Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

Poston continues her comic con serial of books based on her take on fairy-tale retellings. There has been Cinderella, Prince and the Pauper, but now she shines a light on her interpretation of Beauty and the Beast.

It is clear from the beginning who are the main characters in this book: Rosie and Vance. Vance, if you have already read the previous book, The Princess and the Fangirl, you would see his introduction to the Starfield fandom at ExcelsiCon. Introduced as being a bad guy and not very likeable, this seems like the perfect character in this world to become the Beast of this tale.

Rosie on the other hand, seems like the perfect Belle type person. Has a great love of books, lives with just her Dad, as her Mum has died, but just as loved. Struggling to live and having to take on work so that both of them can survive on two incomes instead of the one. But also having that one guy in the background, Garrett (yes, a play on the words of Gaston) who keeps asking her to go to homecoming, even though she tells him no, to no avail.

We also get to see previous characters from books a lot more than lets say the last. Such as Imogen and occasionally Darien and Elle. So, if you miss these characters and want to know a little bit of what is next in store for them, it's probably a good idea to read this book when you can.

One great thing however, is the doggo "screen time" that I never thought I needed but now gladly would have in every book that I read from now on. Sansa is one of the most sweet and inquisitive dogs and I really wish that there was more of her.

Although this seems to be a good entertaining read, I have some qualms with it however. First of all, why the short book? I know that there is a balance between what can be considered a long book with too much padding and a small book and having nothing at all, but really? You have to do the latter? I wouldn't be too surprised if this is the shortest book out of the series. Secondly, why did it have to be predicable? There were only very rare occasions where I was genuinely shocked. But the shock that it was, was a little cheap. So thanks for that. I also felt as though there were some questions that weren't answered. So that's going to annoy me for the next week or so. Let's hope I find a book in that time which distracts me from my annoyance in the meantime.

So, I thought long and hard what I was going to rate this book, but after much deliberation I have decided to give an awkward rating of 3 1/2 stars.

Comments

Literally a Fangirl

I'm so excited to talk you about this piece of fiction. Literally it is just a masterpiece! Genre: Contemporary, Romance Year Of Publish: 2013 (US), 2014 (UK) Publisher: St Martin's Press (US), Pan Macmillian (UK) I have found that throughout the whole of this book, the main character Cath has a lot of characteristics that i can relate to. She's antisocial, a fangirl(a bit obvious), scared of the real world and prefers the imaginary world of literature compared to reality. The whole time i couldn't stop reading wanting to find out more(which is kind of bad when i have tons of essays to finish). What is a ll about? Well, the basis of the story is that Cath is going to university, but she prefers to write fanfics of Simon Snow and Baz. They are kind of an imaginary fandom, which i heard from somewhere that Rainbow Rowell is eventually going to write books about them. So that will be quite interesting. But many have said that Simon Snow is v...

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

If you are in the mood for a sweet romance that gives Groundhog Day and Ferris Bueller vibes then this book is for you. What happens if you wake up to the same Valentine’s Day and everything always goes not to plan? What if you are someone who likes to plan and not share how you are really feeling? Emilie, our female protagonist is very much a stickler for planning and keeping to societal norms. She never really speaks her mind. But this Valentine’s Day is different. She is different. I found that the book itself is quirky and fun. It does have moments of sadness but there is a lot of heart in terms of how it is done. There could have been more time with other characters that are mentioned throughout but at the end of the day it is very much a Young Adult piece. There is nothing wrong with that. Would I read it again? Possibly if I want a Valentines themed book. It was also very quick to read for those who are not into big tomes. Rating: 4 Stars

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

I’ve been following Ashley Poston’s work for a while. At first it was the comic con series back in 2020 when she first became known to me during COVID. After I read the series I forgot about her for a while. It was only when I went into my local Waterstones to pick up The Dead Romantics she came back under my radar. She is now one of my must buys if a new book comes out. Her take of the romantic genre has always been fresh and interesting with some form of magical realism. A Novel Love Story follows our heroine Elsy, otherwise referred to as Eileen. Unlucky in love she struggles to try new things. Instead, she is comforted by her favourite book series by her favourite author, Rachel Flowers. On her way to a cabin retreat by herself, she finds her car broken down in a town that is somewhat familiar to her favourite book series. I’m not going to lie, compared to Poston’s earlier novels this book took some time for me to get into. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve had to...