#elizabeth lowham | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

teenageread · 1 year

Text

Review: Beauty Reborn

Synopsis:

Yes, I went to the woods to save my father. But I also went hoping I would be eaten by the Beast. Because I didn’t think anything else could save me.

Beauty’s life is the stuff of fairy tales. The youngest in her family, Beauty isn’t trying to catch Stephan’s eye. He is the lord baron’s heir, well above her family’s modest station, but when he kisses her hand at a party, Beauty is swept away by his charm, his wit, and his passionate declarations of love.

Hearts can be untamable creatures, especially when touched by the fires of first love, and Beauty doesn’t see the truth of Stephan’s intentions until it is too late. Until he stops asking for Beauty’s love—and simply takes it from her one night despite her refusal.

Beauty locks away the secret of what happened to her, and when her father emerges from the enchanted forest with a stolen rose in his hand and the tale of a vicious beast on his breath, Beauty seizes the chance to run as far from Stephan as possible.

She has some experience with beasts, after all. Certainly the one in the forest couldn’t be any worse than the one she’s already encountered.

Breaking the Beast’s curse might be the key to discovering her own path to healing—and finding the courage to allow herself to feel reborn.

Content warning: References sexual abuse

Plot:

Beauty is known to be whimsical, much to her sister's chagrin. Astra always had no patients with Beauty, Callista had a little, but it was her brother Rob and father who loved Beauty best. When her father still had his fortune, Beauty used to attend balls of high society where she caught the eye of the future Baron, Stephan Galliford. Where Astra was furious, wanting Stephan for herself, Stephan only had eyes for Beauty and saw her as his even after she rejected several of his marriage proposals. Avoiding Stephan in private and in public, Beauty is almost relieved when her father goes broke and forces the family into a small cottage in the enchanted forest. There they struggled to survive and were almost sent to certain death when their father came back from hunting to say his goodbyes. Picking a rose from the garden of a castle, the Beast told him that he was to remain prisoner forever, but could go say goodbye to his family. Seizing the opportunity to do something for her family, Beauty goes in his place, hoping her sacrifice to the Beast will end the tournament Stephan had put her in. Yet, the Beast does not end her tournament but gives her what she needs to heal. With access to stories, music, and imagination, Beauty forms a friendship with the Beast, even if he does not allow her to see him. As their relationship grows closer, Beauty is conflicted when the Beast asks to marry her and help end his curse. Wanting to help this gentle being she has grown to love, Beauty must overcome her past if she wants to find happiness in the future, and save two lives from their cursed fate.

Thoughts:

Elizabeth Lowham retells us this enchanting story of Beauty and the Beast, starting out with characters actually named Beauty, and Beast. Writing from the first person point of view of Beauty, Lowham sticks close to the Disney plot of the story but adds in the element of sexual abuse Beauty had experienced from Stephan (her Gaston). While never explicit, and only referred to in flashbacks, Lowham spends the majority of the novel focusing on Beauty healing from her trauma and abuse, rather than focusing on how she falls in love with the Beast. With the trauma happening in Beauty's past, Lowham uses Beauty's time with the Beast to reflect, and notice the red flags in one partner, while noticing the good in the other. Despite the Beast proposing in the same way Stephan had, and Beauty giving the same response, how each man acts in response shows readers the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship. Lowham also gave Beast and Beauty plenty of things to bond over, from their love of make-believe, to how Beast enjoys listening to Beauty’s thoughts, whereas Stephan always seems to try to one-up her. With easy-to-follow writing, as it's Disney, Lowham makes this novel fly through your hands as you wait to see if this version of Beauty ends up with her Beast. With a fantastic ending, this novel can be a support to help identify toxic relationships, understand healthy relationships, and learn how you can heal from your trauma and not let it define you for the rest of your life.

For all those suffering please remember that you are not alone and that you deserve happiness, and are worthy of love.

Read more reviews: Goodreads

Buy the book: Amazon

#Beauty Reborn #Elizabeth Lowham #book review

0 notes

bookaddict24-7 · 1 year

Photo

New Young Adult Releases! (May 9th, 2023)

___

Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

___

New Standalones/First in a Series:

They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody

You Don’t Have A Shot by Racquel Marie

I’m Not Supposed to Be in the Dark by Riss M. Neilson

This is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde

The Secret Summer Promise by Keah Brown

If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi

Only this Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

Breakup, Makeup by Stacey Anthony

The Last One to Fall by Gabriella Lepore

Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham

The Rules of Us by Jennifer Nissley

New Sequels:

Revelations (Belle Morte #2) by Bella Higgin

The Iron Vow (The Iron Fey: Evenfall #3) by Julie Kagawa

___

Happy reading!

15 notes · View notes

cocoawithbooks · 1 year

Text

Arc Review: Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham

A Beauty and the Beast retelling where Beauty wants to go to the Beast's castle. Check out my review of Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham. #BeautyReborn #ArcReview

Amazon \ Bookshop Fairytale retellings are a sweet spot for me and they are hard to resist. Beauty Reborn by Elizabeth Lowham is a retelling that is emotional and dark considering what Beauty has endured before even meeting the Beast. I found the plot to be surprisingly fast-paced, especially considering that there aren’t many characters to drive it forward. CW: Sexual assault In this…

View On WordPress

#fairy tale retellings #fairy tales #ya lit #young adult #young adult fiction

0 notes

sophilozophy · 1 year

Text

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by sophia (@sophilozophy)

instagram

📚 2023 Book Releases, Part III The neverending list of books that intrigue me continues. It seems I'm still naturally drawn to fantasy, but a contemporary–even books with historical aspects–sneaks their way in. I don't consciously differentiate–an interesting read is just that–period. ▫️Queen Bee, Amalie Howard ▫️Silver in the Bone, Alexandra Bracken ▫️To Poison a King, S. G. Prince ▫️A Realm of Ash and Shadow, Lara Buckheit ▫️Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh ▫️That Self-Same Metal, Brittany N. Williams ▫️The Fiancée Farce, Alexandria Bellefleur ▫️A Crown of Ivy and Glass, Claire Legrand ▫️Beauty Reborn, Elizabeth Lowham

0 notes