At One's Beast

by Rachel Barnard

Every girl and boy in the village of Frey fears the beast who lives in the forest. Ten years ago, the beast was formed from the town’s rage -- and the evil that lurks inside all people in moments of weakness. Every year since, the townspeople have sacrificed one of their own to appease his anger. This year the sacrifice does not go as planned. A young man saves the chosen girl from fate. She is torn between doing her duty and untangling the identity of her savior and captor. The young man grew up with thoughts of revenge on the town that turned their backs on him, but when he is close to the girl, he is reminded of who he used to be. From once upon a time to happily ever after, the people of Frey will have to rally together to rid the town of evil once and for all, but in the process will they destroy everything that is good in their world?

Genres: Fantasy

174 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2014

About the author

Rachel Barnard's greatest accomplishments have been eating an entire half gallon of ice cream in one sitting, winning a boot toss, and writing a novel about herself (see the For the Love of Donuts Books). Rachel Barnard wishes she were taller, that chocolate had no calories, and that books could be eaten after they were read. She loves to read romance, contemporary, YA, dystopian, and more!

Reviews

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE REVIEW

Why this book?
It seemed interesting

What I thought

I'm confused by this book... I don't know if I liked it or not. I have to think about it more. One things for sure I really hated the towns people, and I don't understand why they considered Zos a beast. What did he do to them? One thing I really like though is the relationship between Zos and Alcina. Like others say there are some similarities to Beauty and the Beast which is my favorite fairytale, so you would think I would love this. Unfortunately though The strengths of this book are outweighed by its weaknesses. Overall an ok read.

[pearl. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book for a Read 4 Review.


The cover artwork and blurb definitely intrigued me. As I settled down to read the story, I began to notice similarities between this dark fantasy and the traditional fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast. That's not a bad thing! I do enjoy fresh takes on old stories.

Here are some examples of what I mean. Oh and beware, this is basically going to spoil the whole book.






* There is a Beast living in the woods.



* There are jackals living in the woods.



* A jackal attacks Belle, I mean Alcina.



* Beast, I mean Zos saves Alcina.



*Zos holds Alcina hostage cause he can't tell if she's dangerous or not.



* Zos and Alcina become friends.



* Gaston, I mean Aethon, comes to save Alcina and slay Zos.



* Alcina & Zos fall in love and Zos' beastliness disappears.






Overall, I think the story needs a little more work. There were times when I felt very confused. For example, there is a scene toward the end where Zos protects the jackal mother and her jackal pup from the humans, but then all of a sudden the jackal mother is attacking a different set of humans and Zos is now fighting it to the death.

More importantly, it was a quick, fun read, and I'm sure children would enjoy the story.

Happy Reading!

[Cee (The Mistress Case) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book for a Read for Review.

At One’s Beast is a fantasy read about sacrifice, betrayal, the thin line between losing yourself to good or evil, family, friendship, and love.

Zosimos was tormented by his inner and outer self. Consumed by revenge and bitterness for the village who betrayed him out of fear for the unknown and out of guilt for what they did to him, Zos was only tamed when Alcina, a brave and compassionate girl, reappeared in his life ten years later.



I’ll try to keep this short and simple.

Despite this story being nicely written with beautiful phrases, everything felt rushed.

At the beginning, I didn’t know how to feel about this story, but as it progressed, I began liking it— but then I kept losing interest and I simply didn’t know how to feel anymore. “Do I like it? Or do I dislike it?” I didn’t know.

Therefore, I kept reading (while procrastinating at the same time) and this was what went through my mind: What is happening? What is going on? Why do I feel like the author is being lazy and trying to rush everything into place just in order “to get it over with”?

It all happened so fast when Alcina accepted her place in Zos’s home. I found it hard to believe she wasn’t bursting with questions: What happened to her best friend Iris? What happened to the other sacrifices? Did Zos know about them? Did these sacrifices fall prey to vicious jackals? Did they fall victims to the forest?

