Book Review: Geekerella

TITLE: Geekerella
AUTHOR: Ashley Poston
PUBLISHED: April 4rth, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Contemporary Romance, Retelling
PREMISE: A retelling of Cinderella if it took place in today's world starring geeks.
MY REVIEW: There's honestly not really much I can say about this one. It's a Cinderella retelling. You tend to know from the get go what you're going to get with those. So original, it is not. But it was definitely cute and definitely set out to do what it wanted: tell Cinderella through the lens of fandom.
There is so much here that probably any geek can relate too. I sadly can relate to all the "you're not a real geek" stuff that the prince character went through a lot. I will say this for the book: it pointedly says the fake geek stuff is nonsense. At the start, I was worried it wouldn't. The main character herself is unfortunately a little judgmental towards the prince characters' fangirls and goes on about them not being real fans and ruining the fandom for the real fans (this is also nonsense guys. PLEASE STOP IT). I wish the author had addressed that more, but she does at least say "hey, knock off the fake geek girl nonsense" so...I'll take it.
Again, I can't give this much points for originality. Cinderella retellings are a dime a dozen. There's not much you can do to make yours unique, because it's a tale that has been done pretty much to death (seriously, can we pick some other fairy-tales please?). But the author did manage to deliver a cute romance that got the job done and celebrated being a geek so I honestly can't complain too loudly.
WHO SHOULD READ: geeks, those who love Cinderella retellings
MY RATING: Four out of Five cute romances

Book Review: Hunted

TITLE: Hunted
AUTHOR: Meagan Spooner
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy/Retelling
PREMISE: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast mixed where the girl goes hunting for a beast that killed her father and discovers he's not what she expected...
MY REVIEW: I wanted to read this one the minute I heard about it as I've loved the books Meagan Spooner has done in the past and I believe this is her first solo book that I've read (she wrote another series before These Broken Stars apparently, which I have not gotten too yet). It did not disappoint. In fact, it actually surprised me because it is not only just a Beauty and the Beast retelling, it's an Ivan and the Wolf retelling as well. You would think those would be weird fairy tales to mash up but the author pulls it off and pulls it off well.
The romance is a bit insta loveish (on the Beast's part anyway) but that's kind of a trope of most fairy tales. Beauty and the Beast retellings can be tricky due to the whole is it stockholm syndrome thing, but the author very clearly makes it clear that Yeva's capture was not okay and even after the capture aspect is ended, they aren't in love yet. It does a lot to take that ickiness of the Beauty and the Beast romance out.
This is well written, Yeva and the Beast are great characters and I actually rooted for this couple (which is more then I can say for the last Beauty and the Beast retelling I read) so I say this was a job well done. I hope we get more solo Meagan Spooner books in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Meagan Spooner fans, Beauty and the Beast retelling fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five excellent fairy tale mash ups

Book Review: Spelled

TITLE: Spelled
AUTHOR: Betsy Schow
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fairy Tale Retellings/Mash-up/Reimagining, Fantasy
PUBLISHED: June 2nd, 2015
PREMISE: In a world of fairy tales, a princess goes on a quest after messing up big time.
MY REVIEW: I am so torn about this one. On one hand, it's right up my alley. It's a reworking of fairy-tales. It's metaish, there's a spunky heroine. There are so many references and puns. It is damn enjoyable.
It's just...not really what I'd call a well written book. It's actually a little juvenile in tone for a YA book as well. I felt this might have been more suited for the middle-grade crowd, more then for the YA crowd. It also drags a bit and the world...isn't terribly developed well.
But for a average read, it's still darn enjoyable if nothing else. I can deal with average books if it's at least a FUN average book. This isn't the most challenging of reads, but I've certainly had worse.
WHO SHOULD READ: Once Upon a Time fans, Retelling fans, those who like parodyish sorts of books
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five magical shoes

