Challenge Corner discussion

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

Ooooh! I have this one. If I'm not too far behind on everything else I'm reading and if my writing isn't taking up all my time, I might try to squeeze this one in....

Sierra wrote: "Ooooh! I have this one. If I'm not too far behind on everything else I'm reading and if my writing isn't taking up all my time, I might try to squeeze this one in...."

YAY! ^-^

I'm planning on starting this one tonight! I had completely forgotten that I owned this (must've purchased it on sale at some point).

Chapter 2
(view spoiler)[There is part of me that thinks that Yeva’s father was a bit foolish in sending that caravan to Constantinople. Why would you risk sending all of your wealth and possessions, not to mention your on an unproven route? It just seems extremely unwise to me, and now his whole family must suffer for his decision.

I can’t tell whether I like Solmir or not. I am not sure what role he plays yet. I know books where you are lead to like a character because they seem nice at the start, but then end up being a jerk later in the story. I will remain suspicious until given a reason not to be. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 4
(view spoiler)[There has been such a drastic change in personality for Yeva’s father, Tvertko. I’m am curious what happened in his past that has caused this obsession with the Beast. I also really want to know what form the Beast takes in this story! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7
(view spoiler)[Still no idea why the Beast keeps saying “we,” and yet there only ever seems to be one body, his own. I am awaiting Beauty finding out that her captor is the creature she was hunting. The one she believes killed her father. Speaking of Tvertko, his fate is still unknown. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 11
(view spoiler)[I like how the Beast usually acts by his primal instinct, but occasionally a strained glimpse of humanity shines through. I wonder how closely the story will follow the original. I think that this rendition appears to make the Beast more animalistic than the other versions. It is still too early to tell if I like this version or not. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 14
(view spoiler)[I am assuming that the Beast did not kill Yeva’s father. It is kind of sad that he continues to lie, saying he did kill Tvertko, to give her reason to stay. He is doing it so that she will do what he says, and he will hopefully be freed of the curse. However, her hatred and desire to kill him is obviously starting to bother him. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 16
(view spoiler)[Wow, Beauty was ruthless in that attack on the Beast. However, the Beast remains unharmed, and the truth is finally revealed that he did not kill her father. It is sad that this consuming idea of finding the Beast managed to unstable Tventko enough that it killed him. I feel like his obsession kind of came out of nowhere? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19
(view spoiler)[Yeva was only gone for a year, how do so many people not recognize her?? Everyone was acting like she had been gone for several years. I guessed that Solmir would fall for Asenka during Beauty’s absence. Now that that love interest is out of the way, Yeva will most likely fall in love with the Beast. It is also sweet that Lena still got to marry Radak. (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ So this book felt a little rushed to me. People kept changing what they wanted, or they liked, how they felt, etc. The story just didn't have a nice flow to me. I liked pieces of it, and the ending was good, but it didn't make up for the weird transitions. I am curious as to what others thought about this? (hide spoiler)]

********** RESTARTING OCTOBER 6TH 2018, HAPPY READING! **********

Starting right now!

Marissa wrote: "Chapter 2

(view spoiler)[I agree it's a bit foolish for him to do that but then again, people often do foolish things in real life so I guess them being ruined for that mistake isn't too far fetched.

For now, I'm intrigued by the story. I always enjoy a good retelling :) (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 7 (view spoiler)[ I couldn't remember if she only found blood or her father's body too so thanks Marissa for clearing that up for me haha. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 10: I haven't been focusing much on the last couple of chapters but I'm going to try and be better... Also, (view spoiler)[ poor dog :( (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 14 (view spoiler)[I wonder when we'll see her father again if he's still alive since we got hints of the beast not killing him. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 15 (view spoiler)[ I wish he would tell her he didn't kill her father but then she'd try to find him and he might lose his chance at breaking the curse...

"We are the beast and yet, I wish." I love that quote.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 16 (view spoiler)[ Holy shit... that attack was brutal and gory. Him being kind and more human was a nice touch. I'm glad he opened up a bit to her and told her the truth. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19 (view spoiler)[ The fact that no one recognized her was really ridiculous in my opinion even if they thought her dead for a year. It's not like they found her body or anything. The reunion with her family was nice and it was predictable that the guy would fall for her sister. I'm glad she didn't really like him that way to begin with or that would have bothered me. (hide spoiler)]

Finished! I enjoyed listening to it. I'm going to rate it 3 stars I think. It was okay for a retelling but nothing exceptional and it didn't have much chemistry between Beauty and the beast. I'm still happy I read it.

I just started. So far it seems like a standard Beauty and the Beast set up. At least the sisters are nice and they have a strong relationship. That is not true in many versions. I am at Chapter 3.

