Beauty and the Beast has forever been my favorite Disney movie. When I heard that not only there was a book remake, but that it was also by one of my favorite authors I HAD to have it. Jasmine did not disappoint either! Pretty sure my cheeks hurt by the time I was done reading this story. Definitely five stars from me.

This is a perfect accompaniment for a By the Book book club! I love how it is organized and contains everything you need to host a perfect meeting. From author and cover designer interviews, discussion questions, and even menu ideas, this is a one stop guide. There are also some fantastic next book recommendations as well. Looking forward to picking up the next kit in the series!

This was not only aesthetically stunning, but it was thoughtful and fun! There was a great mix of provoking questions and light material.

Great addition to the book! Really helped enhance the reading experience and gave useful topics and questions to discus in our book club!

This is such a fun, engaging book club kit! I love reading interviews with authors, and hearing about what inspired them to write their novel. The included discussion questions are perfect for encouraging deeper exploration of the book's characters and themes, and I loved how Netgalley began including this in request. Will definitely use in the near future with my very own book club.

So happy to have this for the book! I love reading any book club kits for books that help you think more about the book and get more info from the author.

Thank you NetGalley and Jasmine Guillory/We Are Bookish!

I loved the book so much.. This bookclub kit was very cute and fun to have. The bookmarks were great.

Thanks!

The Book Club Kit has great discussion questions. Nice charcuterie board ideas and recipes for drinks. Fun activities such as Pen Name creator are included.

I really like this book club suit. The Jasmine Guillory interview and the discussion topics were fantastic. 

Nice extras included a pen name generator, writing prompts, and advice on how to create the ideal charcuterie board. A book club would have a great time working through this.

This was my first book club kit & I found it to be fun & to provide great ideas for discussion during my book club.

🌹 By the Book 📖
by Jasmine Guillory

✌️ The second installment in the #meanttobe series is here and what a delightfully done retelling on a classic fairy tale it is! I absolutely loved getting lost in Isabelle’s world, where she is an overworked and underappreciated assistant editor for a publishing company. Isabelle is trying to make a name for herself, so after weeks of unsuccessful email contact with a high-profile celebrity writing his first memoir, she volunteers to make a face-to-face appearance to get some traction on this overdue manuscript. 

I appreciated how Guillory stayed true to the classic tale by centering the story around the love of books and reading, and the gradual progression of Isabelle and Beau’s relationship. Gotta give her some extra points too for creating a little magic and working in references to inanimate objects (like Mrs Potts and Chip in Beauty and the Beast).  

I adored the POC main character rep and how the author incorporated important themes like Isabelle’s toxic work culture/burnout and experiencing microaggressions in the workplace into the storyline. And while this was a closed door romance, I found the chemistry between Isabelle and Beau to be perfectly steamy, not quite YA but pretty close in my opinion, and right in line with the first book in the series. 

🏝 This is a perfect escape for any Beauty and the Beast fan (as book lovers, aren’t we all?!) I highly recommend you grab a copy for a lazy pool day or soaking up summer sun. 

📚 Thanks to Hyperion and Netgalley for the early digital copy of the book and the digital Book Club Kit. There is an accompanying Book Club Kit available for this and If the Shoe Fits, which includes notes to readers, Author Interview, Discussion Questions, Cover Designer Interview, some recipes and a few fun exercises and next read recommendations. It also gave a sneak peek that the third installment will be Kiss the Girl, brought to us by ZORAIDA CORDOVA next summer and I absolutely cannot wait! 

I actually adore the book club kit and love the idea of these. I got the one for the first book as well and I just love the extra insight from the author, the recommended next reads with common themes, even the recipes and prompts it’s all just so good and lends to a great experience with the book overall.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review and to get to see the digital book and club kit all together it’s really a tremendous package.

Lovely book and great book club kit. Helpful and beautiful. Highly recommended for book clubs meeting and to better chat about this beautiful story.

