Every Valentine’s Day, I generally see an article which states that roses can have meanings attached to them. Red roses have a meaning, yellow roses have a different, meaning, etc.

This is one of the features of The Language of Roses by Heather Rose Jones, a retelling of the “Beauty and the Beast” tale. In this version, the household consists of Philippe, the man-turned-beast; his sister, Grace; Eglantine, who disappeared after she and Grace fell in love; and Alys. who comes to the residence to pay the penalty her father incurred when he took a rose without permission. Philippe is under a curse to remain a beast unless he is freely loved and married; Grace is under a curse to turn to stone if that does not happen. (Grace and Philippe have magic of their own, though they can’t use it to break the curse.) There is a deadline for these events to happen to avoid the curse, which is approaching.

Alys’s needs are all seen to, but she has to endure Philippe’s stalking behavior. She does not find herself growing fond of him. She continues to answer his questions “Do you love me? Will you marry me?” with a firm “no.” Grace is kind to Alys but distant. Both take care to avoid Philippe’s moods, which are oppressive and can be terrifying. Beyond those concerns, Alys begins to sense the presence of another, who she names Lady Rose.

The strength of the story comes when the characters strive to be true to themselves, especially when being pressured to do otherwise by those close to them. The story shows that such pressure is abusive and can have catastrophic results. There are sufficient clues for the reader to unravel the mysteries within the story, though readers need to be alert to frequent changes in points of view, which sometimes makes following the threads a challenge.

Overall, the story progresses to a satisfying ending which seems appropriate to all the characters. In any retelling of an old story, adding a fresh approach and more depth to the basics of the tale can only enhance the reader experience, and Heather Rose Jones has succeeded in doing this here.

"Beauty and the Beast" with an aromantic heroine? Intriguing premise, but does it work for a fairy tale where the relationship between Beauty and Beast is the key plot?

If, like me, you are familiar with the original fairy tale, you'll probably be wondering how this can even be possible. After all, love, romantic love to be specific, is what breaks the curse and an aromantic person can't fall in love. So, how is it done?

Turns out it can be done, and very well at that. It requires subverting the traditional storyline for the main couple, which means it's not what you'd be expecting a B&B retelling to be. But lest you be thinking this is no true B&B story because of this radical plot subversion, I would say that the original tale's core is still used and incorporated here, and therefore very much respected. Just not for the traditional pairing.

And honestly, for someone notoriously opinionated on B&B retellings as me, that was the biggest surprise: that it still worked even if "sideways," so to speak. Now I'm counting this amongst the most original retellings of this tale I've read. The subversion doesn't concern only the traditional pairing, but the whole story is made of new cloth. There's a very dysfunctional family and abuse thematic running throughout every one of the four main character's lives, as Alys, the Beauty figure, has a selfish and self-serving father with abusive tendencies and an absent mother, and Philippe, the Beast figure, is a textbook narcissistic abuser who treats his sister and other women as his possessions, including Alys herself. It'd be a spoiler to detail the other pairing, so suffice to say they're also victims of self-absorbed abusers.

There's no personal redemption to be had here, but there's still the love that transforms, and transitions home life into a haven for the victims once they figure out love, not just romantic love, does transform and redeem and change lives for the better. The ending is beautiful, although you'll wish Alys would toss that selfish bunch that doesn't deserve her.

What could've been better is that the POV structure that makes it difficult to read the novella smoothly. For a short novella, there's about four POV narrators that use a total of three narration styles: first person, second person tense, and third person limited. And sometimes two POV styles happen in the same chapter; one moment you're reading the First Person POV narrator, and next paragraph there's Second Person POV chiming in. It's an irritation and hard to get used to, and it is bound to be confusing to some readers as to what is going on. Which is a pity, because this author's prose is lovely, and she can draw authentic non-traditional characters. I'm not aromantic nor on the spectrum, but I could easily understand Alys and liked her and Beast's sister. But the shifts in narration were constantly kicking me out of the story and forcing me to pause, because for such a short novel, it took me days to finish in spite of really loving the characters and the creativity of the plot, and so I am not rating it higher as I would have. I wouldn't recommend this type of POV shuffling be repeated in future books after this experience, it may be detrimental.

I really loved this Beauty and the Beast retelling. The prose was lovely for the novella format (though I think it would have become grating over a longer format) and worked perfectly for the story it told. I loved the aromantic flavoring of the fairy tale and I love Alys, the main character. The transformation of the tale made this a wonder to read, a fairy tale retelling that despite its leisurely pace, kept me hooked. This book was a fun way to pass a few hours on International Asexuality Day.

The Language of Roses feels like a genuinely fresh and radical take on the Beauty and the Beast tale, and does it without throwing in too many twists to lore or worldbuilding. This version manages to hit all the familiar beats, but it is evident just how modern its approach is, both in the centrality of queerness (aromanticism and sapphic love truly are at the heart of this) and in its approach to the complexity of humanity. This is not a story meant to be "dark" in the way some retellings have been: it is rather focused on toxic relationships, as opposed to evil individuals. I love its lyrical moments, and honestly craved more of them, and I can't say this ultimately blew me away emotionally; it is more a work of stylistic efficiency and thematic power that I truly admire.

Thank you, NetGalley and Queen of Swords Press for the chance to read this ARC!

Four out of five stars, I truly did enjoy it. I am very much on the aroace spectrum, and while there is not explicit confirmation Alys is, she feels real and true enough along that I can find myself relating to her easily. To be asked to marry and to be in love with someone-- one of those things is easier than the other, on any level. Like Alys, I cannot force myself to love if I have never romantically loved and it does not come so naturally to me.

A beautiful spin of Beauty and the Beast-- but with him was cursed his sister, who holds the servants. Alongside them are familiar figures from other fairy tales: a girl who dropped jewels and flowers from her mouth with every word, a grieving enchantress-mother who cannot see what has happened, the man who broke his promise and struck his wife thrice.

Alys and Grace grow in companionship against Grace's oppressive Beast brother, trying to soothe his personality, coax him into a better frame of mind, tailor their behaviors to please his moods. A love cannot easily grow between a beauty and the beast she attempts to pacify-- but a deep relationship can grow between herself and his sister.

This is, of course, sapphic-- it's a book by Heather Rose Jones, of course-- and I really appreciated the relationship, as well as the neat storylines tied off at the end.