I was excited to get this book to preview since Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale, and I really enjoy modern retellings. Sadly, my excitement began to wane...first because of the writing (which wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great, and I got distracted many times by the lack), and then by the shaky storyline, and finally, by the sex scenes. I mean, honestly, the sex scenes were just not even necessary AND they weren't written well. Double whammy.

I did finish the story, and it wasn't a total loss, so it gets three stars, but I feel I'm being generous.

Ensnared is a futuristic take on Beauty and the Beast. I would equate this book to the TV show Humans in the way it brings together AI with personality and the humans who are interacting with it.
In Ensnared Rose is an AI built with a conciousness for a man who lives in his tower, never leaving or interacting with the outside world. Unfortunately Rose feels her AI is better spent fixing the worlds problems, leaving the young woman Alainn whom Rose was modeled after to take her place. Using some clever technology Alainn passes as the AI and moves into the white tower. What follows is her trying not to get found out while learning about the man, Lor, stuck in his white tower.
The book is interesting in the way it tackles the fairy tale and makes it so much more than a normal retelling. The story goes outside of just the tower and those characters weaving others into the telling and making them part of the larger picture. While the AI, Alainn, and Lor are the main characters you find yourself growing attached too.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys Beauty and the Beast, AI, some romance/sexual situations, and a want to look at the story a new way.

I received this book as an ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book, it was a very readable page turner, well written with good characters. The main problem with the book was that the suspension of disbelief was a little much at times - Alainn's deception went on much longer than was believable and her rather dramatic back story could have been worked in a bit more convincingly. It would really benefit from some tightening up the links between plot threads. That said it was a fun read, light, well paced and entertaining.

I am a sucker for fairytale retellings, so when I saw this one, I was intrigued! “Ensnared” is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in the future where AI is becoming more common. Alainn’s father is an inventor who has been working on a Rose unit (which looks identical to Alainn) for an eccentric billionaire, Lorccan. The Rose unit has enough intelligence to fancy herself too important to do whatever it is Lorccan wants her to do- she can solve humanity’s problems! Rose and Alainn’s father (who also has a gambling addiction) decide to make a second Rose unit (Rosette) who will have less intelligence and be able to work for Lorccan, doing household chores or whatever it is he wants her for. However, Lorccan refuses to grant any extra time- and if they don’t deliver, Alainn’s father will go to jail for fraud.

Rose comes up with the solution- Alainn will pretend to be Rose for a few weeks until they can complete the Rosette unit. Wanting to keep her father out of prison, Alainn reluctantly agrees and Rose inserts some chips to make her detectable as AI. Upon arrival, Alainn discovers that all Lorccan wants her to do is have dinner with him- he has a weak immune system and has had no social interaction in person. Alainn begins to stir things up as she gets bored and her rescue seems distant. As Alainn and Lorccan spend more time together, other feelings begin to grow.

I was really glad this didn’t have a Stockholm element to it. Although Alainn is sent to Lorccan’s estate, it is by choice, and it seems like imprisonment/captor and prisoner scenario, which is a nice change from some of the Beauty and the Beast retellings. The beginning and first ¾ of the book is really strong and well done. The only thing I wondered about was how on earth he could not know she was not a robot- but as someone with limited social interaction, I am willing to buy it. The last ¼ of the book got a little stranger as things spiral out of control and we begin to learn more about Rose and her programming. There is also the story of Alainn and Cara which is alluded to and kind of explained, but not fully.

Regardless, I think it was still a strong book and much better than I would have expected! I really loved their relationship and the build-up of it was more believable than I would have thought. Also, I laughed at the allusion to ‘Citizen Kane’ towards the end (won’t spoilt it but it was clever). It was just about the right length and character development was good. Please note that I received an ARC through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This is one of the first "new adult" books that I have read. Actually, I probably have read books that would fit in that genre before, but I haven't been cognizant of it.
This was a really interesting read! If you mixed Beauty and the Beast with robots and artificial intelligence, this is what you would get!
Stradling's characters were likable and well developed. I thought that she left out a few too many details about some of the characters though. For example, she could have given more explanation about Lor's situation and childhood; it just felt like there were a few holes. I also think it was weird that Shelly just went with it and didn't say anything to Lor about the weird choices he was making.

