Amazing retelling of the age old Disney Classic 'Beauty and the Beast '.
The book explores the story from the perspective of the Beast . I have seen a boon in the recent times and i am huge sucker of Disney Classics so I had to read this one as well.
The story is the same of Beauty and the Beast with a bit variations here and there . But I liked the storyline immensely. To begin with the story is cliche you can't deny that fact but the overall presentation of the story is lovely. My heart goes out for the Beast and you immediately like him nevertheless. Isabeau also likes him instantly. Yeah she is the main character very very similar to our Disney's Bella.
The romance between the two is very limited . Also at Ted Beast I'd asking her hand for marriage too many times makes the book tedious at some point.
The characters are well sketched and both Isabeu and Beast connect with the reader's at once. The feelings of Beast are presented well as it is much needed . Adding new perspective to the story .
This book is for Fans of Disney Classics and who believe in True Love ;)

I received this book from the publishers via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow oh wow. I was hooked from page one. I have talked about my penchant for fairytale retellings before, especially Beauty and the Beast, so I guessed I would love it but honestly I had no idea how much.

It’s a spin on the familiar, with bits I recognise from the more traditional tales, to bits that seem more akin to the Disney movie 💙. Either way, it is refreshing and gorgeous to hear Beast’s side of the story. I think I want a Beast of my own! He is gentle and kind and considerate. I like the way he was coming back to himself somewhat as well, at the start.

Isabeau is not your typical Belle, but she is just as kind and thoughtful and sweet. Her relationship with the Beast is truly heart warming - a friendship first and foremost, with an evermore “something there that wasn’t there before”. (Sorry!! Couldn’t help myself).

Her family are lovely too, though I wish we got to see a little more about her fathers progression through the year. Her sisters in particular growing through the year are just so lovely.

For a girl that doesn’t like romance stories, this is a perfect way to read one, because while they’re there and they’re prominent, they’re not the point of the story. The friendship and the characters growth is. And that felt refreshing and honest to the story.

The language used is lovely too. It’s a slow story in some ways. Not dragging, just not rushed. Taking the time to tell the story well. I’m not sure everyone will appreciate that but I did.

Honestly I think I’d give this more than 5 stars ⭐️ if I could. Now I’m going to go away and try and get rid of all the feels this book left me with!! 😂💙

This is such a beautiful retelling of a classic fairytale. Full of magic and romance, and a little sadness too, I wish this book had been twice as long. Maybe I am biased as Beauty and the Beast is my favourite fairytale and Disney film, but I dare anyone not to love this book.. A wonderful tale as old as time of everyone of any age.

The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shellcross has been added to a growing number of books I was unable to finish. I love the story of Beauty and The Beast and I love retellings of any fairy tale, so this should have been a book I would love. Unfortunately, it was a disappointing read.

The Beast’s Heart is a retelling of Beauty and The Beast from the perspective of the Beast. The Beast is not fully a man or a Beast but some mixture of both since being cursed by a Fairy a long time ago.

Then he met Isabeau and began to feel more human than he had in a long time, but now there is a chance he may lose her, and he needs to act fast.

The first paragraph of The Beast’s Heart was promising and made me feel like maybe this book would live up to my expectations.

“Enchantments and dreams: I expect they are made of the same stuff. They each beguile the mind and confuse the senses with wonder and strangeness so all that was familiar becomes freakish and the most bizarre of things intimate and natural. For the longest time after the curse fell I did not know if I was a beast who dreamed of being a man, or a man who dreamed he was a beast.”

Unfortunately, the rest of the book I read did not live up to my expectations. I only made it to 6% of the way through because I became bored. A lot of the language used to describe things was superfluous and nothing really seemed to happen in many of the passages.

One of the many passages where this was the case was this:

“the real is indistinguishable from the phantasm. My initial flight in abject terror from my home is as sharp and shapeless as a shard of glass.”

During the small amount of The Beast’s Heart I read the Beast talks of time spent in the forest by his home terrorizing creatures and people until one night some new and unfamiliar magic brought him back to his ancestral home.

Once he is home he feels that someone is taking care of him with the use of magic and he begins to regain some of his humanity but the person or persons looking after him remain invisible and he is incredibly lonely and misses human companionship.

Then one day a strange man wanders into his home and the Beast finally has someone to talk to if he can manage to control his animal nature.

