Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorite fairy tales. I love reading new variations on the tale as old as time- whether it is in 14th century France, Regency England, or a science fiction adventure far in the future- and watching the heart of the story remain. Because the heart of the story is one we seem to need to be constantly reminded of: no matter what you look like on the outside, no matter the cold or selfish person you once were, it is always possible to discover the good person inside yourself and change. It is always possible that someone can see who you are and love you for it, no matter what.

The Beast's Heart, the first published novel by Leife Shallcross, returns to the original fairy tale and gives us the Beast's version of it. He wanders the forests for over a century as more animal than man before being drawn back to his (once grand) chateau. As he begins to try and become a man again, magic returns the chateau to its former spender and invisible servants assist the Beast. But he is lonely and when a lost traveler stumbles onto the chateau, the Beast sees an opportunity. We all know (or do we?) what happens next: the man's youngest daughter trades a year of her life for her father's freedom, the Beast falls in love with her, and if Isabeau will fall in love and agree to marry him the curse will be broken.

I enjoyed seeing through the eyes of the Beast and watching him come to understand not only why he was cursed in the first place, but what true love is. Weaving in the stories of Isabeau's two sisters as they find their places in small village life and discover love of their own kept the pace strong and was an excellent way to bring in new characters, conflicts, and plot twists.

But one of the things that I loved the most, and stood out so strongly to me, was the writing. The writing and language in The Beast's Heart was wonderfully well done and made me feel like I was entering a truly magical fairy tale each time I picked the book up. Shades of Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters mix with original, classic fairy tales to create something both highly original and completely classic at the same time.

This is a must-read for fairy tale lovers, those who love new versions of fairy tales, romance readers, and will become a classic go-to read for adults and children alike.

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Beauty and the Beast is my all time favorite Disney movie so I was very excited to read this retelling of such a classic tale. This book is told from the beast’s perspective and I’m sorry but was I the only one getting creeped out? Getting to hear all of his isolating thoughts and getting to hear the whole story from his side while he is in the beast’s body were honestly a little disturbing. I feel like this book should have came with some trigger warnings as it is targeted towards a younger audience but it’s almost as if the pretty cover draws you in and you think this is going to be a happy retelling of the romance between them. It’s really not.

The only thing this book really had going for it was the magical aspects and the author’s wording when describing things. It really brought the story alive and made you picture the story vividly and in detail. There were times I felt like it was drawn on and a little overly descriptive but then it would pick back up and move on to something else.

Honestly having read many retellings of The Beauty and the Beast I was very disappointed with this one. Definitely one of the darkest retellings I’ve ever read and I don’t think this should be aimed at such a young audience.

(3.5 stars)
I love, love, love retellings and any kind, but with Beauty and the Beast holding a special place in my heart, they are definitely my favorite retellings. Shallcross gives us all of the magic and wonderment of the original Beauty and the Beast, but adds a special element to it…the Beast’s point of view. This is something unique to Shallcoss and I couldn’t wait to dive into this story. There were some things I loved and others that just didn’t add up for me.

“Enchantments and dreams: I suspect they are made of the same stuff. They each beguile the mind and confuse the senses with wonder and strangeness so all that was familiar becomes freakish, and the most bizarre of things intimate and natural. For the longest time after the curse fell, I did not know if I was a beast who dreamed of being a man, or a man who dreamed he was a beast.”-The Beast

From beginning to end Shallcross weaves this beautiful tale and it really pulled at my heartstrings to hear Beast’s POV. I loved how she revealed the curse and everything it did to him. I loved how, even with all of his beastly attributes, we could still see and hear of the man within. He seemed soft spoken, even timid at times, and, in a way, it really worked for this story. Isabeau herself came across as distant, but maybe Shallcross was trying to make so type of realistic element. With that said, even after her declaration of love or strong feelings, it just didn’t seem genuine.

The plot itself was a bit slow. I loved the writing style as it kept up with the whimsical wonderment of the story itself, but the storyline lagged a bit. The romantic aspect was there subtly and I feel this is geared more toward an older teen/really young adult crowd.

Overall, it was an okay read. I loved getting into the Beast’s mind. It was different and I enjoyed that aspect thoroughly. I just couldn’t get past how slow the plot was and the overall relationship between Beast and Isabeau. The cover, though, is gorgeous and really went with the fairytale style Shallcross executed perfectly.

3.5 Stars
The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross is a new take on the Beauty and the Beast story. This is told in the beast point of view. I always have been a fan of the Beauty and the Beast story so this was a must read for me. It was a enjoyable read.

