I received a free copy of this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! I thought it was a super cute retelling of Beauty and the Beast! I loved that the "Beast" was actually a girl in this book. While I, of course, did not like the reason that Bettina was a "beast", I'm glad that the author did not focus much on it.

I loved that Beau gave Bett a real chance and that he grew to know and like her without anyone else's input. He even ignored the input of others and went with what he knew to be true. I would love to see more on their life together.

Seeing that this was a modern Beauty and the Beast retelling, I was extremely excited to read it. More excited when I figured out that it had genderbent roles! Ah only if the book lived up to that excitement.

Bett's character was very boring. I couldn't sympathise with her and did not feel anything for her, really. I could not understand her motives, her feelings. She was just a lost cause, doing random stuff at random times.

For one, I could not understand why she was called the 'Beast' at her school. The reason seemed pretty obnoxious and totally stupid. I see what the author wanted to do there; to show how beauty is all in the eye of the beholder, but that simply did not work in this book. And this reason really ticked off a star for me. Why was she feared? Hated? Why was she the beast? There was no concrete answer.

Beau's character arc wasn't so good either, but he was likeable. I liked his determination but also found him very stupid. He was confusing too. I wish there were more scenes with his family because I really loved them. Needless to say, I saw no apparent development in the characters, and the side characters were just there.

I felt like the whole story got messed up, and that the author did not plan much. Somehow, it lost the essence of a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I felt terribly bored.

The ending was, of course, predictable. It was a mixture of cliche and swoon for me, with more of eye rolls. It felt more like a typical Wattpad romance book for me. It was an okay read though; enjoyable and fast paced.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed are fully mine.

I have to be honest that I wasn’t expecting much, it seemed like a standard retelling, with no Fantasy references whatsoever.

I did notice how I always expect the MC to be female though, the start of the story doesn’t share whether we’re dealing with a male or female MC (or non-binary but to be honest I didn’t expect that in this book at all), and since the name ‘Beau’ can be given to both male and female humans (also pets, let’s be honest here, but that’s not what the story is about), I naturally assumed it was about a girl. When I finally realized that the MC was male, I looked back on what I had already read and thought.. well, everything that just happened could happen to a girl aswell, so it didn’t really matter to me. Honestly, I thought the same way after I finished the book. The only way you could know the MC was a boy, was that some people called him ‘son’ I think? So. Yeah. Can I just imagine Beau being female? I just find it more interesting that way :’)

The rest of the story was quite uneventful, since Beau has to work at the Ranch, most of the story revolves around his weekends, giving us little to no insight on the rest of his life (granted, there is some backstory about his parents and siblings which was very cute – these were actually my favourite parts). And then Bett.. I’m sorry, but I didn’t feel anything for her? She was called ‘The Beast’ at school, but for reasons that were explained really badly. I don’t think that the reasons people called her that were severe enough to actually earn her that nickname..

In the end, both characters felt really flat, and other characters that were added as Beau’s friends didn’t really add anything to the story. There were certain aspects of the characters that were really in your face, Beau was loyal to his family, something that was repeated again and again. Bett was shy, had no filter.


All in all, it was kinda sweet, but very shallow. When I started reading it, I thought it was what I wanted, but the story and the characters didn’t really develop themselves. I would definitely not say this was YA, more Middle Grade. Maybe the fact that it was said to be a Beauty and the Beast retelling made me not like it in the end. There was barely anything there, aside from Beau (Belle) having to work at the Ranch, and Bett being called The Beast, there was no real connection to the fairytale. All this considered, I think it might be a really fun story for younger readers, as long as they don’t expect too much from the retelling side.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast - there was no way I could pass this up. My favourite Disney cartoon film in an exciting retelling.

My main enjoyment from this was the reversal of the genders in the main roles - the guy, Beau is the 'Beauty' and Bett is the "beast'. I really liked that. I got to about 50% of the book and started to struggle. I was convinced by the love story between Beau and Bett. I loved Beau and his characterisation - he is one of the best male protagonists I've read in YA books, especially in a retelling. But Bett... her character arc was just not as enjoyable or believable.

