Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales
by Soman Chainani, Julia IredalePublished by: HarperCollins on September 21, 2021
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
You think you know these stories, don’t you?
You are wrong.
You don’t know them at all.
Twelve tales, twelve dangerous tales of mystery, magic, and rebellious hearts. Each twists like a spindle to reveal truths full of warning and triumph, truths that capture hearts long kept tame and set them free, truths that explore life . . . and death.
A prince has a surprising awakening . . .
A beauty fights like a beast . . .
A boy refuses to become prey . . .
A path to happiness is lost. . . . then found again.
New York Times bestselling author Soman Chainani respins old stories into fresh fairy tales for a new era and creates a world like no other. These stories know you. They understand you. They reflect you. They are tales for our times. So read on, if you dare.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- A new take on some old stories.
- Fairy tales where the damsel in distress doesn’t need to wait for her prince.
- Men can also be in distress, for that matter. Imagine that!
- Fairy tales filled with more modern messages and morals.
- Diverse characters, including non-Eurocentric ethnicities and settings, plus LGBTQ+!
- A play on tropes that will keep you guessing as to where the story is going.
Many thanks to HarperCollins and Turn the Page Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
I have to admit, that cover is what grabbed me right off the bat. I immediately thought, yes, this is the sort of fairy tale I think I’d like, please. I’ll admit that I’d never read any of Chainani’s work before, even though his School for Good and Evil series is really popular at my library. I’ll tell you what, I definitely need to go back and read them now, after finishing this book!
Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales is an utterly gorgeous book of diverse fairy tales that have been flipped on their head. You’ll never know what to expect from these classic tales with unpredictable twists, paired with some gorgeous illustrations!
Chainani has such a gorgeous writing style, and it immediately sucked me in. I found myself re-reading passages because I particularly liked a turn of phrase he used or the way he worded things. Beasts & Beauty was such an enjoyable read in that way! That’s not even to mention how much I absolutely loved the fact that these are more diverse, more empowering fairy tale retellings than their originals (and rest assured, I did absolutely love this fact). Women can be fierce, men can be gentle, and not everything is as it first appears. Plus, not all fairy tales have entirely happy endings. Chainani brings a fresh perspective to the whole “bittersweet” ending in a way that I very much appreciate, because I don’t always need (or even want) a happily ever after.
Collections of short stories are always kind of hard to review, because outside of the general things I’ve said above, every story is different, and I’m always bound to like some more than others.
That’s kind of just the nature of the beast when it comes to a collection of . . . well, anything, really. Besides, I really don’t have anything to say in way of a review other than read this dang book. Trust me, it’s everything you’ve been waiting for if you were a child like me, spoon-fed fairy tales and other sorts of fantasy that you wanted so desperately to love but could never quite see yourself reflected in.
So in lieu of a standard review, I’m going to take a bit of time to introduce you to some of my favorite of Chainani’s retellings.
This is nothing against the ones I don’t choose, of course. There wasn’t a story in here that I didn’t like or wouldn’t gladly read again. Some just clung to me more and have decided to hang around in my brainspace, which is a dangerous feat and one worthy of some praise.
Snow White
First Lines:
He says the right things at the right time, a prince who promises her happily ever after. So many see only her skin, how different she is from the fair maidens of this land. they treat her like a lump of coal, like black is a sin. But this prince makes her feel beautiful, something she’s never felt before.
Why I love it: First, Snow White is black, which is amazing (and Chainani twists it in a way that still makes perfect sense within the context of the original). More than that, she isn’t just hated for her beauty, but because the kingdom she lives in believes that people who look like her shouldn’t have beauty to begin with. I appreciate the way this brings a whole new dynamic to the story. In this, though, Snow White isn’t just some poor victim doomed to her fate.
Favorite Quote:
Cinderella
First Lines:
These things happen, when you are the most charming girl in Mȧlaga and a gorgeous prince named Dante with bronze skin and windswept hair happens upon you during his tour of the coast while you are selling green cantaloupes at the market.
Why I love it: First of all, a Spanish Cinderella is pretty cool to start off with. My favorite thing is that Cinderella isn’t even the protagonist in this story. How’s that for a twist?! The underlying original story is still there. What I love most about this story is that while all the women are looking for this prince to satisfy their need for love, they’ve completely overlooked the fact that they’ve already found love, and that romance isn’t the only way to love another human.
Favorite Quote:
Saints don’t listen to sinners, says Cinderella.
Since when am I a sinner?” the mouse asks.
Since you steal food from the kitchen, drink wine out of my father’s best bottles, pepper our conversations with appalling language, and purposely use my stepmother’s boudoir as your toilet each morning, Cinderella replies.
The bigger sin is your stepmother using a boudoir each morning and coming out look like that, says Magdalena.
Rumpelstiltskin
First Lines:
That is his power, for as long as you don’t know his name, he is a fog, a concept, a raging infinite sea that can swallow you up at every corner of the earth. But know his name and that means someone gave him that name and suddenly the Devil isn’t the Devil but a soul beholden to the one who named him, and isn’t that who we should be afraid of? No, no, we can’t know his name, otherwise the Devil will have a story, a beginning and an end just like you or me, and Hell has no threat when it is staffed by commoners.
