Greenly's prose flows effortlessly, painting vivid and evocative descriptions of the French royal court, its inhabitants, and the societal norms of the time. Her attention to detail transports readers to this captivating era and fully immerses them in the opulence and grandeur of Catherine de' Medici's world. However, it is the skillfully crafted characters that serve as the driving force behind the novel. The evolving relationship between Pedro and Catherine - and the way it echos that of Beauty and the Beast - is beautifully portrayed, showcasing their emotional journey, mutual understanding, and the transformative power of love.

A stunning retelling of a magical fairytale. it is beautifully written and very moving.
Many thanks to William Morrow and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Marvelous by Molly Greeley is a historical fiction novel that explores the intriguing inspiration behind the Beauty and the Beast tale, drawing from the real-life story of Pedro Gonzales and his wife Catherine. Greeley's attention to historical detail shines through, immersing readers in the world of 16th-century France and providing fascinating insights into the lives of these individuals. However, some readers may struggle to fully engage with the story and its characters due to the dry narration, use of third person present tense, and lack of any real conflict or villain. This stylistic choice can create a sense of detachment, making it challenging to form a strong emotional connection with the characters and their experiences. As a result, the overall reading experience may feel somewhat distant and less immersive than desired.

While Marvelous offers an intriguing premise and showcases Greeley's skill in historical research, the narrative style might prove to be a hurdle for readers seeking a more intimate and immersive reading experience. Nonetheless, fans of historical fiction and those interested in the origins of Beauty and the Beast may still find value in exploring the historical context and the unique inspirations behind the tale.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

this book was loooong. so i was super engaged in the beginning and then fell off, and then was engaged again towards the end lol. it does feel really bland while reading, which might explain while i felt a little bored throughout it. i find their lifestyle and just that era to be so interesting. i felt like the author did a good job of capturing that aesthetic and way of life. it was a nice read where we grew with the two main characters throughout their life. with that, i liked that what we got in the prologue, and then dove in at the beginning for ch1. overall, it was fine!

This book was really sad and I didn't finish it. I love Beauty and the Beast, but this retelling wasn't for me.

Thank you for providing the book in return for an honest review. Fairytale retellings are one of my favorite types of books and Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite stories. I enjoyed that this was historical fiction set in France like the original story. The book was slower to start but once you were in the story was pleasant to follow. I enjoyed the writer’s descriptive writing and wish they would have included more character depth at times. Overall a lovely read!

As someone who's favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed reading the fictional account of the real life couple who inspired the fairy tale romance. However this one isn't always happy and the real life story doesn't really have a happy ending. But that is life. But this one is worth reading.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I will say, it took me a minute to get into it but once I was, I was hooked. I tend to gravitate to and really love descriptive writing and feel this author does it really well!

Beautifully written with characters that I just absolutely adore. I personally can’t get enough of retellings and this is one of my favorites yet.

This historic fiction novel follows the life and love of Petrus Gonsalvus and his eventual wife. I'd not known any of his story, so this book takes a fascinating man from history that we know little about and gives him hopes and dreams and fears. I think the climax of the book was written a little bit flatly, I didn't realize thats what was even happening at the time, but generally the writing is really good and the character depth is very well done.

I loved this book. LOVED IT. Historical fiction is my jam. So many emotions rolled through me while reading this. I was horrified when Pedro was kidnapped. You just weep for this child that is sold and sold again, then given as a GIFT to a king. All because of what he looked like. He’s educated and given all the things by the king, but he has only one friend. Because of what he looks like. He’s given a bride (who is also sold, honestly). Women were property back then. Who cares what SHE wanted, right? She leaves everything she’s ever known to marry Pedro and live at court. She doesn’t know what to make of him. And her buddy is not her own, so she submits to her husband every night and becomes pregnant. After her child is born looking like her father, Catherine’s heart softens. Not only to her sweet, perfect daughter, but to Pedro. The story follows their lives, their children, their hardships. It’s sweet, sometimes terrifying, sometimes tense, sometimes so sad. But the story was always amazing.

Special thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I generally felt like I wanted to stop reading and finally i did just that....stopped reading it. Im so terribly distraught at giving this book a 1 im getting anxiety bc i feel cruel.

Anyway, sorry folks, the writing was dull and the plot left much to be desired. 1 star...yikes.

I love historical fiction and Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairytales. So when I saw this book, I knew I had to read it! And overall, I enjoyed the book. It moved a bit slow for my taste and some parts really seemed to drag. But considering it spans one man's entire lifespan and beyond, it makes sense that there would be a few slower parts.

This is a hard book to review. At times I was overwhelmed by the writing. Other times I was annoyed, really annoyed and I just can’t seem to reconcile my disparate feelings. But I read on and on and the story was not what I expected. That is not to say I am unfamiliar with the story but the telling was just not what I expected. I am not sure if that is my fault for having unrealistic expectations or the fault of the book for combining an historic story with distracting prose. More problems there because while the prose was well prosaic, it didn’t seem to mesh.

“There is no history here, no weight. All is gossamer.” I admire the effort, the work, the thought, the coordination and execution but it lacked that something that makes for a compelling story. Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley for a copy.

I firmly believe that some authors should consider whether they are the right person to tell a story. Greeley did not.

The writing is horrible. The choice of POV does not allow the characters to be fully realized and does not allow the reader to fully connect with the emotions of the MCs. We are constantly told everything, never shown anything.

The story was handled carelessly.

The writing in this was good enough to keep me interested in the characters and what would happen to them, but I don't think there is much to make me excited about recommending this. While I appreciate the author trying to stick to the historical characters' existence, I feel that occluding the background events around them on the basis it was "unlikely" to have "affected their lives" seems to belie the entire point of trying to imagine these people more fully. In so doing, Greeley makes it so that the only life the characters live is related to their hypertrichosis, and we see little of the other characteristics she writes into being for them.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review*

I wanted to love this so much but it fell extremely flat. There was no personality in the writing and it couldn't keep my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reading copy of marvelous by molly Greeley, this was a pretty good fiction from French times. We don’t get too many books from French times so it was interesting to see,

dnf @ 40%

i was intrigued by the blurb, but marvelous manages to be both overly flowery and painfully dry. the writing style was too emotionless and detached for my taste and while i am admittedly not familiar with 16th century france and italy, the setting felt under-researched (or at least underdeveloped).

This book was DNF for me. The concept is really cool. But the actual execution was extremely dry, and I could not get connected to it at all. All the characters felt extremely flat from the start and I just couldn't find any interest in the plot.