Reviewed by Empress of Sass on
I am shocked at this take on Beauty and the Beast. Horrific message and plot aside, the writing style of this book is a slog. There is very little dialogue and the majority of the book is told in the protagonist’s meandering and dull inner narrative.
The twist in this retelling is that despite being raped by the human form of the Beast, our heroine needs to stop letting revenge and hate for that man consume her and instead forgive him, because it was the evil human who did it and not the beast. Apparently the Beast is his true soul and the actions of the human were the real curse. Lucie forgives and absolves the Beast, because “it wasn’t him who raped her and countless others, it was his cursed Jean Loup the evil Chevalier form, so totally not his fault at all “. Not only does she forgive him but she falls in love with him and they end up together.
I’m honestly floored that this story was told in this way, romanticizing a love story with a rapist and preaching that the victim also had a lesson to her in the form of letting her hate and vengeance go. This is by far my worst read of the year and possibly of the last few years too. I do not recommend it.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 11 December, 2019: Reviewed