ALA Booklist (Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

"Give me back my Beast!" With this single quote by actress Greta Garbo, a book was born. This Beauty and the Beast retelling adds the character of Lucie, a servant wronged by Jean-Loup before this man becomes the beast. After his transformation, Beast becomes patient and remorseful. Lucie, who had been set on seeing him suffer, hopes these changes will stay. But then a beauty comes to the castle, and Lucie fears she will change her loving Beast back to the horrible man he was before. Several aspects of this book seem slow e pacing of the story and Lucie's own inevitable change of heart, to name two t small differences and new details added to the backstory of Beast and the beauty make the story its own. Readers should not overlook the author's note at the end that explains how Jensen got from Garbo's quote to this finished book. Though based on a tale as old as time, Jensen's new interpretation will cause readers and fairy-tale lovers to see it with fresh eyes.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Lucie is a new servant at Chbteau Beaumont, where a handsome master reigns. Initially smitten, she soon learns how horribly cruel Jean-Loup can be (rape scene included). When a wisewoman curses Jean-Loup for his beastliness, Lucie's only other wish is "to see him suffer." Expectedly, this retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" challenges appearances versus virtue, but it also addresses autonomy and the dehumanizing effects of revenge.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In this compelling reimagining of -Beauty and the Beast,- Jensen integrates a new plot thread in the form of a third protagonist into the familiar fairy tale. Chambermaid Lucie is transformed into an ever-burning candlestick by the same spell that turns the wicked Jean-Loup, Chevalier du Beaumont, into the gentle-souled, monstrous-seeming Beast. Because Jean-Loup sexually assaulted her soon after they first met, Lucie is eager to witness his downfall, but equally unprepared to develop sympathy for the Beast, who seems an entirely different person altogether. Then Rose arrives, fulfilling a desperate bargain made between her impoverished merchant father and the Beast, and Lucie must find a way to protect her friend from falling in love, breaking his curse, and thus allowing the cruel Jean-Loup to return. Jensen (The Witch from the Sea) includes all of the tale-s most significant elements-including the classic romance, evoking both the traditional story and the Disney version-while still adding new twists and depths. Haunting language and lush descriptions (-the petals are long-dead; they have lost their bright color and velvety texture and curled into crisp, dry cinders...-) engage the senses, making this a memorable, worthy addition to the canon of -Beauty and the Beast- retellings. Ages 16-up. (July)