and the Beast retelling? Some of my favorite books are a variation on this theme, but this one fell slightly short of my expectations.

There are more facets to this story than the original fairytale, and overall, it was very creative! That said, I think the author spent a little too much time setting the scene and developing the backstory and not enough time on the plot. Things don’t really get interesting until Lana (our beauty) end’s up at the beast’s castle. I wanted more character development, more interactions between these two, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, more angst. It felt as if this big revelation occurs in regards to the beast’s identity and Lana was unaffected. Beauty and the Beast is traditionally an enemies to lovers trope and that aspect was missing.

I did enjoy the addition of a mutual villain, and the rose curse was a fresh take on the classic. I believe this is the first in a series, and I would be interested to see how the author adapts other fairytales.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Okay so mixed feelings on this book. Loved the cover and I always love a good fairy tale retelling if done well.

Plot: Think Beauty and the Beast, but darker? I liked that there was more layers to the story than the original tale, and some of the tension was good. The plot had a couple differences from the typical story, but I was honestly expecting more plot twists. Even though the plot was kind of thought out the world building was just disappointing. Like where is the explanation about the fairies?

Characters: So, I like Lana or at least I try to. She is confident (mostly) and I wanted to root for her, but she is naïve and underdeveloped. She has no clue what is going on 99% of the time which just makes me feel bad for her to be honest. She is intelligent and very into books which is similar to Belle, but underneath it all I would say she isn't like Belle at all. Hadrian on the other hand, I loved. I like good sad backstory and a mysterious love interest, but he has little chemistry with Lana. Their relationship was too forced. Yes I know they end up together, of course they do, but there is no convincing readers that they won't end up together.

Writing: Well it was quick and easy to read which meant that I finished the book, but it was sort of boring? Even though there is talk of murder, death, etc. I didn't feel the suspense. The magic in the book (though very confusing) kept the story whimsical which is good.

Even though this was a beauty and the beast retelling it still had some really original plot point that I really enjoyed, the use of the roses has to be my favourite part along with the fairy tales. The enjoyed the writing style, and how there were equal amounts of character development and world building. The only thing I didn't enjoy about this was how quick the romance developed. There was no mention of them catching feelings for each other or them really even seeing each other that way until they were kissing, I wish there had been a bit of an insight to their feelings. But overall, I did really enjoy this book and will be reading more of this series as it comes out.

This book was received as an ARC from BooksGoSocial in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have read so many renditions of beauty and the beast one of my favorite all time fairy tales so immediately I was excited for the chance to read The Rose Kiss. This book took the more proper English/Victorian approach and I must say I have never encountered a book like this before. I was intrigued by the back story of Lana and how she was destined to love a beast and bring famine to the Kingdom that she runs away and finds herself in the magic castle. But, she grows fond of the castle and its tenants including the mysterious best owner that could break the curse and be her destiny. There were many parts where I was smiling from ear to ear bringing back old memories when I was a child and I could not ask for more especially during this time of year. I know our teen book club will be intrigued as well and I know deep conversations are in our future.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Rose Kiss has a brilliant premise, but it lacked a lot in execution. I love beauty and the beast retellings because enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes ever, but I still couldn't connect with the characters. Lana was a textbook Mary Sue, and it was hard to root for her.
There was also a pace problem because sometimes we would get a dozen plot points in two pages and nothing for the next thirty. And the world-building could use a little tweaking because it felt weird and underdeveloped (even with the frequent infodumps).
I believe something really good could have come out of this premise, but unfortunately, The Rose Kiss read like a first draft.

This book had an interesting premise, based on the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the fairytale retelling genre. I enjoyed it, but it took me some time to finish it as I kept setting it down. I didn't find that the story pulled me in; it seemed rather choppy at times.

The cover of this book caught my eye, and then the fact it was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - which is one of my favorite fairytales - solidified my desire to read this. I love reading different adaptations of fairytales, seeing what authors change/leave the same, and how the book can be unique with source material that everyone knows already.

This book took Beauty and the Beast and kept enough of the main plot points the same without it being so identical to the original story that I was bored. The magic system and curse was different which made the book feel like a fresh adaptation, and everything was resolved in the end with a satisfying conclusion.

My one problem was that either the book is unfinished or I received a copy that was incomplete, as I had entire sentences and paragraphs missing from the book. This did make it difficult at times to read as it would jump scenes and I wasn't sure about the connection, since the sentence/paragraph connecting the two parts was missing. It is very possible that my ARC was a misprint for download but it was a bit frustrating. Not so frustrating that I couldn't finish the book, I was still able to follow the overarching story and enjoy myself, but it was still hard.

This is a cute book. It is not too heavy, it has the right amount of magic & whimsy, and it doesn't drag on & on. This is an enjoyable book if you are looking for a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but don't expect it to be something wildly groundbreaking.

Just wanted to first, thank the publisher for allowing me an ARC of this book through NetGalley!

I love Beauty and the Beast retellings, but unfortunately this one wasn’t my favorite. The lead Belladonna (or Lana) was kind of a superficial character that I just didn’t get invested in. I thought the story jumped around too much for my liking, and a little harder to follow. There was a lot of plot, and sometimes that’s the to detriment of the book. I wish I had liked it more! It was a very quick read which I love. 2/5 stars!

This version of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale is unlike any other you may have read: In 1800s France exists a book of fairy tales that Belladonna loves to read and as she comes to find out may be so real as to be a foretelling of her life. Will she fall to it's fate and bring a curse to the land, or will she be the one to break it and live happily ever after?