Beastkeeper
Author: Cat Hellisen
Series: None
Genre: Middle Grade, Romance, Fantasy, Retelling
Release Date: February 3, 2015
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Summary:
Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She’s grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn’t know that it’s magic her parents are running from.
When Sarah’s mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents — people she has never met, didn’t even know were still alive.
Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast…unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever.
First Sentence: The air was full of ice the night that Sarah’s mother packed all her bags and walked out.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
My Review:
Okay. Guilty admission time: I have absolutely no clue what Beastkeeper was about when I requested it – all I knew about it was that it was a fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast and that was enough for me to want to read it. I didn’t care that it was a Middle Grade book – a genre that doesn’t get along with me well – nor did I care that I was taking a huge risk since I’ve never bothered to see if other people liked this author’s books. Just the fact that Beastkeeper was a fairytale retelling was enough for me to want to read the book. (If you can’t tell already, fairytale retellings are my one big weakness.)
“Because your mother didn’t run out on your family, and your dad didn’t go crazy, and no one’s making you move, no one’s making you leave and go to strangers – family you’ve never met. It’s not fair.” (ARC 39)
I was full of anticipation when I first started Beastkeeper, only to grow slowly bored by it. Beastkeeper starts off when Sarah’s mother leaves and five chapters (aka about forty-four pages later) later, the book is still focused on the aftermath of Sarah’s mother leaving. I personally feel that that forty-four pages was a little too long to spend all that time about Sarah’s past before she learns about the curse. Please note, my ARC of Beastkeeper is only 200 pages long.
Things slowly picked up when we readers discover how the curse started and how it works. From then on, everything moved in a semi-fast pace, which was a relief after the very slow first half of the book. There were some confusing things happening that took awhile for me to register in my mind, but overall, the last part of Beastkeeper was a quick read.
“What,” Sarah said, very slowly, “is going on? Tell me now and tell me everything…Or I will wring this scrawny neck of yours, you see if I don’t.” (ARC 80)
The “romance” in Beastkeeper – if you can even call it that – was cringe-worthy. Yes, I know that Beastkeeper is a middle grade book which doesn’t tend to focus on the romance and yes, I’m well aware that Sarah is thirteen, but that didn’t make the romance any less cringe-worthy to read. Basically, Sarah meets a guy, talks to him a couple of times, and falls in “love” with him without realizing it. There was no chemistry, no hint that Sarah was seeing him other than a father-like figure, nothing, not to mention that the guy she “loves” is also a jerk. The romance is basically cringe-worthy all around.
Overall, Beastkeeper was a decent Beauty and the Beast retelling, but it was certainly not the best one out there when you compare it to ones like Beastkeeper. I don’t know if I’ll recommend Beastkeeper, but after some thinking, I’m sadly leaning towards no.
I’m still pretty excited for this one. Love like that doesn’t bother me in my books for some reason, a lot of times there just simplymisntthe time to develop the relationship. Great review though. I will temper my expectations a bit.
Brittany T recently posted…Wrappin’ Up January
Urg. Okay, so this sounds like one to avoid. I don’t tend to read middle school and the romance sounds… utterly unappealing. And I don’t know, B&B kind of has to have good romance in my head.
(Side note: I think you accidentally wrote “Beastkeeper” instead of Of Beauty and Beast” at the end of the review- which is coincidently one of my favorite B&B retellings!)
Great post, Kells! :D
Nitzan Schwarz recently posted…The Art of Commenting
Mmm… I’m on the fence with this one… Will probably wait until it’s available in South Africa in paperback or in the library. But I do love the cover :)
Sue Holmes recently posted…Katie McGarry: Author Interview
It’s awesome when Middle Grade books appeal to everyone, but if it’s not a category you enjoy, it would be hard to fall for a fairy tale retelling.
Pacing issues are awful!! But I did like her previous book!
this looks cool! it has an awesome cover too! I love fairy tale retellings, there are so many at the moment i’m sort of spoilt for choice but think I might take a look at this.
Megan K. Noblett recently posted…astronomy-to-zoology:White-fringed Antwren (Formicivora…
Awesome review Kelly. <3 But NOOOOO. I had hoped the romance would be cute in this book :( Now you are making me worry that maybe this book isn't for me after all, lol :) But it sounds so cute too. But hmph. I want my romances to be awesome. Sigh. But glad you liked the rest of the book :) Thank you for sharing your thoughts sweetie. <3
Carina Olsen recently posted…In My Mailbox #170
Beastkeeper seemed and sounded so promising…I was starting to lean towards wanting to grab my own copy as soon as I could just because of the fairy retelling aspect of it. Now I’m seriously reconsidering how much I want to read this story. If almost twenty-five percent of the story was cringe-worthy and boring, I feel like I’m going to feel the same. There’s no point in purposely getting into a reading slump.
well, i’ve not read that many MG books…too bad i also love retellings…esp. fairytales…thanks for this review Kelly. I can say i won’t be putting this on my tbr anytime soon.
Of Beast and Beauty has been a must for a long time, but I have not read it YET! I will, and soon. Beastkeeper definitely caught my attention, but I think as of now, I will focus on Of Beast and Beauty, reading and enjoying it, and maybe check out Beastkeeper at a different time. I do tend to love MG’s, but I am incredibly picky about them, as well. They have to have a certain oomph about them, and I think that oomph may be lacking in this one. thank you for your honest, wonderful review!
Jaime Lester recently posted…How to Roll Like Chris P. Bacon: A review by Crystalee
I’m not usually a big fan of fairy tale retellings but I found the summary for this one quite intriguing and I was thinking of giving it a try, since I’m also trying to read a lil bit more Middle Grade this year, but this review made me think that maybe not this one.
Thank you for a very honest review Kelly!
Pili recently posted…Tell Me Tuesdays #26!!
The premise sounds interesting to me, so maybe I will give it a shot. Thanks for the heads up about the slow pacing though.
Cynthia recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday – Books I can’t believe I haven’t read!
Oh no! Fairy tale retellings are my weakness, too, and this cover is gorgeous so I’ve been wanting to read this one without really knowing what it was about…. maybe I won’t get my hopes up about it!!
Kayla recently posted…Favorite Book Friday: Tayler from The Morrell Tale
I’s still buying. I read a lot of middle grade books and it sounds like the formula for one. But I’ll download a sample first to see if the prose is engaging.
Melinda Jane Harrison recently posted…Musing on birds this morning
I have this on my TBR list and I wasn’t so sure about it at first. I found this review to be helpful and now I know I should be cautious before adding every fairytale retelling to my list.
Melissa L. recently posted…Episode #10 – Harry Potter!
This is a retelling? Seems like there are a lot of retellings now
Oh no, sorry that this ended up being disappointing, especially as you went out on a limb and requested it because it was a fairytale retelling! I don’t think it would be a book suited to me, either, though I think MG can be a really fantastic genre, especially when it’s accessible to everyone, not just that one age group; the romance, which I guess I’m a little surprised to consider, does sound peculiar… falling for nasty people is unfortunate. Hope it ended well, though!
Romi recently posted…Mini Review (12)