My ranking 4 stars

I am a SUCKER for fairytale retellings. and this one was just amazing! I fell in love with it right from the get go. It wasn't your typical Disney version there were some dark undertones and I was totally here for it! I loved the detail of the palace and the enchanted woods. Beauty was just an awesome main character. I also LOVED the ending. You never really get a glimpse into the future after the main plot ends its always they lived happily ever after or they didn’t. I liked that it gave us a glimpse of the future. I would stock this in my store and constantly push it on my customers that like fairytale retellings.

Thanks to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for providing me with the arc in exchange for an honest review.

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TW: sexual assault (off page)

Beauty Reborn is a Beauty and the Beast retelling that follows our main character, Beauty, as she goes to the Beast's castle in her father's place after he stole a golden rose. In the castle, not only the bond between her and the Beast develops into a lovely friendship (and possibly more), but she also starts a path towards her own healing and rebirth.

This might be a short book but it certainly has a nice character-driven story. I really liked Beauty as a main character, and the Beast is adorable. The story is fast-paced but we still get to know the characters in a deep way, specially Beauty: her past, her healing journey and acceptance of herself. We also get to see her relationship with her father, brother, sisters, and a man named Stephan. Through the Beast, the author established a clear contrast with what Beauty experienced from her past relationship with that other man, and who the real monster is. Speaking of the Beast, I liked how he has the appearance of one, not like in other retellings where they're irresistible, gorgeous men *eye roll*, so it's refreshing to get a retelling where he is turned into an actual beast. He is shy, soft-spoken and endearing, showing Beauty a different kind of relationship, and in trying to break his curse she also learns a lot about herself.

Overall, Beauty's arc, her growth through the story, and exploring her past and present, is the highlight of the novel. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this book, highly recommend.

CW: Sexual assault
3.5/5 stars
Fairytale retellings are a sweet spot for me and they are hard to resist. This retelling is emotional and dark considering what Beauty has endured before even meeting the Beast. I found the plot to be surprisingly fast-paced, especially considering that there aren’t many characters to drive it forward.

In this rendition of Beauty and the Beast, Beauty’s journey is explored. It’s less about the Beast and more about the healing that Beauty is seeking after her sexual assault. There is an exploration of what beauty is, that goes deeper than just the traditional tale of a man who was a transformed into a beast because he was a jerk to a fairy.

Beauty is also stuck on the fact that people consider whimsical. She talks about it a lot… But it’s because others feel threatened by her wit and intelligence. An important part of her self-discovery is accepting who she is and embracing her wit as a positive trait instead of one that others find off-putting. Her time spent with the Beast is good opportunity to explore this because he appreciates her personality.

Another concept explored is Beauty’s post-assault frustration of finding men untrustworthy. The tension between the present Beast and his seemingly compulsory need to ask her to marry him during each of their interactions and the distaste left after her rejection of her boyfriend’s proposal for marriage is a main thread in the narrative. The comparison/contrast between the two men is pretty straightforward and it’s evident who is the actual beast. The complexity of the story lays at Beauty’s journey to self-recovery.

I just couldn’t finish this. There’s no world building or character building. It’s all over the place. The summary sounded promising, but I just couldn’t read it

Well done retelling. It was sensitive to the issue of sexual assault. I liked beauty and how she handled her situation.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast tale. A slightly different outcome than usual. Beauty comes to realize she hasn't been as good a a person as she should be. She learns to grow beyond mistakes and her past. Not everything that goes wrong is her fault.
Although it reads similar to a children's
book, I would not recommend it for teenagers.

Another take on Beauty and the Beast. I enjoyed it for the most part, It still read like the fairy tale but with a magnifying glass reading between the lines. I enjoyed it when she taught him how to read and write. That was endearing and a way for Beauty to get closer to Beast without him running skittish. If you enjoy Beauty retellings, this is the novel for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Shadow Mountain Publishing for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

It's baffling to me how this book is being marketed as a feminist retelling of Beauty and the Beast because I would not place feminist anywhere near this book. On paper (hehehe) this plot SHOULD work. It could work. Does it work in this case? Absolutely not. At least not for me. We get a reason for Beauty to end up at the castle of her own accord, well...kind of...and in a sense, she mostly makes decisions herself? But my god, as a character, Beauty is difficult to read and care for. With how weak of a character Beauty is, it made reading this an absolute slog. I mean, it felt like WORK reading this book. I couldn't care less for Beauty and her desires. I cared more about her nice sister and her villainous sister. Honestly, all of the characters were so one-note and so static. The writing itself wasn't good enough, in my opinion, to even keep my attention. I fought to finish this one.

I really really wanted to like this one. It sounded so promising and the premise, again, looked promising on paper. Unfortunately, the lack of character and the boring plot made this book a hard one to get through. I would not recommend and I genuinely do not understand all of the 3+ star reviews.

I was really impressed by this book. I picked it up because I love the cover and I'm always a fan of fairy tale retelling. I didn't realize until I got started that this is a book about a girl who has been abused and how she works through the trauma in her life. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into at that point. As I read I was very impressed by how the author handled the theme. It was very interesting to watch Beauty work through her trauma as she developed her relationship with Beast. The retelling of all that had happened was delicately handled. The romance is sweet with just a few kisses. Seeing Beauty overcome her fears and traumatized thinking because of the kind and compassionate Beast made for a beautiful story.

