This story might be inspired by Beauty and the Beast, but it takes out some core parts of the story, which in my opinion are some of the best parts. The biggest of this is that Theo is perfectly human with a curse that binds him to the castle, which doesn't really qualify him as a "Beast" and takes away all of that conflict. Also, Heron's stay at the castle is much more voluntary than in the original story, which again removes some of the conflict.

Heron actually dating the "Gaston" character was interesting at first, but in the end it only made Heron more unlikeable. Tiel is overwhelming and they're definitely not a good match and should break up, but he's not actually malicious, and he deserves better than being ghosted and cheated on because Heron is unable to actually communicate. Thankfully, Heron realizes this as well, but by that time it was kind of too late.

In general, I found Heron kind of frustrating and unlikeable. Also, I don't normally have a problem with characters who swear a lot, but here it didn't seem like it fit the story and the atmosphere for me.

I did like the enchanted garden and the automatons instead of the enchanted furniture a lot, those things were cool.

But like. Really. I know this isn't a proper retelling and only "inspired" by Beauty and the Beast, but what's the point if the love interest is not beastly in any way.