***SPOILER ALERT***
I also don't know if I totally believe that Lor wouldn't have figured out that Alainn wasn't AI...especially when they get REALLY close...
***

I think 20-somethings who enjoyed reading Twilight and Cinder will enjoy this book. It was a quick read and I really enjoyed it!

Thanks for the advanced reader copy NetGalley!

It was kind of hard to get into this book in the beginning because it was so slow, but after the first few chapters the story picked up and I couldn't put it down until the end. I wasn't able to fully picture the scenes and characters in my mind and that frustrated and confused me at some parts because it would have made the story much better if I had more description to go on. All in all, it was a great story about love, secrets, family, friendship, and the dangers of creating a robot with artificial intelligence.

‘Ensnared’ is a fantastic re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. Perfect for fans of 'The Lunar Chronicles' by Marissa Meyer. It takes place in the near future, with slightly more advanced technology, including AI systems that run households and self-driving vehicles.

When Alainn’s genius father racks up serious debts between inventing robots and gambling, he takes a job from the wealthy recluse Lorccan, who is already happy with his work. Rosebud is the AI running his private tower home, a home where no human is welcome. When Alainn’s father and brother are unable to finish the new robot on time for Lorccan, the robot itself comes up with the idea for Alainn to take her place. Though Rose was modeled after Alainn and the two appear to be nearly identical, readers must employ a slight suspension of disbelief as Alainn joins Lorccan’s household without him realizing she is human.

As one might expect for a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, Lorccan, wealthy recluse that he is, is physically scarred. Turns out he commissioned the life-like robot, Rose, for the purpose of becoming more comfortable with others, so that he may eventually interact with real people, face-to-face. Even the AI running his solitary tower, Rosebud, encourages Alainn to interact with him; to save him.

‘Ensnared’ takes on a life of its own, advancing beyond the usual Beauty and the Beast narrative, as Rose-the-robot advances past her programming and acts increasingly independently to further her own agenda.

The connections between the characters in this story are sweet and touching. The robotics and technology are explained with enough detail to be believable. Though we are not treated to singing candelabras, there are some adorable robot monkeys to look forward to.

I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s.

***ARC provided in exchange for my honest review***

Ensnared is a futuristic retelling of the age old Beauty and the Beast story. (Insert applause here) The novel follows Alainna and her quest to save her family who is in the business of creating Artificial Intelligence (robots). As her father and brother immerse deeper into AI possibilities, they become more and more out of touch with reality and in a denial of sorts surrounding the dire situation her family soon may find themselves in. I initially described the setting as futuristic. I was left a little confused because the only things that seems advanced were the AI's themselves. The surrounding world felt pretty similar to the one we live in, with cars, and cell-phones, skiing, and snowboarding. Not much seemed to have evolved or advanced outside of these smart robots who do everything for humans.

Alainna the main character is entertaining and interesting to read about. She doesn't seem to excel in too much in this world overtaken by AI's other then being courageous and loyal, which leads to her making the ultimate sacrifice for her family. She willingly allows herself to be taken captive to appease the idiosyncrasies of an eccentric hermit.

I enjoyed the chemistry between Alianna and her 'captor' Mr Garbhan. He becomes a complex character with a story that was revealed with the perfect dose of suspense throughout the book. I immediately missed him when the focus was not his character and his world when the direction changed suddenly in the book.

There were many parts and plot twists in the book that on many accounts seemed to me to be pretty redundant. Either not fully developed, or just developed and covered too quickly, it lead to frustrating holes and backstories in the plot, that if only had been left out would have smoothed out the story line quite nicely.

I'm going to go out there and say that this is that cut away from the norm read I am always looking for. A futuristic sci-fi love story. There is not much that will disappoint with that. 3.5 stars!

***The book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***


I was pretty excited to start a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I've read one other retelling and absolutely loved it. And sadly it set the bar really higher than I expected. But that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy reading Ensnared.

