The eldest daughter is often doomed in fairy tales. But Bella— Isabella Beauchamps, daughter of a wealthy merchant—vows to escape the usual pitfalls.
Anxious to avoid the Traditional path, Bella dons a red cloak and ventures into the forbidden forest to consult with “Granny,” the local wise woman. But on the way home she’s attacked by a wolf—who turns out to be a cursed nobleman! Secluded in his castle, Bella is torn between her family and this strange man who creates marvelous inventions and makes her laugh—when he isn’t howling at the moon.
Breaking spells is never easy. But a determined beauty, a wizard (after all, he’s only an occasional werewolf) and a little godmotherly interference might just be able to bring about a happy ending…
I received this e-ARC from Netgalley for review
I never read Mercedes Lackey before, but I will definitely have to check out more of her Five Hundred Kingdoms series! Beauty and the Werewolf was an excellent tale!!
As you can imagine this story will be something like Beauty and the Beast, and it is! With a little bit of Little Red Riding Hood and just good ol' fairy tale magic mixed in as well! The story starts off more on the Little Red Riding Hood front, when she's returning home from her visit with Granny, she's attacked by a wolf! And even bitten. She's almost immediately swept away to Sebastian's castle for he was the wolf who bit her. He somehow got out of his cage the night before and she's to remain at the castle for 3 months to see if she too will turn into a werewolf.
There at the castle, Bella tries to make herself at home. There's even invisible servants--much like the ones from the original tale of Beauty and the Beast if I remember correctly. There's also a Huntsman, who works for Sebastian and there are times where I truly couldn't decide on his character. First he's annoying and gross, then he's helpful and kind! He was a very complex and confusing character!
While Bella is trapped at the castle she learns many things, including about the world she lives in and how outside forces are trying to rule the lives of the citizens. There's magic lessons as well for Sebastian is trying to find a cure for his curse.
It was a very interesting story! I didn't read any of the previous novels and I wasn't at all lost in the back knowledge. I felt like certain characters might have been involved in previous books, but it didn't hinder the growing knowledge of this book!
So if you love fairy tales then this is definitely a book you want to check out!
Overall rating 4/5 stars
Beauty and the Werewolf releases October 18, 2011
I am going to add this to my TBR. I read her 500 Kingdoms books and enjoyed them all and like you said you don't have to read the whole series it can be a stand alone.
ReplyDeleteI think I might need to read this! The cover really didn't pull me in but your review did. I love Beauty and the Beast and crossing that with Little Red Riding hood sounds smart and fun. Great review!
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Tantalizing Illusions
After reading your review I'm even more excited about checking this one out. The combination of fairy tales sounds neat. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteAh, so it's a mix of the stories? Cool! I didn't realize that. I remember liking her work in the past, so I will try to check it out sometime. Thanks for the fine review.
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