Chap 14. (view spoiler)[ Beauty comes across as a bit overactive. Also, this whole vengeance things seems silly when she should be worried her family is starving to death. I actually think Solair or whatever his name is would be better since the Beast still has the whole kidnapping thing against him. Also, it is obvious he didn't kill the father but does not say whether or no the father is alive (hide spoiler)]

Chap 22. This has definitely become more complex. (view spoiler)[ I like that there is detail on her return to her family and that there is a happy marriage option for Solmir. Mentioning to concern for abuse seemed like it was touching on the issues but not really dealt with. (hide spoiler)]

I finished. I really liked it right up until the ending and then it seemed to contradict itself and felt rushed. (view spoiler)[ I really want a version of this story where the beast stays a beast. They kept talking about how everyone was not one thing: beast and human, hunter and hunted. However, love turned him back into a human again and ignore all that duality talk. (hide spoiler)]

Kelly wrote: "Finished! I enjoyed listening to it. I'm going to rate it 3 stars I think. It was okay for a retelling but nothing exceptional and it didn't have much chemistry between Beauty and the beast. I'm st..."

I also agree on the lack of chemistry.

I am a bit late starting it, but oh well. Better late than never. :)

Starting today.

Chapter 1-3
(view spoiler)[ I am intrigued with a story. Retellings is just recent genre I found and I am excited.
I love family dynamic and how nice is the relationship between all the sisters. But in Ch. 3 we can see that Asenka feels the pain and lost of all the fings (one of them is love) because of her leg and how it affects her life.
The father. He is really getting mad because of the hunt of the Beast. But at the same time it makes me feel like we are gettig closer to Yeva and The beats meeting.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 4-5
(view spoiler)[ I am curious why beats refers to himself as 'WE'... Human and a beast in one body?
Another prisoner? It was the beast himself, wasn't it? (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 6-7
(view spoiler)[ I am excited to see how the story goes from here. Now Yeva saw who he is - the Beast. I am curious to see what she will do now. I bet she will try to revenge for her fathers death. (Is he really dead?) She just needs the perfect moment. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8-9
(view spoiler)[ I can see that the relationship between the Beauty and the Beast is changing. Slowly, but it does. The way the Beast jumped to 'save' the Beauty after she screamed.
Doe-eyes. Oh God. He found her, all this time the dog was looking for her. Such loyalty.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter 10-11
(view spoiler)[ With every chapter the Beast seems a bit more human. Like being around Yeva reminds him more and more about his human side. I like how it is a slow process as it looks more realistic. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 12-14
(view spoiler)[ I knew the Beast will save her. He cares for her and I think he now realizes it himself. And she is starting to care for him too.
The forest hides so much. I think that old man/fox was what she was looking for... (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 15 -17
(view spoiler)[ I think by asking the Beast if he killed her father, she showed that she already knew he isn't the killer. Deep down she knew that.
I feel sad for the Beast. He loves her, that's why he let her go. He wish her to be free. He cares a lot and he choose to miss her instead of keeping her against her will. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 18-20
(view spoiler)[ I can see Yeva so happy to be back with her famiy. But she isn't feeling home. She is missing something. But not as much as the Beast is missing her. Without her he will become beast. She needs to go back. On her free will. She needs to choose him. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 22
(view spoiler)[ She is staying again. Won't it be too late to save the Beast?.. (hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[ Okay. It ended. But. I feel like I was expecting more. More explanaitions. It was so fast. It did feel a little bit rushed. We all knew how it will end as it is a retelling of Beauty and the Beat. But I like it how it was a little different from the original fairytale. (hide spoiler)]

25% (view spoiler)[ Really loving this re-telling so far. It's not what I expected. I love the little chapters from the Beast too... his perspective. Hard to figure out what he was before. I also am liking the fairy tales she was telling the Beast. Thought those were interesting... wonder how much of the stories are true instead of just fairy tales. (hide spoiler)]

50% (view spoiler)[Now Beast has taken Beauty to the other world. If she's not mean to kill the dragon... I wonder what else she will be looking for to help him. And if she even should... (hide spoiler)]

75%
(view spoiler)[
I was kind of impatiently top tapping my way through Yeva's return back home to her sisters. I feel terrible. It's a great part of the story, because its when she decides to go back and help the beast. But. SORRY I DIDNT CARE ABOUT THEM.
Yeva belonged in the woods, and in the castle, and with the Eovan. And I missed him as soon as she walked away.
(hide spoiler)]

Finished
(view spoiler)[
I really loved this book. It gets 5 stars for me. Reading the author's notes at the end sealed the deal for me. I got a lot more out of this re-telling than I thought I would, since we all know the Beauty & the Beast story. But I thought that this Beauty was flawed, and genuine, and beautiful, and strong, and independent. And I just LOVE her.
(hide spoiler)]