Roses and Thorns

Beauty and the Beast Retold

By: Chris Anne Wolfe

Narrated by: Amber Rainey

Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

A greedy father. A beautiful daughter. A faceless noble. With a word, Aloysius bargains away Angelique's future for a hefty bride-price, and no one, not even Angelique's beloved mother, can save her.

©2000, 2007, 2013, 2014 Chris Anne Wolfe (P)2015 Jennifer DiMarco

Critic reviews

"No author could have retold Beauty and the Beast as beautifully as Chris Anne Wolfe. She entices you throughout the story, making your heart pound with each second. At the end, you believe magic is afoot and love is as near to you as your dreams." (Heather Cassell, Bay Area Reporter)

"Wolfe tells the story with a great deal of magic. Amidst fog and darkness and springing white steeds is just about everything a fantasy fan could want: shifting realities of time and space, protective spells, eternal curses, and more." (Lee Lynch, LN)

Narrator was terrible

The narration was terrible but if you stick out her monotonous lack of inflection and emotion garbage voice the story is actually pretty sweet. A little rudimentary, but the lesbian twist of the beauty and the beast story was nice.

Great twist to a classic tale.

Compelling twist on a classic tale. Storyteller pulls you in and immerses you into this fantastical world.

Drones thru a very good book.

I wish I had bought this on my Kindle instead of the audible. the story was great. the writing compelling and emotionally explosive, but the narrator was emotionless and monotonous. it almost ruined it for me. but the story was great in spite of this weakness.

Feminist Classic Comes Back to Life

Would you listen to Roses and Thorns again? Why?

Amber Rainey does a masterful job of narrating Chris Anne Wolfe's feminist classic, Roses and Thorns. This retelling spins a new tale, focused on Angelique who is bartered by her father to the mysterious "Beast." Beautiful fairy tale, wonderfully told.

What did you like best about this story?

Roses and Thorns is one of my all time favorite books. I'm delighted that it's made its way to audiobook.

What about Amber Rainey’s performance did you like?

Amber Rainey's performance has real warmth and depth. A pleasure to listen to.

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

This is a wonderful story, one I could hear over and over again.

Great story but rushed reading

The story was fantastic. Par for the course in my limited experience of Chris Anne Wolfe books. The reader has a great voice but she sounded rushed the whole time. She stayed fairly monotone and it felt like she never took a breath. For such a slow building love story it just felt out of place. I would love to hear her do another slower take and I would love to hear some of the other books she has narrated... hopefully at a slower pace. I highly recommend this book despite that as the story really is fantastic.

Great twist on a classic

Let me start by saying I dislike the "actor" that read the story. she read it fast too quickly with little change in her voice for anything.
I read the book many years ago and remembered that I really liked it so I bought ther audible. The performance didn't make me like it any less. it's still a short and sweet twice on the classic Beauty and the beast.

Enter the fantasy

Delightful story! Well read! A fairytale for modern minds. Keep up the good work! Cheers!

My 1st time read in this genre was enjoyable.

Any additional comments?

I am always game to read something new in my quest to find good stories and this one in this particular genre was recommended by a friend and I am glad I gave it a go. The story is rich in detail and a unique take on this famous fairy-tale. Taking on how personal perceptions are not always about how you look on the outside but how you see yourself on the inside made it compelling.

I also enjoyed the reader and how she brought the book to life. Her voice was pleasant to hear as she told the tale and I was easily able to follow and imagine the characters and story in my head as I went about my daily business. She hit all the right points in the story's action and I found myself enveloped in the tale because of it.
.
This was definately a nice book to be recommended and I would highly recommend this to anyone. :)

Beyond aborning

Narration assent as animated as I am use to to. Wish I could get a refund

Deceptive in content

Didn't appreciate the surprise, very disappointed. Waste of a months free book. Hope I can return it.