The Beast and the Enchantress - Camille Peters

The Beast and the Enchantress

Camille Peters

A Villain's Ever After

Where to Purchase: Amazon

Official Blurb:

If there’s one thing Astrid, an aspiring enchantress with budding magical powers, has learned throughout her studies, it's that magic must only be used for good. But when an egocentric prince breaks her sister’s heart, Astrid’s only focus is revenge, and what better way to enact it than with a well-chosen curse?

A simple incantation is all it takes to transform the arrogant prince's appearance to match the state of his heart. But something goes wrong, causing the spell to affect not only the prince, but its caster as well. As the curse begins to change her appearance to reflect the state of her own vengeful heart, Astrid becomes desperate to break it at all costs, even if it means entering the castle in disguise and interacting with the prince she loathes.

To her surprise, Astrid encounters not a conceited prince, but one very different from the one she cursed. She soon finds her heart softening, but not in the way she expects—she’s losing it to the cursed prince she has vowed to hate. The closer they become, the more desperate Astrid is to free the prince, and herself, from the curse. But in so doing, she may lose the man she loves forever.

For how could a prince ever love the woman who turned him into a beast?

As a Retelling:

This is a more cozy retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Astrid's curse only affects the prince and herself, and does not condemn a whole castle to ghostly status as in the original. This retelling also effectively combines the reasons for the curse in both the original tale (jilted love) and the Disney version (rejection of a rose). However, because the Enchantress was an invention of the Disney film, that solidly makes this retelling of said film, rather than the original story. 

Arista's Thoughts:
While I like the idea and the romance was sweet, unfortunately, once the curse was cast, the rest of the book was just a succession of conversations and nothing happened. There was no external conflict to challenge the characters, just Astrid and the prince talking and then feeling betrayed. 

I do appreciate that this book did let the heroine actually be the villain and that it gave her a proper redemption arc, which is ... not really the route taken by the rest of the series. However, I have read better retellings with the Enchantress as the heroine. 

Alternate Perspective - Beauty and the Beast

Alternate Ending

Reimagining 

Disney Influence

Book 

Magical 

Traditional European 

Multiauthor Collection

Have you read The Enchantress and the Beast? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!

Dagger's Sleep - Tricia Mingerink

Dagger's Sleep

Tricia Mingerink

Beyond the Tales, #1

SPOILER WARNING for "About a Fairy Tale"

Where to Purchase: Amazon

Official Blurb: 

A prince cursed to sleep.

A princess destined to wake him.

A kingdom determined to stop them.

High Prince Alexander has been cursed to a sleep like unto death, a curse that will end the line of the high kings and send the Seven Kingdoms of Tallahatchia into chaos. With his manservant to carry his luggage and his own superior intelligence to aid him, Alex sets off to find one of the Fae and end his curse one way or another.

A hundred years later, Princess Rosanna learns she is the princess destined by the Highest King to wake the legendary sleeping prince. With the help of the mysterious Daemyn Rand, can she find the courage to finish the quest as Tallahatchia wavers on the edge of war?

One curse connects them. A hundred years separate them. From the rushing rivers of Tallahatchia’s mountains to the hall of the Highest King himself, their quests will demand greater sacrifice than either of them could imagine.

As a Retelling:
This story masterfully takes the story of Sleeping Beauty and ups its meaning by swapping the roles of the prince and princess, telling the stories of the two characters side by side - Alex's in the past, Rose's in the future. The spindle is swapped out for a dagger, as the title implies, which was masterfully handled. However, the romance turns out a bit differently from the fairy tale due to the addition of a new and vital character

Arista's Thoughts: 
My thoughts are pretty mixed on this one. I like its setting, tone, conflict, but am slightly annoyed with the ending. Not that I don't like the romance we got - the couple is absolutely adorable - but I find the trend of "the prince and princess don't end up together" in retellings to be a bit annoying, especially with Sleeping Beauty. I feel better about it having read the following books in the series, but I was majorly annoyed when I first read it.

Genderswap - Sleeping Beauty

Magical

Christian

Alternate Ending

Medieval America

Cameo - Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and Rose Red

Alternative Covers:

Have you read Dagger's Sleep? If so, leave a comment below with your own short review to help future readers!