Review: A 'beauty' and a 'beast', but not Beauty and the Beast
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 30, 2012
A Beauty who has a naughty side. A Beast who has a nice side. Some really nasty bad guys in a futuristic world where a burlesque dancer and a former soldier get thrust into an adventure to save a young girl. Welcome to the Underlight.Readers of my blog know I'm a hound for any form of Beauty and the Beast influenced story but especially when it's got elements of urban fantasy. It's that area that I immediately began having trouble with this one. It's not quite futuristic or urban fantasy or paranormal romance. I'm still not sure what to peg it as. The novella opens with one of the steamiest sex scenes I have ever read but then the rest of the story feels cold. It definitely falls into the catagory of series problems I hate most... never open a series with a novella. Why? In this case it's going to be a trilogy so it's not quite a romance, there's no HEA, but the hints that it might come along eventually. That doesn't work for everyone.I liked both Jolie and Hauk immensely but felt like not enough world building happens to leave readers with a strong understanding of how their world has become the way it is. That aside, Garren has a great voice that I will definitely give another chance to win me over. While I didn't ultimately like HOW BEAUTY MET THE BEAST I will probably give HOW BEAUTY SAVED THE BEAST a try because I liked Hauk and Jolie.If you're looking for a Beauty and the Beast retelling this isn't one. The only element that hints at it is that Hauk is physically hideous and scarred and Jolie is gorgeous (and pretty enough on the inside to see Hauk's inner beauty). This probably won't work for readers who aren't into futuristic might-be-a-little-dystopian or urban fantasy-esque romances and for readers who want the HEA in a single book rather than over a trilogy.Notes: ARC received via NetGalley.