This book club kit is great. I loved the interview with Jasmine Guillory and the discussion questions. The question "What would make up your ideal snack cabinet?" is a great icebreaker.

The pen name generator, writing exercises, and tips for making a perfect charcuterie board were nice touches. This would be incredibly fun to work through with a book club.

Jasmine Guillory is a talented, up-and-coming author. It was neat to hear more about her experiences while writing the novel and her thoughts about what inspired her to do a fairytale retelling.

An appealing cover is also important to readers in choosing a book, so the cover design interview was also quite interesting.

While I feel the interviews provide good conversation points for a book club, and the discussion questions appeared very well thought-out and insightful, this book club kit appeared to tailor too much towards those interested in writing themselves. This is an interesting concept, however I feel this kit has a more niche audience as a result. Not all book clubs will want to go through writing exercises or even have writing advice, even though that is a central aspect to Beau and Izzy's chemistry.

I also really enjoyed the recipes in the kit; if a club was to look over this guide before their meeting, it would be really special to have food inspired by the book.

I liked this book club kit because it brought me information that I would never have considered about this book.
Knowing nothing about the book -a retelling of Beauty and the Beast - I really didn't know what to expect.
I thought the content warnings were a little late considering that by attending a book club, I assume that the participants would have rad the book prior to that time.
The Author's Interview was valuable and her description of her reimagining the tale interesting.
I thought that the discussion questions were thoughtful and would ensure a good discussion of the book.
I didn't realize the thought and planning that went into the cover design (although I did like the cover). Wow!
For me and my book groups, the Pen Name Generator and Writing Exercises would never work. All of the groups consist of women, and for most of us, the book club is a once a month meeting - we don't get too personal or introspective.
I like the inclusion of the Charcuterie board ideas and the recipe for the sparkling rose Margarite - although I wouldn't necessarily serve them at my book clubs - the margarita was delicious!
I liked the addition of More from Jasmine Guillory and the information about the author.
I was not familiar with the Meant to Be collection so I did find that info interesting.

This was a great addition to the book and our book club really loved the discussion questions and the recipe!

Super fun book club kit! Love the different interviews and the process for writing and designing the cover. Loved the bookmarks and charcuterie board ideas. And there were some good book recommendations.

Many thanks to NetGalley, We Are Bookish and Jasmine Guillory for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

By The Book by Jasmine Guillory is a modern day romance based on The Beauty and The Beast. In this rendition Izzy, a frustrated author herself, is trying to make it in the publishing world. She is assigned to help a famous (and hunky) actor who is trying to write his memoirs. This kit was created and is tailor made for book clubs who are reading and discussing this book.

This kit includes an author interview, discussion questions, cover design interview, writing prompts as well as some fun ideas like bookmarks that you can print off, a pen name generator, how to make a charcuterie board, and the secret to every successful book club - cocktails!

I have read By The Book but not with my book club and I really enjoyed the Book Kit. Look, the book isn’t that deep, but I thought the discussion questions were thoughtful and relevant. I really enjoyed the interviews and hearing from Jasmine Guiillory what was important to her. I love writing prompts and will include these in my journal writing. By the way, my Pen Name is Maurice LePrince de Beaumont which is a mouthful!

This Book Kit hit all the right note. It was light and fun, just like the book and at the same time thoughtful and relevant, also just like the book. It was food for thought and food for your tummy! With or without a book club, I got a lot out of this kit, although it did really make me want to read it again with my book club.

I just finished reading this book and have considered adding it to our upcoming Book Club reads, so I got excited when I saw this guide was available. The questions and topics of discussions are well-written and invite thoughtful dialogue. Excited to use it to guide a book club discussion.

Loved this kit! All the tools to throw a great party that really feels like an extension of the reading. The things I usually expect to find in a similar tool were obviously there. But what I loved about this in particular is that it armed the Book Club host with tools for a great party–the recipes and games–while also giving them some fun things to send home–writing advice, next reads, book marks. Would love things similar to this for future books!