Star Rating: 

Genre: Fairy Tale Retelling
Number of Pages: 295

Date Started: December 1, 2017
Date Finished: December 6, 2017

Synopsis: (From Amazon)
Princess Sophia has helped her twin sister Lily save the duchy of Marin. But now Sophie faces an even greater threat when she sets out to free the cursed kingdom of Palinar from its beastly prince. Alone, and with danger on every side, Sophie must navigate a magical castle and its even more mysterious master to discover the secret to breaking the curse.

Except the more time she spends with Prince Dominic, the more she starts to question who exactly she’s supposed to be saving. With time running out for the trapped inhabitants, and the reappearance of an old enemy, Sophie may have to choose between saving the kingdom and following her heart.

In this reimagining of the classic fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, Beauty will have to use all of her strength and intelligence if she is to outwit her enemies, break a curse and find true love.

Review:
The relationship between the Beast and Sophie slowly develops, and that’s probably one of my favourite parts of this book. In many retellings the beauty feels sorry for him, or suddenly has feelings for him without knowing him at all, so this was a pleasant change from that. I loved that in order for the curse to be broken, both needed to change and grow. While I was heartbroken with Sophie to be torn from Lily, it was great to see her learn to stand on her own.

I enjoyed that the various servants had names and personalities. My favourite was Gordon. Both of her maids and the stable master were also quite well done, and deeper than one would expect for a secondary character. The way Sophie treated the servants was a good insight into the type of person she is.

While this is a story the reader already knows, the ingenious twists and turns of the curse and the townspeople are unique and draw you in further. Unique enough that you can’t guess exactly what is going on, this is definitely a good read.

Author Biography: (From Amazon)
Melanie Cellier grew up on a staple diet of books, books and more books. And although she got older she never stopped loving children’s and young adult novels. She always wanted to write one herself but it took three careers and three different continents before she actually managed it.

She now feels incredibly fortunate to spend her time writing from her home in Canberra, Australia where they don’t have a beach but they do have kangaroos hopping down the streets. Her staple diet hasn’t changed much, although she’s added choc mint Rooibos tea and Chicken Crimpies to the list.

She is currently working on The Four Kingdoms, a series of young adult fairy tale retellings.

Visit Melanie at her website: http://www.melaniecellier.com or follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Melanie-Cellier-689002674569364/ for all the latest news on The Princess Companion and other upcoming Four Kingdoms stories.