I received a free digital ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Ro remembers the castle before. Before the gates closed. Before silence overtook the kingdom. Before the castle disappeared. Now it shimmers to life one night a year, seen by her alone.
Once a lady, now a huntress, Ro does what it takes to survive–just like the rest of the kingdom plunged into despair never before known.
But a beast has overtaken the castle. A beast that killed the prince and holds the castle and kingdom captive in his cruel power. A beast Ro has been hired to kill.
Thankful the mystery of the prince’s disappearance has been solved, furious the magical creature has killed her hero, Ro eagerly accepts the job to end him.
But things are not as they seem.
Trapped in the castle, a prisoner alongside the beast, Ro wonders what she should fear most: the beast, the magic that holds them both captive, or the one who hired her to kill the beast.
A Beauty and the Beast retelling.
My Review:
I like the book cover. It’s realistic. The colors match the tone of the book and it’s fairly simple. However, at first glance before I realized it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, I thought this was going to be Little Red Riding Hood hunting the wolf.
If you’ve been following my blog for long, you’ll know that I love my fair share of fairy tale retellings. So, I wasn’t going to say no to this one.
I found this one to be an interesting take on Beauty and the Beast. Rosette – or Ro for short – is a huntress who is hired to kill the beast. As a retelling, it’s easy to assume what the ending will be like. However, there are a lot of twists, turns, and lore packed into this one. It was darker than most but very well done and unique.
While the story itself was good, I had a hard time clicking with the characters. I had a hard time caring about Ro’s family and her sister Cosette mostly because we don’t see them much until later. So I just had to take Ro’s word for it and I didn’t click with Ro, so I didn’t really care too much about what her goals were.
The characters were very different from one another and had their own voices, though they developed kind of fast. I had a hard time connecting with Ro because of this.
The author does a great job getting the story across the page. It’s well written, easy and fun to read, and it’s overall just a great story. However, it’s almost 500 pages long and I didn’t feel as though the story really got started until halfway through. The description and dialogue were both great, but I felt there was a lot of filler that might not have been needed.
This was a good read. I’ll admit, it wasn’t my favorite, but it was a good retelling. The characters were interesting, it was written well, and the plot was unique. I’ll be interested in reading the sequel.
Kill The Beast (Beast Hunters 1) by Michele Israel Harper gets…
4 out of 5 cups
Favorite Quote:
“She almost matched him growl for growl.” -Michele Israel Harper, Kill The Beast (Beast Hunters 1)
About Michele Israel Harper:
Michele Israel Harper spends her days as a work-at-home mom and her nights typing away furiously on her laptop. Sleep? Sometimes… She has her Bachelor of Arts in history, is slightly obsessed with all things French—including Jeanne d’Arc and La Belle et la Bête— and loves curling up with a good book more than just about anything else. Author of Wisdom & Folly: Sisters, Zombie Takeover, Beast Hunter, and Kill the Beast, Michele prays her involvement in writing, editing, and publishing will touch many lives in the years to come.
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Preorder the book, out September 25, 2018:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing
Release Party:
Facebook – Thursday, September 27, 2018, 8-10 PM EST
Book Signing – Irvington Vinyl & Books, Indianapolis, IN, Saturday, September 29, 2018
What do you think of this book? Does it pique your interest? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and if you enjoyed this post, please share it around!
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