Book Review: Stitching Snow

TITLE: Stitching Snow
AUTHOR: R. C. Lewis
PUBLISHED: October 14, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Retelling, Science Fiction
PREMISE: A retelling of Snow White set in space.
MY REVIEW: First off, I'm not going to do that thing people have been doing, which is compare this to the Lunar Chronicles. I understand the temptation, but I think we really need to step away from this habit of comparing new books to books that have already gained a following. I love Lunar Chronicles, I do and that's the problem. Because when you love something like that, and you read this new thing and compare the two, of COURSE it's not going to measure up. So, this review is not based on how this is not as good as Lunar Chronicles.
As a story on its own, this is a decent debut. The author twists the familiar story of Snow White a bit in some unexpected ways. It's very readable and Essie is a fun heroine. I wish the world was a bit more developed, but it's developed just enough that you get the gist of it at least.
Is it as good as Lunar Chronicles? No. Does that mean it's a bad book? No. It's a perfectly decent read, especially if you want more sci-fi retellings. Which I do, hint hint publishers.
WHO SHOULD READ: Lunar Chronicles fans (who aren't going to find it lacking just because it's not Lunar Chronicles), retelling fans, Snow White fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five badass princesses

Many thanks to the publishers for the Net Galley of this book.

Book Review: The Girls at the Kingfisher Club

TITLE: The Girls at the Kingfisher Club
AUTHOR: Genevieve Valentine
PUBLISHED: June 3rd, 2014
CATEGORY: Adult
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Retelling
PREMISE: Retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses but set in the 1930s...
MY REVIEW: I think I first heard about this one through Entertainment Weekly of all places in one of their random short reviews (highly recommend browsing through their reviews daily. Occasionally, you'll find some gems). I'm so glad I gave it a shot, because I really liked this one.
Not that I'm surprised I did. I mean, retelling set in the 1930s? That pretty much guarantees that I'll read it. I will admit, the storytelling style may not be up everyone's alley. The author tends to jump around a LOT. But I did actually rather like the writing style. It suits fairy tales. You got a clear idea of what was going on, the setting was engrossing, and each of the sisters had a clear cut personality that made me root for them.
I didn't like this one as much as my favorite version of Twelve Dancing Princesses (Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George), but it was still a very enjoyable retelling. I look forward to reading more of this author, who apparently has a YA book in the works coming next year.
WHO SHOULD READ: Retelling fans, Once Upon a Time fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five dancing shoes

Book Review: Cress

TITLE: Cress
Book 3 in the Lunar Chronicles
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
PUBLISHED: February 4rth, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science Fiction, Retelling/Reimagining
PREMISE: Cinder and co. go to a satellite to encounter Cress, a hacker who's been kept indoors for the past seven years, keeping an eye on the empire...
MY REVIEW: It really says something that three books later, I'm still pumped for this series, and it still manages to entertain me with its clever little twists on very familiar tales. It's hard to keep interest going in a three book series, let alone a four book one. So I give props to the author for keeping this series a must read.
I loved this one just as much as the other two. I will say it does feel a bit like a stopover on the way to a really awesome finale. It's a pleasant stopover. It gives answers, keeps up the plot, gives new characters, and Cress is the most adorable thing in like, ever. But...it is a stopover.
But if you're going to have a stopover book, you do it this way. I am in no way complaining about the book. I still very much love this series and I can't wait for Winter even though I'm also going to be very sorry to see this series go. This series continues to be awesome.
WHO SHOULD READ: Lunar Chronicles fans, Once Upon a Time fans, retelling fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five adorable protagonists

Book Review: Cruel Beauty

TITLE: Cruel Beauty
Book 1 in a planned series
AUTHOR: Rosamund Hodge
PUBLISHED: January 28th, 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Retelling
PREMISE: Fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast where beauty has actually been raised to kill the beast.
MY REVIEW: Okay, you all know I love me my fairy tale retellings. So I was maybe anticipating this book a little more then I should have and had expectations that were higher then they should have been. That's totally on me. You would think I would know better by now.
Honestly...I have really mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I love the world building. The way the author incorporated aspects of Beauty and the Beast was fun and interesting. The characters were also complicated which I appreciated. Not all characters have to be likable. But the way the relationship was portrayed was...problamatic as well as cheesy. While I appreciated the flaws in the characters, sometimes they became too much and I wanted to reach in and smack everyone. It never reached dangerous levels like it did with Gone Girl or Twilight, but it could be trying.
So I honestly don't know how I feel about this one. Because I do feel likability of characters/relationship shouldn't trump everything else. So...I say check this one out from the library and decide for yourself.
WHO SHOULD READ: Once Upon a Time fans, Beauty and the Beast fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five roses

