When Beauty's family loses their money, they are forced to move to a tiny cottage near a forest. One day, her father comes home with a rose - coming to say goodbye before he returns to face the Beast he stole it from and pay the penalty. But Beauty, having suffered trauma the family knows nothing of, goes in his place, hoping to die. Instead, the magic castle welcomes her and makes her at home - though the master stays out of sight. Gradually, she works out what she needs to do to rescue him, but it's something she's sworn never to do. But as she gets to know him better, leaving him to his fate becomes increasingly unpalatable too...

I've seen reviews comparing this to the original Beauty and the Beast story - but since I've never read or seen it, I can't comment on that. Instead, I'll say that this was my first book by this author, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised and hope to read more in future. Though fantasy mostly isn't my thing, and fairy-tale retellings something I would often pass up on, something about this story grabbed me from the start, and the characters and the interactions between them held my interest throughout - probably helped by the often-amusing magic castle. I particularly appreciated the way that Beauty gradually drew out the Beast from his darkness into the light. A good read.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

A tale that never grows old!

Scintillating, heartfelt retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Lowham ensorcelled my heart with a story that’s creatively original in its telling, and lyrical in its execution.
Beauty has two sisters, a brother and a father whose fortunes as a merchant sank with his ship.
Forced to sell everything and live in a humble cottage near the enchanted Forest, the family endures
Beauty at seventeen is a whimsical young woman who fancies herself in love with the local Baron’s son. He asks her to marry him but she refuses due to having older sisters. They must marry first. He persists. The third time he asks and she says NO, is when he confronts her alone in the house, in her bedroom. I can say no more!
Beauty goes to cut down some wood in the Forest. She chops into a living tree. Alarmed by her own actions she bandages the cut near the root and covers it with dirt. This is her first momentary glimpse of something that looks like a blue fairy.
Her father returns from hunting in the Forest with a rose he’s taken from the castle garden for Beauty. Beauty knows her father will have to pay. She sneaks out and goes in her father’s stead, standing at the gate and calling on the Beast.
Now the storyline takes us on a journey of loss, of understanding and of wishing. Magical!

A Shadow Mountain ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

This book is toll from two different timelines one is current day where she is living with the beast because her dad decided to pick arose after taking shelter during a storm and forfeited his life but instead he four fits the life of the youngest daughter beauty so she willingly goes to the castle but unlike other retailings and the actual beauty and the beast there’s no talking teacup or cattle or anything else the only other person/animal she can see is the beast after a while when he finally lets her see him of course they fall in love and the other timeline it was before her dad lost his money in the nephew in air to the local Duke Stefan falls in love with her as a post to her sister Astrid who wanted it and expected it. Needless to say at first beauty is enamored with Stefan who is handsome but he slowly but surely shorter sometimes luxe are just a disguise for an evil nature and after asking her to marry him and her saying no he eventually decides to take what he actually wants from beauty and this is why and current day with the beast due to her trauma in past experiences she does not want to marry him. No this is why the book didn’t work for me for one they kept alluding to her loving the beast and yet she wouldn’t marry him and help him remove his curse I know she had trauma I get that that’s great but if she’s stuck at the castle anyway and she truly has an affection for the beast then I didn’t get why she kept saying no. I’m not gonna say how the book ends but I will say this book wasn’t as great as other retellings I have read because beauty and the beast has the always been my favorite Disney movie and book because Bell is the one who saves beast unlike traditional Disney tales where the prince save the day bell to me was always the hero but as I said this is a retelling and if I wanted the actual story I guess I could’ve read that. I received this book from NetGalley and a publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A perfectly fine Beauty and the Beast retelling, but nothing really groundbreaking. I did appreciate the exploration of healing from trauma.

It was a surprising and intriguing book. I love retellings of Beauty and the beast and both the story and the cover really attracted me. The story is hard with a lot of trauma that made it just a little too heavy for me.
Although many aspects of the original story came back which it was definitely worth 3.5 stars for me


I received this arc through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion and a review

This story had more depth to it than I originally thought it would. It is not just another version of beauty and the beast. It is the story of pain and struggles and learning to survive and heal. I really liked the beast in this story. He is more than a gentle beast. He is patient and kind. Overall a great story. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this title.

I've been reading a lot of not-so-great retellings recently, so I was relieved and elated that I loved this one so much.

Beauty and the Beast is easily the story I've read the most retellings of. What I liked about this one is that it shared elements with others, such as Robin McKinley's Beauty or even the Disney animated version, but it brought its own originality to the story. For example, I tend to get annoyed when authors draw out the sequence before Beauty comes to the castle, and I was happy Lowham only spent a chapter laying the groundwork before Beauty arrived.

Additionally, I appreciated the conversation around sexual assault. Although it's not something I've personally experienced, I know many women who have. I think it's a topic worth talking about, especially when it's more common than people think.

