Beast

By: A. Zavarelli

Narrated by: Tracy Marks

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's Summary

Once upon a time, I believed in fairytales.

But then he took me.

And he taught me that life isn't a fairytale.

He is scarred. Broken.

A dark and wild thing.

His beauty is violent and his words are cruel.

His heart is a shadowed landscape where nothing can grow.

He tells me he could never care for me, and he proves it every day.

He's destroyed my life.

Tortured me.

And worse....

He's trained me to beg for his affection.

This prison is a place where sunlight doesn't reach.

He taught me that hate is born in darkness.

And then he taught me that sometimes love is too.

©2017 A. Zavarelli (P)2017 A. Zavarelli

Not for me!!!!

I fell for the cover. I found this too dark and disturbing for me. Fair warning: this has rape, torture, humiliation, and abuse. I'm all about twisted fairy tales but I could not stomach this Beauty and the Beast. I commend Tracy Marks on her fantastic narration. She is one of my favorite narrators. I enjoyed the Boston Underworld series and I look forward to other Zavarelli books. This one? No way, not worth my credit.

16 of 16 people found this review helpful

Ferocious predator? Or sexy sadomasochist?

When Isabell's father goes missing, she tries to get information on a case he was working on.
The prize for her nosiness?? A phychopath stalker that she actually knows.
Javier is a well trained killer who's hell bent on vengeance.
This brutally cruel monster is obsessed with capturing, caging, and torturing Bella.
Bella has enough common sense to know Javier is dangerous and yet she's so indecisive, you just want to yell.. It's just Stockholm making you find solace in your sadistic capturer RUN BELLA RUN!!
Even when Javier isn't playing the bad guy roll, he's still not redeemable enough for me to like him.
This story is intriguing and well written enough to make you believe that these 2 people with their own brand of "crazy love" were meant to be.
On this particular book Tracy Marks gave a perfectly stellar performance.
I usually have to turn down the speed so that she doesn't sound like an auctioneer. When she speaks to quickly its hard to feel the characters emotions.
I'm so happy she toned it down 👏
So is this book credit worthy??
Well, I requested this book in exchange for my honest review because I like to switch it up and go into the darkness sometime.
If you're looking for dark and Suspenseful
I say, yes enjoy the ride.. It's a brutal one🔪

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Emotional TNT

Wow. I'm still trembling, coming down from the adrenaline rush I've been riding since the beginning of the book. Subject matter was very uncomfortable for me, and may be more so for those with emotional triggers. Having said that, the writing was excellent and the author did a wonderful job weaving a tale that sweeps the listener along, with plot twists galore. The hot erotic scenes were compelling and full- bodied, but most included hard core BDSM with humiliation, rape, and even bloodletting- in case any of this is a deal breaker for you. With those more intense elements stripped away, this is a story of two broken people whose jagged edges somehow fit together, each one healing the other, bringing redemption and closure to tragic events they've suffered through. A glass of wine or two, plus or minus that last Valium you've been holding on to, will help this one go down a little easier. I wholeheartedly recommend you give this one a listen.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

So much darker than I expected!!!

Wow! I am speechless after listening to this book. I had to think about what I was going to write in this review. This book was so much darker than I expected. The author is very talented, but I have a hard time with how this book started. I so loved the Boston Underworld series that I want more of them, that I think I was expecting some sort of character overlay with this book. Tracy Marks did an awesome performance with this book. She is able to convey so much emotion into the characters. My review is not a synopsis of the book, but rather my opinion of it. I leave the synopsis up to the professionals as they are so much more eloquent. I was given this review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily written this review. A few phrases that come to mind are Stockholm Syndrome, and not your typical fairytale of Beauty and the Beast.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Beast and Beauty

I was given a copy of this in exchange for an honest review!
This story gutted me! A Zavarelli knocked a hone run on it. I felt the anguish of each character with her written words!
Tracy Marks is a wonderful narrator, she is able to get some amazing feelings across through her voice. Her ability to change voices within this particular boom was WOW!!!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Love Is A Battlefield

Isabella’s singing career is on the rise, but she’s still terribly unhappy with her life. Things get a lot worse when she’s kidnapped by Javi who has a grudge against her father and he’s going to make “Bella” pay the price.

Amazing, that’s all I can say about the very dark, very twisted take on the Beauty and the Beast story. Javi is truly cruel and abusive towards Bella before she turns the tables on him and flips his world upside down. If you have triggers or are sensitive to scenes that involve emotional and physical abuse, you may want to skip this one. I have no such filters and I loved this story! It’s raw, suspenseful and deeply erotic. I won’t forget this one anytime soon.