Book Review:Hero

TITLE: Hero
Book 2 in the Woodcutter Sisters series
AUTHOR: Alethea Kontis
PUBLISHED: October 2013
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Fantasy, Adventure
PREMISE: Saturday gets her own adventure as she seeks to fix a mistake she made...
MY REVIEW: So I finally got around to reading Enchanted about a month or so ago (I'm slow like that) and fell in utter love. It was fun and quirky, just how I like my fairy tale retellings.
Hero is very much more of the same, but this time it's centered around my favorite Woodcutter Sister: Saturday. It was just as enjoyable and fun as I hoped it would be. Also, we finally get an entrance from Jack Woodcutter.
The next book is going to be about Friday. Just like this one, I can't wait.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Enchanted, Fairy-tale retellings/mash-up fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five kick ass girls with swords

Book Review: A Curse Dark As Gold

TITLE: A Curse Dark As Gold
AUTHOR: Elizabeth C. Bunce
PUBLISHED: 2008
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Historical Fantasy, Retelling
PREMISE: A historic retelling of Rumplestiltskin.
MY REVIEW: You know those books that you KNOW are good and that you should probably love more then you do? That is me and this one. To be fair to the author, it is entirely me. I do know that this is good stuff. Bunce is a fabulous writer and she does the story of Rumplestiltskin justice.
It's just that...I couldn't get into for some reason. The writing was lovely. There was nothing horrible about the characters. The historic details were accurate, etc. I just...wasn't into it. It was a nice tale. That was about it. I didn't get that big love I got with her Thief Errant series (speaking of which, are we getting a book 3? Because I would love one.)
I think this was a honest to goodness case of It's Not You, It's Me. I get that every so often. Usually with classics though (Wuthering Heights, Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye to name a few).
WHO SHOULD READ: Elizabeth Bunce fans, Retelling fans, Once Upon a Time fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five spindle wheels

Book Review: Sisters Red

TITLE: Sisters Red
Book 1 in Fairytale Retellings series
AUTHOR: Jackson Pearce
PUBLISHED: June 2010
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Retelling, urban fantasy, werewolves
PREMISE: When a wolf kills their family, two girls become werewolf hunters.
MY REVIEW: Ever have a book you want to love more than you actually did? This is me and Sister's Red. Every time I mentioned I was into fairy tale retellings everyone would tell me to read this. "It's especially good if you're a feminist" was also a popular phrase I kept getting. So when it was on sale on Amazon awhile back I downloaded it. Hate to say it, I'm not impressed.
Basically this is a female version of Supernatural but with sisters instead of brothers, and they hunt only werewolves instead of different types of monsters. Oh, and the sister's are given much less character depth than Sam and Dean are. The love interest was okay but kind of boring. The action was good but there were also plotholes galore (seriously, what kind of hunter doesn't have a car or drive at all? Especially if they live a two hours walk from civilization? Makes no sense, author). The dynamics between the sisters was probably about the most interesting thing going on in a otherwise pretty average plot. As for the feminist thing...I don't see it. Sure the sisters don't break down when they see a werewolf but I don't really see anything overly feminist about this novel other then that. It just gets points for not having heroines who cry every ten seconds. Doesn't make it feminist though.
Honestly this was just an okay but average retelling. I don't get what all the buzz is about. Maybe I'm missing something? Who knows.
WHO SHOULD READ: werewolf fans, Supernatural fans, fairytale retelling fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five crossbows

