This was a strong sequel in the Charming series, it had that element that I enjoyed from the first book and was engaged with the concept being told. It uses the Beauty and the Beast element perfectly and told it's own tale. It was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of this. Jade Linwood wrote this perfectly and left me wanting to read more.

First, I want to lead with a thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this early. Second, I did enjoy aspects of this book.

Alright, to start off, this is the second book in a comedy series based on fairytales and fables. I did not read the first book but I felt that this book gave enough backstory and context that I didn't feel like I was missing anything. The main character of this book is Prince Charming and is basically an amalgam of all Disney princes with a sort of roguish edge. He's a conman, a liar, a thief, and a womanizer. All of which came back to haunt him in the first book (I'm guessing).

There are some very cute aspects of this world. For instance, all of the characters swear to Goose like "what in the name of Goose..." I have to believe that's a Mother Goose reference. Adorable. All of the scorned princesses from the first book play a role in this one and they are all fun facsimiles of known fairytale princesses (sleeping beauty, snow white, and Rapunzel).

The plot *should* have been a straight forward gender swap of beauty and the beast. That's how it started out and things were going very well for the most part! But alas, this is where some of my criticism begins. For such a brief novel, there is a shocking amount of side plots, backstories, and characters. Because of that I found a lot of the side plots fell flat or were just plain boring. I found myself begging for more chapters in beast's castle. Towards the end, my wishes largely remained un-granted. The last 30 pages took me roughly the same amount of time to read as the preceding 150.

While the meter of the writing was satisfying, I found that particularly where descriptions are concerned, this author struggled. Given this was mostly a retelling, I actually felt that many of the descriptions were not entirely necessary and rambled on a bit long.

When it comes to comedy, I felt this book delivered. I loved the comedy-only characters quite a bit and enjoyed Charming's witty inner monologue. However, given this was a retelling of one of the most famous romantic fairytale, I did feel the romance aspects were lacking. I really didn't feel any connection between any of the romantic characters (of which there were a few).

Anyway, this was cute. I wish some of the side plots had been shaved so that we could spend more time in the main story. I don't foresee going back and reading the first one, but that's only because I felt this book did a good job of covering those bases. If you are reading this book searching for resolution from the first one, I can all but promise you will not get it. This felt less like a sequel and more like a side mission.

I'm left a little dissatisfied and a lot puzzled after finishing this book.

The story is mainly a gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast retelling, which is really a daring choice by the author because there are so many popular retellings already. Each chapter focuses on one storyline of which there are many, and I was dizzy by the end with chapters jumping around to random side plots. I didn't find any of the side plots particularly amusing or driving forward the story, so I was just confused and annoyed at each chapter that deviated from the main Beauty and the Beast story. I was honestly relieved when we jumped to the main Beast and MMC plot, and we got way too little from the enchanted castle. With what little I saw of each character, I was quite indifferent to them all and their relationships. There were glimmers of compelling character development and interesting twists like the competition amongst the potential Beast partners, and then the next chapter would jump into a side plot. The ending was abrupt and perplexing, too, and I'm not intrigued or bought into the characters and their fates enough to read the next book.

I typically really enjoy fairy tale retellings and read quite a few of them every year, so this was a pretty disappointing read to me. To be fair, I did not read the first in the series, but I don't think it affected my appreciation for this book because the characters from the first are famous fairy tale characters (e.g. Rapunzel, Snow White) and I could guess their situations. I have no issues with the prose itself, and I think there's something here with some serious editing. But I'm sure general chaos of this book is someone's cup of tea!

Thank you, Rebellion Publishing, for the arc!

Thank you, NetGalley, Solaris, and Jade Lindwood, for providing me with a free copy of Beast in exchange for an honest review.

This book continues Jade Lindwood's series of gender-reversed retellings. In Beast, we meet a prince who stumbles upon a mysterious manor owned by the Beast—a once-lady cursed into her current form. (love love her)

For those like me who haven’t read Book 1, fear not! Beast can absolutely be enjoyed as a standalone, especially if you’re a fan of Beauty and the Beast or simply don’t feel like reading the first installment for whatever reasons. While I didn’t feel deeply connected to the side characters (likely due to missing Book 1), I still appreciated them. Readers who liked the first book will likely enjoy their presence even more.

The standout feature of this book is undoubtedly its humor. It’s hilariously witty and cleverly pokes fun at the traditional fairy tale format we all know.

The relationship between Beast and Charming was sweet, but I craved more—more development, more chemistry, and especially more angst. The humor was brilliant, but if it had been paired with some pining or tension between the MCs, this book could have easily been a 5/5 for me. As it stands, it left me feeling a bit like the relationship was incomplete or rushed.

