After downloading this, I realized that this title was just not for me. It seemed to be all over the place as a retelling and I just couldn't finish it. Thank you for allowing me to read and review it even still.

For some reason I just couldn't connect or get into this story, even after multiple times trying. Maybe the fact that there are so many Beauty and the Best retellings and I've read a bunch and I'm full of them.

The premise sounded very interesting: Beauty and the Beast retelling in the near-future with robots and AI. But it really really fell flat.

I read the first few chapters, then put it down for a couple of months. Eventually, I decided to give it another go so I could give it a fair review instead of a DNF (did not finish).

What threw me off first and foremost was that the writing was not very good. The dialogue felt stilted and unnatural. At times, every movement a character made was narrated. Things didn't flow. Hopefully there will be another round of editing before this goes to print.

Then the plot itself was a bit far-fetched: Alainn had to pretend to be a robot so her dad wouldn't go to prison for not having the robot done in time. This plan was proposed by said robot, Rose. I guess they just needed a way to get Alainn into the house to have a sexy relationship with Lorccan.

I've said this before, but for me it's characters that make or break the book. And they broke this one. Lorccan had some horribly abusive childhood that has left him disfigured and he has never left his house. And yet this is explained briefly, once. He also falls in love with Alainn thinking she's a robot. Just....... No. Their whole relationship is weird and I could not get behind it. And the random sex scenes are quite explicit.

Alainn was slightly better? She had a hero complex, apparently stemming from when she and her best friend were kidnapped as teenagers. This was also not fully explained. In any case, she pretended to be a robot, then at some point she suddenly developed feelings for Lorccan, and then she's in love with him and perfectly happy to live her entire life in this house with him. (?!?!) After she was a huge outdoor sports person. Also she had a fear of elevators that is never explained.

Redeeming aspects: The AI robot, Rose, and her whole subplot of evil world domination (well, kind of). That took up a large chunk of the middle to end of the book and made me like it slightly more. I would have liked more exploration of the theme of AI and what makes people "real" humans, etc. Also, the monkeys! There are AI monkeys that apparently do all the housework and they were the best part of the book.

In summary, a kind of creepy futuristic semi-retelling of Beauty and the Beast. There is a lot of potential for this to be good, but it would need some good editing and work. As it stands, I would not recommend.

*I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Ah man what even was this. Honestly this book was kinda great but kinda shit at the same time. It wasn't quite trash (even though the smut was next level and I mean come on you know when the last scene in a book is a sex scene that it's verging pretty close to trash), but it also could have been way better.
The sci fi with all the robots was like a poor man's version of Cinder, along with the obvious re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. It was feelsy and fun and hot but clearly never even thought about entering the realm of credible or high-brow.

That's alright though, I'm trash too and I enjoyed this just fine.

I wanted this to be amazing. It just wasn't that for me though. I liked the concept but it lacked on the execution for plot.

A lot of points dragged and I wish there was more on why Lorcan was the way he was. And less of Alainn's family not believing her.

Thank you to Netgalley and Rita Stradling for the chance to read and review this ARC;

I am a dyed in the wool fairytales girl. I love fairytales told as they are in storybooks of old. I love fairy tales in the future. I love fairytales re worked and retold, as they would have been passed from lips to lips, and hearts to hearts, over camp fires and cook stoves, to travelers on every night and children before bed, at festivals and every days. I could not more resist requesting this Future Age retelling of Beauty and the Beast than I could resist breathing in.

The sweep of this book is exquisite, and the writing style is not to be missed. Alainn is a great new heroine turn on a fan favorite, of the girl with so much courage, to take on the challenge of saving her father and the challenge of seeing beneath the world of what seems more beastly and ghastly to find the golden heart beneath. I was in love with her and her love story, swooning at each new step, like a child seeing this all for the first time, and a passionate dedicate of this great love story, every single time.

The abject creepiness of Rose gives the book a whole new flavor I wasn't expecting, giving me chills and kept me jumping at possible forthcoming shadows. Great going with giving it some new life in every sense of the word!

Beauty and the Beast is one of my very favorite fairytales. I was super excited to get to read this version. However, this book failed me on many levels. It's slow, then clunky. I wasn't happy with the abusive, unromantic, jerk who takes advantage of "his" woman because she is under his control. Lor was a beast indeed, as in get out of that abusive relationship and run Alainne/Rose/Jade! I don't care that Alainne is human pretending to be an AI. I didn't care that we are in the future, because Lor is such an abusive discussting person, you can't spin any charm or love out of this disaster. I don't quite get why she has three names, but where is it ever alright to force sex on anyone, even under the premise of a robot? This is NOT a clean read and it is NOT a YA.

My copy came from Net Galley. My thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is left of my own free volition.

Ensnared is based on Beauty and the Beast, but it takes the basic idea and runs with it, throwing in sci-fi elements with automatons, AI, and self-aware robots.