"A luxuriously magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in seventeenth-century France - and told from the point of view of the Beast himself.

I am neither monster nor man - yet I am both.

I am the Beast.

He is a broken, wild thing, his heart’s nature exposed by his beastly form. Long ago cursed with a wretched existence, the Beast prowls the dusty hallways of his ruined château with only magical, unseen servants to keep him company - until a weary traveler disturbs his isolation.

Bewitched by the man’s dreams of his beautiful daughter, the Beast devises a plan to lure her to the château. There, Isabeau courageously exchanges her father’s life for her own and agrees to remain with the Beast for a year. But even as their time together weaves its own spell, the Beast finds winning Isabeau’s love is only the first impossible step in breaking free from the curse..."

I am a sucker for any Beauty and the Beast retelling.

This book was very slow. It's a little hard to grasp the story since it's a first person point of view told through the beast. They use the mirror as a device to show more of the world but this always felt stilted. This is not Disney's fairy tale and I did enjoy the differences. There's a more than just belle and her father and that was interesting. Sisters tend to be more honest and when belle mentions loving a beast their reaction were amazing. I liked the magical aspects of the book and would have liked to see more of that. Overall, I liked it enough

Actual Rating 3.5 stars
I have always loved classic fairy tale retellings, Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorites, and The Beast’s Heart definitely did justice to the amazing story. There was so much to love here so I will start with what I loved most.

What I loved:

The POV of the Beast was, of course, my favorite part of this book. It added a really fresh take on a story that has been told so many times. I really liked the connection to the Beast’s family and his legacy/heritage through the portrait of his Grandmother. Also, the legacy of his father that he desperately wanted to escape. This made the Beast a really well rounded, fully fleshed-out, human character rather than just a mythical fairy tale figure.

The magic, the land/house, and invisible servants- I really loved that the magic of the land and the house was connected to Isabeau’s arrival. However, I loved that in this version, Isabeau stays of her own accord. The Beast never wants her to stay with him because of her potential to break the curse. He is not even aware of this possibility until at least halfway into the book. Instead, he is interested in her as a person, and their conversations reflect this mutual interest. I also appreciated that Shallcross didn’t attempt to recreate the servants as enchanted tea-cups, and teapots, etc. Instead, they are invisible forces tied to the house and land that seem to be orchestrating things the best they can.

Writing Style- the writing was reminiscent of an old fashion classic - think Jane Austen, The Bronte Sisters- I really liked this style and thought that it added another interesting layer to the story.

What I didn’t love:

My biggest complaint with the book was that there wasn’t much in the way of conflict between the Beast and Isabeau. While I loved that Isabeau was given a choice in whether she stayed with the Beast or not, this really caused a lack of tension in their relationship. This story is typically one of unlikely friendship/love, but there was nothing really unlikely here. They share mutual respect and admiration right from the beginning. They are considerate and polite to each other and Isabeau never once seems frightened of the Beast. They seem to really like each other, if not love, pretty early on. Therefore, there is no conflict or suspense. 

While there is no tension between the Beast and Isabeau, there is tension between the sisters and their father/the Beast and Isabeau’s father. However, this tension is also very simply resolved. I never feel like the book reached any point of tension or suspense. When it did, it was resolved rather quickly. 

As much as I loved the connection to the Beast’s family legacy, I really wanted more. I would have loved some flashbacks that showed the relationship between him and his Grandmother/him and his father, rather than just being told what their relationships were like. It’s called the Beast’s Heart, and I really wanted details and experiences that showed what shaped his heart other than Isabeau. All the time spend watching Isabeau's family would have been better spent diving deeper into the Beast's character because he was really the most interesting part of the novel.

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast but told in the story of the Beast. It starts out with Isabeau's father stumbling upon the house of the Beast and he upset the Beast but in order for him to leave then his youngest daughter had to come live with the Beast for a year. This was told so differently than the story we have always known but in a good way. We saw the relationship between the 2 become friends. Then the Beast falls for Isabeau and he says he will not make her stay and she can leave anytime but she feels she must stay to honor the promise. While she is gone we get to know her family and see all the changes that they are going through and how their lives move forward. I really enjoyed this retelling a lot.

There were things I liked about this book and this I did not like at all. I’m going to break my review down into a pros and cons list.

