I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and one thing I enjoyed was that it raised some very interesting questions that are never considered in the original tale. Like, what if a curse is not totally horrible all the time, and has its benefits? What if you live in a changed body so long that you start to feel more comfortable that way than as a human? What if you don’t actually want the curse broken? It would have been nice if this was longer so that these questions could be explored in more detail, but as a very short novella it was enjoyable enough.

I do wish there had been more communication from the Beast during the sex scene. A few things happened that she really should have asked for consent for, Beast or not. Bonnie didn’t seem to mind, but that’s not the point. And it seems that at least half of the Beast’s thoughts were about biting Bonnie and tasting her blood which was a bit odd; again, Beast or not. For the most part I enjoyed the way this subverted elements of the original tale, but the fact that the Beast doesn’t ever want to eat Belle is one thing that I prefer to be left alone.

This was a fairly good way to spend fifteen minutes, all things considered, and I’m open to reading more from this author in the future.

My Thoughts:

Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite fairytales. Every time I see a Beauty and the Beast retelling has been released, it jumps to the top of my to be read pile. Combine that with an LGBT theme, and I am all over wanting to read it. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to while reading Bonnie and the Beast, a lesbian re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. I went in with high expectations, and ended up massively disappointed.

I don't know where to start about what went wrong with Bonnie and the Beast. There were so many things I didn't like about it. I don't typically like saying this about books, but it was pointless. It was basically just a thirty-four page sex scene. There was no plot, no character introduction, nothing that set up the story for the reader to know what was going on. There was absolutely no chemistry between the Beast and Bonnie at all. The sex scene wasn't even steamy, or hot. It was just awkward with the Beast being in her furry form. It made it difficult to read, and even gross at times.

I think if Bonnie and the Beast would have been longer, it would have been better. The story was so short that the plot couldn't properly develop. There were things that were mentioned that were briefly glossed over that I think would have been really interesting if the reader was told more about them. For example, I would have loved to learn more about how the old woman cursed the Beast, and what that curse entailed. The author kept talking about it like it was unique and something that hadn't been done in a Beauty and the Beast re-telling before. I would have also like to hear more about the Beast's interaction with the man that made a deal to have Bonnie come to her. There are a few other plot points as well that I wanted to know more about. Not getting any of that explained made for a disappointing, bland, and boring book.

I did not like Bonnie and the Beast whatsoever. It makes me sad because the book had so much potential, but it really fell flat. The author also had so much potential to really hook readers and tell an amazing story, but it never happened. I don't think I will be trying any of this author's other books in the future, based on how I felt about Bonnie and the Beast. As much as I love LGBT fairytale re-tellings, there are much better ones to read.


I give Bonnie and the Beast: 1/5.

I don't think I ask that much from romance/erotica, but I do prefer if it's romantic and/or erotic - and I didn't find this to be either.

I was unable to review this book because of a conflict in my schedule. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused the publisher or the author of the work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review for you and I look forward to reviewing for you in the future.

Bonnie and the Beast by Alexa Black is very short, I would call it a short story rather than even a novella. The Beast's castle has been lonely since an angry sorceress cursed her years ago, and resigned herself to it a long time ago. But now a woman has promised to brave the curse, and for the first time in too many years the Beast has someone to talk to—and perhaps even break the curse. But tricking people into visiting your castle isn't how you find a soulmate. And looking stranger than a werewolf doesn't help.

Bonnie and the Beast is at a bit of short erotica. The Beast is waiting for a promised girl to come to her castle and make the attempt to break a curse. I still have no idea what the beast looks like and could not even hazard a guess because five eyes and some serious claws and teeth? I felt like there was room for a bit of character growth, or at least some insight into them. There was a little bit of information on each through the story, but not enough to let me care about either. It seemed like it was an excuse to write a sex scene between a curvy girl and a female something rather than a story. I was annoyed at the length, and at the lack of character depth. A bit more story would have been appreciated but this might just be what someone else is looking for.

I'm genuinely disappointed by this one. The cover is gorgeous, the story seemed interesting and I love the original fairy tale. But there's no way you can do a proper retelling in around 25 pages. The entire book is just a setup for a sex scene, which wouldn't be that bad if it was A) marketed that way and B) the sex was better written, but alas.

There was some intriguing world-building (a post-technology world where fairies take over again? sounds amazing, tell me more. No, seriously, tell me more) and a mystery around who Bonnie really is, but that doesn't go anywhere either.

There is some confusing or redundant language too. Beast keeps snarling everytime she opens her mouth, and while I understand that she is a 'scary monster', snarling has certain connotations and ruins the flow, since 'snarling' is not actually what's happening on page, but a normal conversation. The mood of the characters' conversations was all over the place too.

Honestly, few hours after I finished reading, I could barely remember what was in the book, and the fact that it has around 25 pages and I still wasn't willing to go back and read it again says a lot.

Last thing, that I need to point out- at the start of the sex scene, Beast literally rips Bonnie's (very expensive) clothes to pieces, without consent, which made me uncomfortable. But then she rips her VERY EXPENSIVE BRA to pieces and that was where you lost me. Don't do that to bras, please.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35069087-bonnie-and-the-beast" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Bonnie and the Beast" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1499322922m/35069087.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35069087-bonnie-and-the-beast">Bonnie and the Beast</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14245302.Alexa_Black">Alexa Black</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2056097986">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I rec'd an ARC from NetGalley/Less Than Three Press in exchange for an honest review. A delicious erotic tweak on a traditional fairy tale but much too short of a story. For me, the characters could've been developed more. This is the second book I've read of Ms. Black's - I like her thinking!! 3 stars.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

I promised to give a fair and honest review in return for this ARC. Honestly, I am not exactly sure how to review this. It is a VERY short story. Obviously Beauty & the Beast with a twist (the beast is also a woman). So, I will leave this review as just that.

This is really more like a 2.5 but it felt wrong to round down to 2. I think the big problem with this is that it's only 25 pages long and at least half of those are spent on sex so there isn't much time for the development of anything. I usually hate Beauty and the Beast with a passion but I love monster ladies and lesbian fairytale retellings so I thought I would give this a try and it definitely isn't as Stockholm Syndromy as the regular version. I thought it was interesting that this seems to be set in a distant future where fairies took over and human technology regressed. It was a really interesting concept and I think it would have been great to have more of it. It's a cute little story but I would have liked a bit more character and plot development with my monster porn ;)

At 26 pages, this was a really, really short book that was mostly... well, it wasn't character development, that's for sure. It would have made a nice first chapter for a book but since it was set up as being an entire book... not as enjoyable.
This is a twist on Beauty and the Beast where the Beast is a woman who actually seems to have grown to enjoy her beast-hood. Bonnie (our erstwhile Beauty), meanwhile, has a few more tricks up her sleeve than just looking good.

Three stars
This book comes out July 19