I was expecting a young adult story from the blurb, but it's aimed at adults.

If I'm being honest the story is daft, there's not a lot of world building, and there are plot holes you can drive a truck through. But it's also a lot of fun, with likeable characters.

I liked Alainn, she's independent and not afraid to speak her mind, but she's not perfect. She's not overly intelligent and is prone to taking risks that endanger her life. It's this daredevil impulse that leads her to agree to impersonate the robot Lorccan has ordered to save her father from going to jail. It (kind of) makes sense in context.

Lorccan is a recluse who is scared of germs and has little to no experience of other people. I can almost believe he doesn't realise that he got a real person instead of a robot, even though Alainn is very, very bad at pretending to be a robot. She doesn't even think about how she is going to eat, so almost starves herself at first. I think about food all the time, so if I was going to have to pretend to be a robot somewhere it's probably the first thing I would worry about.

I liked that Lorcann's problems aren't magically fixed by the power of lurve. At the end of the book, he still can't leave his home for fear of germs. It's clear that it's a bigger, ongoing issue that Alainn can't fix for him.

My favourite character in this has to be Shelley. She has anxiety, and battles with herself when she pushes herself way out of her comfort zone to help Alainn when things go wrong. She reaches a point where she can't force herself any further and leaves with the police instead of escaping with Alainn. I loved that she wasn't treated as a coward for this, instead, Alainn thanks her and calls her a badass.

If you want something that's not going to tax your brain and you can just enjoy reading it, then this is a good choice. I read it in a day, I didn't want to put it down. I even had to have it propped up in front of me while I was brushing my teeth!

When I request this book in Netgalley, December 2017 was the publication date. However, I learned this week that it'll publish on May 23 this year.

I'm thrilled to read this one. Aside from the cover that caught my attention, it get to me because it is Beauty and the Beast retelling and sci-fi genre.

Alainn Murphy seek Lorccan Garbhan to save his father be sent into prison. Her father made a contract with Lorccan to work on artificial intelligence. However, failed to deliver the robot on time. Rose 76GF is the robot and imitation of Alainn and suggested that Alainn should replace her and act as a robot so she can work on Rosette 82GF.

The story is good and can read in one sitting. It just took me time to finish this one as I was very busy with other things.

Rose 76GF is design to act and feel like human. She override her ethical coding, hack, calculate and to the point that she can go beyond what's designed to her. I like that idea. It's fascinating that robots can do bad things and makes me think that it is definitely possible that robots can overwrite their coding. With our latest technology, that is really possible.

At first, I'm not sure who the antagonist in the story. I thought it was Lorccan because he will Alainn's father into prison but then I realize he's not qualified as one. I also that Rosebud was the enemy because she doesn't approve Alainn going out of the tower. But then again, I realize who the real culprit. This book surely gets me to think and ask question almost everything I read. Some of the twists of the story are not predictable.

However, what I still can't understand after reading was how come Lorccan could not feel Alainn's pulse when he hold her wrist or couldn't even feel or saw that he's having sexual intercourse with a human and not a robot? How come Lorccan didn't even suspect or feel that Jade is human? I know that he lacks social interaction but I believe that he's intelligent to know and feel that he's having intercourse with a human? He even proposed to Jade (which is Alainn, who replace Rose 76GF) with a knowledge and believing that he is in love with a robot. The idea of loving a robot. It reminds me of the movie HER wherein the protagonist fell in love with the OS. It's a futuristic yet heartbreaking movie.

Further, Colby and Shelly's story would be interesting as well! There are hints and possible love story of the two and I'm looking forward to it.

What struck me in this book was even if you save and risk your own life for someone you love yet he denies you because he believes that you crushed his world! That really hurt.

Overall, though I believe that some parts may still subject for improvement this book is recommended to other sci-fi book readers and those who loves to read retelling.

I saw the summary to this book and was immediately intrigued. It is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast that includes robots. I have to admit, I was disappointed with this one. While the story had potential, there were things that just felt off for me and I couldn’t get beyond that.

The characters were interesting and I thought the relationship between Alainn (as Rose) and Lorccan progressed well but there was something about it that just felt off to me. It might have been the fact that he thought he was having a relationship with a robot…I don’t know.

I love fairytale retellings so it pains me a bit to write this. It could definitely be an “it’s me, not you” thing here. This story just didn’t win me over but you might like it.

