Of Beast and Beauty

by Stacey Jay

[inlibrisveritas]

3.5 Stars

Of Beast and Beauty is a standalone novel focused on retelling the story of the Beauty and the Beast, in a futuristic new world where magic hidden in the shadows tugs at everyone’s lives.

I love Beauty and the Beast, especially the original story, but surprisingly I haven’t read that many retellings for the story. Of Beast and Beauty really adds a new spin the the tale by adding in some sci-fi elements like colonizing new worlds and dystopian government and blends them with the traditional fantasy feel of fairy tales. The fact that this planet has magic of it’s own was really awesome and I loved getting to know the lore for why those inside the cities remain unchanged but those outside have adapted to the heat of their sun by growing scaling and claws. I also loved that it included the degradation of verbally told stories, and how the story changes depending on that person’s culture and just how personal opinions alter the truth. The plot itself is relatively simple, and the book outright gives you the basis of it in the prologue…sort of like the Disney movie does. It’s the standard flow of love, curse breaking, and defying the standards set by society…so in that aspect there is anything new. However I really enjoyed the new take on just how beauty is seen through different eyes and how people can be beast like without ever showing the physical features.

Isra is the princess of Yuen, and she’s considered tainted. She’s blind and many of her subjects find her ways odd and even wild. I thought the whole blind thing could be used as a way to get her to fall in love with Gem, but it’s really not. There is plenty of animosity between the to begin with, and they come to know each other in the normal rational way…talking. Gem I liked more than Isra and I found his POV sections to be the easiest to fall into. He’s gruff and by her standards an animal, but he’s also very intelligent and picks up on things quickly. I wasn’t completely sold on their relationship, since it seemed to be fragile at best during most of the book and with all the lies it as built on I spent much of it wondering when it was going to crumble a part. I think they are cute together, but seeing as this book covers a large amount of time in only 300 + pages it’s hard to get a real feel for their relationship outside of stressful situations.

So overall I enjoyed this one. The whole idea of this society being built from a space faring people and having to deal with a new planet that is seeking to change them was incredibly cool! So while my love for this one is not great I do think it’s a fun book and certainly worth reading.