I love Beauty and the Beast and I love retellings. This book has a unique take on the Beauty and the Beast. There are definitely triggers if you have ever been or know someone who has been sexually abused. The book doesn't go into details, it is more alluded too.
I love the relationship of trust that is slowly built over time between Beauty and the Beast. The kindness that he shows to her and the patient friendship.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

A retelling of Beauty and the Beast that had me confused at the beginning that I initially thought was the case because I don’t normally read retellings of fairytales but as I continued I started to see the storyline emerge more fully. I really didn’t care for Beauty’s family, she was portrayed as the black sheep because she wasn’t like her two older sisters. Beauty was whimsical, and I think a good description of her would be more inclined to pursue a more intellectual environment.

I enjoyed the relationship between Beauty and the Beast, it slowly developed and it didn’t lack for showing each character's personality. This was slow for me because I am guessing I am not a huge reader or the right target reader of fairytales, but my enjoyment of the story of it did increase as I read.

My gratitude to Netgalley and Shadow Mountain. All opinions are mine.

I received an arc from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

I read the prologue and part of chapter 1, and the MC isn't likeable. She's a little insufferable and likes to talk talk talk talk. She thinks she's witty, and it's unfortunate we see how the story unfolds through her eyes.

There's a lot of telling, not much showing. It's like reading a long summary without the unique voice or narration of the MC. It's dry, dead, colorless. And there were weird jumps between sceneries/settings. This might be due to the excessive telling.

I wanted to like this book since its a retelling of my favorite fairytale. I would have given this 1 star only, but gave it 2 instead for the effort.

An excellent retelling with an entirely new spin on the original Beauty and the Beast. Beauty is both kind and stubborn, great traits to have in her environment. She did not fall into the magic of the castle as quickly as I thought she would. Beast brings great contrast to the story. We see him as shy and uncertain yet hopeful. The castle's curse remains similar but with delightful differences. I enjoyed seeing deeper into Beauty's family and her motivation behind going to the castle. This book has a bit of a darker tone but I loved how the author handled each situation. Stunning prose kept me reading and brought the whole thing to life.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This book was slow paced but I like how I could put it down and whenever I picked it back up, I felt immersed in the story. The author did a fantastic job regarding imagery and I found the story very atmospheric. The main character's journey of healing from her trauma didn't feel rushed. I enjoyed seeing the character regain her confidence and find her strength again.

First off I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this for a review. All opinions are my own.
I am an absolute sucker for a Beauty and the Beast retelling so when I saw this I knew I wanted to read it. Overall, it was a good story. The concept was unique enough to make it interesting but could have totally been fleshed out a little bit. The first bit of the story felt a little disjointed and rushed making it difficult to really get stuck in to. I almost dnf'd the book twice in the first 25 pages. I am glad I ended up finishing it though.
Beauty Reborn will never make it into my top faves for Beauty and the Beast re-telling but it also isn't the worse. I think fleshing out the first quarter of the book by giving a bit more backstory to Beauty's home life especially her motivation for leaving and a little bit of space before she runs off would really serve the later story.
CW: sexual assault

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast that is unlike any I have read. It was absolutely enthralling in the telling. It felt like a new story with the familiarity of an old friend. Beauty was realistic and lovely and the beast was mysterious and everything he should be.

The story was complete with the enchanted forest and enchanted castle. I loved looking through Beauty's perspective as she cracks through the shell of his exterior.

The magic and imagery were lovely. The tone of the story was perfect. The twists were fantastic. I could not put this one down and found myself reading it in every spare minute I had.

The most important part of this story is the relationship of Beauty with her family and how this changes through the story as well as her perspective changes through the story. There is a perfect balance of magic, growth, and faith in this story and I can't wait to read it again.

I received an early copy from the publisher through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

This book was SO good! My only complaint is that it was not full-length. I can truly see the author doing immense justice to this amazing story with more pages. There were so many beautiful portions of gorgeous, poignant prose! I appreciated being able to read a darker fairytale retelling that was not full of gratuitous violence or sex. The market is full of fantasy/magical realism that has all that - this was a beautiful story of strength and courage. I loved that the author spoke of overcoming sins like selfishness and greed - truly uplifting! Bravo! I will be waiting impatiently for more from this author.

4.5 stars rounded up! Simply needed MORE! :)

#BeautyReborn #NetGalley

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This book was a little dark. Be sure to read the trigger warning.
The retelling reminded me of Beauty by Robin McKinley. The story is very much like other versions, and I felt like the author did a good job of describing Beauty's character.

4.5/5

Beauty, the youngest child of a wealthy merchant, has been given an impressive education and the opportunity to be herself, which is spirited, clever and whimsical. Much to the detriment of her eldest sister, Beauty has unwillingly caught the attention of the future baron. At first he is a fun, witty companion and Beauty finds herself enjoying their constant quips. It’s only until too late that Beauty realizes that beneath the baron is a beast. In an act of trying to escape from her situation, Beauty takes the first change she can to sacrifice herself to an actual Beast, in hopes that this one will at least devour her.

TW::: Sexual assault
I’ll put this here first and foremost, this book does deal with sexual assault and how one might deal with it. The scene in which it takes place isn’t graphic, but it does do a good job of giving readers the icky feeling even without the description of the assault.

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish! I loved Beauty’s character. Though 17 she has great depth of character and is quite intelligent. I loved the world building and how easily Lowham might be able to add on to her world (aka me asking for a sequel please!!!!!) I thought Beauty's journey with the Beast was very sweet and yes I did squeal even if they just looked at each other. This is a slow burn done right!!

The fairytale aspect was also very fun and added a lot to the story. AGAIN, SEQUEL PLEASE

I did take .5 off only because coming into the book was a little confusing with how Lowham decided to switch between present and future. But once I got 20% in it was smooth sailing. I ended up loving Lowham’s writing and now I EAGERLY await a sequel or a companion or anything! Please!

A beautiful, unique twist on a familiar tale. Lowham has a voice that pulls you in and brings the characters to brilliant life.