May 27, 2015

Review: Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen

Beastkeeper by Cat Hellisen (Feb. 2015)
208 pages
Genre: Middle Grade/Fairy Tale Retelling
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
Source: I received a free eARC from the publisher via Netgalley. This did not affect my honest review.
Purchase: Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Amazon
My Rating:
Goodreads 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.

My Review

The cover of Beastkeeper is breathtaking. All of the tiny amazing details blew me away. This is why I decided to read this book. The second reason, it is a fairy tale retelling where the girl is the beast. It's different, and I love different.

I am so glad I chose to give Beastkeeper a chance. It was a sad story, yet very charming. It wasn't a story full of laughter or cute things, it was one full of sadness and pain. I was expecting more of a fun story since this book leans toward being middle grade, but I'm not complaining. It was well written and I had no trouble falling into the complex wonderful magical world that the author created.

The characters in Beastkeeper are rather interesting and enjoyable to read about. Sarah is a strong young girl who is doing her best to get by when her mother up and leaves her and her dad. Sarah then finds out what love means, what family should mean, and how far back curses and magic can go. Even though my time with her was short I grew really fond of her. The other minor characters in the story were great too, but Sarah was my favorite.

Full of family secrets, curses, and beasts, Beastkeeper is a unique fairy tale. It isn't all rainbows and unicorns, but much more. This was a nice magical tale that I think is worth reading. I apologize for the short review, but it was a short book. 

10 comments:

  1. Oh yeah, it IS really short even for a MG read. I wouldn't have expected based on the premise for this to be fun. You describing at as sad has me worried. Maybe the author wanted to be even more different and give Sarah a not so happy ending.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For whatever reason I guess this book just turned out to be different than what I expected. Not really in a bad way though!

      Delete
  2. This sounds really good! I am surprised that it was so sad. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this, despite its sadness.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've had my eye on this one as I love dark retellings, plus - I need to know more about the curse! Lol. I'm glad you enjoyed it, Kay. I have this on my tbr list for sure :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you read it I can't wait to see what you think!

      Delete
  4. Despite it being a short book, this one sounds good. I love encountering characters you just end up enjoying so much. Lovely review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Magen! I ended up enjoying it a great deal.

      Delete
  5. I plan on reading this one soon since you and Ashley both have good things to say about it! It does seem though that because it is a short book it doesn't pack the same punch? But I think I'll enjoy it nonetheless :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was good but that is exactly right! Because it is shorter I don't think it packs the same punch. You are so good with words.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Copyright © 2015 It's a Book Life All Rights Reserved · All Logos & Trademark Belongs To Their Respective Owners | Template by These Paper Hearts
Back to Top