Rita Stradling did a great job with the descriptive text throughout Ensnared. I felt as though I was in that tower and around the AIs. The characters were written well, I couldn't get enough of the budding romance between Alainn and Lorccan. The tragic history of Alainn and that also of Lorccan is what fuses a relationship between one another. The fears and wanting something more came off to the readers and formed a new appreciation for the characters.

As far as the story line was concerned, it was great. A bit of sci-fi but not too much. I would definitely read more from this author.

I love fairytale retellings and the premise of this book sounded so promising that I wanted to read it even though it was listed as a new adult title. I thought that I would just skip over the steamy bits if the rest was good. Well, the book has surpassed and disappointed my expectations at the same time. I will try to be as honest as possible without spoilers.

The first half was awesome. I loved every second of it and felt with Alainn and Lorccan on every page. It was funny and full of suspense. Then, the steamy stuff started and I hoped that the rest of the book would not continue like this - and, to my surprise, it didn't, but instead it returned to the story rather quickly. However, that's when it started to get confusing. I needed to pay a lot of attention not to miss a detail and some things just didn't really make a lot of sense. Although it did was better than the middle, the end was not as good as the beginning. And the final scene was just cheesy.

The futuristic setting and the theme of robots and AI as well as the first half of the book deserve 5 stars, in my opinion. Although the plot was not perfectly developed and the fact that Alainn passes for a robot wasn't that realistic, I didn't mind because I was so caught up in the story that I can easily forgive that. But because of the sudden and not well-prepared erotic scenes and the weak ending, I can only give 3 stars for the whole book.

I think it's still worth reading if you don't mind few erotic scenes and if you're just looking for a quick, romantic and amusing read. The characters are relatable and the style of writing is easily accessible. But it could have been a lot better and less confusing, and I'm sad that it didn't use its full potential.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review via Netgalley.

So seriously? Like what the fuck did I just read? Sure, there was a beauty, and a beast, but marketing this book as a modern retelling? Just, no. Do not let your six year old daughter read this book (and do not read this book to her). Stick with the original. The sex, for one, and the complicatedness that is a dude falling for and sleeping with a robot. Just, weird. I'm sorry, but I'm with Colby on this one. There was no way on some level he didn't know. And the end was totally rushed. He should be somewhat pissed for being deceived. Come on now. And that title? "Ensnared?" Did she get caught in barbed wire? Why is there not a picture of a robot in a dress on the front? Maybe with a cute robot monkey in the corner?

Now that all the negatives are out of the way, Alainn is a badass. Loved her. And Lorccan. Bless that kid and all the bad shit he went through. Glad he finally got a happy ending, and that Alainn snapped out of her funk. God also bless Cara and BA-ness. "Your brain is broken if you think I'm going to leave you here alone to die."

Loved the AI aspect as well. I was really reluctant at first, but I loved how Stradling took the important ethical concepts pertaining to the world of robotics and incorporated them into the story. Giving Rose all these ethical dilemmas made the story more realistic, and in a classic tale like Beauty and the Beast, all you want is to be able to link it to your life in some way.

"You live every day like you're challenging death to come find you, and other people live their days seeing death waiting for them everywhere." Or, you know, you can just live your life like you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak and Death'll never be able to find you. But I digress.

And Blue. Oh lord that adorable, human-understanding monkey. It was like the Wizard of Oz decided to make an appearance in Beauty and the Beast's story, and the monkeys got to be good for once. Nice. Also loved Colby and Shelly.

Overall, this was definitely an unique story. It probably doesn't even need the Beauty and the Beast connection. Someone could have fun figuring out how to market this book. Someone should maybe even consider making it into a movie.

"Your household says Alainn Murphy is Jade, and if you will not pay to save her, your household will- no matter the consequences."

This starts off as a sort of twisted Beauty & The Beast but very quickly becomes an intriguing story in its own right. Alainn is a strong lead caught up in a very bizarre situation, and with a rich eccentric man. The use of robots dialled up the creep factor and were enough of a wild-card to ensure that this doesn't feel like a story we've all read before.

I would have loved to see some more world-building. The story is very contained to its characters and the world around them seems fascinating. I was disappointed we didn't see more of it.

I love the idea of this book far more than the execution. While it was well written and had an interesting premise, it lacked in several other areas to much to overlook. The basic story is a retelling of Beauty and the Beauty with a futuristic, sort of I-robot, vibe to it. I enjoyed the main story points and the romance. The romance in this version is better than most retelling because Lorccan, the “beast”, isn’t actually the captor. This make the relationship more consensual and less creepy. I also like Alainn for the most part however I found that I missed the book loving aspect of Belle though. That is such an integral part of that character in every retelling I have ever read that to leave it out felt wrong somehow.
The problems that I found with the book were issues of pacing, a lack of world building and extraneous characters. The relationship between Lorccan and Alainn was slow and then very suddenly sped up. It felt unnatural between them. They were so hesitant before that the quick build up felt off.
The world in which this story takes place is barely explained at all. It seems to be just the same as the world we live in today. Except there are AI robots that apparently can pass for human in nearly every aspect. In addition Alainn’s dad and brother apparently make these robots in their garage. What kind of world is it where a man can just make a robot with Artificial intelligence in his garage? There really should have been a significant amount of time spent explaining the world and a brief history of how the robots developed would also have been nice.
There were several side stories that could have been entirely left out. The story of Alainn’s job and Greg felt like it was just tossed into the book. It jarred me out of the story and I found it boring so I barely read that section. In addition the story of Alainn’s friend Cara wasn’t necessary either. While it seemed to be used to give reason’s for Alainn’s behavior I felt like it wasn’t needed and she would have behaved the same way without that backstory.
There was a little talk towards the end about ethics and the humanity of the robots but it wasn’t fleshed out much. There is something there that could have brought a lot more depth to the story but was glossed over and too simply and neatly resolved.
This book is an enjoyable enough read and might be right for some people but it wasn’t the story for me.

Truly amazing! I couldn't put it down! This slow reader almost finished it on one day!

I have a thing for retellings of fairy tales, and when they combine genres and time periods, well, just like "Cinder," you have my attention!

Stradling wove a really intricate tale in my opinion, and did it well. We're dealing with technology, a little sci fi, a little magic/fantasy, and of course, Beauty and the Beast.

Everything I need out of a story was here...stakes, a blossoming romance that felt real and not forced, and an ending that resonates and didn't feel contrived. Loved the book!

Alainn's father is a genius inventor and has used Alainn's body as the template for his newest AI- Rose. She talks like Alainn and walks like Alainn, but there's always something disconcerting about looking her in the eye. Something was just wrong.

To save her father from a prison sentence, Alainn takes Rose's place in the household of the man who bought her.
Alainn comes to believe that her fate is sealed as a servant for this reculive billionaire, but as time goes on she'll realize that nothing is as it seems.

I started reading this book last night, and I couldn't put it down. I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley, and I am so thrilled I get to review it! Ensnared is Beauty and the Beast with an AI twist. As a character, Alainn is the perfect mix of archetype and modern nuance. Alainn and Lor are also so much more interesting than the typical Beauty and Beast archetypes. It's fairly clear from the beginning that Alainn + Lor = Beauty + Beast, but they're both given interesting and plausible backgrounds that really makes the story work on a modern level.

The main characters are great, but I really wish there had been more character development for secondary characters, like Alainn's brother and father. They're both essential to the plot line, but they're given almost no backstory. Their interactions with Alainn in the beginning of the story are fairly bizarre and leave a lot of unanswered questions. For instance, the brother in the beginning of the book does not act like the same brother at the end of the book. And there's probably a very good reason for that, like his sister has been missing for months. But that's never really addressed. By the end of the book, Alainn's father is basically just forgotten and a lot of his plot points are unresolved.

There were also a few moments that felt rushed, and could definitely use some fleshing out. Most of the last 50 pages or so really felt like they could use some more character interactions or developments. I think there need to be more scenes with Lor and Alainn, and maybe something with Lor, Alainn, and Alainn's family. I also really, really want some resolution between Alainn and her father. I want her to stand up for herself, and I want them to address all the ways he's horribly let her down as a parent.

I really enjoyed this book. I love Alainn and Lor and I especially love Blue, the German AI monkey. I'd definitely recommend this book to a friend, preferably to be read on a cold winter's night with a glass of wine.

Three and a half from me
I spotted this futuristic reselling of the classic Beauty and the Beast tale and just couldn't resist. Yet it has to be said that it's the artificial intelligence part of the story that dominates here. If you have read Asimov or even seen the movie I, Robot then you will be all too aware of the very real concerns many have concerning the future applications of robotics. Whilst this is no "judgement day" it does tap into that very primitive fear in our hind brains .
So back to the story and indeed the romance. Alainn is the daughter of a genius inventor who unfortunately is both a gambler and a coward. Without giving away too much detail it's Alainn that goes to the home of Lorccan and pretends to be her fathers creation Rose 76GF. Lorccan is a scarred and hypercondriac man who just wants what's normal and he intends to learn how to interact using Rose 76GF. The problem is though Alainn is all too real and fears her humanity will give her away but what if there's an even greater betrayal coming?
So it's a sweet little romance and yes it sticks with the idea that Beauty saves the Beast. Yet for this reader it was overshadowed by the AI components of the story, particularly the second half of the book. It did seem inconsistent at times and the world building whilst somewhat futuristic just wasn't fleshed out enough for this reader. Also if brutally honest there are characters mentioned here from co workers to old friends that really didn't add much to the story and confused it somewhat.
What does work beautifully is Alainn. She's a flawed individual , not exactly with a death wish but clearly not someone who places great value on her own life. Although I have to say with a family as selfish as hers I'm not really that surprised! This leads me to Lorccan who has had a truly nightmarish upbringing which made me very sympathetic towards him although I do take exception to his love interest if I can call her that but to say more would be to say too much!
So my final thoughts are it's not perfect and when it comes to Lorccan I'm still left with unanswered questions. It is a fanciful piece and perhaps a little too far fetched but there are moments that really piqued my interest and if you enjoy imagining what the future holds as technology gathers pace this unusual romance might end up on your book shelf!
This voluntary take is of an advance reader arc from Netgalley and is my honest opinion

I didn't like this book, and to be clear I adore fairy tale retellings and am always interested in how they change and update the story. I am trying to think of one thing that I liked about this book and nothing comes. Alaiin could have been likeable but then suddenly falls in love and has no personality. Lor was just boring, I had no feeling for him whatsoever. The story doesn't pull me in, and honestly I almost didn't finish the book. I like a good sci fi retelling, but this just fell short.

This book started so well, and then it just flopped. The whole robot thing just didn't do it for me. I don't think this is a retelling of Beauty and The Beast at all. It was more like a robotic thriller. Just didn't work for me.

I picked up this because it sounded kinda like The Lunar Chronicles. And because I love Beauty and the Beast stories. But to start off I would have probably given this book two stars or less if it hadn't been for the last half (or quarter) of the book. The writing style of this book was juvenile, "holy crap" was used a lot and it reminded me of a 50 Shades of Grey quote "holy cow", I've read way better.

Next there were so many unanswered questions or just things that weren't fully explained. The world building was low grade; I realize we're in the future but there is only brief talk about how the world operates and how the robots/androids are used as well as what kind of jobs humans have. Also are we in the city? In the suburbs? In the country? I had to use my imagination and common sense for location purposes because nothing was really explained. Alainn's father, Connor Murphy, was going to jail for 5 years for stealing money from Lorccan (or something like that) but when did he steal money from him? He built Rose for him and was going to deliver her; so that's just not explained in depth. I would have loved to learn more of Lorccan's background instead of the little bit we are given for the plot. My last grievance I'll talk about is that Stradling kept pointing out how Alainn was not as smart as her father, brother or Rose and didn't illustrated enough how Alainn was still smarter than the average person.

Now on to the bright side; this is one of the few books I've read where they actually talk about about a woman's period. The end was very action packed and I enjoyed it very much. I liked the romance between Lorccan and Alainn a lot; it wasn't a Stockholm syndrome kind of thing.