Reviews

Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani

acozykettleoffish's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Not all tales have a happy ending,
not all happy endings are in the arms of a prince.

I really liked how these short reimaginings often made me take a second to ponder them afterwards! The book had beautiful illustrations to boot!
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vdm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark

3.5

kinnimomo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

onyxstonewolf's review against another edition

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4.5

Heads up this is a compilation of short stories, okay now that information is out,OMG🤯 I read the school of good and evil series before this one and am so glad I did
the Peter Pan short story at the end is the story of Horts parent!!!

read_em_all_ash's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I’m a sucker for retellings 

sabrielabhorsen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

deniseh1998's review against another edition

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5.0

Obsessed

kalona's review against another edition

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

3.0

I enjoyed the diversity in this book, I would have enjoyed it more if the American Author might have researched actual indigenous folktales and stories to rewrite rather than taking Germanic European ones and making them "people with different color skin." What an insult to the people around the world, pretending that their stories are so subpar that the only stories are worth while are the European ones. 

occultmorning's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked many of the stories in this book but a few I very much disliked. Some of my least favorites were The Little Mermaid and Rumplestiltsken, I found both of them kind of annoying but especially The Little Mermaid. I agreed with the sentiment but found the way it was written as solely an argument annoying. My favorites were Beauty and the Beast the Peter Pan. I loved the twist of Peter Pan and cried at the end wishing it could have been different. I loved that the stories had different cultures intertwined into them and I think overall it was a very nice book and I would reccomend it.

jeskabokaflod's review against another edition

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4.0

I love a good fairytale retelling, and these were magnificent—folded into intriguing new shapes, but with a still-recognizable pattern.. A couple endings even made me shout :)