Overall, Beast is a delightful and humorous read, perfect for fans of fairy tale retellings with a twist

I really enjoyed the first one and I love beauty and the beast retellings, the gender swap is my favorite part. Just very fun and witty!

Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris for an advanced reader copy of this book.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. This book was well written and the humour was witty, but I found I cared more about some characters than others and was not as interested when it was their POV. I did think this twist on Beauty and the Beast was unique and thought the author did a great job fleshing the story out.

I didn't read the first book but this didn't hinder my reading. What I wasn't expecting was the multiple POVs though, this did hinder the reading. The premise suggests the book is more romantic than it actually was. Good if you like funny fairytales retellings.

I had enjoyed Charming, the first book in this series, so I was interested to see how the story would continue. Unfortunately, this second installment did not have the same magic of the first one for me. Book One was witty, fresh and fun, but Book Two felt like it was trying too hard. All the characters from the first book returned, alongside some new faces. This meant the narrative often felt a little too stretched with the attempts to keep moving back and forth between them. The pacing was awkward because of this, and I also struggled to get a real sense of some of the characters. To my mind this was most noticeable with Beast. I didn't feel we had enough time to get to know her and, in particular, that made it hard to fathom her relationship with Charming and how he could fall for her despite his past love-'em-and-leave-'em reputation. There were certainly some fun moments and witty lines, but overall it lacked the charm of its predecessor. I gave book one four stars, but I can really only give this one 2.5 stars. I assume there will be one more book to complete the story and I will be interested to see if Linwood can get things back on track to produce a compelling ending.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but different. The story starts with Prince Charming happening upon a manor belonging to the Beast, a former lady that was cursed.

I found this story hard to follow and kind of all over the place. There were times when I couldn’t follow along with the different POVs. The story just didn’t flow real well unfortunately 😞

This book is a continuation of Jade Linwood's first book, Charming, and features nearly all of the same characters with the addition of the Beast. It's a gender flipped version of Beauty and the Beast, which is what initially drew me into the book-- but it also clearly combines aspects of many different fairytales.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book. A gorgeous 4 star read book from me. What an exciting plot, vivid storytelling and relatable, rich characters. I could put this book down – absolutely loved it.

A sequel of sorts to Jade Linwood's Charming, Beast picks up close to where that book left off, with a lot of the same characters making an appearance in this story. It's a gender-swapping Beauty and the Beast that's funny, engaging, and light-hearted. I enjoyed this book quite a bit and finished it in a couple of days! Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

(4) I can’t lie. I am an absolute sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings. I love them. I’ve read every type in every shape and form. And this one. This one was gorgeous.

With Shrek-like dry wit and humour, BEAST mixes fairy tales with surprisingly good European-inspired worldbuilding and pacing given the multiple characters and plots. The references were everything. As I haven’t read the first book in the series, I admittedly didn’t care as much for the side characters as much as I could have, but they still provided lovely comedic relief and added to the overall atmosphere, though it did make the pacing a bit odd.

I loved the relationship between Charming and the Beast, though I did wish there was more development between the two of them. I would have loved more exploration into Charming’s feelings, being a conman whose whole deal is pretending to be in love. I also would have loved more angst and pining on the Beast’s side. I do admit that these things would have been difficult to fit in with all the multiple layers of characters and plots, but still.

Overall, BEAST was a funny, multi-layered book that I would have no issue reading over and over again, given the references, light humour, and romance.

WOW THIS BOOK IS BRILLIANT. I loved it so much.
this story is engaging, whimsical and creative. it is a reimagining of beauty and the beast that has a clever gender-flipped on the characters.

this book is a delightful blend of classic fairytale characters, werewolves, bears and danger. even through the focus was on charming and the beast, the other character storylines added to the dynamic and creativity of the narrative, it pokes fun art thee traditional fairytale elements while honouring the themes of love, redemption and transformation. whiter you're here for the laughs, the magic or the romance this book delivers all fronts.

this book is very enjoyable.

This book is a continuation of Jade Linwood's first book, Charming, and features nearly all of the same characters with the addition of the Beast. It's a gender flipped version of Beauty and the Beast, which is what initially drew me into the book-- but it also clearly combines aspects of many different fairytales.

The story follows Prince Charming, who--during a tumultuous journey in the woods to meet with a demon--stumbles upon the magical manor belonging to the beast, a former lady afflicted by a curse.

The book is somewhat scattered and I found it hard to keep up with all the different POVS, and the story felt disjointed in places. There were some times where I truly couldn't follow what was happening with the "main romance" and all the different princesses.