Pros
1. I generally liked reading the story from the Beast’s point of view.
2. I really liked that there was a storyline that included Isabeau’s father and sisters. That kept the book from being too claustrophobic for me. And, if I’m honest, I liked the story about Marie and Claude better than the story about Isabeau and the Beast.
3. The book felt like a mature version of the well-known fairy tale.
4. I actually liked how the “servants” were portrayed as simply invisible and magical, rather than trying to actually incorporate the well-known physical characters from the Disney version (i.e., Cogsworth, Lumière, Mrs. Potts, etc.).
5. I appreciated the follow-up at the end of the story that told us a little bit about the future of the characters. It provided a tidy and satisfying finish.

Cons
1. The writing style was beautiful, it really was, but for me it was ultimately verbose. Excessive descriptions really bogged down the story for me. I found myself skimming quite a bit in an attempt to move the story along.
2. A huge chunk of the story was super repetitive. Isabeau plays music for the Beast, the Beast reads to Isabeau, they take walks, they eat dinner… over and over and over and over. There were so many pages without much actually happening. I’m afraid if it wasn’t for the story of Marie and Claude interspersed between the mundane day to day life at the Beast’s château, I would have likely stopped reading.
3. I’m not positive what demographic this book is aimed at, but the writing style will turn off a lot of teens in my opinion. Just like many teens would likely struggle with reading Dracula or Frankenstein or even something by Jane Austen, I think a lot would struggle too much with the writing style of this book and give up. Particularly for a story they most likely already know.
4. Isabeau didn’t seem to be a reader. She was a listener and requested that the Beast read to her often, but didn’t seem to read herself. This was a great departure from the Belle we know and love from the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. I personally LOVE that Belle was a reader in the movie, and I disliked that that part of the character’s persona was eliminated from Isabeau.

Overall, the excessively descriptive and repetitive writing puts this book in the average category for me. I didn’t dislike the story, but editing was desperately needed to pare it down, reduce the repetitiveness and quicken the pace a bit.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for a free electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

3.5 STARS ~

The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross is a spellbinding retelling of the classic story, Beauty and the Beast yet Leife makes the story her own!

Told from the Beast's point of view only, there is lots of magic and one creepy looking fairy, but there is no talking candlestick here.

The beginning was difficult for me to grasp, as the story progressed I began to feel the anguish of the Beast. He's wounded, angry, filled with self-hatred, and lonely. The Beast's Heart was very descriptive but at times it slowed the pace of the story down. Regardless, I enjoyed the magical aspects as well as the secondary characters, and the epilogue is what dreams are made of.

An unlikely friendship between Isabeau and the Beast blooms into something more. With time, will Isabeau learn to love the Beast? Read and find out.

So I just love Beauty and the Beast, I have since I was a kid. Who wouldn’t love a story about a smart, book-reading, law-abiding woman who gets kidnapped/rescued by a prince with a kick ass library! So I was intrigued by this novel as I’ve never thought about fully delving into the Beast’s point of view through this whole debacle. And I’m glad that I read this – there were definitely some interesting points to the novel and some creative differences from the original story line that I enjoyed. I didn’t end up loving this however, for a few reasons. I found the Beast’s “voice” to be, well, whiny. And pretty feminine-sounding for the character he was trying to portray. He just kept going on and on, the book ended up feeling so repetitive. And this book seemed (for me) to bring into stark light how unhealthy the Beauty and the Beast story line is. I’ve always loved the movie(s) but this scary dude kidnaps this young girl and its basically a romanticized case of Stockholm syndrome. While I will continue to like the story, the book itself and these particular versions of Beauty and the Beast didn’t really come to live for me. Also, as interesting as it sounded hearing the story from Beast’s point of view, I ended up finding it frustrating that I didn’t know what Isabeau / “Belle” was thinking at any of the times throughout the book. Overall I’m still glad I read the book since it did have some very creative aspects that were added to the traditional story line but overall it wasn’t my favorite read.

I received an arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've read a lot of Beauty and the Beast retellings, dozens and dozens, some ya some ... not so ya but not a single one was from the Beast's perspective and I found that really enchanting about this version. We never really know what the Beast is feeling and thinking as the story progresses.

This Beast crawls his way up from being an animal ruled by all of his baser instincts to slowly but surely learning how to be a man again, it honestly had me smiling ear to ear as he took delight in taking a bath and when he spoke words instead of howled.

Beauty is named Isabeau in this version and I found her to endearing and sweet .. I would have loved a few chapters from her perspective. The Beast has been alone for over a century and hasn't had human contact so I'm sure he missed some social cues or facial expressions and I just want ti know what she was thinking a few times.

I really loved Isabeau's sisters, we really got to see them grow and learn in this telling instead of them being spoiled and lazy as in some (or nonexistent in others).

