BOOK REVIEW: Beauty and the Werewolf - Mercedes Lackey

Title: Beauty and the Werewolf

Author: Mercedes Lackey

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Five Hundred Kingdoms #6

Form:  book

Review:  First off let me say I love Mercedes Lackey. I’ve read almost all of her Elemental Masters series. I believe the Fire Rose was my first Mercedes Lackey book. It’s also a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I have to say I like The Fire Rose better than Beauty and the Werewolf, but this isn’t a review about that book so let me get back on track and talk about Beauty and the Werewolf.

It’s the sixth book in The Five Hundred Kingdoms series. I would say each book could be a stand-alone but I recommend reading them in order starting with The Fairy Godmother, just so that you can get a better understanding of The Tradition. Also the main character of that book makes an appearance in all the following books. (My favorite is One Good Knight). OK back to Beauty and the Werewolf. I liked it. It was a good retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

I really loved the invisible servants, they reminded me of all the household items that came to life in the Disney movie. I liked their relationship with Bella and their resolution and the end of the book.

Speaking of Bella, I liked her. I read some reviews that said she was manipulative and bossy, yes she was, BUT there is character growth. I liked her because she had a mind of her own. She wasn’t demure, she wasn’t too innocent. She knew what she wanted and went for it. She knew what she needed to do and did it. She was determined to make more of herself than other women of that time period.Traditionally, she played a big part in helping to break the curse on him, but it wasn’t through a traditional kiss.

The him that I speak of is Sebastian. I’m not sure how I feel about him. I don’t think his character was developed enough. I would have liked to see more growth in him and more about his relationship with Bella. He’s a good character but not a very deep one. 

Now Eric on the other hand. I didn’t like his character then I liked his character, then I didn’t like his character, then I liked.. well you get the idea. He kept things interesting. I think his relationship with Bella is a little bit more developed than hers with Sebastian, which is interesting considering the ending of the book.

I’ll admit, I’m getting sick of the love triangle that seems to have started with Twilight, but I wouldn’t say that is in this book. Sebastian is the Beast and Eric is a representation of Gaston, not a close one, but enough of one that I don’t think Bella, Eric, and Sebastian could be considered to be in a love triangle.

The ending of the book was not as big of a surprise as I would of liked, but it was a good one and it wasn’t too typical. Another review I read said the reader had figured out everything early on in the book. I personally was kept guessing. I thought I had it figured out, then I kept changing my mind. Lackey definitely kept me guessing throughout the book which kept me reading.

It’s not a heavy read. There’s not a lot of emotion and depth, but for a fun little retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I think Lackey did a good job.