Reviews

Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher

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applejb's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

3.5

karrama's review against another edition

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4.0

A smart Beauty and the Beast retelling with cute twists and characters.

patricknight's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Review: Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher

Quotes: "He is not much to look at, I admit, but he's had a hard life."
"Haven't we all.." said the Beast dryly."

"I am making an enchanted house sad. God help me."

"Bryony," he said, ... "Will you marry me?"
"No, Beast," she said.
He nodded, and they went to the library side by side."

"The Library did not trouble her the way that her bedroom did at night. There were too many books, and books were everyone's friends."

"This is Magic. Or madness. Perhaps there's no real difference."

Review: A magnificent retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It has a lot of the heart and warmth of that story while also setting itself apart. Bryony and Belle would be friends, but they aren't the same. Bryony being a gardner and the love she had for plants. Something about that was just nice. Beast was very similar, with a little more refinement in this story, I think.
I liked that he tinkered with clocks and such.

This has a bit more humor and also a bit of Gothic/haunted house element to the story. Which I think worked very well. The house itself is a character rather than different inanimate objects. I liked how Beast treated Bryony. I also thought their banter and late night reading were very fun and a delight to read. The story is a bit darker in some ways, especially some information revealed towards the end.
I very much enjoyed this story as a whole.
I give this 4.25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks for reading 📚