This was the point at which I stopped reading because it seemed like it took years to get to this point and I decided I really didn’t care what happened in the rest of The Beast’s Heart.

A lonely Beast in a long-forgotten, enchanted castle is desperate for anyone to come. After a chance encounter with a lost traveller, Beast gains the company of Isabeau, a young woman who is feeling displaced with life.

I received a free copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a Beauty & the Beast retelling from the Beast's perspective (as if you hadn't guessed).

OK, normally I start with what I like, and work towards the stuff that didn't impress me. With this review, I'm working backwards. Maybe because I only liked the book towards the end, or maybe because the Beast's situation just annoyed me.

As I said before, this was a Beauty & the Beast retelling. We all know the basics - a smart, and beautiful young girl gets trapped in a castle by a terrifying Beast. The Beast is a rather horrible human, cursed to exist as a monster. He is temperamental, prone to fits of rage and stubbornness. Stop me if I'm wrong.

The Beast's Heart agrees for the most part. It tells you that the Beast is a cursed man, who was horrible and arrogant, and blind to the hurt he was causing others. It's tweaked slightly, in that his father was the aggressive one, and the Beast was cold-hearted and distant.
So that's what we are <i>told</i> about his history, and how that might affect his character...

I never felt it had any bearing the actual Beast we are following.
Along with the historical tone of the book, it made me feel like I had opened Pride & Prejudice half-way through, at the point where Darcy has overcome all of his character faults, and the reader can see what a good man he is, even if Elizabeth Bennett is still ignorant of all his good-doings.

What I'm trying to say is, we are told that the Beast has X, Y, and Z faults; but they were never displayed. He is a good chap, very thoughtful and caring towards Isabeau and his magical servants. He has flashes of stubbornness and depression, but overall he is a nice guy, and you know immediately that he wouldn't harm a fly.
I was left wondering <i>why</i> the Beast had been cursed in the first place.

Isabeau was a nice character. She was brought up in a wealthy family, who hit hard times. She isn't afraid of hard work, and has been shouldering a lot of the family's duties. She has a stubborn streak, and can be as morose as the Beast, so they make a perfect pair.
Overall, I found the story between Beast and Isabeau to be very dry and dull. They are both nice people, and as they are trapped within an enchanted castle, things are very repetitive.

My favourite part of the story, was Isabeau's sisters. In many stories, they are cast as lazy and spiteful, etc. But in The Beast's Heart, they are fully-rounded characters with their own desires and troubles. They do depend too much on their little sister, but once Isabeau has left, they come into their own, and find joy in their new lives.
I loved following their stories to the very end.

I was about half-way through this book, when I realised I did care what happened to the characters, and how they would work out their conflicting lives.
I came away with a somewhat fond feeling towards the book. It is really sweet, in the end, it is just a very slow builder.

No review was posted publicly on Amazon, Twitter or Goodreads for this title, unfortunately I never got round to finishing it, and feel it would be best to just remove it from my Negalley shelf without a review.

I love to get my hands on any kind of re-imagining of my favorite fairy tale, but this story took far to long to be told. Overly wordy prose, lengthy inner monologues and generally slow in large swathes, the story didn't really grab my interest or hold it most of the time. If it had been pared back and the over descriptiveness cut back, it probably would have been a lot more enjoyable, and therefore easier too read.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this advanced copy!

I love fairy tale retellings, and Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite stories. At least it had been until I started to think about the deeper implications of the plot (kidnapping, stockholm syndrome, etc).

Nonetheless I was excited to read this book to see what new spin could be put on this tale. It was a refreshing take from the Beast's perspective - trying to understand his initial confusion at his circumstances; some additional background on why he became the way he was (and which led to his curse), as well as his viewpoint of Isabeau, the heroine in our story, and patience. I found myself disliking the heroine at some points in this retelling, for seeming weak in character, but I realized it must be the nature of the viewpoint of the story - we didn't get to learn firsthand what struggles she had going on in her own mind, only through the eyes of the Beast, and upon reflection I realized her actions (and reactions) were in some ways more realistic at times.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the glimpses we had into Isabeau's family's life during her time with the Beast. Whereas other versions of the story portray her sisters as selfish and inept, we learned a little more of why they were that way at the outset, and were able to watch their growth throughout the story. I also found the depth of her father's character to be interesting as well.

