4⭐️/ 2🌶️

*Check Trigger warnings before reading 

A thief who specialized in heists, stealing for her wealthy clientele, and evading the law, Kierse was use to living on the edge, but for the first time, she found herself caught when out trying to complete her latest job. When I heard that this book was a, “Beauty and the Beast” retelling, I thought I knew what to expect, but instead I was pleasantly surprised by the unique world K.A. Linde created. Kierse was a thief who coincidentally found herself taking on a new job from the man…or shall I say monster, the one she tried to rob from. This story had, forced proximity, roommates, monsters, magic, enemies to lovers, found family, heists, and mystery. 

This was an entirely new retelling of, “Beauty and the Beast”, that kept me on my toes the whole time. You’d think that with this retelling it’d be a clear picture of how the story would play out, but instead it showed a unique take. Kierse was a thief, she excelled in that arena of her life, but it also came with the knowledge that she toed the line of danger constantly. When Kierse was caught by the monster she was hired to rob from, her world changed, and even held some revelations she never knew about. I think Kierse’s character revealed not only how strong and resilient she was, but also how much she cared for her best friends, Ethan and Gen. Kierse wasn’t a damsel in distress, she was a fighter when necessary, detail oriented especially when planning ahead for an exit strategy, and had a mysterious ability that became clearer as the story progressed. 

Each part of this story focused more on the mystery of Kierse’s significance with her ability as well as touching on other characters story that were interwoven too. Kierse seemed like just a thief when you first meet her, but the more I read, the more I wondered, “what was she exactly?” Then add in the dark and mysterious man known as, Graves and I had even more questions. There seemed to be this grander scheme in the works while Kierse trained and prepared herself for the biggest heist of her like. With trying to evade capture, meeting Graves expectations, and ensuring her friends were safe, there was quite a bit on the line for Kiese. 

I went into this book expecting a, “Beauty and The Beast” retelling and that’s what I got but in an unexpected way. At first, I felt like the book wasn’t clear in terms of what was Kierse’s mission really was, specifically the significance behind why getting the spear was so vital to Graves. Once the story got a bit more in depth with Kierse’s training and her involvement with Graves, little by little certain details came into play towards the end of the book. So, with that in mind I would say this book was a bit of a build up to the big ending in how everything connected to Graves and how Kierse’s backstory was only the beginning. In addition, I feel like the big plot twist and reveals happened towards the very end so I would say that, be patient because the ending was exciting and intriguing. I didn’t see the plot twist/ reveal coming in this book, but it just makes me more curious to learn more about Kierse and Graves in the next book. I’m assuming there will be a second book, and it’ll expand more on Graves backstory as well as Kierse’s abilities. This was a bit of a slow build up in terms of the actual plot line, but there was still some action, intriguing magical stuff, found family, and a bit of that romance Kierse and Graves had going on. Overall, this was a good book, I liked the unique way the story combined Celtic mythology and how everything was interwoven together.