Bryony and Roses

It's hard to read a retelling of Beauty and the Beast without comparing it to the Disney movie or the Robin McKinley books. I had a very difficult time with the first 40% for that exact reason. Girl ends up in enchanted castle. Meets a beast. Gets trapped in castle. Must break a curse. We all know the rest. How do you distinguish your story from the others? Look no further than Bryony and Roses.

In this retelling, Bryony is traveling home and gets lost at the castle. Not her father. She is “kidnapped” for her gardening abilities. At least that's how it's presented. There are still elements of the original tale. Every night the beast asks her to marry him. The castle is enchanted. The beast was once human. Still there are some nice original elements that makes this book stand out. The house is enchanted, not just the objects within it. Things appear and disappear at will. The beast has a hobby. There's a strange visitor. It's a rather original retelling.

While fun, it's not perfect. I didn't feel any chemistry between Bryony and the Beast. The Beast was too much “perfect nice romance novel guy.” and Bryony was an under-developed snarky (and dislikeable) female with too much inner dialogue. Still, there's potential and originality here. I'm curious to see how Kingfisher's other retellings are.