Saturday, February 13, 2021

Of Beast and Beauty by Chanda Hahn

Rosalee was taken as a child by a powerful enchantress, Lady Eville, and raised as her own daughter.  As she grew, Lady Eville infused into her and her six adopted sisters magical power and her own thirst for revenge.  So when Lady Eville tells Rosalee that she will soon wed a stranger as part of her plan for revenge, Rosalee goes along willingly.  She is forced to become the unwanted wife of a cruel prince.  Despite her upbringing and the unkindness of her new husband, she comes to care about her new kingdom, and to realize that a terrible danger hangs over her people. As she strives to win her husband's love and help the kingdom, she learns startling facts about her own history.

So here is a different series of fairytale retellings. This one is much more dark and edgy than the one by Cellier.  There is much more violence, dark magic, and emotional turmoil.  Also, neither Rosalee nor the prince are very nice people in the beginning. Their frequent mood swings from hating each other to being passionately attracted to each other is very adolescent.  I could see certain kinds of teenagers--the same kind that would have loved Twilight had they been born 15 years earlier--would really love this series.  It was a bit too dark for my taste and I probably won't read any more. (2019, 303 p)

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