Bee Reviews HUNTED by Meagan Spooner // A Beauty & The Beast Retelling I Loved

Posted March 2, 2017 by Bee in Reviews / 22 Comments

Bee Reviews HUNTED by Meagan Spooner // A Beauty & The Beast Retelling I Loved

Hunted


by Meagan Spooner
Published on March 14th 2017
by HarperTeen
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Romance
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss
Goodreads

Also by this author: These Broken Stars, These Broken Stars, Hunted

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review.
This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4 Stars

REJOICE! I found a Beauty and the Beast retelling that I loved! Cake for everyone and happy dancing all day long! No but seriously, I’ve read a few Beauty and the Beast books before. Or tried to. But none that I truly and fully enjoyed, let alone loved. BatB is a fairy tale very close to my heart. The Disney movie is my favourite movie of all time and I am jumping up and down with anticipation for its live action re-make coming out in March. (HAVE YOU SEEN THAT TRAILER? I MEAN… IT’S SO PRETTY AND AKDJFDMKJF) So yes, I love this fairy tale. And luckily, I loved this retelling of it.

Also, can I applaud the author for incorporating the Russian fairy tale “Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf“? Because GENIUS. I am not familiar with the fairy tale, mind you. Not before going into this book. But I stumbled upon a review that mentioned it so I did my research on the fairy tale before reading more of the book. So I know what’s what, you know? I have to be informed about things so I come across as a professional. *cough* But I LOVED how the author mixed the two together and gave them her own spin. They work really nicely like this and it fit and I loved it. The whole book has a delicious fairy tale vibe and honestly that’s one of the things I really want from retellings. That they keep the fairy tale vibe. And this one did. So yay!

Of course what helped give me that vibe was the absolutely beautiful writing. It is so magical and enchanting and I loved it. Though maaaybe the start was a bit too much exposition? And I might be a tad confused about the ending stuff. Which I cannot discuss because spoilers. BUT I did adore the writing. It reads quickly and had me hooked. Also the little parts from Beast were fantastic. It added a little extra to the whole thing and I loved it.

Though before I do a bunch of gushing on the characters, I do have to ask what the purpose of Solmir and Yeva’s thing was??? It didn’t feel necessary considering everything?? That could just be me. Also, I kind of hoped Solmir would be like Gaston. BUT a moment of appreciation for sister love! YAY! I loved the sisters! Though I wanted to know more about them.

So yes, now I shall gush about the main characters. Beast and Yeva/Beauty. I LOVED them. Beast is so precious and tortured and sad and he needs hugs and cuddles and warm blanket forts. I adored him, really. I loved his whole story arc and his background. Can’t say much more about that cause spoilers, so on to Yeva! Honestly, I loved Yeva/Beauty as a main character. I rooted for her the whole time and I loved that she was so loyal to her family. She wanted more from life but would never abandon her sisters and her father to get it. She’s very selfless when it comes to them and I loved that. I hate it when MC’s are all loyal to their family at first but then because they’re stubborn they abandon them to get what they want. Yeva didn’t. And I loved her for it.

Though I have to admit that I kind of think their romance needed a bit more development. Just more in general really.

So overal this is a Beauty and the Beast retelling I really loved. Hunted is magical and enchanting with beautiful writing and a unique twist to the original fairy tale. If you’re a fan of retellings, please do check this one out.

Bee

About Meagan Spooner

Meagan Spooner grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in playwriting, and has spent several years since then living in Australia. She’s traveled with her family all over the world to places like Egypt, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, and there’s a bit of every trip in every story she writes.

She currently lives and writes in Asheville, North Carolina, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there’s no telling how long she’ll stay there.

In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads.

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22 responses to “Bee Reviews HUNTED by Meagan Spooner // A Beauty & The Beast Retelling I Loved”

  2. Nick
    Twitter:

    I am so happy you loved this, Bee! I’m going to pick it up soon, and I can’t wait. I love that it also incorporates Russian culture into it. And the Beast sounds like a character I would love.
    Fantastic review, Bee!

    Reply
  3. Cait @ Paper Fury
    Twitter:

    Oh this makes me so excited to read this!! I mean, I’ve had it on my kindle for just about FOREVER but I’ve been really slack with reading ARCs at the moment.😂This happens when I take nearly 2 weeks off to write, ahem. Soooo, anyway! I haven’t read a lot of B&B retellings, but I definitely hated ACOTAR haha, although I did like Cruel Beauty! So hopefully this is another win. I’m so glad you liked it.

    Reply
  4. Dina

    Bee!
    I haven’t read These Broken Stars, but I recognize Megan Spooner as one of the duo who wrote those books. This book sounds really imaginative and charming. Also, let’s geek out over the Beauty and the Beast trailer. OMG. IT IS SO CUTE AND ASDJFJADJ!!
    I’m so eloquent. (<–this word is hard to spell). Awesome review!
    *VANISHES*

    Reply
  5. Madalyn @ Novel Ink
    Twitter:

    I’m really glad to hear you enjoyed this one, Bee! I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I went to a book event last fall that Meagan Spooner was part of and she talked a bit about it. Isn’t it the best when retellings still manage to capture that magical, fairytale vibe?? I love that Hunted mixes two different fairytales, too. I’m a sucker for beautiful prose, so I’m really excited to read this. Fantastic review! <3

    Reply
  6. Nathan

    I love this review and I want to read this B&B retelling. Some retellings work, others, of fairy tales just put me off. I want to give this one a try when I can.

    Reply
  7. Elena Love
    Twitter:

    Amazing review!So glad you enjoyed it!It’s definitely one of my most anticipated reads and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! I adore Beauty and the Beast and Hunted’s release is perfectly synced with the release of the movie! Two in one and I couldn’t have been more excited 😀

    Elena @ Book Lady’s Reviews

    Reply
  8. Kelly @ Here's to Happy Endings
    Twitter:

    Yay, so glad to hear that you loved this! I’ve read a few Beauty and the Beast retellings but never seem to be able to get into them, either. I was actually considering reading this one next, so I’m glad to know that when I pick it up I have a lot to look forward to. Awesome review, and so glad to hear that you found a retelling that you enjoyed!

    Reply
  9. Eileen

    Sounds like a great retelling and I’ll have to be open minded about the romance. Thanks for sharing Bee! I’m definitely going to look up that Russian fairy tale now 😀

    Reply
  10. Sarah

    I love Beauty and the Beast retellings – and super glad to hear you actually liked this one. Will definitely be checking this one out, thanks for putting it on my radar 🙂

    Reply

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