Beastly Beauty

Beau and his companions are a band of thieves who love to take what they feel like they're owed. When they stumble upon an abandoned castle, they believe they've hit the jackpot. However, a beast emerges and everyone escapes except for Beau. He has a beautiful face and loves to use it to get ahead in life. But when he meets the head of the house, Arabella, she isn't the slightest bit impressed by him. She also surrounds herself with friends who seem a bit out-of-the-box crazy and Beau finds himself unable to charm any of them. So, he needs to find a new way to escape since none of them will help. However, something beastly lurks in the shadows and nothing is as it seems in this magical castle.

BEASTLY BEAUTY is a unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast that swaps the gender roles. Arabella is our beast and there's much more to her situation than what the naked eye can see. Beau is our Belle who relies on his beauty to get ahead in life. The two have this strange attraction that both struggle to ignore no matter the dangers hiding in the shadows. Even though Beau is her prisoner and will try anything to escape, he finds himself wanting to learn more about Arabella and the strange castle she inhabits. I absolutely love all of the the side characters and the roles they played. They breathe life into this compelling tale. While this story has a strange twist, I didn't care for Arabella's character as much because I felt like she fell flat in a lot of the situations. Each of the characters have a good bit of growth and the plot is fast-paced with lots of twists.


Final Verdict: I would recommend this to young adults who enjoy fairytale retellings, Beauty and the Beast, romantasy, and reversed gender roles. This retelling is unlike any other Beauty and the Beast ones I've read before and that's one thing I enjoyed as I wanted to know how it ended.

Beastly Beauty has all the key points needed for a gender-swapped retelling of Beauty and the Beast done well. It also has commentary on trying to fit into gender roles and what happens when you are made to feel less than what you are capable of that brings heart to this tale.
Arabella is supposed to be simpering and pleasant and to want nothing more than to marry well. However, Arabella is passionate about architecture and doesn’t suffer fools easily. She spends her formative years being told she is wrong and having her dreams dashed. One rash outburst ending in tragedy is the final straw to have an evil curse befall her and her court. Now for nearly 100 years, she is a beast by night and her emotions have become externalized court members and only the darkest of them remain by her side.
Then one fateful night, Beau escapes his latest con with his fellow thieves and ends up at Arabella’s mysterious castle. When the beast comes, he is abandoned and the bridge disintegrates forcing him to stay in the haunted castle. Beau is the catalyst needed for Arabella to find love, but I like that there is an added twist at the end of exactly who she needs to love for the curse to be broken.
Along the way, Beau unlocks Hope from her prison cell, and with her sister, Faith, they do what they can to help Arabella fight her darker emotions. I like the commentary on Arabella’s emotions to show how trapped emotionally she is by the curse. It was a nice touch to get the aspect of Arabella’s nature and to point out that those around her have repressed her and helped make the current situation.
Overall, this is a lovely retelling that is empowering and contains all the aspects of Beauty and the Beast that fans are looking for. There is a bit of instant love between Arabella and Beau that could have been expanded but the pacing of events works well as it is.