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The Beast: A fairy tale reimagined in post Civil War America
From Revolutionary War to Civil War, THE BEAST defines lust, like, and love as man is separated from beast one layer at a time. Utilizing the real-life history of 1860 Sodus Point, New York, and the poetry of Wordsworth, a new tale of the classic Beauty and the Beast is formed. Complete with kidnapping, knife-throwing, war, and angry invisible men, women, and children, THE BEAST will take you across a century of American history and leave you contemplating lust, like, and love long after the last life has fallen.
- GenresFantasy
431 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 1, 2014
I love a well done rewrite of a popular fairytale, and this one fit the bill. At first I wanted to say it fit the storyline very classically without any major modifications, but then I realized there were quite a number of variances, but the author weaved them into the tale so seamlessly they felt natural. The Beast's progression back to humanity is a slow thing that happens in stages, with Beauty's assistance, and in the course of time it is this very quest that serves to bind them in love.
The witch's continued presence also creates an added element to the story, and it easily follows that there should be some form of helping counterbalance guiding Beauty in her steps. The idea that many of the servants would be enemies of the Beast for having also been cursed made me smack myself in the forehead for not having considered it sooner, even though every other tale they simply do whatever the Beast wishes and their thoughts or concerns don't seem to matter.
It ended up being quite a page turner, and rather than fall asleep with book in hand, I chugged caffeinated drinks one after another so I could stay up all night and part of the next day until it was done.
The witch's continued presence also creates an added element to the story, and it easily follows that there should be some form of helping counterbalance guiding Beauty in her steps. The idea that many of the servants would be enemies of the Beast for having also been cursed made me smack myself in the forehead for not having considered it sooner, even though every other tale they simply do whatever the Beast wishes and their thoughts or concerns don't seem to matter.
It ended up being quite a page turner, and rather than fall asleep with book in hand, I chugged caffeinated drinks one after another so I could stay up all night and part of the next day until it was done.
July 29, 2014
This re-telling of my favourite fairy tale is set in 19th century America and it is absolutely exquisite. Certain aspects from the classic tale are kept the same yet expanded, others are turned on their ear. Beautiful language, very satisfying character development--wow, what a great book! Now, I found 3 misused words--one "foul" when it should be "fowl", and twice "bare" when it should be "bear"--ticky, I know--but this book is just too dang good. Excellently done. Thank you, Ms. Bates!
April 29, 2021
I ALMOST stopped reading this. I was ready to cast it aside for something worth my time. I'm so glad I kept reading. I was incredibly impressed by the story. I couldn't guess what would happen next and so many things kept me wondering. The end was beautiful and not expected at all. I would recommend this in a heartbeat!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews