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Beast
Life had always been good to me, and I made sure to keep it that way. My mom had given me the only tool I’d need to succeed—manipulation. Add to that the fact I was beautiful, confident, and rich, and I was on my way to having it all.
My name is Annabelle, and I was the stereotypical head cheerleader, dating the star quarterback. The school was mine, and I couldn’t wait to be crowned prom queen.
One night, my world changed forever. All I believed my future would hold was ripped from my grasp in a ball of flames. I lost my identity, my boyfriend, and my friends. Suddenly, I was the monster nobody wanted around.
A scarf hid my true identity, and I was left staring at the beast in the mirror. My appearance now matched the ugliness I once had inside, but I’d do everything I could to prove I still had some beauty buried deep within.
Sometimes, you have to lose who you are to become who you were meant to be.
**Beast is the first in a series of fairytale retelling novels.
My name is Annabelle, and I was the stereotypical head cheerleader, dating the star quarterback. The school was mine, and I couldn’t wait to be crowned prom queen.
One night, my world changed forever. All I believed my future would hold was ripped from my grasp in a ball of flames. I lost my identity, my boyfriend, and my friends. Suddenly, I was the monster nobody wanted around.
A scarf hid my true identity, and I was left staring at the beast in the mirror. My appearance now matched the ugliness I once had inside, but I’d do everything I could to prove I still had some beauty buried deep within.
Sometimes, you have to lose who you are to become who you were meant to be.
**Beast is the first in a series of fairytale retelling novels.
ebook
First published October 10, 2018
2 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Edward
10 books552 followersWhile Lisa Edward has called Melbourne Australia home for her entire life, she has lived and worked in England, and travelled through most parts of Europe and the United States.
She loves nothing more than spending time with her beautiful daughter, or curling up into the early hours of the morning with a great novel.
Her deep appreciation for literature was nurtured from a young age, being taught to respect books and get lost in their stories. She enjoys reading honest and realistic novels that are relatable, thought provoking and leave a lasting impression.
She can’t write without music playing, using the emotions from different songs to invoke that of her characters.
Lisa takes inspiration from her own life experiences, the people around her and those she has met in her travels.
She loves nothing more than spending time with her beautiful daughter, or curling up into the early hours of the morning with a great novel.
Her deep appreciation for literature was nurtured from a young age, being taught to respect books and get lost in their stories. She enjoys reading honest and realistic novels that are relatable, thought provoking and leave a lasting impression.
She can’t write without music playing, using the emotions from different songs to invoke that of her characters.
Lisa takes inspiration from her own life experiences, the people around her and those she has met in her travels.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 10, 2018
Beast by Lisa Edward
4.5 stars!!!
Lisa Edward puts her own spin on the age-old fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast and in turn, turns it on its head. I loved that this book contained a message, an outstanding message, one where lessons are taught and learned and most importantly learned from. How a person can grow from tragedy and rather than let it define them but morph them into a better person.
This is the story of Annabelle and Tyler, where beauty is in the eye of the beholder, beauty is only skin deep, and you should never judge a book by its cover, albeit the dust jacket may have been a fair representation of the past.
Annabelle was a hard character to love in the first instance, superficial, bitchy, pretentious and was the ‘it girl’ and she knew it. Every girl wanted to be her friend or be her, she had a charmed life, was spoilt rotten and was one of the girls that came across as totally irredeemable. I had to question where the author was going with this story because, quite frankly, I didn’t want to read about her. I knew that something was going to happen and Lisa Edward did the impossible, she redeemed the irredeemable. By the end, I loved Bella, her metamorphosis was complete.
Tyler was one of those guys you couldn’t help but love. Selfless, with a huge heart and it took someone like him to see past Annabelle’s personality flaws. Tyler saw the woman underneath, he saw past the façade and encouraged Bella’s change for the better.
For a short story, this book certainly packed an emotional punch, and at times I did have tears in my eyes. People are so fickle in this day and age, appearances are the be all and end all, and little regard is given for the person underneath. I do feel that Bella was a product of her mother's beliefs and the upbringing that she was given and it took losing something that she took for granted for her to find her inner diamond, after all, even diamonds have flaws.
Absolutely loved this short and its message.
www.theromancecover.com
4.5 stars!!!
“Those who matter don’t mind, and those that mind don’t matter.”
Lisa Edward puts her own spin on the age-old fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast and in turn, turns it on its head. I loved that this book contained a message, an outstanding message, one where lessons are taught and learned and most importantly learned from. How a person can grow from tragedy and rather than let it define them but morph them into a better person.
“I’m too different and people don’t accept different.”
This is the story of Annabelle and Tyler, where beauty is in the eye of the beholder, beauty is only skin deep, and you should never judge a book by its cover, albeit the dust jacket may have been a fair representation of the past.
Annabelle was a hard character to love in the first instance, superficial, bitchy, pretentious and was the ‘it girl’ and she knew it. Every girl wanted to be her friend or be her, she had a charmed life, was spoilt rotten and was one of the girls that came across as totally irredeemable. I had to question where the author was going with this story because, quite frankly, I didn’t want to read about her. I knew that something was going to happen and Lisa Edward did the impossible, she redeemed the irredeemable. By the end, I loved Bella, her metamorphosis was complete.
“Maybe being beautiful on the inside will have to be enough.”
“Oh babe. You were never beautiful on the inside.”
Tyler was one of those guys you couldn’t help but love. Selfless, with a huge heart and it took someone like him to see past Annabelle’s personality flaws. Tyler saw the woman underneath, he saw past the façade and encouraged Bella’s change for the better.
For a short story, this book certainly packed an emotional punch, and at times I did have tears in my eyes. People are so fickle in this day and age, appearances are the be all and end all, and little regard is given for the person underneath. I do feel that Bella was a product of her mother's beliefs and the upbringing that she was given and it took losing something that she took for granted for her to find her inner diamond, after all, even diamonds have flaws.
Absolutely loved this short and its message.
www.theromancecover.com
October 10, 2018
Lisa Edward is back!!
Beast was an amazing spin on Beauty and the Beast.
With an intriguing plot twist, I found myself wondering what the MC would do when placed into a position where the tables were turned.
I loved the originality to this story as the retelling was creative and clever.
Beast is a page turner. It’s well written and I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
Beast was an amazing spin on Beauty and the Beast.
With an intriguing plot twist, I found myself wondering what the MC would do when placed into a position where the tables were turned.
I loved the originality to this story as the retelling was creative and clever.
Beast is a page turner. It’s well written and I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
October 10, 2018
Beast is a fairy-tale retelling on Beauty and the Beast. It's unique spin on it and I really enjoyed it. Annabella learned at a young age her beauty could get her everything. I didn't really like her at first. She snobby and kind of a mean girl. She selfish and needs to be the center of attention. Her friends aren't very nice either. Then the unthinkable happens and it change Annabella's life. She's no longer has her outside beauty to get what she wants. I felt bad for her. I knew her friends where superficial but I didn't expect then to abandon her all together. Now she need to find who is truly is. She meets Tyler. Tyler is great. She's afraid to show him her face and wears scarfs. I loved how Annabella blossomed and grew in this one.
October 21, 2018
This book was truly wonderful. I’ve read beauty and the beast style books previously but this one is inspirational and tugs at your heart strings. I had tears in my eyes at a few points in the book. Highly recommend
October 14, 2018
Rich, beautiful, popular, but ugly on the inside. This author does a unique spin on the fairytale Beauty and the Beast in which the heroine is the beast. Annabella learns at a young age from her mother that using her beauty can get her anything she desires. To use that beauty to manipulate others into doing what she wants. What happens, when that beauty is only skin deep and that beauty is destroyed?
This books makes for a great YA novel and the author showed wonderfully just how beauty on the outside doesn’t always equate with beauty on the inside. For the first third of the book, I didn’t just dislike Annabella, I loathed her. The author did a great job of painting her at the beginning of the book as a selfish, manipulative teenager . She didn’t seem to love anyone, but herself, including her star quarterback boyfriend and her cheerleading friends. When all was stripped away from her, she learned the true meaning of beauty. As the book progressed, I came to like Annabella as she transformed from a selfish princess to a loving, generous young woman, but I still didn’t love her. She could have just wallowed in pity, but she picked herself back up and tried to become a better person. I enjoyed reading how she turned her life around in helping others.
I found Tyler to be a very likable hero and I wish that the author developed his character a little more - maybe more about his background, why he volunteers, his thoughts on Annabella or something along those lines. I just felt like I needed to know more about Tyler. I also would have liked to have had more scenes with them together - watch them form a friendship and eventually move towards a romantic relationship. The secondary characters of Bert, Chelsea, and Robbie were wonderful.
I received this book as an ARC and I voluntarily leave this review.
This books makes for a great YA novel and the author showed wonderfully just how beauty on the outside doesn’t always equate with beauty on the inside. For the first third of the book, I didn’t just dislike Annabella, I loathed her. The author did a great job of painting her at the beginning of the book as a selfish, manipulative teenager . She didn’t seem to love anyone, but herself, including her star quarterback boyfriend and her cheerleading friends. When all was stripped away from her, she learned the true meaning of beauty. As the book progressed, I came to like Annabella as she transformed from a selfish princess to a loving, generous young woman, but I still didn’t love her. She could have just wallowed in pity, but she picked herself back up and tried to become a better person. I enjoyed reading how she turned her life around in helping others.
I found Tyler to be a very likable hero and I wish that the author developed his character a little more - maybe more about his background, why he volunteers, his thoughts on Annabella or something along those lines. I just felt like I needed to know more about Tyler. I also would have liked to have had more scenes with them together - watch them form a friendship and eventually move towards a romantic relationship. The secondary characters of Bert, Chelsea, and Robbie were wonderful.
I received this book as an ARC and I voluntarily leave this review.
October 8, 2018
Beast was a beautiful story that really explored beauty of the world. It looked at the importance that inner beauty should have over our physical appearance. Lisa Edward did an amazing job with dictating this within her story and how people really get caught up in people’s appearance.
Annabelle was an incredible strong heroine in the story who really faced a lot of hurt throughout the story. But I loved the way that she responded to this tragic incident by becoming a better persona.
Tyler was the perfect guy for Annabelle and he was an incredible caring guy. The way that he treated Annabelle was beautiful and the way that he looked after others was as well. He was the type of character that I love reading about.
Beast is about Annabelle who is the beautiful cheerleader that has everything she wants in life. However, a tragic accident causes her to lose everything she thought was important in life. This caused her to change the person who she is on the inside to someone that treats people better.
The author did a fantastic job with writing this story because there was a lot of emotion and pain that the main character experienced throughout this story. This was aa enjoyable story and I found that it was the perfect length for this story. I can’t wait to read more form this author.
Annabelle was an incredible strong heroine in the story who really faced a lot of hurt throughout the story. But I loved the way that she responded to this tragic incident by becoming a better persona.
Tyler was the perfect guy for Annabelle and he was an incredible caring guy. The way that he treated Annabelle was beautiful and the way that he looked after others was as well. He was the type of character that I love reading about.
Beast is about Annabelle who is the beautiful cheerleader that has everything she wants in life. However, a tragic accident causes her to lose everything she thought was important in life. This caused her to change the person who she is on the inside to someone that treats people better.
The author did a fantastic job with writing this story because there was a lot of emotion and pain that the main character experienced throughout this story. This was aa enjoyable story and I found that it was the perfect length for this story. I can’t wait to read more form this author.
October 8, 2018
Imagine Clueless, Mean Girls and Beauty and the Beast mixed into one. That is what Beast is. At least that's how it starts. At the beginning, I could not stand Annabelle. She was the ultimate spoiled rich girl turned Mean Girl. Thinking she was above everyone. Feeling superior. She brags about being able to manipulate people into giving into her wants. She was proud of this. She was on top of the world. The perfect dress with the perfect hairdo and makeup for prom. Winning prom King and Queen with her boyfriend Jerod. The perfect ending to the perfect night is giving her V card to Jerod and that is precisely where they're headed when tragedy strikes. There is an auto accident and her life changes from that day on. She was so proud of her beauty, using it in her manipulative ways but as we all know, beauty is only skin deep. Feeling lonely and depressed she sees the error of her ways.
This book is so well written that you can see her grow. Like I stated before, I hated her at the beginning and was in love with her at the end. Her strength gave me strength. This could be a great YA read (no steamy scenes) and I highly recommend!
This book is so well written that you can see her grow. Like I stated before, I hated her at the beginning and was in love with her at the end. Her strength gave me strength. This could be a great YA read (no steamy scenes) and I highly recommend!
October 10, 2018
Annabelle is your classic manipulative mean girl. Life has been nothing but kind to her... until everything changes. In this new telling of the Beauty and the Beast tale we get a prom queen brought low by some disfiguring injuries and follow her on the journey from external to internal beauty.
I enjoyed this telling of the story, but found myself wanting more. I wanted more with her old friends, more revelations from her and more exploration of her new friends and love interest Tyler. I will admit that wanting more is not necessarily the worst thing that could happen after reading a book!
If twisted fairy tales interest you, this may be a good one to add to your list!
--A
October 7, 2018
Beast is a twist on Beauty and the Beast. A really good Ya novel for anyone who loves fairytales. Annabella is the one popular girl you love to hate. But what Annabella didn’t know was that her life was gonna change on prom night. Annabella I felt her pain through the author’s words but mostly I found her strength that even herself didn’t realize she had. Tyler that amazing man that when he loves he loves you for you not anything else. This is a book that I think every teenager needs to read. What you look like doesn’t mean anything it’s how you treat others and your soul is who the real you is. 5/5 stars
October 10, 2018
What a cute little gem. This flowed beautiful and really got me out of my current book rut. I loved the whole concept of the story and Ms Edward delivered it beautifully. I really enjoyed this fairytale retelling! When is the next one??
October 21, 2018
This a twist on the story of Beauty and the Beast, and a well written one, with a story that just flows.
Annabelle is a cheer leader who is used to getting her own way bu manipulating everyone around her, and always being admired. She appears to have it all, but when the future she had planned, crashes and burns, she realises she really had nothing. She needs to change who she is on the inside to find her inner beauty.
I loved this story, and will be reading more from this author.
Annabelle is a cheer leader who is used to getting her own way bu manipulating everyone around her, and always being admired. She appears to have it all, but when the future she had planned, crashes and burns, she realises she really had nothing. She needs to change who she is on the inside to find her inner beauty.
I loved this story, and will be reading more from this author.
October 14, 2018
I respect our heroine for trying so much to get her life back on track. I also really liked Tyler as well, but I wish we had more backstory on him. Overall pretty good novel and good retelling as well!
I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily reviewing.
I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily reviewing.
October 15, 2018
Spunky N Sassy Rating: 4.0
~~~~~~~~~~Lindsey's ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review~~~~~~~~~~
This was a great retelling of Beauty and The Beast. I can’t wait to read the other books in this series.
~~~~~~~~~~Lindsey's ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review~~~~~~~~~~
This was a great retelling of Beauty and The Beast. I can’t wait to read the other books in this series.
November 3, 2018
BEAST was one of the greatest Beauty and the Beast retellings I have read to date. I have been a fan of Lisa Edward's writing since day one, and BEAST did not disappoint. A fantastic story, with an even better message that so many people in this day and age could use to learn from.
To be honest, I strongly disliked Annabelle in the beginning. But, as the story progressed I came to adore her so much, and actually would love more of her story in the future. Who would have thought that she would grow into such a strong character?!?! And Tyler....what can I say. He is one of my favorites...ever.
This story is for fans of fairy tale retellings, and even those that aren't a fan. I truly believe there is something for everyone in this story.
To be honest, I strongly disliked Annabelle in the beginning. But, as the story progressed I came to adore her so much, and actually would love more of her story in the future. Who would have thought that she would grow into such a strong character?!?! And Tyler....what can I say. He is one of my favorites...ever.
This story is for fans of fairy tale retellings, and even those that aren't a fan. I truly believe there is something for everyone in this story.
September 4, 2019
This is an amazing book.
I loved this storyline and the life lessons it teaches both the young and the old!
Well written and definitely a page turner. Heart wrenching but an important story to be told. I’m excited to have my granddaughter read this because, sadly peer pressure and bullying is a part of life and it’s important to know how your actions effect not only you but those around you.
This is my first book by this author but will not be the last.
I highly recommend this book!
I loved this storyline and the life lessons it teaches both the young and the old!
Well written and definitely a page turner. Heart wrenching but an important story to be told. I’m excited to have my granddaughter read this because, sadly peer pressure and bullying is a part of life and it’s important to know how your actions effect not only you but those around you.
This is my first book by this author but will not be the last.
I highly recommend this book!
September 16, 2025
Great beauty and the beast retelling!
I loved this modern take on the classic tale.
“beauty is so much more than skin deep”
The “beast” is the female and it’s done so well! Really loved the dynamic between her being the vain, mean girl at the beginning and going through a trauma that makes her see the lighter side of life.
The growth in her character was great. Tyler was perfect! We could all use more Tyler’s in the world.
“Those that matter don’t mind, and those that mind don’t matter.”
Rating: 4.5 ⭐️
Spice: 0 🌶️
I loved this modern take on the classic tale.
“beauty is so much more than skin deep”
The “beast” is the female and it’s done so well! Really loved the dynamic between her being the vain, mean girl at the beginning and going through a trauma that makes her see the lighter side of life.
The growth in her character was great. Tyler was perfect! We could all use more Tyler’s in the world.
“Those that matter don’t mind, and those that mind don’t matter.”
Rating: 4.5 ⭐️
Spice: 0 🌶️
July 20, 2022
This book re-kindled my love of reading. The characters were very relatable and believable and I found myself experiencing the emotions of the characters on several occasions. Excellent writing style. Thank you!
September 1, 2025
Great story line, loved the reverse story of the beast. I love the plot and felt it was super interesting, and the mean girl learns to become a caring person. Big lessons learnt and kindness and friendship blossom. No spice but still a great story
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews