In the second review of a retelling of Beauty and the Beast (Cruel Beauty, which I reviewed this week is another retelling) the beast is a Faerie. It’s a first book of a new series but I felt like I’ve read books one and two in this one.  I read this book before I read Sarah J. Maas’ other series, Throne of Glass and I guess it’s for the best.  I think I would have been more disappointed in this if I was more familiar with her work because I loved Throne of Glass books.  This I just liked.

Feyre is 19 years old and even though she is the youngest, she is the one taking care of her family.  Their family’s fortune is gone and her father and her two oldest sisters live in a small cottage. One day, while hunting, Feyre comes across a deer. Unfortunately a wolf has also spotted the deer.  Is the a real wolf or a faerie from the other side of the wall? In a split second decision, she decides to kill the wolf first and then the deer.  The next night a faerie named Tamlin comes to their cottage and tells Feyre she must uphold the treaty between humans and Faeries. She must either forfeit her life in the same manner she killed the wolf faerie or live the rest of her life as her guest.

The first part of the book is great. The cat and mouse game between Feyre and Tamlin is delightful. Feyre spends most of her time in his house trying to find ways out of the Treaty to go home to her family. Tamlin for his part tries to be polite and clearly his flirting skills are rusty. In the true vein of Beauty of the Beast they eventually start to understand each other and fall in love. Feyre doesn’t realize that Tamlin and his court are cursed and by the time she does it’s too late.

This would have been good place to end and where I felt the book should have ended but it went on.  Which is a shame because it would have been a better cliffhanger ending than the one we got. The tempo of the book slowed down as Feyre has to complete three tasks to save Tamlin.  It completely bogged down the narrative  I appreciate the whole, girl must save the guy thing but it was too much. Though the ending seemed like a happily ever after, there are still some loose ends to keep the series going.  They left  me a little wary of what the next book be like. Will it be more like the first half or the second.  I guess good news for Miss Maas, is that I can’t wait for Queen of Shadows, the next book in the Throne of Glass Series.