Beau's voice was brilliant and his character development was fantastic. This gave it some major plus points for me.

Also, the cover of this book is just stunning. It roped me right in!

I received an ARC of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own and in no way influenced.

4.5/5 stars.

I’m a sucker for Beauty & The Beast so this i just had to read and i wasn’t disappointed at all! Beau & Bett took the retelling to a whole new level with this modern and extremely clever swap in character roles! And isn’t the cover just stunning!

I loved the POV - a first person male protagonist that drags you into the story so so well. Beau is such a good narrator, showing us the world he lives in as well as Bett’s world through his eyes and all the way through keeping it so real. The story flows so well and your constantly wanting to know more.

Bett’s character was amazing, the way she develops is really not how you would expect it to go. Which honestly, is amazing because you are always wanting to know more and growing more and more curious about her throughout the book.

And surprisingly Bett wasn’t your clichè Beast. Yes, her story was sad, but it was different and worked so well!

Beau’s family was a stand out point for me as well, they worked so well. They are a family that doesn’t have it all but they always have love and each other. The family bond in this book was truly amazing and I loved how they all supported each other so much.

All in all this was a fantastic book and one I will highly recommend everyone to read, the writing style is so easy to follow and the book itself is just so adorable and I loved it so much.

In this sweet retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in a contemporary a beautiful boy has to face the ugly on the inside girl as social status, family and relationships collide.

This is a beauty and the beast retelling and I wanted to like it I really did but I didn’t I couldn’t get into it and it just fell flat

We already know that I have never been able to resist a "Beauty and the Beast " retelling and this one was no exception. Set in contemporary America, our main protagonist, Beau LeFrancois meets the very spoiled rich girl, Bettina Diaz, coined by her schoolmates as "The Beast" while working on her father's ranch.

Positive Thoughts:

1. I like the gender reversal of the beauty versus beast roles.

2. Beau was a compelling protagonist and I was captured by his "voice"

3. Loved Beau's family backstory and his family was endearing in a quirky way.



Negative Thoughts:

1. Bettina's "beast like" reputation was very understated. The angle lacked "oomph" and I was actually of the mind that her Nana was a more captivating "beast."

2. Since we never see inside Bettina's thoughts, we only know what Beau knows. As the story progressed, I wavered in my opinion of whether this is a good or bad thing.

3. Bettina's family was awful.

4. Romance was extremely lacking. At first, I thought it was because there was another girl in Beau's life. Soon I began to feel that the Disney movie had a lot more passion than this story did.

5. By the 50% mark, I felt the plot slowed down and that the author seemed unsure of how she was going to make it work between the two characters.


Overall, I read Beau and Bett in a single sitting and I loved Kathryn Berla's "Beau" but I just wasn't buying the love story.


Publication Date 16/07/19
Goodreads Review 01/06/19

What a cute story! I devoured this contemporary YA in one sitting and was left wanting it to be true.
Right away, it is easy to identify the 'villain' of the story. If you see Bett as bad. She was actually very likable and very blunt, hence why she was called the 'Beast'. Through the pages of this novel, she is woven into a person that makes you feel.
Beau was very different from most YA boys and I loved that. He was responsible *gasp* and did everything that he could to support his family. I loved him.
I would recommend for those wanting a quick read and love Kasie West. This would be the perfect book so be sure to snag a copy.

Rating: 4.5 Stars
Content: 3 Stars (language)

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Beau and Bett by Kathryn Berla is a cute young adult love story based on Beauty and the Beast.
Beau is the beauty and Bett is nick name Beast at school. I enjoyed the characters and the sweet story, but I found this book slow moving. I would have liked for the book to be more detailed.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

This book was a let down because I've been waiting forever for a gender-swapped B&B retelling and this kind of fell flat for me. The book almost lost me in the first half because it dragged so much. The conversations between Beau and everyone were so stilted and it made it hard for me to care about him. It also didn't do much for the plot.

