**Review will be published on my sites, July 15th 2021**

NOT BAD.

Just not great either.

I love the cast of characters. There were many, with unique personalities and I love how they were portrayed. It’s a great group of friends that end up working together to end Merit’s curse. The villains were plenty wicked (though it became too convenient in the end) and some morally gray ones are also a fun addition.

What I didn’t love was the lack of romance. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling…shouldn’t there be more? By the time Tevin is confessing his love I realized I’m not emotionally invested in this. It was a big let down for me because I definitely had higher hopes. Over the course of a long book I thought more page time could’ve been spent developing their relationship rather than my other problem, the amount of POV’s.

Usually I love multiple points-of-view. In this case, I thought it should have stuck to the main two. It would have helped a deeper connection with the main characters. We’d flit off to some side story that could have been handled (and honestly, would have been more surprising) coming from one of the main characters [Merit or Tevin]. I didn’t need to hear about everyone else to get the whole picture.

I liked the set-up for the story and how this retelling was managed. It really did feel distinctly B&tB reminiscent. I could see many parallels that helped [& occasionally hindered] the plot. There’s some good humorous moments and some soft ones too. I wish I had felt more emotionally invested to fully enjoy this tale.

Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy Retelling
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: physical altercations, animal attacks, poisonings

As someone who has read countless fairytale retellings, I can tell you with full confidence that this is one you definitely need to look into. I was hooked after the first couple of chapters and I could not put the book down. It is not your classic Beauty and the Beast retelling either. In McBride's version, the "beast" is the female protagonist while the "beauty" is an irresistibly charming thief. From the very first time these two character's meet to the end of the story I could not get enough of their interactions. I think the author developed the plot really well ad there were not many (if any at all) plot cliches that are quite popular with fairytale retellings. Another bonus is the (while not quite enemies to lovers) it is at odds with each other to lovers. Not to mention the "beast", Merit, is completely immune to the "Beauty", Tevin's, magically charm. I would highly recommend anyone who likes a bit of fantasy mixed with fairytales to check out this book!

I really enjoyed this gender-swapped version of Beauty and the Beast. It was fun, fluffy, and sweet. I would recommend this to fans of fairy tale retellings.

I found this to be a super interesting retelling of Beauty and the Beast in a sense. I think the pacing and the plot was done very well overall and it really kept my interest throughout the book. I also think the cover itself is very catching which is what had my attention right away. Overall this was a different book from what I am used to on retellings and was very unique.

DNF at 20% (no rating left on goodreads)
This book started off being really good and high-stakes in the prologue, but it very quickly descended into poor characterization and little motivation for the characters.
The characters’ attitudes and motivations were very inconsistent, and they were being very blasé about things they felt much more strongly about just a little bit earlier. This combined with inconsistent worldbuilding and too many convenient plot devices made me not enjoy this book as much as I was hoping to.

This story was really good but could use some editing. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it through the whole book after reading the first few chapters but once the story got going I was hooked. The world building, characters and storyline were all amazing. It was an interesting take on The Beauty and the Beast that was worth the read. I do think it needs a little bit of work when it comes to the flow of the story in some places and the format of the book was weird sometimes. I would definitely still recommend this book to people and I can't wait to read more from this world. The side characters were all fascinating in their own ways and I think future books could be even better than this one.

It has been a long while since I have been able to get so engrossed into a fantasy novel. I'm not quite sure what it was about this book that drew me in so quickly, but I finished it in 3 days. I can do that with normal books, but fantasy??? Almost unheard of. I loved this book. I really fell in love with the story of Merit and the world that the author built. I wasn't expecting to be surprised by this novel since it's a retelling, but I was, just not in the usual way. If I'm honest, I think I went in expecting this book to be... less than amazing. I didn't think it would be bad at all, just not something I would love as much as I did. That was incredibly unfair. I expected it to be exactly like any retelling I have ever read, but that simply wasn't true. The author did a fabulous job of adding their own twists to the story, lore, and world building in the novel. The writing was fantastic, and I really fell in love with a few of the characters. Merit herself is a strong woman that had a lot of depth. I felt for her a lot throughout the story. Not to mention, the book was just fun. I had a great time reading it and would probably do it again. It was so good!!

Review posted on GoodReads (February 23, 2021)
Review linked.

4.5/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review!

This book was SO CUTE! I didn't really know what to expect when going into it, all I knew was that it was a gender-bend retelling of Beauty and the Beast. But it was so much more!

I fell in love with all of the characters. Lish McBride is a fantastic writer. Her characters are all so well written, and HER DIALOGUE IS AMAZING! Each person in the story had such deep and diverse characters that made me instantly fall in love. Merit and Tevin's romance was to die for. I loved their story and how beautiful yet flawed they each were.

I think that one of my favorite things about this book was the world building and the magic system. All of it was so unique, cool, and really well done. All I need now are more stories set in this world following some of the incredible side characters who were a part of CURSES.

I really recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy retellings, the Beauty and the Beast, witty dialogue, strong feminist stories, and epic romances.

Thanks for reading!
Caden

I loved the fresh take on Beauty and the Beast. The characters were great and funny. The writing is witty and the world is exactly what I was looking for.