Why I love it: I absolutely love (and totally didn’t expect) the perspective of the Devil! I enjoyed the unique perspective for this story, though, and it suited it just perfectly! Mathilde is very much a product of the fairy tales she’s told: that if she can just catch the eye of a wealthy suitor, she’ll earn her happily ever after. All she has to do is be pretty and fair and a worthy man will always come save her from the injustices of the world. Until … they don’t. Then she’s left needing to save herself, which is a rather daunting task. This story was perhaps a bit more on-the-nose with its message than some of the others, but it’s one where the message is just so stark and the structure of the story itself so unique that I couldn’t help but love it!
Favorite Quote:
Red Riding Hood
First Lines:
They warn the town which girl they want, slashing the door to her house and urinating on the step. No one sees the wolves, just as no one sees the dew before it sops the grass. As winter wanes, the town thinks the curse broken, seduced by the mercy of spring. but then the marking comes.
Why I love it: The town is perfectly content sacrificing beautiful women to keep everyone safe. No one asks or wants to know (or even cares, for that matter) what the wolves do with them. It’s simply deemed a necessary loss. Sacrifice the beautiful women so that everyone else can live. But not everyone is okay with being sacrificed. I’ve read some Red Riding Hood retellings where the protagonist is clever, but this is one of my favorites because of the emotional punch it packs. This isn’t just an isolated incident, and the protagonist’s life isn’t the only one at stake. The issue is a larger societal one, and those can be harder to solve.
Favorite Quote:
It is the first time the girl feels scared.
Until now, she thought she would beat them somehow. human against animal. Good against evil.
But it is their song that stirs her—a dirge of self-pity, as if they cannot help themselves. They are prisoners of their nature.
And goodness is no weapon against the possessed.
The Little Mermaid
First Lines:
No, says the young mermaid.
Does he knows yours?
No.
Did you exchange any words whatsoever?
No.
And yet, you want to trade your fins for legs, disavow your friends and family, pay any price, all so you can ascend to the upper world and stalk this prince you do not know and try to get him to love you, even though he could be a psychopath or a philanderer or a prince who prefers the company of men.
Why I love it: I love stories written from the villain’s perspective! This one doesn’t really have much of a point of view, being basically a conversation. The sea witch, however, despite being a villain, isn’t necessarily wrong? The story isn’t claiming that she’s good or virtuous, which I appreciate, but it’s also not outright saying she’s evil, either. She’s a product of her circumstances as much as anyone else. Also, this is definitely my favorite story out of this collection because the sea witch says what every adult forced to watch The Little Mermaid over and over again is thinking by at least the third go-round of the film. It’s very much akin to Elsa’s classic, “You can’t marry someone you just met,” line and it’s such a gratifying feeling.
Favorite Quote:
Maybe you didn’t fight hard enough, says the mermaid. Or maybe your heart really is evil where mine is good.
Or maybe I saw love where I wished it would be, says the witch. Projecting onto a man what I wished I could give to myself. Making him the answer to everything. Now that is real evil.
About Soman Chainani
Soman Chainani's first novel, THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL, debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List, has been translated into 26 languages across six continents, and will soon be a major motion picture from Universal Studios.
The sequels, A WORLD WITHOUT PRINCES and THE LAST EVER AFTER, debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List as well. Together, the books of the series have been on the print and extended NYT lists for a total of 33 weeks.
As a writer and film director, Soman's films have played at over 150 film festivals around the world, winning more than 30 jury and audience prizes, and his writing awards include honors from Big Bear Lake, New Draft, the CAPE Foundation, the Sun Valley Writer’s Fellowship, and the coveted Shasha Grant, awarded by a jury of international film executives.
When he’s not telling stories or teaching in New York City, Soman is a die-hard tennis player who never lost a first-round match for ten years . . . until he started writing THESCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL. Now he loses all the time.
Enter for your chance to win one (1) finished copy of BEASTS AND BEAUTY:DANGEROUS TALES by Soman Chainani! Open USA only
Tuesday, September 21, 2021 – Tuesday, September 28, 2021
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You can find the full tour schedule here.
September 21
Turn the Page Tours – Welcome Post/Author Interview
Celia’s Reads – Book Review
September 22
Brinns Books – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
Nonbinary Knight Reads – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
A Bookish Dream – Book Review
September 23
Second Hand Reader – Book Review, Favorite Things About Beasts and Beauty
The Momma Spot – Book Review
Kait Plus Books – Author Interview
September 24
Polish and Paperbacks – Book Review
What She Will Read – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
Devouring Books – Author Interview
September 25
The Reader’s Game – Book Review
Eclecticbookwrm – Book Review, Favorite Things About Beasts and Beauty
The Bookwrym’s Den – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
September 26
Stephanie’s Reads – Book Review
Caitlyn’s Book Corner – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
Jena Brown Writes – Book Review
September 27
Books, Tea, Healthy Me – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
Avni Reads – Book Review
Reading Stewardess – Book Review, Favorite Things About Beasts and Beauty
Leann Reads Books – Book Review
I read Chainani’s The Princess Game (part of Kindle’s Faraway collection) and I think you would like that one much more than I did. (If you blend fairy tales with the movie “Seven” you will probably get that novella.) So while I’m glad you enjoyed this collection, I’ll be skipping it. Thanks for the review, though!
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…2021 Ignyte Awards Winners
Oooh, now that does sound really interesting!
I have a copy of this and I need to read it pronto! I’m so happy to see your 5 star rating😁
Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy recently posted…Buffy’s Corner 9/26/21 – Looking at the Week Ahead