Stacey Jay

Of Beast and Beauty was, in two simple words, utterly beautiful. In fact, I am not sure you should even read this review, just go and obtain this story. I don’t care how, just do it! (I mean, I would totally understand if you stole it from the library and midnight. I would do the same!) You’re still here? Darn. Well, I guess I will have to convince you further! Read on, my friends!

Isra is the blind Queen of a messed-up city, that thrives on their hatred of the Monstrous and the show more sacrifice of queens to the roses. Gem is one of the Monstrous, and he just want to keep his tribe members from starving, no thanks to the Smooth Skins. The two start as bitter enemies. I thought that both of these characters were breathtakingly created. They are no where near your average hero and heroine. Trust Me.

The writing is spectacular. For example, the first page starts off describing an old secret, a girl, and a darkness that is a big part of the book, and her use of language pulled me into the mystery of the secret, the darkness, and the girl. My emotions were running high, even from the beginning. The desperation of both Gem (to save his tribe) and Isra (to rule a kingdom... with her own secret) ran through me, along with the little pricks of hope or happiness the author presents us. Also, the ending was perfection. *sigh* The last two page were, yes I am going to use the two words again, utterly beautiful.

Finally, I must mention the rose garden. Ahh, how this garden intrigued me. The bloodthirsty roses enchanted me and I love how the flowers play such a big part in the story. Now, before I leave, I must ask you a question. Who is Beauty and who is the Beast in this novel? Think on it as you read this novel.

5/5 Stars show less

Now THIS is why I read urban fantasy. I want flawed characters, a plot that grips me by the throat and doesn't let go, fabulous writing... and hey, a love triangle sure doesn't hurt. I adored Annabelle from the very beginning. "Flawed" doesn't even begin to describe her. She's got a ton of demons she's trying to exorcise (the wrong way, for the most part), but she makes no apologies for who she is and the way she lives her life. My heart ached for her every time she had to have one of those show more heart-to-heart talks with Cane, but each time the interaction felt genuine. And that's one of the great strengths of this book: all the character interactions come across as extremely authentic, as do the characters themselves.

I'm eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Annabelle gets herself into next! show less

Note: this is more of a 4.5. I'll say this much, for a book about true love, soul-mates and finding 'The One' it really only accomplished one thing--I'm terrified of anyone who says that we have a forever kind of love. Seriously, either way you look at it (in the book at least) its a horrifying prospect.

To explain, everyone knows the story of Romeo and Juliet right? Young lovers, bitter enemies, dead cousins, secret weddings, poison and daggers cut short their lives (of woe). Well! show more Apparently in reality Romeo was a devious, manipulative creep who wanted life eternal (and was stupid enough to trust some shady folks to give it to him at their word) and Juliet was a naive, innocent who truly was Italian in all ways (deep love turned to deep hatred--Italians do nothing in half measures). So now the two are working for opposing sides (the 'Mercenaries' and 'Ambassadors') and either helping true lovers remain eternal or dashing their pretty hopes in a sea of jealousy, hatred and murder.

With me so far?

It only gets better from there.

Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, was never one of my favorites of his plays. I've always learned towards Twelfth Night or Taming of the Shrew. Always thought there was something faintly...disturbing about the young lovers sacrificing everything. So for me this fit my view on things perfectly. Juliet is bitter, cynical and reluctant to help true love when it did her so wrong. Romeo is is a selfish, conceited malcontent who's more than half crazy and delusional to boot. Their interactions are intriguing to say the least. In their own ways they're both insane, both liars and opportunists.

I liked the fact that Jay makes the characters just a bit sociopathic and mercenary. With perhaps he exception of Ben (who is about as close to perfect as you can get honestly), everyone else works hard to further their own agendas. Juliet, who is our primary narrator save for the few times Romeo does during the 'Intermezzos', admits that her views may have been skewed. She acknowledges that despite everything she's done as 'Nurse' has told her because it was easier. The epiphanies she has at the end--and they come one on top of the other practically--are thought-provoking. Did she view Gemma fairly? Was Romeo truly trying to redeem himself? Was she really helping because it was the right thing to do or because it was the simplest thing to do?

My only complaint is with the confusing ending. Jay starts discussing 'what ifs' and she kind of lost me, which is unfortunate because its important to the ending to understand where she was going. Not just for Juliet, but for Romeo as well. If that last bit with Romeo at the very end wasn't included, I think I would have understood better. As it is, the last few lines (and implication behind them) muddied the water. It left me wondering 'So...who exactly is on the wrong side again?' show less

I had this book sitting on my shelf for a year before I finally picked it up. I was very apprehensive about it because I did not like Romeo at all in the first book but I absolutely fell in love with him in this one. It was interesting to see a different side of Romeo in this one and to see his struggle with forgiving himself for his past. His character was so complex and I loved reading from his POV.

Usually I don't like it when books switch POVs back and forth but it really does work in show more this one, I was equally interested in Ariel's POV as I was with Romeo. I really liked Ariel's character (though she was crazy at times), I liked learning more about her and seeing her struggle with her dark side.

I really enjoyed Romeo and Ariel's relationship. It wasn't easy and they definitely had some serious bumps in the road and even though they did fall in love quick, it didn't feel quick. They only had 3 days together but it felt like they were together much longer and their relationship developed a lot slower (compared to Juliet Immortal). I also loved that they brought out the best in each other. Ariel brought out the good in Romeo, the sincere part of him and he brought out a much stronger side of Ariel.

The ending was really interesting and there's some twists that I didn't expect. I liked how things turned out and overall I really enjoyed this one, even more than Juliet Immortal. show less