"I can see your great calamity," she said wryly. "A handsome, rich, young nobleman of unexceptionable character has expressed a clear interest in you. We must flee the county at once."

If you love Beauty and the Beast retellings I truly recommend this one!

This review was originally posted on <a href="https://booksofmyheart.net/2019/02/06/the-beasts-heart-by-leife-shallcross/" target="_blank"> Books of My Heart</a>
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Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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<strong>The Beast's Heart</strong> is a Beauty and the Beast retelling from the Beast's point of view. I am uncertain if I have read one with only the Beast perspective. I know I have had the female one and a dual.  It's a great story in modern or historical setting; it's magic.  The setting here is historical and definitely magic is involved.

I loved the magical touches of the mirror and the letters which give a view as to what is going on with her family.  These details provided added layers to the story which are much needed. In fact, they are more varied than the routine schedule Isabeau and Beast follow.  But they didn't tell each other about these things for a long time, which is a bit odd.

I found it really difficult to not know what was going on with Isabeau. She liked the Beast, enjoyed the life he provided and his company. Their routine with little change except seasons and unknown emotional upsets provided little story. Beast had seemingly limited information and strategy on how to improve things or further his cause.

The emotions from Beast, Isabeau and her father did not seem quite authentic at times. I didn't like her father. He's had some real tough setbacks but he left too much work to his daughters. They all used Isabeau before she went to live with Beast.  Isabeau is a fan of musical instruments and having Beast read to her, rather than being much of a reader herself.

I cared about these characters and wanted to see them thrive. There was more than one happy ending here.

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There is a reason that certain tales are as old as time. These stories become classic, beloved, and well known because of the core humanity within them. And often there is enough room to play with these tales to keep them intriguing. The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross in another telling of the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast, this time from the Beast’s point of view.


A Return to a Classic
The Beast’s Heart, despite being from view of The Beast and not of Beauty, isn’t really all that original. It’s still the classic tale, and ultimately more true to the “original” version. In fact, I felt like I was reading a version of a film I’d seen as a child.

Have you ever watched the 1987 version of Beauty and the Beast (part of the 1980 film series Cannon Movie Tales) starring Rebecca De Mornay and John Savage? Leife Shallcross’s telling of the classic fairy tale reminds me of this film, which is to say it is closer to the original, darker tale than the prettier adapted versions we are most familiar with.

There are less favorable reviews of the book calling out the voyeurism and manipulation present in the story. I can’t help but wonder if they understand that said traits are the whole crux of the fairy tale. Even so, there are veiled (and not so veiled) references to rape by the Beast’s father. It is a fear of this treatment of women that ultimately leads to the curse by the fairy.

The Beautiful Prose of The Beast’s Heart
While the story itself didn’t feel that original to me, it was a pleasure to read. The prose is beautiful. I was hooked by the language alone on the first page. The descriptive nature and the lilting words creates a magic that enhances the story. At times some parts became a tab overly descriptive, but it is nothing compared to some of those multiple page descriptive passages from Anne Rice. Overall, the writing (and that gorgeous cover) make this a wonderful addition to anyone’s collection of fairy tales, new and old.

I enjoyed reading The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross (thank you NetGalley for the ARC), though it's rather slow paced and Beast is a bit too nice--and I never thought I'd say such a thing after seeing how Disney had exaggerated his temper and surliness.

With Berkley Publishing Group as opposed to an Indie Author self-publishing this novel, my expectations may have been higher than usual for this retelling of the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. I can get around the glacial pace by speed-reading and skimming some of the repetitive scenes.

"Less is more," I've learned in writing workshops and by reading Zane Grey novels (too much of a good thing with the vocabulary and purple prose). Here, the problem is not purple prose--I might have welcomed some of that--but Leife Shallcross turns the narrative over to the Beast, and he comes across as a such a cursed and miserable being, it wasn't much fun to spend the entire novel inside his head. I'm biased here, though, as a fan of the forbidden omniscient narrator but not so much of first-person narratives.

Isabeau's father went from annoying to maddening (a scene near the end of the novel that to me cost him every possible vote of sympathy). Her sisters however made considerable progress and character arcs.

The Beast, Julien, attributes much of his curse to his own father's character flaws and misbehaviors. He's right in some ways, wrong in other ways, and I found myself wishing Julien was just a bad^ss in his own right. No need to bring in a terrible father figure--to me it's like making excuses for the hero's character flaws. The guy is cursed. He's flawed. Any young aristocrat can end up spoiled and selfish without needing the author to work in some backstory to get him off the hook for being a jerk. I realize the premise is hard to sell: a guy in a castle (manor) with servants and resources is so lonely, and so cursed, he essentially takes a young woman hostage and thinks being nice to her is a fair trade-off.

