Bryony and Roses

De: T. Kingfisher

Narrado por: Justine Eyre

Bryony and her sisters have come down in the world. Their merchant father died trying to reclaim his fortune and left them to eke out a living in a village far from their home in the city. But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments. Is the Beast that lives there her captor or a fellow prisoner? Is the house her enemy or her ally? And why are roses blooming out of season in the courtyard? Armed only with gardening shears and her wits, Bryony must untangle the secrets of the house before she - or the Beast - are swallowed by them.

©2015 Ursula Vernon (P)2015 Tantor

Excellent Storytelling

Much better than the original Beauty & the Beast. I was entertained throughout.

I highly recommend this audiobook!

Absolutely outstanding

This is the absolute best retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This is everything I didn't even know I wanted.

excellent voices and entertaining story.

I really enjoyed this. I only wish it had been longer. the characters sparked my interest. I liked the main characters as well as the side characters. the villain could have used some fleshing out in terms of motivation, but otherwise another excellent T. Kingfisher novel.

Lovely retelling of Beauty and the Beast

The reviewers who complained about Justine Eyre's posh accent on the grounds that THIS Beauty is a humble peasant girl completely missed the backstory. This non-Beauty in fact was raised in extreme wealth by a social climbing high stakes merchant father. Eyre's posh accent is the accent our non-Beauty was raised with. Becoming impoverished orphans in young adulthood allowed her and her sisters to discover life skills beyond the ornamental roles they had been raised for. Those reviewers who just don't like a posh English accent failed to note that Eyre speaks with absolute clarity and perfect pacing. True to Kingfisher's signature wit, Eyre's narration sparkles. She conveys the vivid settings and the dream-like journeys in this fairytale world with effortless skill, and gives the characters distinct, emotionally nuanced voices.

an old thing made new

loved it! This is now my favorite version of this fairy tale. It keeps the danger and mystery nicely while spicing it with a wonderful dose of humor. Definitely worth revisiting an old and familiar story dressed up in this new and absolutely engaging telling.

A Very Furry Romance

The story is classic T Kingfisher, fraught with horror, romance, and relatable meditations on ‘why does my brain do this?’ Do not feel obliged, as so many have, to conflate a fantasy romance with anything resembling reality and get your knickers in a twist over The Beast being hot. He’s just built that way and TK can’t help that.

A wonderful re telling

If you love reading different versions of old fairytales then you will love this! The performance is lovely and adds to the characters and if you are like me you will end up spending the day listening to the whole thing because it’s that good.

So Much Better Than the Disney Version

A solid five star rating from me.

Admittedly, the only version of Beauty and the Beast I was familiar with prior to reading this book was the Disney version. After I read this book, I did a little research about the story's origin, and was surprised to learn it has basis on actual events.

This version took bits from the original story, bits of actual events, and bits from the author's brilliant imagination. It was such a fun listen with a very satisfying end. Highly recommend. Excellent, perfect narration from Justine Eyre.

Great story

Excellent retelling of a classic fairy tale. No singing candlesticks or gritty 80s/90s reboot, just the Beast and a gardener. Highly recommend.

So charming

Even though you can quickly recognize the general story, it’s written so well that it is warm and charming and feels new. I couldn’t turn it off until the end.