Honestly, I’m not the sort of person to be rude and call writers “lazy” (this is my first time saying something so insulting), but this is too much frustration for one reader. I want details, explanations, back stories, more depth. I wanted so badly to sink into this book and get lost.

Unfortunately, it didn’t happen for me.

And to top it off, even though I had nothing against the characters, I couldn’t find myself caring a whole lot about them or rooting for them.

Too many parts of this story left me feeling “That’s it? That’s all?” Towards the end, I practically had to force myself to keep on reading and I didn’t even rejoice the happy ending, which is strange because I always do.

The one positive thing about the ending is that it sends a powerful message: Let go. Let go of all your anger. Let go of the evil. Let go of your haunting nightmares. Be free from it.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story just enough not to hate it, and no, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. I really wouldn’t. However, don’t let me stop you from reading it for yourself and forming your own opinions.

Best of luck to Rachael!

Update: It would have been nice to know how Zos reacted to his mother's death too. Too many things in this story are left ignored.


-Mistress

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for a Read for Review.
At One’s Beast is an amazing well written book, Rachel Barnard has a lovely away of writing!

Good points about this book:

-I think that Miss Barnard got the part about the duplicity of the human nature quite well, especially in the village people’s actions and Alcina when her friend is chosen. Most of us say we will be there for everything and anything but then when the time comes we get cold feet and don’t do anything to help those we call friends.

-The story is original and interesting.

- It’s so well written!!!!

-The ending is very well thought and it’s message is striking!
-----

My only problem with this book is that it needed more backstory, the story is incredible and so are the character but because we don’t have much information about the Well, the village and its people (specially the main characters), it’s hard to enjoy this book to its fullest.
But once you begin reading this book and pass the first chapter you get used to the story and it gets easier to keep going, but you must finish it!! The ending is wonderful!!

[A.E. Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a fairy tale forest, At One's Beast tells the story of Alcina and a ferocious beast threatening the small village of Frey. Through a cruel twist of fate, she is chosen as the yearly sacrifice. But the town of Frey's gift to this monster alters Alcina's life forever.

At One's Beast is about seeing people as they truly are. Or perhaps, more importantly, choosing to see past the physical and judging people by condition of their heart.

This book is beautifully written. I was very impressed with Barnard's style and prose. The author is at times almost poetic, giving the story an otherworldly atmosphere. However, this doesn't effect the easy flow of words, making it an wonderful read.

The book contains the obvious conflict between the village of Frey and the Beast. Yet, there is also the personal conflict brewing between the main characters. The author takes you into their minds so the reader can partake in their journey through self realization.

[Sheri J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put off reviewing because I love this book and I want to do it justice.
AT ONE'S BEAST is billed as a fairy tale twist and a low fantasy. I think it elevates both sub-genres by taking the basics of a moral tale and adding rich psychological complexity and atmosphere.
First, let me say, I was 'in' immediately and was driven to keep reading to the end - always key to a great read!
It starts with fairly traditional basics of Zos absorbing all the hate and evil of the town, and Alcina moving from fear and wanting to take him down, to seeing that he is something more. But the way the journey unfolds is uniquely modern from my perspective. For one, there's a tricky twining of three characters that create, from my perspective, a love triangle with Aethon. He is supposedly a friend, but has a fierce or even controlling streak that is a definite character flaw. Zos, while supposedly dangerous, shows gentleness and encourages Alcina's strength. He is fearsome but magnetic in his caring and vulnerability.
Alcina, while having fears and showing her impetuous youthfulness, comes from a general stance of strength and independence that makes the reader believe she will conquer the beast. But as she spends time with Zos and on her own away from her family and community, she shows a vulnerability to love of nature, adventure, and love in general. Instead of making her seem weaker, her genuine emotion and new experiences develop her into her own woman - not Zos'. That's not trite or typically fairy tale black and white. When she then comes to appreciate Zos, it makes her even stronger in my eyes and she lives and breathes instead of being a one dimensional fairy tale 'princess-type' heroine.
The only weakness to the tale I thought was the townsfolk, especially families, seem a little too hostile toward Alcina. This is chalked up to the evil influence, like a spell on them, so I can let it go. It's just that all the other emotion in the story is so realistically supported that this actual fairy tale simplification of that point seems out of place in comparison. (Kind of a back-handed compliment!)
There is a lovely mix of grey tones throughout this story. There is a well-crafted atmospheric quality to the world - kind of an abstraction that allows complex contemplation while the clear action proceeds without dropping the reader for a single moment.
After reading Barnard's debut novel, ATAXIA AND THE RAVINE OF LOST DREAMS, I was interested to see where this promising young author would go next. AT ONE'S BEAST exceeded my expectations and is very well developed. It's a solid work that I would highly recommend.

[D.r. Howey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A relaxing fantasy getaway - I found, “At One’s Beast”, right after I posted a review of the same author's previous novel, “Ataxia and the Ravine of Lost Dreams”. Having enjoyed what I describe as “a refreshing, modern writing style and technique”, I was happy to find more work by the same author, Rachel Barnard. “At One’s Beast” is not similar to previous novels that I generally migrate to, but I was intrigued by the summary of the story printed on the rear Jacket Cover. On the surface, it appeared that the story would be a modern rendition of a classic tale. However, the plot vaguely shares some similarities and is probably not intentional by the author, but might be due to my own assumptions by judging the cover. The author's imagination and writing skills successfully takes the audience away from this expectation - while keeping the reader anxious to get to the next page (and finish the book). I found it to stimulate my inner senses, yes some tears (I’m human) and I could really get into the main characters. In an effort to not spoil the plot or ending, I’ll classify this as a modern type of fairy tale that is hard to “not finish in one sitting” (Warning: Don’t start the book too late at night). It contains subtle hints within the story that assists the reader in subsequent chapters, challenging your own comprehension skills, making it fun to follow and reflect upon as the story unfolds. I’d recommend it for those that enjoy an easy reading, young adult fiction novel, one that needs to be read from front to back, without speed-reading techniques or skipping portions.

[David Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Substantial immersive short fantasy

This is an immersive fantasy for young adults, but with broader appeal and deeper purpose. It is a relatively quick read, what I would call a long novella or a short novel. The setting is the isolated pastoral village of Frey, which is surrounded by a wild and largely unknown forest.

The key physical feature in the story is a mysterious well in the forest, which the villagers use in an annual cleansing ceremony, as a receptacle of all their ill-will from the past year. The well no longer contains water, but exudes an accumulated dark menace; however, "No one has ever fallen into the well."

The three main human characters are Zosimos ('Zos'), Alcina and Aethon, who are very well depicted. Barnard's writing style is good, easy to read, and a comfortable fit with the content.

The village is strangely isolated (perhaps intentionally), and the Jackal is oddly enormous, at least in my impression. But this is a fantasy.

It's a great story. There is drama, there is a mysterious beast of the forest which the villagers perceive as a destructive enemy and which they try to appease by offering an annual sacrifice. There is romance and tension. There is love, there is quick judgement and rejection, there is the eternal struggle of conflicting human emotions. The characters are endearing, particularly Zos and Alcina. There is the sway of influence between the chaotic forest and civilized village life. The story grips, the characters struggle with themselves and with one another, and with the revelation of buried truths.

[Plaguedoctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received At Ones Beast from the goodreads giveaway.
*Possible Spoilers!*
At Ones Beast isn't a bad book or a 'piece of trash' by any means, it just needs some improvement. I over all enjoyed the series and it's concept. However, the book seemed to hastily tell the story and try to get it all finished within the short page length. With that being said, it created a few problems. It left out a lot of character development and skipped around quite a bit. The characters didn't have time to grow and come to terms with each other. One chapter they're suspicious and hateful of each other and then suddenly in the next they're cuddling up with each other. The story also seems to drop off on parts and not talk about them again. After the main character realizes Zos is the beast then she completely stops thinking about the other sacrifices and doesn't even questions him about it. I questioned it for a few chapters. If Zos didn't do anything with the sacrifices then what happened to them? Did they just get lost and stranded, did the Jackal eat them, etc? You can't leave gaps. I also thought the ending was a bit odd. They feared Zos his whole life and drove him to the forest and yet they excepted him back to graciously without any suspicions. Anyway, those were just a few things that I thought could have used some improvement on. The story over all was a great read, it just needs to be worked on more :)

[Lana Axe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an intriguing dark fantasy tale about a young girl named Alcina who is willing to risk her life to save her home, despite the fact that her friends and neighbors were ready to offer her up as a human sacrifice. She proved herself a character of worth right from the beginning, and I couldn't help admiring her courage throughout the story.

Inside the dark and spooky forest, a place I always love in fantasy, Alcina comes across the beast. Though he isn't the beast she expected. He's actually just a human, scarred and twisted by the ravages of an ancient evil. He had a Quasimodo feel to him for me. He's the bad guy because of how he looks, but he isn't a murderer. He does what he must to survive. I think his character was the most endearing. It's true that people in our history treated those with physical deformities with disdain and declared them evil just because of their looks. That seems to be what's going on here, and it was interesting to be immersed in that mindset. Ok, so he was cursed after falling in the well instead of being born that way, but it's a similar enough situation. The evil curse adds the fantasy to what could otherwise be a scene from our own history.

Overall this book is well written. It has some fantastic descriptions, and I felt myself immersed in the world and culture.

I received a free copy for an honest and unbiased review.

[Andrea Prepo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in a Read for Review.

First of all, I have to say that this is a very well written book. Since the first chapter you get into a story of fantasy and mistery, with the addition of a fairytale like beauty and the beast. Zosimos and Alcina represent two different things, almost like yin and yan; one is darkness, is embracing all the horrible things of the world, being The Beast. The other is light, is taking all that darkness around you and cleansed it. Both of them, specially Zos, have to fight the temptation of giving into those dark desires.

The book keeps you hanging until you finished so, why not five stars?
Yes, the story is amazing but I think it needed a little more of background. Did the well really cleanse you of all your dark thoughs? What happened if you didn't go trought the ceremony? Why did the darkness took Zos and marked his skin? Was the dark presence a concious being or just a force who temted you, voicing your greedy and selfish desires? If Zos wasn't the beast everyone though he was, why did they start giving him sacrifices?

I don't know if it was the intention of the writer leaving these questions unanswered. Well, now that I think about it the mistery gives the story the quality of a fairytale, the magic is not explain it just is.

Anyway, Rachek Barnard create a great story and I thank her for lettin us enjoyed it.

[Victoria Bastedo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rachel Barnard’s At One’s Beast is a compelling take on the original tale. The beast begins an innocent boy, infected with the scouring of other people’s hate. It’s a book that asks, what makes a person good or bad?

The boy falls in a pit of black thoughts and comes out so covered with the streaks of mental filth that he appears a monster. Inside his thoughts rage feelings of despair, hopelessness and suffocating oppression. He runs deep into the forest to escape the village that now fears him.

Years later the girl is truehearted enough to sacrifice herself for the town that betrayed her and is sent alone to the forest to appease the beast. Although she is the beautiful one on the surface of things and the most free, in the end it’s the boy that surprises us.

I love that he will not become evil, no matter what seeks to force change upon him. Read a book that says truth will not stay hidden, and proves that misguided and suspicious people are never too old to learn that appearances can’t judge what’s in the human heart.

At times the book was dark to read, and yet I expect young people will sympathize with the difficulties that are perpetrated upon our main characters. By the end I had a difficult time putting the book down!

[R.M. Gilmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual read, I found the story surprisingly interesting. A classic tale retold, At One's Beast is a solid YA with a well written plot. I have to say while the names were unique and I appreciated that, they were hard to pronounce (in my head) and by the middle of the book I had nicknames made up for the characters to avoid the brain fart while trying to read them over.
While there were lingering questions over the whys and hows of the town and the occupants, I felt that really wasn't the importance of the story overall and understood the writer left that out to allow me, the reader, to fill in where necessary. I did that just fine.
Overall, this was a solid story, held my interest, and though I'm not one for YA and the frills that go along with it, I could get behind these characters and their driving force throughout the story.
I'd recommend this for a clean-tween read, ages 11 and up. Surely my tween spawn would love it.

*Received this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Vanessa Kings · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was perfect.
From the cover, which I've dedicated a few minutes to admire, to the story, a classical fantasy love story, to the message that is left as a moral, to see everyone as equals despite their look.
Zos is a 10-year-old boy that was "marked" by the beast, or so the town's inhabitants believe, he is exiled and separated from his mother at such young age. He is forced to live in the forest and to learn how to provide for himself.
Year after year the town offers someone as sacrifice to the beast, fearing that if they don't, then the beast will come back to the town and destroy it.
The story has so many twists and while you hope for the best, you just can't imagine how the conflict will be solved, if it can be solved.
The way is written is perfect, Rachel's words are beautiful, how she describes the characters, the environment and the scenes is just delightful.
I enjoyed this book so much that once I finished I wanted more.
I recommend it to everyone that loves fantasy stories.

[Ronesa Aveela · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At One's Beast" is a fresh take on the classic "Beauty and the Beast." The characters are ones you can sympathize with. The story shows how people can push off their evil and attribute it to others, and then cast those people aside. Zos becomes a scape goat of sorts after he falls into the well. The ages of pain, guilt, jealousy, and all other negative emotions that have been tossed into the well adhere to him--literally--imbuing his being. Then Alcina arrives. Each fears the other at first, but both can overcome their biases and learn to love one another. This is truly a beautiful story of human emotions.

[molaffle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for the Read4Review. Honestly, I must say it's not quite catchy, it's quite a little boring to me. However, I really liked the plot alot, the unique character names, it was honestly awesome. Rachel's unique-ness is awesome! I would highly recommend this for young beginners!

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting take on The Beauty and the Beast story. Rachel's version is a dark psychological look at how people perceive others. It's not your Disney-version type of story. The town in this story acts as another character feeding on the negativity of the townspeople. Fear plays a big role in the story where the town has a lottery every year to sacrifice one of the town's children to the dark presence in the forest. Interesting twist and character interactions.

[Lori Byrd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was great. How can a town disown one of their own and pay such a heavy price for that decision. It really makes you think about the cruelty and heartlessness involved. I loved it.

[G.J. Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

At One's Beast would appear to be a take on "Beauty and the Beast" from Perrault’s classic Fairy Tales, presumably aimed at an older reader from late teens to young adults. There is a beast of sorts and a young maiden, but not much else relates to the story most of us remember.
There is a commendable effort made by Rachel Barnard to weave a tale of Good versus Evil, with lots of twists and turns in events and in the relationships between the three main characters: Zos, Aethon and Alcina. I do think that the author has the potential to produce a very absorbing and readable story from the nuts and bolts she has tried to include in this book. The problem for this reader was that it was neither, absorbing, or very readable, due mainly to the fact that the nuts and bolts were too jumbled up; so mixed up that I found I kept looking for the next phrase, description or strange use of the English language that had me scratching my head. Consequently I did not care about any of the characters.
There was too much in this book that either did not make sense, because of the poor sequencing of the plot, or because too much remained unexplained – right up until the last page. Why was the well evil? What was significant about the jackal’s horn or the black lines on Zos’s skin? Why did the black tear appear or disappear? Jackals are very small compared to wolves so why was this one monstrous? The story needs a lot of work before it can claim to be finished. I noticed the author is very generous in the acknowledgements when offering her gratitude to beta readers and fellow writers of her group. It can only be assumed they were either being kind or lacked a proper command of the English language, since they did this new author no favours I’m afraid. Here are just a few of my observations:
Throughout the book the majority of the sentences used are too short, very clipped and lacking in description. This made for a quite tedious read at times, particularly when many, sentences within the same page, often even paragraph, began with the same word. For example I found one page with six short sentences starting with “He” and a whole paragraph with eight “She”s starting a string of sentences. There is a sort of unspoken Rule of Three (max!) that Ms Barnard could perhaps take note of? All too often I found a strange choice of adverbs or adjectives when an attempt was made at exposition, even an adjective jumping out at me when it was used to modify a verb. If it was deliberate then it did not work for me. I was not sure whether some of the modern phrases and idioms used in this fantasy tale were very appropriate for those times, particularly in the dialogue, such as “holler”, “scooted across”, “critter”, “shot down” – the latter in the context of an argument. Right at the end of the book the author offers:
“WHAT IS WRITING Writing is the moment you can smell the crispness of your new novel, rub the pages between your fingers, and set the book on your coffee table for anyone to pick up and read.”
and, hopefully, you will note the title lacks the correct punctuation ie the question mark. Enough said about the beta readers?
This story has the making of a very intriguing book but it requires a lot more work on it. I am sure it will be worth the effort.

[A.M. Reynwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went into this book and got something I wasn't expecting. I read the first paragraph and loved it, and throughout the story I found various pieces that Rachel Barnard described rather eloquently, but I can't say I was head over heels. The first few chapters were a little rough, in that there was a lot (I thought) that could have been elaborated on to give a better understanding of how things stood. Some more explanation on the significance of the jackal and what the Jackal's Horn is would have been preferable. I will freely, and gladly, admit that it got better as you went along, and the ending was charming.

At One's Beast is not a bad story - far from it, I think it has merit - but were I to be totally honest, it could use a wee bit more detail work, especially around setting . . . and maybe a brush through against typos, but that's totally a personal thing.

"You are as strong and wily as a jackal in the moonlight."
"Never caught, never eaten."
- At One's Beast, by Rachel Barnard

[Hilary Tofu · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book for a r4r.

I think this book has a lot of potential. The story line feels very fresh and unique. I love the whole idea of a small, superstitious village forced to send little girl sacrifices to a terrorizing beast. I was excited to see where the story would go.

I think, however, the book's main issue is its lack of development. For example, the first chapter talks about some evil well that the villagers must discard their evil into, but despite that small blurb we never find out why it's evil, what happens if they don't, or why they do it in the first place. There were many situations such as this that I assumed would all be revisited and explained later but weren't.


I think in my opinion, this feels like a preliminary draft to a potentially spectacular story.

[Estée · Rating 3 out of 5]

At One’s Beast, a “light-gray”—dark, but not so dark—unban fantasy should appeal to middle and high school age readers. Fear of the dark, fear of the stranger, family and love for each other all wrapped up in an gripping story of two young people— Zos and Alcina—banished from their village and how they met and coped with life in a hostile dark forest and a growing love for each other. The families left behind are broken, and, Aethon, her almost love, at first betrays her then champions her. A moralistic tale worth a read.

[Toni Kief · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would suggest this Indie published book to not only the young but also more mature readers. The writing is almost like poetry, and it is a interesting story about judgement and society. Some may only see the story of Alcine and Zos, but I found it intriguing how society can label and destroy. Great read.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was a very unique fairy tale. It brings together many elements to make a story of an unfortunate girl and boy from a town. Throughout the book I found many reasons to admire the main character, Alcina. Overall I found the book to be a good, easy read.