Despite my enjoyment of the plot, I didn't find the style of writing to be as engaging as other retellings (it could be personal preference). This won't stop me from picking up another similar novel from Leife Shallcross though!

All in all, I would rate this novel 4 out of 5.

Hmmm. HMMMMM. This a YA retelling of Beauty and the Beast, this time from the beast’s point of view. I’m a sucker for a good old retold fairytale, and so was keen to try this out. But it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for.

Stylistically, THE BEAST’S HEART is gorgeous. The prose is lyrical and the world of the Beast’s palace is beautifully detailed, and immediately catapulted me back to a magical, old-timey France. It’s romantic and enchanting and fits the story perfectly.

My biggest gripe with this book is that it really didn’t surprise me at all. Usually I love retellings because they offer a new way of examining the fairytale, whether they switch perspectives, change genres, transpose to new settings, etc. – but THE BEAST’S HEART doesn’t make me feel any differently about Beauty and the Beast, despite changing the POV. It’s basically a beautifully written, embellished and lengthened version of the original tale, so if you’re familiar with the non-Disney versions, you probably won’t be surprised by this book. To me, it didn’t really make me learn anything new or think any harder about the beast – there’s a bit of background about how he doesn’t want to turn out like his awful father and is worried that he has, but that’s the closest we get, and even that isn’t very new because we already know the Beast got transformed for being awful.

Despite being from the Beast’s POV, the book manages to delve into Isabeau’s life quite a lot – even more so than his. The Beast has a magic mirror that allows him to see what is happening to Isabeau’s family while she is trapped with him, and this means we get a lot of time spent on seeing Isabeau’s sisters’ lives. This would be a nice addition to the story (her sisters do not get much attention in other versions of the story, if they come up at all) but unfortunately I found it to be one of the most boring parts of the book.

If you’re a hardcore Beauty and the Beast fan, I’d recommend this solely on the basis that it is written in such a gorgeous way. If you’re a more casual fan that just wants to read a good YA fantasy fairytale with a fresh twist, you might come up a bit short with this one. Decent, but it didn’t grab me, personally.

sorry, I made a mistake requesting this. I don't enjoy rewritten fairy tales, I've read part of this but its just not one I'll enjoy so I don't feel its fair to review it.

As others have said this is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. It's an enjoyable easy read and you feel the Beast's sadness throughout the book as he just wants someone to love him.

I enjoyed some aspects of this story and some other parts not so much however I would read more by this author

Morning mortals! Adding another title to the year of ALL THE RETELLINGS (at the time of writing I'm at eleven) is The Beast's Heart which publishes on the 3rd of May 2018. I was lucky enough to be sent a physical ARC from the publisher and I'm delighted to share my thoughts with you.

This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, obviously, but from the perspective of the Beast. I can see why this is a good way to go since it can go some way into removing the creepiness of this story. Because, let's face it, a beast keeping a girl captive in a magical castle until they fall in love is hard to make non-creepy. But I think, for the most part, this book achieved it's aims. I certainly warmed up to the Beast character as the book went on and, while the love story can feel a little contrived at times, so does almost every fairytale love story, so I can't really fault this book on that note. 

I do spend a lot of time on this blog critiquing books that have romance in them, often because it doesn't serve the purpose of the plot. In this case I'm not going to do that, simply because Beauty and the Beast is at it's heart (no pun intended) a romance. It was actually refreshing to read a YA fantasy novel that was deliberately a romance. Perhaps it's having the time and the freedom to really build and explore the relationship that makes it so much better than the age-old:

 'I'm just a plain Jane but doesn't that mysterious stranger who happens to be on this quest look dreamy?'

This book is written from a first-person perspective (that of the Beast) and it's quite an archaic voice. I thought this was, paradoxically, quite refreshing, since I've been reading quite a lot of books opting for a 'trendier' voice. What I will say is that this book manages to capture the ancient quality of fairytale without going into the waffle-y vague voice that I tend to associate with some short stories and retellings. 

I also loved the fact that this book was more than one story rolled into one. This is achieved through the Beast watching Isabeau's family through a magic mirror. That in itself was a little odd (my only problem with this book is how voyeuristic it is at times) but meant that there was the opportunity to bring in more characters, more plot and more of the world at large, in a story that would otherwise have two speaking characters. 