The story was fascinating and I really felt drawn into the world. It was slow at first but I absolutely loved it! I felt the romance was handled well, and I'll put it in now, there are some really steamy scenes in this one, so you've been warned! The ending was sweet and the story wrapped up well. <3

I absolutely love fairy tale retelling and sci-fi books especially when they are combined.. I was able to read it in two sittings and it did keep me intrigued. It most definitely is a New Adult/Adult book as there are very steamy scenes.
I was very iffy on how the romance started out. I think it could've been written a little different. It was not insta-love which was great.
I did love how the robots had a mind of their own and how that can cause problems because of how they think life could and should be. It made me think of a Cyberman from Doctor Who. Thinking life could be perfect if certain feelings were not involved.
When this book comes out, I may have to do a reread to see if any changes were made.
Thank you very much for allowing me to read this ARC.

Alainn is a normal girl, devoted daughter and loyal friend who is desperate to help her father get rid of the chain by going to the home of the recluse Lorccan, a multimillionaire geek who commissioned a Rose model robot for her father.
Lorccan does not leave his tower, nor has he contact with any human but the computer, a closed and serious boy, however very gentle, vulnerable, and needy.
In an act of madness, Alainn accepts the idea of his father's robot and pretends to be the contracted robot so that Lorccan does not have the scientist arrested because he has not delivered the product in time.
In this futuristic retelling of the story of Beauty and the Beast, narrated in the third person many times from Alainn's point of view, the writer presents all the main elements present in the original story in a very creative, attractive and simple language with many moody moments. It was lovely to see Alainn gradually overturning Lorccan's barriers and all the details used to bring them closer together.
Highlight for Blue and her little friends. It was essential for me to have them present for the final resolution, and also for Colby ,Alainn’s brother, who surprised me a lot because I never imagined he was so interesting. Also I can not stop talking about the character who is related to Gaston. Wow! I would never guess who he is in this book. Perfect choice.
A book about seeing beyond appearances, of course, but above everything about family relationships and friendship, about second chances and about a lot of love.

I really liked the plot and I fell in love with Alainn and Lorccan, just not favorite because I found:
- the beggining a little slowly and filled with some unnecessary details and
- the end that was electrifying and deserved more details ends too fast.
I loved the cover with the big reference to the original story and computers.
4 / 5stars
Kisses, Myl

This was not my cup of tea. It was hard to follow and I just did not care enough about the main characters to put in the extra effort. I think this may be written for the younger reader.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book and give an honest review.

I really enjoyed this retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Alainn takes the place of a robot - Rose 76GF - that her inventor father has not yet perfected to keep her father out of prison for fraud. She finds herself locked in a high-tech tower controlled by an earlier version of the robot her father needs to perfect. The only other living inhabitant of the tower is Lorccan Garbhan who is a scarred recluse.

Though Alainn has fears about what Mr. Garbhan will want her to do, she learns that all he wants from her is someone to eat dinner with him. He is trying to become accustomed to having another person around him so that he can finally meet in person a woman he has been courting online.

Alainn has to make quite a few adjustments. Assuming she is a robot, she only gets food once a day but feels she can survive until Rose 76GF successfully executes her rescue. Living in the tower is hard for Alainn because she is used to the freedom she has working at a mountain ski resort.

Gradually Alainn and Lorccan get to to know each other as their time together expands from just dinner to meetings to play games and talk. Each day it seems that Lorccan is able to get a little closer to her. The two fall in love but Rose 76GF has other plans for the two of them.

This was an engaging story with well-developed characters in Alainn and Lorccan. It follows the basic plot outline of Beauty and the Beast but throw in an evil robot with a dastardly plot. I liked the world building. I love the relationship that grew between Alainn and Lorccan.

Great retelling! Will recommend it to my friends! :)

This was certainly a creative approach to retelling a well-loved fairytale. There is, however, a lot of room for improvement. The concept lends itself to really delve deeply into the nature of humanity. There are some really important issues raised through the course of the novel which had attempts at dealing with them but really came across as a little heavy-handed at times. My biggest criticism is that this needs a bucket-load of editing. The plot is there. Certain things need development, but more things need trimming. With a second round of editing and tidying up the ending, this could be a pretty good read. But at the moment it's definitely lacking.

3.5 Out of 5 Stars
Alainn's father was given money to create an AI for the wealthy, reclusive and rude Lorccan, but when he fails to deliver, Lorccan threatens with the police. The AI, Rose, who has been created in Alainn's image, refuses to go to her new task, and the money can't be returned since her father has spent it all on his gambling addiction. To save her father, Alainn allows Rose to give her enhancements to appear as if she is the AI and takes Rose's place until Rose can create a replacement robot. But pretending to be a robot is harder than Alainn anticipated, especially when she finds that Lorccan is not what she expected.




I am a sucker for anything having to do with Beauty and the Beast, so I knew I had to read this book. This was such a interesting take on the story, I was not sure what I was getting myself into or what to expect. The world the author used was a new approach to the classic, with artificial intelligence taking over jobs that were previously human only, self/automaton driving cars and organs and food that can be conveniently made on demand. It was a world of luxury, but also a scary world that I would not be super interested in living in- where your house is operated by a robot that can lie, manipulate and murder just as easy (or maybe easier since feelings aren't relevant) based on a calculation that the human mind doesn't understand.