Tracy Marks narrates this nearly 8-hour audiobook and in this fully-voiced production she really shines. Her accent for Javi’s character was all kinds of hot. This story required so much emotion from both main characters and Tracy nailed the transformation of Javi’s character from beast to man. The audiobook is fast paced and Tracy is a fast talker so it all worked together well in this audiobook.

Beast is the first book that I’ve listened to from author A. Zavarelli, but I’ll be heading over to see what else she’s written because I’m hooked!

This audiobook was given to me at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review, thanks, Audiobook Boom!

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

So dark and wonderful.

Oh my....I really wanted to hate the Beast for everything he does in the first half of this book, and for awhile I did. But wow so much backstory and character development!! I love a strong, dark character with a troubled past and this definitely fits the bill. If you love to hate, and hate to love a character than you so want to give this a listen. Tracy Marks gives an amazing narration. This one will stick with me for a while.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Twisted Classic Fairytale

What made the experience of listening to Beast the most enjoyable?

The emotions of the story that were so well written into the storyline. A. Zavarelli has a way of painting a story in her books while they are dark they are also so brilliant. Her characters have so much depth and you feel for her characters even in their darkest hours and you hate them you still feel for them. She also chooses narrators that are perfect for her books and you can't help but get invested in the story as it comes to life in your mind.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved Javier as he gutted me..there were so many sides to his character and why he was so dark. You wanted to love and hate him at the same time. You could feel his turmoil throughout the story even when he was being evil and inflicting pain/abuse.

Have you listened to any of Tracy Marks’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, I have listed to a couple of her other performances and like her other ones this one was top notch. She always brings a depth to her performances that makes you connect to her characters and you feel like the characters are alive and they are really feeling the emotions she is reading/performing. This is one of my favorite performances of hers.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I didn't want to put this book down and know what happened next. It isn't a typical fairytale and is a darker book. Several times I was left saying "did that really just happen" which is typical of this author.

Any additional comments?

Note- this book is dark and does have scenes of rape, BDSM, bloodletting, humiliation, etc. It is "loosely" based off of Beauty and the Beast but it is dark so if any of those are triggers for you I don't recommend you reading this book. Of course there is a bigger meaning of two people learning to get over their dark pasts and hurts and heal each other but the dark pasts and dark triggers may not be for everyone so I like to warn people of these triggers.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher for my unbiased review.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

It didn’t really touch me

This book didn’t really trip my trigger. I sat and thought about it for quite awhile before I wrote this review. It wasn’t the dark elements of the book that bothered me. I have listened/read several other dark romances,with similar plots, that were a favorite listen. It wasn’t the narration that lacked, either. It was some elements of the writing style that ruined it for me. I hope I am able to articulate what I mean. There were several key parts of the plot that the author chose to inform the reader about instead of letting the reader experience the event with the characters. I hope that makes sense. Since I did not experience much of the story, with the characters, I did not become emotionally invested, in the book. I am usually the type that will freely bawl, during a book. My family has often been convinced that I must be suffering from clinical depression since I seem to burst into tears for seemingly no reason. This book didn’t touch me emotionally, at all. Perhaps others would disagree with me. Therefore, although the writing wasn’t horrible, this is not a book I will choose to keep in my personal library.
-V from Kansas

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

They have done it again!

What did you love best about Beast?

I loved the unique storyline which definitely wasn't for the faint of heart.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beast?

It's too hard to pick just one. The book was amazing.

Any additional comments?

I received this audio in exchange for a fair and honest review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

wow who do you really trust

Well wow is what springs to mind. Take a father involved in a nefarious government programme, his daughter with the voice and skills of an angel. Thrown in a boy who was mistreated because of his mother's brain tumour and you have the basis for beast.

Javier is really maligned with that label. Isabella is a not so pampered princess who hides in plain sight. Her music manager Luke is a first class pervert who has complete control. But Javier has been stalking Bella and is biding his time to bring his revenge to fruition.

A darkly beautiful love story of two broken people struggling with hearts that are desperate to be the one but trust is a commodity in very short supply.

A dark read - I loved it

I love a dark romance and A Zavarelli did not disappoint with this story of a damaged soul, Javier, taking revenge on his torturer in the worst possible way by kidnapping and torturing and exacting some of the same cruel and sadistic things on his daughter, the beautiful Bella. Javier knows everything about Bella, he is obsessed with her, and Bella becomes a slave to his affection, almost begging for his love and touch. A clever story, so well written with twists and turns, I had no idea who to trust. Definitely not a book for the faint hearted, some sadistic and downright cruel scenes. I loved it.
I received a copy of this book audiobook via audio book boom in exchange for an honest review.
The audio was spot on even with only one narrater narrating both POVs. Couldn't fault it.