Sorry but I just couldn't get into the book I might look at it again but it's a no for now.

I can't explain why but what the problem was might have been getting my head around the style of writing.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley, for the Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Neil Cochrane created a beautiful, heartbreaking, delightful, and engrossing world in The Story of the Hundred Promises. I am seldom moved to tears by written words, but this fairy tale had me crying for the characters and for my younger, queer, self; I wonder how things could have been different if the books I read as a teen and young adult had representation like this. The Story of the Hundred Promises needs to be in every high school and public library.

The book summary describes it as a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but I completely forgot about that for much of the story. I've only seen the Disney movie anyway, and never read any other adaptations. I suspect that for lovers of Beauty and the Beast, there will be more references to the story than I noticed personally, but having an intimate knowledge of that tale is not necessary to fully appreciate this novel. This world has its own unique mythos.

The pacing, details, and stories-within-a-story style were perfect- chef's kiss! Cochrane's writing style throughout felt ethereal, like a bedtime story, and comes complete with a happily-ever-after that left me satisfied. As a queer person, I felt an intimate emotional connection with the characters, and I suspect that connection would feel even deeper for a trans person. The emotions and experiences of the characters are authentic in the way only an Own Voices story can be, and my heart is full of gratitude that Cochrane wrote this story to share with us.

A tricky one to review. Probably a 3.5.

I really like the way gender is explored here. I’d not come across the pronouns used here before. A really interesting concept to have a main character who could use magic to help their body become what they felt inside. I imagine many people wish they could do that!!

Fairy tale stories normally really do it for me, but I just didn’t fully click with this. I’m not sure why, maybe the writing style wasn’t for me. It wasn’t bad at all, I just didn’t connect and found it very slow moving.

I do think books like this that are becoming more inclusive are so important. I think a lot of people will get so much from this and really feel seen.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read an arc of this book.

Wow, this story completely blew me away! It was phenomenal and so different to anything I’ve ever read before and I loved how everything connected and the stories wove together. This story so full of trans pride and it was stunning. It’s so rare to find t4t stories and I’m so glad that this book exists because it’s such an incredible love story. I loved the amount of queer representation and the way gender was talked about and explored within these pages. This book gets five stars from me and that’s only because I can’t rate it higher.

“You do not have to be what they say you are.”


1 Sentence Summary: Ten years after Darragh is thrown out from home for being transgender, he finds out his father is dying and sets off on a quest to find the mysterious Enchanter who had helped him transition when he was younger so that he can save his father and finally get some closure.

My Thoughts: I’m so conflicted in how to rate this!! Part 1 was so boring I was ready to give it 2 or 3 stars, but then I got to Part 2 and it was a solid 4 stars maybe even 5. Part 3 and Part 4 were relatively good as well. So ahh idk.

I guess the main issue was that I could not bring myself to care less about Darragh. He was so flat and boring and I couldn’t connect with him at all, which is probably why I hated Part 1 bc it was all from his pov. Also the writing seemed way too flowery like it was trying too hard to be pretty but instead bored me to death. And it also felt kind of preachy and there was far too much telling rather than showing.

BUT THEN Part 2 was so good!!! I really got pulled into the story, the writing was better, it had a more fairytale vibe, and I loved Merrigan!

Parts 3 and 4 were better than the beginning but not as good as Part 2, although I did really like the ending. However, I was not completely on board with the romance, because Merrigan is thousands of years old and literally knew Darragh when he was a child, which is just weird. And they didn’t really have any chemistry in my opinion.

So, overall, if the whole book had been from Merrigan’s pov and there wasn’t a romance I would definitely have given it 5 stars. Alas, I almost dnf’d it (but am glad I didn’t).

“Why not just accept difference, when it does no harm?”

Merrigan frowned. “Because humans are creatures of fear.”


(Also, I have no idea why this is being marketed as a Beauty and the Beast retelling because it’s really not. It’s definitely Beauty and the Beast inspired, but in no way is it a retelling.)

Recommend to: Fans of fairytales, magical forests, and queer representation.

(Warnings: death)

“May your path be smooth, and naught but kindness meet your ears, and your belly full, and all the skies above you clear.”

