A review by bellebookcorner
Iron Rose by Abigail O'Bryan

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A compelling retelling of the Beauty and the Beast tale. It’s so different than the beauty and the beast retelling stories I had read before. 
The world building was intriguing, although I kinda wished there’s more information to some of the things mentioned throughout the story.  
 
The first half-part of the story is a little bit slow as the author introduced the world building and the characters, but the pace picked up right after Lydia met the Beast and things get a lot more interesting.... 
 
Lydia is unlike the ‘Belle’ we know from the original tale. I admire her character and I really like seeing her character grow throughout the story. 
I also enjoy reading those chapters from the Beasts’s POV as we get to know more about his background story. 
 
The last few chapters where the rebellion finally take a stand to face the Crimson are very with swords drawn and arrows flying all over the city. 
Suffice to say, I feel satisfied with how everything got wrapped up in the end. 
 
Overall, for a debut novel this was a pretty good read. I really enjoy my time reading Lydia and the Beast’s story. 
I will definitely look out for more books by this author in the future. 
 
Thank you to Book of Matches Media and the author for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!
 
⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: hunger Games level violence/gore. 
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