Book Review: The Subtle Beauty

Hi everyone! I have a quick surprise post for you today. I normally don't post book reviews to this blog, as I have The Librarian's Bookshelf for that I try to keep my blogs separate. However recently I accepted a couple of review specifically for Keys to My Life, so I'm following through with that! I will have one more book review coming sometime next week or the week after, and then I will continue to separate my blogs. For now, enjoy a quick change from the norm!

The Subtle Beauty (Crowns of the Twelve #1) by Ann Hunter

Release Date: January 2, 2014

Publisher: Afterglow Productions

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Crowns of the Twelve

Format: eBook
Pages; 170

Buy It: Amazon

A cursed prince. A vain beauty. Glory is the seventh daughter of Balthazar, High King of the Twelve Kingdoms. Glory hopes that - of all her sisters - she can escape the fate of a loveless marriage. But on the night she plans to elope with the royal falconer, her world comes crashing down: Her father announces Glory's betrothal to Eoghan of the Blood Realm - a prince no one has ever seen. The prince is said to be a recluse, cursed and deformed by the gods for the sins of his power-hungry father. Yet when Glory is trapped in Blackthorn Keep she discovers that not everything is what she expected. An insulting gryphon, a persistent ghost, and a secret plan to usurp the prince keep Glory reeling. Can she overcome her vanity to learn that what you want isn’t necessarily what you need—and save the cursed prince?

I had a hard time getting into this book at first, because the backstory seemed out of place and hard to follow. Once the backstory was in place, the novel picks up quickly and you're pulled into the adventures of Glory and Colin, and their quest to find each other despite Glory's royal duties. There is not one, but two, unexpected twists towards the end of the story, that had me literally gasping while frantically reaching the end of the story. This story is a unique but well thought out retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and I'm excited to see where the rest of the series leads us.

I received this book free for review through Tomoson and the book publisher. I was not required to post a positive review, and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

Have you read this series yet? How do you feel about fairytale retellings?