My biggest problem is that Beau (who is supposed to be Belle) was a huge jerk the entire book. for no real reason. Sure the kid his mother looks after told him that Bett was mean but Bett was nothing but nice to him after their first meeting so I don't understand why he kept being so rude to her. Maybe it was because he seemed really dense and very shallow the entire book.

Another issue I had was that Beau had more chemistry with Khalil, a side character, than either of the two girls Beau was supposed to be interested in. He was the main character but he was so superficial and two dimensional. Yikes.

The plot is interesting enough so if you don't mind slow paced, obvious romances then you might like this better than I did.

I think I had too high expectations with this retelling. I was just bored and began skimming throughout the book. It was just okay.

this book was just meh. I didn't like it but I also didn't hate it. It really just left me underwhelmed to be honest.

A cute little contemporary retelling of the beauty and the beast. This was an easy and quick read, however I felt that sometimes the story lagged a bit and the plot went nowhere at times.

I did however really enjoy the portrayal of "the beast" Bettina, where she was obnoxious and had no filter and speaks her mind, and is really stubborn. I also loved that Beau was portrayed as the 'cute boy-next-door' kind of character.

Rating 3/5
(This review will be published onto my blog on the 9th of July)

I realley enjoy Beauty and the Beast retellings so I was churious about this book. I liked the role reversal, but other than that this book fell flat. If you lile contemporary stories then I would recomend it but honestky I did not enjoy it.

This left me.... underwhelmed...

I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but this wasn't it. I liked the fact that this retelling didn't rely on magic for the romance to happen (in fact there was no magic at all), but the rest of the story just fell a little flat to me.
I didn't connect to any of the characters and I didn't feel like the story progressed at all. Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me.

3.5 stars
It took me a while to get into this book. At first, the characters felt flat and one dimensional. Everything seemed surface and Beau and Bett's actions were confusing and didn't make sense. Bett was hot and cold and awkward and Beau couldn't make up his mind how he felt. Around the halfway point, things started to come together and when we got the backstory of why people call Bett 'the beast', I saw her as a real person who had actual emotions. Beau got better over the story too, I'm glad he cared about Bett and treated her better. The side characters were blah, Beau's dad's accent was irritating and the whole side story of the wedding had almost no purpose. It did have cute moments, I liked Beau and Bett's banter and how they opened up to each other. It could use some fleshing out, overall an okay read.

This novel was read as due to the English Syllabus there is a fairytales section and I was hoping to find a novel that was not the retelling of Cinderella. This was loosely based on Beauty and the Beast but was more of a young teen's romance novel. I could see this made into a teen movie.

I found this book had far to many layers for a true story to really form. I didn't see how it could relate to Beauty and the Beast and it really didn't make much sense in some areas. The Khalil storyline wasn't needed nor was the Maisie storyline. I think this story would've been much better if it was streamlined and not having all these other stories running throughout it.
The story while enjoyable just wasn't for me and I struggled to get into it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read my first ARC read! This was very worth it and I do not regret reading it at all! I’m glad that this book is being published soon and you all should try to read it.

I requested for the ARC of Beau and Bett on NetGalley after I saw the “a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast” on the cover. I was expecting something like Beauty and the Beast; however, the book didn’t live up to its name. I was very surprised when I started reading about half the book since that was where the romance part started. Although the book wasn’t quite a modern retelling of B&B, it was a great read.

I usually don’t read YA romance except for John Green’s books. Beau and Bett definitely went to the top of my list! The relationship between Beau and Bettina was very sweet.

At the start of this book, I wasn’t immediately hooked. However, there was something going on that started quite late in the book. The pacing is great and all the descriptions and settings were vividly written.

Read the review on my blog: https://knottypapers.home.blog/2019/05/21/beau-and-bett-arc-review/