I loved the idea of this book and it didn't disappoint. Well written with a compelling and wonderful storyline and well developed characters that I loved. A great read.

This book is a beautiful example of queer representation. You have all sorts of LGBTQ members represented in a respectful manner as well as a strong trans lead is a beautiful fantastic world. I don’t care too much about retellings so it being a loose retelling of beauty and the beast didn’t really upset me. I could see the influences of the story while also going it’s own way. I love queer fantasy so this book was perfect. Thanks so much to netgalley for letting us read this book!

Neil Cochrane’s novel The Story of the Hundred Promises uses the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast” to launch a sweeping fantasy quest that confronts generational trauma. When Darragh Thorn uses a magic rose to transform and align his body with his masculine gender identity, his father, who refuses to recognize him as anything other than a girl named Beauty, banishes him. After ten years of adventure on the high seas, Darragh returns home to find his father gravely ill and sets out to search for an enchanted cure.

Darragh’s story is punctuated with inclusive fairy tales that work to establish a world of queer optimism where love transcends heteronormative patterns. In the beautiful fairy tale that lends the book its title, a farmer, herder, and blacksmith wish for a child to love and are instructed to offer one hundred promises of acceptance for their future child to secure their heart’s desire. The novel centers queer relationships while tenderly advocating for the self-definition and acceptance that beats beneath the plot of traditional fairy tales.

While not a strict retelling, the book uses key symbols, characters, and themes from “Beauty and the Beast” including roses, thorns, statues, books, ineffective fathers, ships, sorcery, and the construct of choice. It is an inspiring read for fantasy lovers eager to envision a more beautiful and inclusive world.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forest Avenue Press for this eARC!

The Story of the Hundred Promises is an absolutely delightful book. Whimsical and fairytale-ish it tells a heartwarming story of Darragh, and Merrigan, and pulls the reader into a world full of joy and warmth. This book is queer optimism at its finest and is bound to leave you with warm and fuzzy feelings. All the characters are incredibly kind and gracious towards one another and Darragh and his chosen family radiate love and comfort.

I couldn't recommend this book more!

I really loved this story.
For a book that didn't actually have a lot of tension, and was more a discovery of self, I was enraptured.

It really is fantasy with queer optimism. I could see the loose ties to Beauty & the Beast. Not a retelling, but pulling some elements from the story.

I loved the writing, the multiple POVs and the build up of who the Enchanter appeared to be, and then who e was.

I'm taking a star off because the culmination of everything at the end has a big plot hole that I can't get over.

I am a big fan of "Beauty and the Beast," and collect hundreds of books about it, so I'm always looking for new takes in all genres and styles, even those I don't usually read otherwise. In my exploring of various retellings, I've read gay B&B retellings, lesbian B&B retellings, and even found an asexual aromantic B&B retelling, and was impressed by how the authors of the better-written ones made the fairy tale's core themes work for their retooled versions. But that was the trick, they stuck to the theme, whereas this one merely touches on it.

The claim in the blurb is correct, this book is indeed a "loose retelling of "Beauty and the Beast"." So loose I wouldn't call it a retelling but an inspired-by story at best and not without hesitation, because it only uses the fairy tale's transformation element as a springboard to launch its own original storyline with a trans protagonist and doesn't follow the core theme of the tale beyond this small splattering of B&B and some B&B imagery here and there. And that's why this book didn't work for me as I expected, I came for the B&B retelling part, so if you take that off the table, it becomes just another Fantasy story once its selling point for me is gone and I am left unable to get immersed in or connect with it. Other readers that aren't so particular about fairy tale retellings as I am might like this book, however, because this yarn does have some interesting parts.

THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD

What a blessing having this book in the world. I didn't want to finish it so it took me a few days to do it tbh. I am so glad I was given the opportunity of reading this book, it's so necessary with all the representation it has and it's queer optmistic and we need more of this in this world!

What caught my attention at first was that the book is described as a loose Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I love queer retellings of fairytales. But this book gave me so much more than a retell. I loved the world built there; the fables, the true story of Merrigan, the life at sea and family that is built with Sidra, the love in all its forms - I even forgot it was loosely based on beauty and the beast because it became irrelevant as the book is really really good in itself.

So special to all queer people having this book in the world, but actually everyone should read it.