I enjoyed the story but couldn't **love** this one. A professional editor should have pared it down more and read some Donald Maas books, maybe, on how to pick up the narrative pace. I hate contrived conflict (the Disney version of this tale was full of it), but this book served an important purpose for me: if you don't "torture the protagonist," put worst-case scenarios and obstacles in the way, the story can drag and readers may start skimming and speed-reading.

That said, there is charm and magic here, and that's more than I can say of a lot of contemporary fiction.

This arc was provided to me for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

2 Stars

The Beast’s Heart is a retelling from the classic Beauty and the Beast but told in the Beast’s perspective. An interesting concept behind my favorite fairytale, but it fell flat for me.

Alone and cursed, the Beast has been without human contact for a very long time, so when a stranger appears and seeks shelter, the Beast looks into his dreams. Becoming bewitched by the stranger's daughter, the Beast demands the stranger deliver his youngest daughter to him. When Isabeau arrives but only agrees to spend the year at the château, the Beast must figure out how to win her heart.

There were so many issues with this book, it’s meant to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but yet I felt like it was more focused on Isabeau’s family. Which I admit, I found the family way more interesting than the Beast and Isabeau’s story. The book is told from the Beast’s point of view so everything was one-sided and I found that incredibly frustrating. If anything I wish we would have gotten more than one point of view as I think it would have made a better story.

This book had great potential with a fantastic concept. I LOVE the idea of retellings but through a different perspective, but this one wasn’t for me.

I was super excited to be approved on Netgalley for this story—Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorites, ever.

In this version it’s the beast who narrates the story and while interesting, his voice is formal and a touch stiff so it’s hard to connect with him as our hero and main character. Isabeau’s entrance into the story adds some much needed life and while I appreciate that their relationship didn’t immedietiy go to I LOVE YOU, I was hoping for more depth.

I do think fans will enjoy the love story, and the return to a well-loved tale. It’s a very light read and perfect for a quick escape!

How did the Beast feel, what were his thoughts in the classic Beauty and the Beast tale? Leife Shallcross gives us her version of what emotional turmoil was that lay within THE BEAST’S HEART.

Do NOT expect a rehash of the classic, expect a darker, more emotionally grueling tale. The Beast gives his perspective, from his self-loathing, his loneliness, to the empty pit in his chest.

This is not a rapid fire tale, but there is a depth to it that puts a new perspective on what transpired between the young French girl, Isabeau and the Beast. From how Isabeau came to be a “guest” at the Beast’s castle to how the Beast clearly needed her company, I was enthralled with the “other side of the story.” We see the heartbreak of time running out for the Beast to find true love, to be accepted as he is, no longer a handsome man with a beastly heart, but a beast with a heart that has grown to learn to love and give.

I was transported into this world and could “see” events and scenes unfold in a castle filled with magic, pain and finally a leap of faith to put everything on the line for others and their happiness.

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Berkley Publishing Group!

Publisher: Ace (February 12, 2019)
Publication Date: February 12, 2019
Genre: YA Fairytale Retelling
Print Length: 416 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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He is angry, he is fierce, he is feared, he is cursed, he is lonely. “I was a man once before, but I was enchanted-cursed,”. The Beast’s Heart is parallel to The Beauty and The Beast classic fairytale story. You get to experience The Beasts’ point of view in this epic fairytale. His desires to have someone to speak to, someone who does not fear him, someone to treat him like a man not a beast. After over a century of solitude a trespasser stumbles onto The Beasts’ enchanted property. A trespasser with a beautiful daughter. Beast doesn’t want to be feared but he wants to not be alone anymore. Even though bargain is made as the trespasser leaves he knows nor does he expect to lay his eyes on Isabeau. The hope now crushed until Isabeau, against her father’s wishes, shows up to the gates. The magic that surrounds the estate, doors open without a doorman, clothes appear and adjust without a seamstress, food appears without a chief, drinks are delivered without a servant, rooms are cleaned without a maid do not frighten Isabeau nor does the Beast. I friendship forms but is it enough to break the curse? Truly Enchanted. Truly cursed. This was a sweet story of friendship and love.

I appreciated the commitment to the fairy tale style, both in narrative cadence and tone, but wasn’t able to get into the book enough to fully review it. The sisters’ part in the story dragged a bit for me and took away from the dynamic between Beast and Isabeau. Though the magic was discussed more by the Beast, I felt the story itself to be less magical than I expected.