Among the Beasts & Briars

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a lovely story and such a fun, original fairy tale. I know it is loosely based off of Beauty and the Beast, but it stands apart. There are fabulous characters here and I'd even say the hero/love interest is refreshing because he isn't perfect or over-protective. He's young and in new territory. I loved him.

I did have a hard time with the setting as I wasn't sure what technology was available to the characters and kept wondering if they were the only country or city even that had to deal with the forest and why would they put the castle right next to the forest? I'd say some of these questions were answered, so I'm somewhat satisfied, but still wonder about the others.

Following the characters was a lot of fun. The story went in directions I didn't always imagine. I also liked how not everything is explicitly stated or that pieces are given to the reader that maybe the characters don't or can't put together. Great storytelling.