This is more of a 2.5 stars but I'm rounding up because there were a few parts of this book that I was really fond of especially near the end, but i can't get over the fact that i found it terribly overwritten. Valente seemed lost in her own prose, more concerned with crafting long flowery sentences that sounded good even if they didnt exactly mean anything that she was about fleshing out her characters, who remained flat and pretty two dimensional.

What you are all witnessing is my transformation into a complete and utter sucker for everything and anything T. Kingfisher writes. This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast in which everything that ever sort of annoyed me in the story is gone and what's left is the tale's beating heart, surrounded by a world that's both fully detailed and vital a way that you rarely see in a fairytale retelling. A truly wonderful read!

I normally would have a lot to say about this book but truth be told all my thoughts have faded away and been replaced by an outraged WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO MORE YET WHERE IS BOOK THREE