Review: Of Beast and Beauty by Chanda Hahn

Title: Of Beast and Beauty

Author:  Chanda Hahn
Publisher: Neverwood Press
Publishing Date:  June 18th, 2019

Pages: 310 
Genre: YA Fairy Tale Retelling

Series:  Daughters of Eville 
Source:  Audio

 

Something evil this way comes.
7 Vengeful Sisters
7 Fairytale Kingdoms
7 Daughters of Eville

Everyone dreams of marrying a prince—except for me. I am nothing more than a pawn in my adoptive mother's diabolical plot against the seven kingdoms.I was the chosen tool, her sharpened blade that would cut the deepest into the heart of the Kingdom of Baist. But like all deadly weapons, my wedding is two-edged sword that could cost me my soul.

For I am Rosalie, one of the adopted daughters of Lady Eville, and it is my duty to enter into a loveless and hate-filled marriage with the narcissistic Crown Prince of Baist. My choices and heart are not my own to give. Yet even in the thick of dire situations, beastly vengeance can give way to beautiful attraction.

This book I discovered while on Audible. I was pursuing and this just sounded good. I love a good Beauty and the Beast retelling. So on my TBR it went and I was finally able to read it. Ash had picked this one out for my February Bingo Challenge. I am so glad she did. This book was so much more than I had ever anticipated. I have read some good and some great and some so so and some not good at all retellings. I am picky since its one of my favorite genres. I really loved this read. It was good, it was different, it was a page turner. Yup I loved it.


Beauty and the Beast retelling with quite a twist on things. It starts with a witch with a daughter who curses a king and forces his son to marry his daughter. They get married they hate each other. The prince thinks the daughter is wicked, the daughter thinks the prince is cruel. Oh and there is a beast roaming the woods killing villagers. The prince and the daughter must find a way to work together to save the kingdom from the beast. There is magic, romance, war, horror, there is a little bit of everything in this story.


My favorite fairy tale is by far Beauty and the Beast, so when I see a Beauty and the Beast retelling I am all over it. It's always a hit or miss. I went into this one not expecting much but hoping for a win. And I got a win. This book was a little slow to take off... What I mean by low is where it was going. It was still good to read, I just didn't see where it was going. So it was a bit before I was totally in, but I feel that if the author didn't take the time in the beginning to really build the characters, I wouldn't have been in as deep once it all went down. Beauty and the Beast is at the heart of thing.... I love story and it's a love story that completely transform characters. So l needed badly to understand and fall in love with the characters, flaws and all. That is what this author did. I completely fell in love with these characters. It was great. I can say that there wasn't one character I didn't strong hate, love, respect, connect too, and many times all of the above at different times in the story. They all had pasts, secrets, regrets, issues to overcome.

The main characters, Rosalie and The Prince, are just great. There was so much to love about both their stories. Neither one of them was really in charge of their own choices and destiny. They were both forced into a marriage that they did not want and a marriage fuled by fear. Neither one able to trust or to truly be who they were. It wasn't until they decided to work together for a common goal when they began to let the walls down and also learn to communicate in a way the other could appreciate and understand. It was then when a friendship could come into play and eventually love. I just loved the love story.

The love story wasn't the only relationship the book focuses on. There are past relationships of love and of family that has shaped the present. There are friendships old and new and there are family loyalties and dynamics that really come into play. They are all intertwined in some way and the way the author weaves them all together slowly to tell such a compelling story is just magnificent. I have always loved stories that are told in pieces, past and present. I feel in these, I really get to know all the characters so very well.

This story was really it's own, even though it was a retelling, it was loosely a retelling. This story had so much more than just the love story, in fact at times the love story was almost in the background. There was love of family, friendships, curses and magic, kingdoms at war, mystery, darkness. It was just wonderful. The writing is beautiful, the story was adventurous and dark. The world the story was set in was vivid and full of color. There were many stories inside a bigger story and it all blended perfectly.

I am really looking forward to reading more from this author, especially this world. Which I am in luck since there are more stories about the witches daughters.



I loved it, nothing but love in the heart and stars in the eyes for this one.

Chanda Hahn is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Reign An Unfortunate Fairy Tale. She was born in Seattle, WA, grew up in Nebraska and currently resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their twin children. She attended North Central University in Minneapolis Minnesota for Childrens Ministry. She was also a children's pastor, bookseller and children's librarian.

Books published by Chanda include the UnEnchanted series a.k.a. (Unfortunate Fairy Tale Series) and The Iron Butterfly series.

Chanda is represented by Mark Gottlieb at Trident Media Group. You can direct any inquiries regarding foreign, film, audio and translation rights to him. www.tridentmediagroup.com