The vibes were all over the place, but I did enjoy mostly enjoy the romance between Prince Charming and the beast - it was funny and endearing but the chemistry wasn't all there. The different princesses (who are reimaginings of Snow White, Rapunzel, etc) verged on cringey and overdone. I respect their modern and feminist characteristics, and it definitely worked for some of them, but for example having Rapunzel be called Dr. Rapunzel was perhaps a bit too clunky. "Beast" wasn't quite for me, but it's a cozy and humorous story that I think will appeal to many fantasy and romance readers.

Thank you so much to Rebellion and NetGalley for this ARC! 📚

I love a good retelling, but a gender swapped one is just so much more fun for this one! I loved the way everything was set up and familiar, yet so different.

Overall rating: 4/5 stars

“So, what’s the witch lost, and where is it?’ ‘Her brother. He’s in a place that isn’t exactly there.”

Jean-Marc Charming Arundel is on a deadline to pay to the demon who helped save his father. On his journey to meet him, he decides to take a shortcut through the woods, where he happens upon a sprawling manor house.

The house is charming and tends to his needs, but will not let him leave. He soon finds out the Mistress of the house has been cursed as a Beast, and that he and his two co-captives, Will and Hans, -brothers of the bear witch and the wolf leader- must figure out how to break the curse with only clues. Clues and something true and honest. Will one of them be able to break the curse before time runs out?

“Now I don’t know about anyone else, but personally, I’m going to investigate the cellar.” “You think there might be a clue?” Hans said. “I think there might be a very good Riesling.”

This book was an unexpected delight. It felt cozy like a warm hug, that way that fairytales often times do. Magical and wondrous and told in a story tale manner. But there was a quiet intelligence, strong plot and subplots, and an air of mystique as thick as the forest that ensnared me.

The different characters and stories we know and love were twisted and turned, though wonderfully recognizable, and then pulled together in ways I didn’t see coming. It felt as though Linwood weaved a stunning tapestry of every colour over a blank canvas.

“An honest word is better than a fancy word with no heart behind it.”

The gender bent Beauty and the Beast slant was a nice twist. I adore this fairytale and making the beast female kept the story from getting tired, made it something new. It was wonderful to see the three male suitors, the kind man, the smart one, and the charming (pretty?) one, and have no idea which one was going to be the one to fall for her.

“You think he should have a ‘normal’ life, because you miss yours,” she said. “Not everyone wants that.”

My favourite thing about this book was how the servants were written in. Instead of them actually being objects, or simply ceasing to exist, she made them invisible and noiseless. Absolute genius. Because Charming and the bachelors see objects like a candle moving around and assume they are magic or the house is, and you get that wonderful magic feeling, and it is later revealed that they were there all the time, silently working. A real explanation for the magic that is just as magnificent.

“But the magic surrounding this place is stronger, too—and wilder. Less inclined to be controlled.”

I’m half German so I loved all of the German words and names strewn throughout. Especially Wohlabendberg and Johannes and Wilhelm.

“Knowledge was almost always useful. Sometimes dangerous, yes, but almost always useful.”

As I read this book, I disappeared into the magical forest with its cottages and bears and wolves. I could taste the magic. I didn’t want to leave. After all, who wouldn’t love to be locked up in a fairy cottage with nothing to do but solve the mystery of love?

“We are more than the stories that are told about us,” Marie Blanche said. “And less, too.”

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

What a good book!! This one had me hooked from page one! I could t put it down. I loved the writing style of this book. I lived the characters and they had great chemistry.

3.5 stars

Jade Linwood’s BEAST is Book 2 in her CHARMING series.

If you are a “Disney adult” or someone who enjoys the classic fairytales - check this series out! This whacky spin on the classics was a fun read that made me laugh quite a bit. I enjoyed that the “Beast” was a woman in this version and I enjoyed the spin-off stories especially with Cassia the Cat, Dr. Rapunzel, and stinky Roland.

However, this book was sort of all over the place with all the different stories on simultaneously and the multiple POVs. Sometimes I found myself confused as to what the heck was going on, but the book is funny enough to make up for its shortcomings.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & Rebellion for e-mailing me this ARC to read in exchange for my honest review! I enjoy reading Jade Linwood and hope to continue to read what she creates.

Beast by Jade Linwood
3/5 stars

This book followed Prince Charming, but does include different POVs for multiple characters. Because of this, and maybe even because I did not read the first book in the series, I found it confusing and a little messy in the writing style. The characters and plot felt slightly disjointed at times. Overall the book was pleasant and readable, but just lacked the extra OOMPH that would have really put it over the edge. I will mention though that the Beast and Charming story arc was well done. I thought they were approachable as a new reader to this series and that they were the only characters with any sort of chemistry.