Book Review: Bewitching

TITLE: Bewitching
Book 1 in the Kendra Chronicles
AUTHOR: Alex Flinn
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: retelling, urban fantasy
PREMISE: Kendra from Beastly tells her part in the fairytales.
MY REVIEW: Sigh. I had such high hopes for this. Let me be clear, there is nothing really wrong with this book or any of Flinn's other books. Writing/storytelling wise they're okay. It's just...I find them mediocre and just...lacking I guess you could say. They're like that student who you feel can do better then they are doing and so you feel disappointed with them when they give you a average project. That is how I feel with Flinn. I feel she can do better then this and keep hoping that maybe this book will be when she brings her writing talent to the table and thus I wind up disapointed with her stuff every time. Probably my own fault, I know, I just wish her stuff wasn't so stock and boring and predictable. That said, I think this will be my last Flinn book.
One of the problems for me is that for something called The KENDRA Chronicles, Kendras hardly in it! She was the sole reason I picked up this book because she was one of the few things that actually intrigued me in Beastly so I was hoping this would give me more time with her character and help me understand her motivations. While we do get the semi-plausible backstory for her in the beginning that is a small bit and mostly this winds up being about a girl she helps who frankly annoys the hell out of me. I'm sorry, I did not care one bit about this girl. I wanted to know more about Kendra but that backstory was literally all we got. In which case, why are you calling this the Kendra Chronicles? Call it random fairy tale theatre instead because that's more accurate.
So for me this was a disappointment and the third try with this author and she has failed to capture my interest in the three books of hers I've read so sorry, Flinn you are just not for me.
WHO SHOULD READ: Beastly fans, Alex Flinn fans, retelling mashup fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five bungling witches

Book Review: Cinder

TITLE: Cinder
Book 1 in the Lunar Chronicles
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
PUBLISHED: 2012
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: fairytale retelling, dystopian/steampunk, fantasy, romance, science fiction
PREMISE: In this modern take on Cinderella, Cinder is a cyborg who is a mechanic working for her stepmother. When the prince comes with a broken android she agrees.
MY REVIEW: Warning, this review will have much bias because I frankly adored this book with every fiber of my being. Now yes, some plot points were pretty obvious which is a problem a lot of retellings have because most of us know these fairytales very well due to them being so ingrained into our culture (blame Disney). So some stuff here is very obvious from the get go and thus not very surprising.
But that's nothing that keeps the book from being fun because it is interesting seeing the twists the author adds to it to keep this from feeling stale which is what retellings should do (and why I love Once Upon a Time, if you haven't seen that show yet give it a try especially if you're a retelling junkie like myself). Plus Meyer's writing is great. Seriously, if I hadn't known this was her first book I wouldn't have guessed on my own she's that good. She knows how to pace, she keeps the prose simple enough so they don't get in the way, her characters are interesting, and her dialogue really nice. Plus I freaking loved Cinder. Such a refreshing heroine.
In short, this is a great book. Maybe not the most amazing book ever but it's definitely one of my top YA books of the year (so far, the year is still young). I don't know about anyone else but I personally can't wait for the next book.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fairy tale fans, science fiction fans, anyone inclined to pick it up
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five cyborg parts

Book Review: The Wide Awake Princess

TITLE: The Wide Awake Princess
AUTHOR: E.D.Baker
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: Childrens
GENRE: fairy tale retelling, fantasy, romance
PREMISE: A retelling of Sleeping Beauty from the one that didn't fall under the spell-Beauty's sister.
MY REVIEW: I have a horrible fondness for princess stories (hence my excitement for the Rapunzel movie out now) and I love retellings. Particularly retellings with spunky princesses who don't sit around waiting to be saved and have more important things on their mind than marrying their prince charming. So this book pushed all my right buttons.
Was it perfect? Not really. Sometimes it seemed to drag and there were absurd goings ons hear and there. There also could have stood to be some character developement and better writing. But it's humorous, the heroine is hilarious (and a great role-model for young girls), and the romance between her and Liam is sweet. Along with Sleeping Beauty, Baker also throws in some sly nods to Hansel and Gretal, Rapunzel (deliberate because of the Disney movie? You be the judge...), and some others as the sister goes in search of Beauty's prince charming all on her own in order to break the spell her kingdom is under.
Granted it does have the slight heavy handed message feel (be your own person, rely on your own strengths) but it's a good message so I honestly don't mind it. If you have a younger teen/tween/late elementary schooler this is a good book to point out to them. Particularly if they're princess freaks.
WHO SHOULD READ: princess fans, fairy tale retelling fans, tweens
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five spindles

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Book Review: Princess of Glass

