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A review by youwishyouwereme
The Bride and the Beast by Teresa Medeiros
2.0
This book wasn't written for me. I love fairy tales, but I hate cheesy romance for the most part. So maybe it's a bit unfair for me to read this and rate it as harshly as I'm about to. I saw this book lying in a donation bin at Goodwill when I was 12 though and was determined to one day find it again and read it. Now I'm 21 and very glad I did not read it at 12. It would have scarred me, not gonna lie.
So here we go.
The main plot of the book is supposed to be based off of Beauty and the Beast, which can be seen slightly, but it reflects more Disney's new live action version of Beauty and the Beast energy than the traditional tale. A total jerk of a beast that isn't at all ugly? Check. A beauty that is living in a village so stupid that it is unbelievable while she is magically and inexplicably intelligent? Check. Pretending to be historically accurate while totally stomping all over actual historicity? Check. The historical inaccuracy did not really bother me as much though as the fact that the author portrays Scottish people for the most part as being stupid and superstitious to a nearly irredeemable amount. If this was a fictional place, I probably could have gotten along with it better, but the fact that it was set in a village meant to be from a real country sets me off a bit.
The other thing that set me off, besides the utter clicheness of the story, was the tonal dissonance throughout the story. You would have a dead serious moment and something that was supposed to be "funny" would happen, and it would just feel like a clown being thrown into a funeral scene. I understand maybe the book was meant to be lighthearted, but it just felt really off.
Also, I hated the sex scenes, but I'm an asexual Christian, so that might be more me than the book, I don't know. Like I said earlier, this book was definitely not written for me.
The ONLY reason I gave this two stars is because despite how ridiculous it was, I wasn't bored for about 75% of it. It kind of drew me in in the same train wreck way The Other Boleyn Girl did. Either that or I'm being way too generous and feel guilty one starring a book for a genre I already can't stand. 1.5 stars.
So here we go.
The main plot of the book is supposed to be based off of Beauty and the Beast, which can be seen slightly, but it reflects more Disney's new live action version of Beauty and the Beast energy than the traditional tale. A total jerk of a beast that isn't at all ugly? Check. A beauty that is living in a village so stupid that it is unbelievable while she is magically and inexplicably intelligent? Check. Pretending to be historically accurate while totally stomping all over actual historicity? Check. The historical inaccuracy did not really bother me as much though as the fact that the author portrays Scottish people for the most part as being stupid and superstitious to a nearly irredeemable amount. If this was a fictional place, I probably could have gotten along with it better, but the fact that it was set in a village meant to be from a real country sets me off a bit.
The other thing that set me off, besides the utter clicheness of the story, was the tonal dissonance throughout the story. You would have a dead serious moment and something that was supposed to be "funny" would happen, and it would just feel like a clown being thrown into a funeral scene. I understand maybe the book was meant to be lighthearted, but it just felt really off.
Also, I hated the sex scenes, but I'm an asexual Christian, so that might be more me than the book, I don't know. Like I said earlier, this book was definitely not written for me.
The ONLY reason I gave this two stars is because despite how ridiculous it was, I wasn't bored for about 75% of it. It kind of drew me in in the same train wreck way The Other Boleyn Girl did. Either that or I'm being way too generous and feel guilty one starring a book for a genre I already can't stand. 1.5 stars.