Overall, I recommend this title to both newcomers to the fairytale and experienced veterans like me. Seriously, I've read like nine versions of this story and seen at least four.

This stunning new take on Beauty and the Beast more than fulfilled my hopes. Beauty's background and family are real people, as important to the story as she and the beast are. Echoes of other tellings occasionally pop up, but not to the point of distracting from this rendition, and the growth of Beauty's relationship with the Beast, and the disclosure of his own, unique backstory, all blend together into an engrossing read. Highly recommend.

"I knew that, no matter where I tried to go, there would never be an escape to satisfy me. The escape I wanted was safety, a corner somewhere to tuck myself away in warmth and peace. But there was no safety anywhere in the world."

Since I'm a bit new to this whole reviewing game, I'll forgive everyone reading for not knowing this, but I absolutely LOVE fairy tales. I have lived and breathed and dreamed them since I was a little kid. And above all fairy tales, I love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling. And while it's true that I found this book absolutely amazing, it's far from the fairy tale I thought I knew.

It doesn't start or end with happily ever after. Instead, in this story, Beauty runs into the forest into the arms of a beast not just to save her father - but because she is dreading something. She dreads this thing from her past so much that death at the hands (claws?) of a beast seems preferable.

For the sake of spoilers and a very important plot twist, I won't elaborate on what exactly this thing is. I will tell you that once at the castle, Beauty finds the Beast conspicuous by his absence. He doesn't show up until about midway through the novel and when he does arrive, their interactions are very brief and he won't allow her to look at them. That's what makes this version so unique - both Beauty and her Beast are damaged. They will need to learn to see past their own scars in order to try to find happiness with each other.

There is a magical element to the story, like any fairy tale. Beauty has a father and siblings, also pretty standard. It's her relationship with the Beast and how it comes about that makes this book shine. Even though it takes place 'once upon a time' it's very easy to see how such a story could fit into a modern time period as well.

To sum up, if you love fairy tales, tales of characters healing and overcoming trauma, or tales of love (or all three), you will not be disappointed. Thank you very much to Shadow Mountain Publishing, Elizabeth Lowham, and Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great reimagining of a fairy tale classic. I will say I wanted more backstory and maybe I just didn’t want it to end, but I also would have liked to see more of the enchanted house characters’ personalities. Still thought it was a fun, quick read that was very well done.

I did not like this at all. Sorry but I stopped reading at %45. The plot was just boring and the romance flat. I really disliked Beauty. She had no backbone or personality. I just found the book overall dull and did not wish to finish.

Beauty Reborn is the perfect title for this whimsical retelling of the Beauty and Beast tale. All the elements of a fairy tale were present along with the addition of the modern #metoo element to the story . However I appreciated the ending of happily ever after. The author cleverly gave us the reality of love and creating a life together.
It’s when fantasy meets reality

A Beauty and the Beast retelling keeping in the magic and enchantment elements. Told entirely from Beauty’s POV the reader follows Beauty's family fall from wealthy merchant status. Then she goes into a magical forest to pay her father’s debt for picking a rose. I enjoyed the magic of the castle and seeing her relationship with Beast grow. I found it a bit jarring having her flip back and forth from the present to her life before meeting Beast. The book covers the main elements of the original story but adds a darker background for Beauty. She is getting over trauma and is learning to trust again. For me personally it is overly dramatic but it is geared towards teens and YA who will probably enjoy it more. It is clean, but a trigger warning for an off the page rape that is handled discretely. I think the cover is especially lovely. Thank you to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for an ARC and I’m leaving a voluntary review.

This was a unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The story is very intriguing and a bit on the heavier side as the aftermath of a sexual assault is a main theme in this story. Beasts’ character was my absolute favorite and I loved how gentle and patient he was. A lot of this book is inner dialogue for Beauty and I liked her growth. The only thing that held me up a bit was that the writing style sometimes was so poetic and flowery that I found myself getting lost in a lot of beautiful words that I had to think a bit about to connect to the story. Overall, this story is unique and beautiful in its own way. The magic system is not overly complex or hard to grasp.


Trigger warnings: there is a rape, it’s not graphic, though it is mentioned throughout the entirety of the book as this story is a journey of healing from that evil.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher/author for an advanced copy of this book.

Oh my goodness, what a great book. I was not expecting so much from this one but it has ALL the feels. It is such a unique take on the classic Beauty and the Beast story. I loved the voice of this story; it draws you in from page 1 and doesn’t let go.

Beauty has a secret that is burning her from the inside. Afraid and distrusting, she hides from vulnerability. But Beast is kinder than expected, gentle and peace-giving. He so careful with her that he starts her on her healing journey and sticks with her through it all.

I LOVED these characters. Beauty’s whimsy and bravery are equally the best parts of her, and the fact Beast can appreciate and encourage both facets is so engaging. Beast’s patience, kindness, and gentleness makes one fall in love with him pretty quickly. The character growth arcs for both characters are honest and fully developed. These were not cardboard characters!