TITLE: Princess of Glass
Book 2 in the 12 Dancing Princesses series
AUTHOR: Jessica Day George
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: retelling, fantasy, romance
PREMISE: Poppy from George's Princess of the Midnight Ball gets her own romance in this retelling of Cinderella
MY REVIEW: Some of you may recall that I read George's Midnight Ball a few months back and kind of loved it. So I was very happy to find out that George decided to give my favorite princess Poppy her own book. It doesn't disapoint either. This one is a retelling of Cinderella and it's one of the more interesting tales of it that I've read (and I've read quite a few of them being the fairytale freak that I am).
One thing I loved about this was hands down Poppy. I love me my spunky princesses (can't wait for the Rapunzel movie coming out next week) and Poppy is definitely spunky and kind of hilarious. I love that she plays cards and isn't overly concerned with finding true love. I also found the character that was Cinderella interesting because I know that Cinderella has never been written this way. Granted, I found Ella rather irritating, but it was an interesting idea character wise. I will say I found the ending chaotic like I did with the other one and didn't particularly care for that part, but overall it was good. Definitely reccomend this to those that liked The Princess of the Midnight Ball. I also really hope that George continues writing these retellings with all the princesses because I would personally love to see her take on Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Frog Prince and so on.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Cinderella, if you've read Princess of the Midnight Ball, fans of fairytale retellings
MY RATING: Four out of Five glass slippers

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Book Review: The Thirteenth Princess

TITLE: The Thirteenth Princess
AUTHOR: Diane Zahler
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: childrens
GENRE: retelling, fantasy
PREMISE: See the tale of the Dancing Princess from a character who was forgotten in the legend: their thirteenth sister.
MY REVIEW: I have rather mixed feelings about this book but overall it was good. It was a unique take on the Twelve Dancing Princesses fairytale. I definitely haven't seen the idea before and Zahler makes it work. Zita was a fun heroine, even if I didn't get much from her personality, I enjoyed taking the journey with her. Even the romance aspects were cute.
My issues with it were that the writing was rather flat. It wasn't engaging in anyway and had the annoying tendency to tell and not show. The ending while surprising was also somewhat chaotic. Plus again, rather flat two-dimensional characters.
Overall though, the book was decent. I believe this is Zahler's first book and she apparently has one coming out next year which is also a princess tale. Younger girls will definitely get a kick out of this one, particularly if they're into princesses.
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five princess dancing shoes
WHO SHOULD READ: younger girls in the princess stage, you like retellings, fans of the Twelve Dancing Princesses

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Book Review: The Amaranth Enchantment

TITLE: The Amaranth Enchantment
PART IN SERIES: standalone novel
AUTHOR: Julie Berry
PUBLISHED: 2009
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: fairy-tale retelling
PREMISE: Lucinda is down on her luck. She's gotten booted out of her home and now finds herself involved with a theif and a witch called the Amaranth witch...
MY REVIEW: While I appreciated that this was a different take on the Cinderella story...I didn't absolutely love it. I didn't see why Lucinda fell for Gregor, I actually would have preferred she got with Peter. I also didn't understand why the author did a old-fashioned story in the telling of a modern story because present tence storytelling is a very modern thing and it felt out of place for a fairy tale retelling and for a story taking place in a medieval like setting.
It's not a horrible book. Peter cracked me up and there were enjoyable bits. But honestly, this was just ho hum for me. But I do reccomend it for those looking for a different take on Cinderella.
WHO SHOULD READ: fairy tale retelling fans
MY RATING: Three out of Five amaranth flowers

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Book Review: East

TITLE: East
PART IN SERIES: Standalone
AUTHOR: Edith Pattou
PUBLISHED: 2003
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: Fairy tale retelling, fantasy, romance
PREMISE: A retelling of the tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
MY REVIEW: This book was just okay for me. There wasn't anything OMG fantastic about it, nor were there any real complaints about it. It was just your standard retelling. About the only thing that stands out to me is that this is one of those tales that I don't actually know much about. So in that aspect it was nice.
The writing is average but had a nice fairy tale quality to it, characters were okay (though Rose's Mother I wanted to STRANGLE), and while it was interesting getting the other POVs of the characters, I really think the book would have been better served by just sticking to Rose and the Polar Bear.
So if you're in the mood for a fairy tale that's not as well known as say...Cinderella. You're in luck with this book. It actually goes by rather quick and is a nice retelling. Other than that though...can't say much else about it.
WHO SHOULD READ: fairy tale retelling junkies
MY RATING: Three out of Five Polar Bears

