“What happens when an intruder crosses paths with a lizard?
After being dubbed the “most handsome man in the village” by his peers, Faron longs to get away from women who treat him like a prize. The only thing keeping him there is his ailing mother. So when rumor of a healer emerges from another village, they both jump at the chance. But things don’t quite go as planned…Having been betrayed and cursed by everyone she’s ever met outside her secret palace, Marian becomes suspicious when a woman somehow comes across it. When she captures the woman, and a man claiming to be the woman’s son declares he’ll take her place, she remains skeptical. But desperation and misguided kindness can lead a person to some insane decisions…
Though their relationship is off to a rough start, Faron and Marian begin to understand each other as they spend time together. But Marian has secrets, and Faron has enemies he didn’t even know about. Can they find a way to see past their assumptions and love beyond appearances?”
Series: Book #1 in the “Fairytales of Redemption” series.
Spiritual Content- James 3:9-10 at the beginning; “Iam” is the name for God, “Hope” for Jesus, the “Guide of Life” is the Bible, a “Hopeful” is a Christian, and “Reverence” is church services; Prayers; Talks about the “Iam”, feeling peace from Him, salvation, & being a “Hopeful”; ’H’s are not capital when referring to the Iam; “By the Iam (God’s name)” and “Iam-knows-why” are both said once; *Spoilers* A villain rejects the idea of redemption through the Iam and an icicle falls straight into his heart, killing him; A mage says that it’s another “Called” named “Justice” who seeks justice at the Iam’s command with his special magic *End of Spoilers*; Mentions of the Iam, trusting Him, & gifts from Him; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of the Guide of Life and reading it; A few mentions of redemption through the Iam; A few mentions of the “Transmogrification” when “Hopefuls” were scattered and the Iam gave them “additional forms in order to protect themselves”; A couple mentions of being ready to meet “Hope” (Christ); A couple mentions of sin & sinners;
*Note: Marian was cursed & there is a scene of her remembering being cursed (her curse is shown by her having lizard-like features with green scales for skin, fangs in her teeth, pointy ears, and a tail; *Spoilers* She was cursed by a mage after she let hatred reign in her heart after murdering her father and the mage may her outward appearance match the hatred inside her heart; The mage said that love conquers over hatred and could be broken if she loves and receive love in return *End of Spoilers*); Magic is said to be hereditary in this world; Mages were gifted with “many different gifts” from the Iam and are said to have eyes that show their power and capacity; Sorcery is lightly shown in this book in an evil light; A side character is a mage and uses her powers to show others what she can see that is happening far away at that moment; A comment about dragons having human forms like all “magical ethnicities”; Many mentions of curses, mages, magic, & magic-powered/enchanted items; Mentions of darkness corrupting others who allow it to take over them; A few mentions of healer mages; A mention of a mage being able to teleport; A mention of someone worshiping others before knowing the Iam; A mention of luck.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘blasted’, a ‘dumb’, a ‘gah!’, a form of ‘idiot’, and three forms of ‘stupid’; The fictional phrase “what in Crestia (country name)” is said once; Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Being chased and attacked, Being shot, Pain, Injuries, & Blood/Bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Being attacked by wolves & Seeing someone fight off and kill the wolves (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a murdered body & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing someone stabbed (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Marian has nightmares of her staff and friends turning into objects and/or dying (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of a murder, the corpse, & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of deaths (including mothers, wives, and babies in childbirth) & the possibility of a father killing his daughter (used as a threat); Mentions of executions; Mentions of kidnapping attempts, kidnapping plans, & ransoms; Mentions of threats; Mentions of injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of being relieved after a parent’s death (due to the parent not being a good one); A few mentions of assassins & assassination attempts; A few mentions of smuggling rings; A few mentions of stealing & thieves; A few mentions of rumors & gossip; A few mentions of manure; A couple mentions of possible torture; A mention of an abuser; A mention of alcohol; A mention of a liar;
*Note: Marian’s father kept her hidden away to “protect” her from being kidnapped or assassinated, but she did not feel like it was protection and hated him for isolating her (she believes it was because he didn’t want to pay a ransom if she was kidnapped; *Spoilers* A sorcerer noticed her hatred for her father, multiplied it, and her hatred lead to her murdering her father by stabbing his heart with a knife; She felt instant guilt; A mage came and was able to divert the magic the sorcerer did and Marian’s appearance changed to match the monster she became inside her heart; The mage pointed Marian to the “Guide of Life” and Marian cried out to the Iam and “a light entered” her heart; It’s said that others were relieved that Marian’s father was gone and that it could “almost be considered a mercy of the Iam” *End of Spoilers*.
Sexual Content- A fingers-to-lips touch, two almost kisses (barely-above-not-detailed), and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Dancing, Nearness, & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); Blushes; Noticing & Staring (including at lips, barely-above-not-detailed); A woman flirts with Faron and grabs his collar; A form of ‘harpy’ (when describing women); Mentions of flirting; A few mentions of pinning over someone; A mention of a man cheating on his wife; Love, falling in love, & the emotions.
-Marian
-Farron
1st person P.O.V. switches between them
239 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
I’m always excited when I hear about a new Christian fairytale retelling—even more excited about hearing about a gender-swapped version of a classic tale. It’s fun to see what an author changes in her version and by changing the character’s roles, it opens for even more differences to happen and shine through the story we all know.
That said, I think if you didn’t know the story or general idea of Beauty and the Beast, you would probably be a bit confused by events and the pacing of the book as it just kind of goes along at times with the normal premise with little-to-no explanation on why things are happening. This book is only a bit over 200 pages, but it actually felt much shorter because things happen quickly and there’s no parts that drag. I was able to read most of it in one sitting and I think it was due to the easy, writing style that it went by very quickly.
I debated over 3 stars or 3.5 stars for my personal rating. I liked the faith content, but I do wish it had been explained a bit more as I learned what all the words truly meant by the glossary in the back of the book once I finished reading. I had a general thought and idea for the comparable words we use, but some weren’t clear—such as the “Transmogrification” or the concept of mages and their powers.
Overall this was a quick fairytale retelling that had great potential and I think quite a few readers will enjoy even if it wasn’t my personal favorite. I would definitely see about reading the next books in the series, though!
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
