Book Club,  Book Review,  Fantasy,  Historical Fiction

BOOK REVIEW: The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross @leioss @berkleyromance @berkleypub #bookbestiesbeastsheart #thebeastsheart

February 15, 2019 /

Whimsical and enchanting!

Leife Shallcross’s latest reimagining of the classic storyof Beauty and the Beast is more similar to Beaumont’s 18th century abridgedLa Belle et la Bête than it is the Disneyclassic—which is a total compliment! No offense to Disney, but the classicversion of this story really has much more depth and darkness.

(Sidebar: Did you ever watch the HBO series Sex and the City? The final season has this pretty great song La Belle et le Bad Boy that I think of every time I read this title! It’s pretty amazing as far as French rap songs go. Linking it here for your pleasure!)

About the Book

A luxuriously magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in seventeenth-century France–and told from the point of view of the Beast himself.

I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both.

I am the Beast.

He is a broken, wild thing, his heart’s nature exposed byhis beastly form. Long ago cursed with a wretched existence, the Beast prowlsthe dusty hallways of his ruined château with only magical, unseen servants tokeep him company—until a weary traveler disturbs his isolation.

Bewitched by the man’s dreams of his beautiful daughter, the Beast devises a plan to lure her to the château. There, Isabeau courageously exchanges her father’s life for her own and agrees to remain with the Beast for a year. But even as their time together weaves its own spell, the Beast finds winning Isabeau’s love is only the first impossible step in breaking free from the curse …

Reflection

In The Beast’s Heart,the story is retold from the perspective of The Beast. After spending over 100years trapped in an enchanted and dark forest, with no company but the unseenmagic of his stately home, The Beast longs to meet another soul. But he isconfused, he has very little memory of who (if anyone) he was before and whathis curse entails. All he knows is that he is doomed to this body, unable toconnect with others due to his appearance.

When he lures Isabeau to this chateau, he never dreamed offalling in love with her. But soon the magic of Isabeau’s kindess and lightseems to outshine even the most fantastic magic in his home. The Beast wantsIsabeau to himself, but he also desperately wants her to be happy. In a heart-warmingtale of healing, heart, and finding happiness, The Beast’s Heart shows a new and fresh perspective on a classictale.

I’m so happy that Leife Shallcross drew so many elementsfrom Beaumont’s version of the story. I’ve always found the complexity of Isabeau(Belle, for you Disney fans) to be related to her family, rather than just herfather. Though they don’t reference the brother’s in this version, she doeshave sisters and they play such an important role in the story.

I loved Claude and Marie. Rather than being one-dimensionalor paling in comparison to the perfect leading lady, Claude and Marie are sofilled with love and have such unique characterization. I would love to read aspinoff about Claude and Marie, and I’m delighted by how much we got to see ofthem!

There is a total YA vibe to this book that really worked. Iread the Beaumont version in high school myself, so this seems like the perfectgenre to place the story in. It crosses the threshold of “ageless”, where I cansee a parent reading this to a child, a young adult finding their own readinginterests, or an adult who loves whimsy enjoying this.

Fantastic work from Leife Shallcross, who is certainly a much-welcomedvoice in fiction!

With many thanks to our partners at Berkley Publishing, I had the pleasure to read this book with two of my book besties, Jennifer at Tarheel Reader and Berit at Audio Killed the Bookmark. Make sure to visit their blogs, which I’ve linked here!

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