I found it all quite charming and especially enjoyed the way contemporary things were incorporated. There are many elements familiar from the original story-the Beast’s love of roses (this version provides a fuller backstory of why he grows them), the isolated house (in Manhattan in this tale), the unwilling girl whom he grows to love, the library that opens his mind. A strange girl at school places a curse on him and he transforms into a beast. He also looks down on anyone who is not conventionally attractive. He has no family life to speak of and is used to getting his own way. The vain boy/Beast in this version is the very wealthy, arrogant, vain son of a television newscaster. This is a modern take on (obviously) Beauty and the Beast. I really enjoy fairy tale retellings, both modern and old fashioned. As it is I read about it on this blog, and promptly got it from the library. I know I’m out of touch because this book came out last year and had I known about it I absolutely would have picked it up right away.
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