Bryony and Roses

3.5

The way Bryony is trapped in the house is more clever than many other Beauty and the Beast stories. It seems to me that there is a deeper backstory. We don't get all of it, but the bits we get are impactful and help us see the whole narrative. There are some dark parts as well that makes this more than just a fairytale. And the ending is so T Kingfisher. With another author it could have felt ridiculous, but it is just perfect with T Kingfisher.

This was lovely. The clockworks keep popping up in every book and I still haven't read the clockwork boys. Loved how it took the original fairy tale and modified it so well. This does not end in the typical beauty and the beast fashion (we don't do that in T. Kingfisher's books). It was a bit reminiscent of the seventh bride storyline, but equally unique.

Ik begon dit als luisterboek te lezen en werd meteen meegesleept door het verhaal en de stem van de hoofdpersoon. Ik was echter geen fan van de stem die het verhaal in het audioboek voorlas, dus besloot ik al snel over te stappen op het e-book.

Dit is alles wat ik voelde ontbreken in T. Kingfisher's veelgeprezen Nettle & Bones.
Waar de eerste me niet kon ontroeren en er niet in slaagde mij emotioneel geïnvesteerd te voelen, slaagde dit verhaal erin om dit bijna vanaf de eerste pagina te doen.

Het is geen geheim dat ik van Belle en het Beest en hervertellingen van dit verhaal houd, maar ik ben op een punt gekomen dat ik dacht dat het niet langer mogelijk was om een rechtstreekse hervertelling toch een originele draai te geven.
Ik had het mis, want wat T. Kingfisher deed met het bronmateriaal in haar Bryony & Roses is zowel een ode aan het origineel van de Villeneuve als hoogst origineel en verrassend.

Uit eerdere boeken van deze auteur ken ik haar als heerlijk griezelig en ook in dit verhaal slaagt ze erin om me te doen huiveren en iets dat als mooi en puur wordt beschouwd in een heel ander licht te laten bekijken. Tegelijkertijd zorgde de humor in dit boek ervoor dat ik meerdere keren hardop moest lachen.
Ik ben een grote fan van deze combinatie van griezelige onrust en sarcastische scherts. In dat opzicht deed het me denken aan Kingfisher's What moves the dead, waar ik ook van hield.

Dus ja, ik was hier absoluut dol op en kan niet wachten om in Kingfishers andere sprookjesvertellingen te duiken.

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Oops, this is another Beauty and the Beast retelling, this time by one of my absolute favorite authors, T. Kingfisher. Knowing what I know about her writing (and love about it), I had a good idea that this particular fairy tale was in good hands. There are enough horrifying and terrible things hidden deep in this story that Kingfisher could get creative and twisty with it. And that she did — many of the familiar bits of the Beauty and the Beast tale are here, but there are many others that are missing — for one there is no witch that curses The Beast, there's no Gaston or evil townspeople wanting to murder him. There's no talking tableware or furniture, either. But boy, are there roses. So, so many roses. Horrible roses.

Needless to say, Kingfisher definitely puts her own spin on the story. One that I really liked, though it isn't actually my favorite version that I've read recently. (To everyone's surprise? Maybe?) Bryony is a typical Kingfisher heroine in that she is steadfast, down-to-earth, and willing to just...get on with things. She does what she has to do, and doesn't fret about silly things. Though she does get scared in more than on occasion in the book, but these situations are genuinely scary so she gets points for being sensible. Byrony doesn't really accept the Beast for what he is RIGHT away but it really doesn't take very long for her to get over his appearance. I liked that about her — The Beast promised not to hurt her, and she pretty much takes him at his word.

The Beast himself is fairly vague, as he usually is in these tales, but he does have a predilection for making clockwork things. In fact, he makes Bryony a little clockwork bee so it can pollinate her garden for her. I loved that Kingfisher's Beast had a hobby — something other than skulking around the manor house all day. He wanted to please Bryony, which was cute. Together, they are sarcastic, and like to tease one another. It was a joy to watch on page. I also really enjoyed watching them figure out a way to talk about the curse without angering the house.

Yes, the house is sentient, and not altogether good. I won't spoil more here, but Kingfisher is a master at making you feel dread. She uses this tool frequently on page, but it's not overdone. It's just the right amount of really wishing the characters weren't there right now. The ending and solving of the curse was excellent, and highly unique of all the versions that I've read so far. Overall, I'm going to give Bryony and Roses four and a half stars!

I didn't know that I needed a snarky Beauty and the Beast heroine but I should have trusted T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon that she could pull it off. From the moment when Bryony compares her bedroom in the Beast's castle to a uterus, I knew I wasn't reading my mother's fairy tale. Not to mention our heroine's ode to chicken manure. This version acknowledges the icky Stockholm Syndrome aspect of the story but accentuates the fact that the Beast is as much of a prisoner as Bryony (and both the details of his curse and the outcome are a welcome deviation from the standard).

The author acknowledges Robin McKinley's acclaimed Rose Daughter as inspiration, but her distinctive style marks it as very much her own book and a welcome addition to a story that has been told and re-told numerous times.

It's hard to read a retelling of Beauty and the Beast without comparing it to the Disney movie or the Robin McKinley books. I had a very difficult time with the first 40% for that exact reason. Girl ends up in enchanted castle. Meets a beast. Gets trapped in castle. Must break a curse. We all know the rest. How do you distinguish your story from the others? Look no further than Bryony and Roses.

In this retelling, Bryony is traveling home and gets lost at the castle. Not her father. She is “kidnapped” for her gardening abilities. At least that's how it's presented. There are still elements of the original tale. Every night the beast asks her to marry him. The castle is enchanted. The beast was once human. Still there are some nice original elements that makes this book stand out. The house is enchanted, not just the objects within it. Things appear and disappear at will. The beast has a hobby. There's a strange visitor. It's a rather original retelling.

While fun, it's not perfect. I didn't feel any chemistry between Bryony and the Beast. The Beast was too much “perfect nice romance novel guy.” and Bryony was an under-developed snarky (and dislikeable) female with too much inner dialogue. Still, there's potential and originality here. I'm curious to see how Kingfisher's other retellings are.