I finished this book in less than 2 days and am hopeful there will be more in this series. Beauty Reborn is going on my recommendation shelf for friends and the author is now on my TBR/auto-buy list. Great book!

Rated PG-13 for adult themes (tactfully handled)
—mention and tactfully described sexual abuse/rape (non-graphic)
—little to no violence
—no gore
—no language
—no graphic sexual content (one closed-door scene, again tactfully handled)

I received this book free from NetGalley. My opinions are my own and voluntarily given.

3.5/5

I’m a sucker for a fairytale retelling, so I was really excited for this one. And it was… pretty good overall.

The writing itself was really unique. I wasn’t sure if I liked it at first, but as I kept reading I liked it more and more.

Beauty was an interesting character. She wasn’t your typical “Beauty” and for the most part it was pretty fun!

Beast was very sweet and he was probably my favorite character, honestly.

The thing is, I feel like there was more description of all the cool magic than there was about the story or developing feeling between the two. There wasn’t a whole lot of chemistry or anything. It was just.. there.

Also the book deals with sexual assault, and I feel like the author did handle it in a good way. However there was no warning or anything about it until the very end of the book. And I feel like that wasn’t well thought out.

However! I did enjoy the book and once I was in I was in!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I struggled with the trauma. I read books to escape from real life. And some books should have trigger warnings like with this one, there is a rape situation that the main character is trying to overcome.

I liked the flow and I liked the ending. Beauty and the beast is one of my favorite stories.

Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham
I loved this Beauty and the Beast retelling. Beauty takes her father's place at the Beast's castle not just to save him but to run away from her circumstances. This story is full of whimsy, magic, and love. Definitely recommend this story.

TW- Rape
#BeautyReborn #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The worldbuilding and magic system: 4/5
The worldbuilding was rather vague, but that’s fine because this is a more individually focused story than a big fantasy adventure. It did have a magic system involving fairies and enchantments. I would’ve liked to see a bit more context and explanation of that, but overall it was pretty solid.

The characters: 4.5/5
The characters were really good, though I would’ve liked to see more development and depth for the side characters in particular (eg. Beauty’s oldest sister who seemed rather one-dimensional compared to other characters). Both Beauty and the Beast were well fleshed out, and interesting characters to read about. I did find the Beast’s backstory a bit confusing, so I would’ve liked a more detailed explanation of that.

The plot: 5/5
This story gave an interesting twist to Beauty and the Beast. It was quite fast-paced, and I sped through it. I would’ve liked it to be a little longer, but at the same time, maybe a longer length wouldn’t have been necessary. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and recommend it to anyone who enjoys retellings with interesting twists.

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite stories. The animated version is my favorite Disney movie, and I've read more adaptations than I can count. The gold standard for me has always been Beauty by Robin McKinley. It's a fairly simple version of the story compared to some other tellings, but it does exactly what I want from a Beauty and the Beast story.

This book felt like reading Beauty again, but a somewhat more fleshed-out way. It's almost like this book is the reboot of a past favorite movie or TV show. It adds some things, reiterates on things, but... also has some of the same weaknesses.

To be clear: I really, really enjoyed this book. While I will talk about some of the weaknesses here, it felt like the adult me experiencing what child me felt when reading Beauty for the first time. I loved the experience of reading it, and none of the more negative things in the review bothered me while reading it. I'm still going to recommend the book to the people I think will enjoy it, and I will probably read it again.

I enjoyed the sister having a stronger part of the story, and I appreciated Beauty deciding to go on her own accord rather than being forced, I always love when variations use the daily marriage proposals aspect, and I think it was done well here. Beauty's learning to trust and Beast respecting her and her boundaries was done well. Her love for books and reading is here, and it's done in a sweet way that helps grow their relationship. I liked the prose most of the time. I liked how it was a little darker in parts that are unique for this story but doesn't feel too heavy or dark.

Now the more critical review.

The biggest challenge with McKinley's Beauty is that it's simple. It has some wonderful scenes that take you through the story, but there isn't a lot of character development or description. It leaves you wanting more and feeling like it was short. Which it was. I have all the same things to say about this. While I think this one was longer and it certainly has more elements to it, it still feels like there should be more.

I wish we'd had more of the magic system and the curse, and more about how it worked earlier on in the story. I wish we had gotten to know the Beast better. I wish Beauty had a more distinct personality as her personality was relatively forgettable. I wish their relationship had shown more growth before the end. I wish we'd had more development of the family so we understood better where the sister was coming from because it didn't completely fit. Overall, I wish it had been a little bit less flat.

But I'll still read it again.

Content warning: Mention of rape (not detailed or frequent, but she is dealing with the trauma of it)

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advance copy to review. I can't wait to buy a copy for my sisters and my mom to read.