I am not giving this book a rating. That’s not because I didn’t think it deserved even One Owl, but because I only made it 40% through the book. It didn’t seem fair to give the book a bad rating since I did not reach the halfway mark — so I’m simply giving it none.
I’m a bit shocked by the abundance of 5 star reviews for this YA fantasy fiction. That goes to show you how subjective writing is. Remember: We book bloggers give our opinions based on past reading experience but it’s also a matter of personal taste. My unenthusiasm towards this book is not a matter of writing ability — on the contrary, I believe the author to be very talented in that regard. What didn’t appeal to me is the author’s modern spin on the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. Which is kind of funny, because according to Goodreads and Amazon that’s exactly what other readers liked — no, loved about the book.
I still enjoyed parts of the book. In the beginning, our 17-year-old protagonist Tayla is dealing with more pressures than your average teen. What with the responsibility of taking care of her cousins and mentally unstable aunt along with dealing with the stresses of moving every few months I could appreciate Tayla’s teenage angst. When Kyle, the hot, popular guy at her new school is suddenly fawning over her, I think I’m happy for her, and she deserves the attention she never had.
Perhaps because I just came off of reading a handsomely executed werewolf fantasy fiction (My Wolf’s Bane) I wasn’t into this author’s portrayal of the all-empowering, controlling alpha male Kyle. But not only that, I couldn’t understand why almost the first half of the book consists of Tayla crying and running away from Kyle who I believed to be the ‘Beast.’ But no, suddenly she meets the real Beast through a wacky, drawn out exchange in the woods during which he shoots a magic lightening bolt into her stomach. The description of the wolf-man alone baffled me — I couldn’t picture this Beast at all. Is it a wolf? Is it an exceptionally hairy man? This first interaction between them was just so strange and I couldn’t get into the book after that. Even knowing full well the story of Beauty in the Beast, I didn’t know where the story was going nor did I care.
All that said, I give The Curse of the Beast a non-rating because I did not finish the story and you never know when a book might redeem itself later on. Perhaps I missed out on a great rising conflict. All the same, life is short and I’m moving on to the next one.
Between The Leather Binding 