This story felt like a definitive move away from the disney movie plot without totally disregarding those elements that are at the heart of this story. While I will always love the disney film, it was nice to read something about Beauty and the Beast without talking furniture or anything that could be merchandised. 

I had a wonderful time reading this book, I think that if you're the kind of person who lives and breathes fairytale retellings you will most certainly enjoy this book. It's a great addition to any YA fantasy lover's shelf.

My rating: 5/5 stars

By the way, I received an advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was alright. I wouldn't say there was anything in particular I disliked about it to be honest. It was more so about the lack of anything particularly special about the story. It didn't manage to spark my interest and make me turn the pages like crazy. I love beauty and the beast and I enjoyed this book. I just wish there was a bit more to it.

I love "Beauty and the Beast". The bookish heroine, the moral not to judge by appearances, the magic curse...It's just a beautiful story. So I had high expectations going into this story. I really loved the portrayal of the Beast. You understand how he managed to get himself cursed, but at the same time, he's not so awful at the beginning that you loathe him. Also, the details about Isabeau's family were great as it added a lot to her character, and you can see how observing their lives was just as important in the Beast's journey as falling in love with Isabeau was. I was slightly sad that Isabeau was less of the bookworm that she often is in adaptations, but she was still a great character.

#thebeastsheart
#netgalley
I must say I was really excited about this book when I saw it. Having read it, it's ok but didn't live up to my expectations. I normally lo e a good fairy tale nd I liked the idea of the twist. It was ok, for some reason I just expected more nd normally I enjoy such fiction.

This is a beautiful retelling of  Beauty and the Beast. A tale this is so familiar that I think I could tell the story myself. Yet The Beast's Heart manages to be so captivating and so new that it will pull you in and make you turn each page with delight.

So many retellings have been told from Belle's point of view that it is so refreshing to have the story told from his point of view. To hear his thoughts and reactions. To see his inner turmoils and  struggles as he goes through each day. I just wanted to take the beast and give him a big hug. To let him know that he would be okay and that he would get through it all.

This was a fab retelling that manages to avoid some of the problems of the original tale. I loved the origins of the curse for this tale. And Isabeau's fathers health.  I loved that the story was simplified and the attitude each person has. Determined, thoughtful and kind. The tale feels like an entirely new story.

This is a tale that will make your heart quicken and your imagination run wild as each page is beautifully presented to you. I can promise that you will fall in love with this tale over and over again.  This is a tale that is as old as time.

This is a gorgeously written tale, that has a wonderful level of magic and romance and will sweep you off your feet into the midst of the story.

Where has this book been all my life?

As with a lot of fellow readers and romance lovers, Beauty and the Beast is one of my all-time favourite fairy-tales and so the prospect of reading a re-telling of the story from the Beast's perspective was too good an opportunity to miss.

What's strange is that reading this book didn't feel like reading just another re-telling of Beauty and the Beast. It's a story that is entirely it's own and in certain aspects, extremely different than the original story.

The author writes beautifully, painting an enchanted world that springs to life from the pages. I adore the backstory, it's fantastically detailed and complex: the Fairy's motive, the Beast's life in the forest, the mirror, the house and it's servants, the garden, his gifts to Isabeau's family - it all works so well to create a compelling, driving story that I was unable to put down.

The Beast is captivating. His inner struggles and turmoil, which run so much deeper than appearances alone, alongside his longing for company and human interaction, made the story all the more compelling. The love in this story is powerful, life-changing and realistic in its growth (it's not insta-love but love and affection that grow over time from friendship.)

In addition to plenty of backstory and a side to the beast that we've never before seen, it was also interesting to be presented with Isabeau's family, and these three other characters who add so much to the story through their growth, tragedy and love.

Whilst reading, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the original story, mostly in that this story offered more mature, emotionally complex, insightful details than the Disney version we're all familiar with. I also often found myself thinking of Pride and Prejudice, comparing Elizabeth and Isabeau due to their similarities in outspokenness and unwillingness to admit to one's feelings. It probably comes as no surprise that the Beast's portrait and his obsession and despair brought to mind Dorian Gray.

Overall, I fell in love with this story and the unique viewpoint it offered through the eyes of the beast. It's 5 stars from me and I will definitely be re-reading this book!

It's the story I never knew I needed. It made my heart quicken, my eyes tear and my imagination run wild.

Disclosure: I fell in love with the Beast so many times reading this that I may need therapy.