BEASTLY BEAUTY, by Jennifer Donnelly, Scholastic Press, May 7, 2024, Hardcover, $18.99 (young adult)
A thief finds himself stuck in an enchanted castle with a monstrous inhabitant following a robbery gone wrong in Beastly Beauty, by Jennifer Donnelly.
What makes a girl “beastly?” Is it having too much ambition? Being too proud? Taking up too much space? Or is it just wanting something, anything, too badly?
That’s the problem Arabella faces when she makes her debut in society. Her parents want her to be sweet and compliant so she can marry well, but try as she might, Arabella can’t extinguish the fire burning inside her — the source of her deepest wishes, her wildest dreams.
When an attempt to suppress her emotions tragically backfires, a mysterious figure punishes Arabella with a curse, dooming her and everyone she cares about, trapping them in the castle. As the years pass, Arabella abandons hope. The curse is her fault — after all, there’s nothing more “beastly” than a girl who expresses her anger — and the only way to break it is to find a boy who loves her for her true self: a cruel task for a girl who’s been told she’s impossible to love.
When a handsome thief named Beau makes his way into the castle, the captive servants are thrilled, convinced he is the one to break the curse. But Beau — spooked by the castle’s strange and forbidding ladies-in-waiting, and by the malevolent presence that stalks its corridors at night — only wants to escape. He learned long ago that love is only an illusion. If Beau and Arabella have any hope of breaking the curse, they must learn to trust their wounded hearts, and realize that the cruelest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves. —Synopsis provided by Scholastic Press
As you might have guessed, Beastly Beauty is a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, and author Jennifer Donnelly definitely has made the story her own. In this version, the roles are reversed, and the reason for the curse has less to do with selfishness and arrogance and more to do with sexism and societal expectations.
Main characters Beau and Arabella are complex and well-realized. As are secondary characters, who all have motives of their own.
Beastly Beauty is not just a fairy tale retelling. It’s also a mystery and romance. At its heart, it’s a story of relationships and how those relationships can dictate actions that impact those around us.
Donnelly expertly sets the scene, bringing the castle and all its mysterious inhabitants to life. Though the story moves quickly, it feels a little too long in places. That said, it’s an intriguing take on a classic tale.
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