Academia of the Beast Review

** spoiler alert ** Unpopular opinion coming up..May contain spoilers!!! Read at your own risk...

2 stars!!! I really feel bad when I give a book a poor review but I can't help it in this case. I was thoroughly disappointed with this retelling of the Beauty & the Beast. And there are several reasons for this. One, the MC Allyn is a major Mary Sue. Gosh!!! The girl is so boring and delusional. I mean her character is so cliched. After getting dumped by her ex and getting evicted, she just falls in love with another guy in the next two minutes. Like come on? I felt there was absolutely no chemistry with her and Conall at all. I didn't get any feels whatsoever and after one night of passion, suddenly this guy is a soul mate? I mean she barely even knows him. I would have liked to see some development in the relationship before the characters just jumped into bed with each other. Plus, I felt that she constantly needs a man in her life to make her feel worthy. I don't like characters that just give in to guys. I like girls who can stand on their own two feet. Plus, she makes some pretty stupid decisions along the way. Second, the worldbuilding wasn't so great. The author does introduce some new places for the reader. But it felt too close to reality. I felt like the story was taking place somewhere in America not some fantastical kingdom. Plus, the characters use gadgets that we use in everyday life which was not really exciting. I would have liked to see some new stuff described. I would have preferred something more immersive even if the book length was short. Third, there are inconsistencies with character names. We come across all these different names like Aude, Khia, Conall. But then suddenly when we are swept to a new place, the fairy characters seem to have Swedish/European names. But guess what, the Fairy Queen and King are named Anton and Svetlana but their daughters have Indian names? Where did that come from? I was so majorly confused. The only thing I did like about the book was the twist and shocking revelation. The introduction of various fantastical creatures like ghosts and so on was also a good idea. I also felt the MC Allyn showed some spine and spunk towards the end. I also did like Lennox as a character but we don't get to see him much. I would have liked more his backstory. Other than that, I felt the writing was just lazy. I like my books to be consistent with credible details. I like unforgettable and flawed characters. I didn't get that with this book. So yeah. I was not too keen on this story. I have read better retellings. However, that doesn't mean I won't read anything else by K.N. Lee. Hopefully, one of her other books are better than this one.

#fairytale #retellings #adult #darkfantasy #romance #KNLee