Beauty and the Werewolf
by Mercedes Lackey
Summary: The eldest daughter is
often doomed in fairy tales. But Bella— Isabella Beauchamps, daughter of
a wealthy merchant—vows to escape the usual pitfalls. Anxious to
avoid the Traditional path, Bella dons a red cloak and ventures into the
forbidden forest to consult with "Granny," the local wisewoman. But
on the way home she's attacked by a wolf—who turns out to be a cursed
nobleman! Secluded in his castle, Bella is torn between her family and
this strange man who creates marvelous inventions and makes her
laugh—when he isn't howling at the moon. Breaking spells is never
easy. But a determined beauty, a wizard (after all, he's only an
occasional werewolf) and a little godmotherly interference might just be
able to bring about a happy ending...
Review:
I think
if I hadn't read the first few books of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred
Kingdom series, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more.
Unfortunately, for me, the latest installment in her series was quite
disappointing. I'll start out with what I did like: the combination of
the tales "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Beauty and the Beast", the
reappearance of Godmother Elena (from the first book), and the plucky
but slightly manipulative Bella. Here's what I didn't like: the fact
that the villain was apparent from the beginning, yet supposedly neither
Bella nor the Godmother was able
to figure it out until the ending, the uninspired characterization of
Sebastian (he was so dull!), and the lackluster romance that developed
between Sebastian and Bella (it was probably the most boring romance
that I've read in a while). Overall, I felt that the book wasn't very exciting at all, and while Bella was spunky, she wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the book.
Rating: 2.5/5
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