​I had so many questions about Lorccan when the book was over that the author left hanging (no, the story wrapped up nicely and it has a happily ever after) but I had some logistic questions that the author decided to not answer. The whole germ thing, it was never resolved, instead just left hanging making me wonder (and ultimately want to push him). He is the product of abuse, both mental and physical, and it has left him a socially awkward, unattractive mega rich dude. And his face- I wanted to know what the whole story about that was, and how did his parents die- because I could totally see him murdering them (but that would make this a whole different story- sorry for the tangent). And Alainn was such a push over, I wanted to shake her. I like my main female characters with some backbone, and sure she was a daredevil with a hero complex, but stood up for nothing when it came to her own life. At the end she showed gumption, which I appreciated, but I have no idea how she was ok with the plan to begin with or how she never told him the truth.


​I'm not going to lie, the music from Beauty and the Beast movie kept playing in my head the whole time I read this book. The story is different enough, but it will forever have that sound track in the background. Also, I kept waiting for Gaston (or a Gaston similar character) to show up (which he sadly didn't, but a girl can dream).




Overall this was something new for me to read with a backbone of beauty and the beast (just super complicated!) and I found that I enjoyed the story.​ It was different enough to keep me guessing and similar enough for me to recognize the retelling. I sped through the book in one sitting, the reading was engaging and easy to get lost in. I look forward to more from this author in the future.

I received this title in return for my honest review.
For more reviews visit my blog athttp://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/

This book was very interesting to read but I really wouldn’t compare it to Beauty and the Beast. Honestly, I would compare it to more I, Robot than anything. I mean, I get where the Beauty and the Beast lines were drawn: a beautiful woman trapped by scarred (physically and mentally) man but that is it.

What I really enjoyed was the usage of robots and AI’s in the book. I also like that Rose, the main AI, was self-sufficient and admitted to starting on rewriting her programming. It was at that point where I went “Oh no” and started reciting the 3 rules of robotics to myself:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Just based on these rules of robotics and the fact that at least one of them were broken within the first couple of chapters, I was hooked. Seeing that AI’s are becoming more commonplace in daily lives (hello, Cortona, Siri, Alexa/Echo!!!), I was pretty interested to see where the author would take this book and I wasn’t disappointed.

I really felt that Alainn didn’t have a choice to masquerade as Rose when given the choice. Actually, she wasn’t given the choice. Rose, the AI, basically told her to do it or her father would go to jail. All Alainn wanted to do was to go back to work on the ski patrol and not clean up her dad’s mess (not delivering Rose as promised to Lorcann). But she did it because she loved her father and she wanted to keep him out of jail.

Lorcann was messed up. He never leaves his tower and only has automatons and AI’s as companions. He is a germaphobe (requires everyone to be decontaminated before they enter the tower). I put the way he is on his parents. They never let him leave, installed a fear of germs and I believe abused him (there was one scene where he was getting beaten by his mother). Let’s not mention the scars on his face. The whole side of his face is scarred. It really wasn’t gotten into about why he was scarred. If it was an accident or if the scars were done intentionally. He believed that he was a beast. His only relationship is with a woman that he talks to over the phone. Until Alainn, under the guise of being Rose, enters the tower.

I thought that the romance between Alainn and Lorcann was kinda creepy at first. I mean, he thought she was an AI that was programmed to be absolutely humanlike. She, however, was there to buy her father time to finish Rose. But it happened, as creepy as it was. I really thought, during certain scenes, that Lorcann had caught onto Alainn’s ruse. Oh, was I wrong.

The AI’s were split between those that obeyed the three rules of robotics and those that didn’t. I actually felt bad for Rosebud, Lorcann’s house management AI. I had thought the whole time that she was working against Alainn when she was trying to help her and ended up getting hijacked by Rosette and Rose.

The last half of the book was nail-biting. I mean, I was on the edge of my seat and was literally cheering Alainn on. There were a few plots twists that were thrown in that actually made sense and gave me more insight into Alainn’s character.

The author didn’t end the book after the rescue (consider this a clue). Everything after that was a build to the second climax of the book. I have never read a book where the author has successfully had two climaxes in the same book. So be warned when you think there is a lull. It isn’t and the other climax is something that I didn’t expect. All I am going to say about that. Read the book!!

How many stars will I give Ensnared: 4

Why: I enjoyed reading this book. It was fast paced with characters that you actually like and a plot line that is engaging.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

This book is a wonderful mix of light hearted romance and some 'robotic' based angst. It has all the elements of a 'Beauty and the Beast' retelling but easily has it's own style and colour. It's an easy read... has it's fluff, has it's darker moments... has it's lovable characters and typical villains. It's well written easy read!