Beauty of the Beast
Experience the world’s most enchanting and timeless love story—retold with a dark and realistic twist. A BEAST LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF HIS PAST Reclusive and severely scarred Prince Adam Delacroix has remained hidden inside a secluded, decrepit castle ever since he witnessed his family’s brutal massacre. Cloaked in shadow, with only the lamentations of past ghosts for company, he has abandoned all hope, allowing the world to believe he died on that tragic eve twenty-five years ago. A BEAUTY IN PURSUIT OF A BETTER FUTURE Caught in a fierce snowstorm, beautiful and strong-willed Isabelle Rose seeks shelter at a castle—unaware that its beastly and disfigured master is much more than he appears to be. When he imprisons her gravely ill and blind father, she bravely offers herself in his place. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Stripped of his emotional defenses, Adam’s humanity reawakens as he encounters a kindred soul in Isabelle. Together they will wade through darkness and discover beauty and passion in the most unlikely of places. But when a monster from Isabelle’s former life threatens their new love, Demrov’s forgotten prince must emerge from his shadows and face the world once more… Perfect for fans of Beauty and the Beast and The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty of the Beast brings a familiar and well-loved fairy tale to life with a rich setting in the kingdom of Demrov and a captivating, Gothic voice. Beauty of the Beast is the first standalone installment in a series of classic fairy tales reimagined with a dark and realistic twist. Disclaimer: This is an edgy, historical romance retelling of the classic fairy tale. Due to strong sexual content, profanity, and dark subject matter, including an instance of sexual assault committed by the villain, Beauty of the Beast is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
Since everyone has Beauty and the Beast fever right now with the upcoming release of Disney’s live action tale I figured it’d be a good time to read Rachel Demeter’s book.
This definitely read like Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella and Phantom of the Opera were tossed into a blender then poured out onto the pages and juiced up with adults only sprinkles.
Demeter has great character development as you’ll find the stepsisters completely irritating as fairytale stepsisters often are, the villain belongs in prison or pushed off a cliff, Beauty AKA Isabel is just as sweet as Disney’s version, her father has that same charming naiveté you’ll remember from the cartoon, Adam AKA Beast is the tortured soul angry at the world who just wants to be loved.
As a woman the hardest part of this book to read was the ‘Gaston’ fill-in Raphael, who played the villain of the story, raping Isabel. Any time a sexual act is forced upon a woman especially under threat to her family it’s horrendous. The author seemed to be trying to make amends for that by providing the readers with some majorly steamy XXX scenes between Isabel and Adam later in the book even throwing one in at the extreme end as if to conclude on that hot ‘n’ heavy note.
The only positive thing about this section of the plot line is that I felt Demeter did a good job showing the ongoing psychological trauma that can occur when a man forces himself on a woman and how that will affect any ‘healthy’ relationships she tries to enter into later. She even showed how often flashes of that abuse will arise when you’re trying to have a more positive sexual experience with an actual good person thereby making it more difficult. Once you can push through, then having a positive experience can often be the tipping point towards healing and re-educating your mind and body when it comes to sex.
I know most people who read this are going to focus on the fairytale like aspects and the love story arch between Adam and Isabel but I think this was an intriguing read because of the psychological development she portrayed through Isabel’s trauma and redemption. Granted I would’ve liked to see Isabel achieve that redemption by fighting for herself instead of allowing those she loved to be used as a means to bully her into submission so she needed to be rescued by a man which is kind of a disheartening idea that in 2017 we’re still needing men to rescue women. At least it still ended Happily Ever After …. with orgasms :-)
Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book.
*synopsis and pic from netgalley.com