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Book Review: Beauty

TITLE: Beauty
PART IN SERIES: standalone
AUTHOR: Nancy Butcher
PUBLISHED: 2005
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: fairy tale retelling
PREMISE: Ana has made herself ugly in order to please her jealous mother. But then she goes to school and discovers a dark secret her mother is hiding...
MY REVIEW: This was one of those random books that I found at my local library's book fair. It was only a quarter and sounded vaguely interesting so I figured so what if I've never heard of it. Books you never hear of can go either way. They can be either really bad, or just not noticeable enough for it to gain enough momentum for people to reccomend to others. Beauty is one of those that just aren't noticeable enough to reccomend.
Beauty is essentially a loose retelling of Snow White. I did find some of what the author had to say on beauty interesting but other then that the book was unremarkable in every way. The writing was average. The characters were average and not that memorable. In short, it was just one of those books that you read once for the hell of it and then promptly forget about once you pick up the next one.
WHO SHOULD READ: those who like fairy tale retellings
MY RATING: Three out of Five mirrors

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Book Review: The Book of Lost Things

TITLE: The Book of Lost Things
PART IN SERIES: Stand alone novel
AUTHOR: John Connolly
PUBLISHED: 2006
GENRE: Adult, fairy tale, fantasy
PREMISE: A grieving boy gets swept up into a world of fantasy and in order to make it home he must use The Book of Lost Things...
MY REVIEW: This book started off really good then kind of flittered around the middle till it got good again near the end. I know that sounds wierd, but it's what happened. I still adored it though. It reminded me a lot of Alice in Wonderland but with fairytales added in instead of nonsense characters. It also had more of a plot then Alice and Wonderland (I love Alice but lets face it, plot in that book was crazy and random).
This is not a fairytale for kids. There is some downright scary stuff going on in here. It was creepy but not over-the-top. Connelly's writing is also rather good. It was easy to get through and had the proper tone for fairy tale telling. The problem was the middle part was kind of...jumbled up to me. I don't know...it just seemed off. But then it got good again so I didn't mind so much. All in all, this was an excellent book, if you don't mind grisly stuff here and there.
WHO SHOULD READ: Fairy-tale fans, John Connolly fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of five fairy-tale books

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Sorry, I've been lax this week with the updating. I will be making up for it with many other reviews in the coming days. I've just been really busy and to tired to update (plus I discovered Merlin on SyFy and have been playing catch up on that show, ah King Arthur!Crack...so much love, even if it totally screws up King Arthur and gets historical facts dreadfully wrong).

Book Review: Beastly

TITLE: Beastly
AUTHOR: Alex Flinn
PUBLISHED: 2007
GENRE: young adult, fantasy, fairy tale retelling, romance
PREMISE: The Beast tells his side of the story in a modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
MY REVIEW: Honest? I don't get the big fuss that has been made online about this book. I mean, it was enjoyable to some extent but really, it wasn't completely unique. It was like every other retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The only unique things were a) It was from the Beast's point of view, b) it was set in today's time, and c) the witch who cast a spell stuck around to see what happened. Other then that, if you've read Beauty and the Beast and other retellings...don't expect anything different. It is still essentially the same story. So you pretty much know how it's going to end.
But again, this doesn't mean it's horrible. I did enjoy it to some extent. I loved Kendra the witch and Kyle was adorable when he was trying to figure out how to make Lindy like him, and the romance is sweet. It was a decent retelling. I'm just saying, I don't get everyone saying it's phenomenal because it's actually a pretty average retelling (fairy tale retellings are weakness of mine so I've read a lot of them and I can vouch for this). But other then that confusion, it's a good book that I reccomend to people like me who love fairy tale retellings.
Also, evidently there's going to be a movie version of this coming out this summer. After reading it I have to say, I don't get the casting. Vanessa Hudgens looks NOTHING like Lindy who is um yeah, plain? With RED hair, freckles, and crooked teeth? Plus, as much as I adore Neil Patrick Harris, who is he playing? None of these characters look remotely like him. I will reserve judgement until we see a trailer but I have a feeling this movie is going to be an epic fail in the books to movies department.
WHO SHOULD READ: fans of Beauty and the Beast, fairy tale retelling lovers, anyone who likes sweet romances
RATING: three and a half out of five roses

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