Of Beast and Beauty, by Stacey Jay

Of Beast and Beauty took me less than two days to read. It was another one of those books that I couldn't put down. Do you know the feeling? Squeezing in as much time as possible to get to the next chapter, and the next? Finishing your work early and, instead of talking with other students that are done, diving headfirst into a book? It's a wonderful feeling, if you don't get in trouble for it.

As you probably guessed, I'm a major bookworm. Especially at school. I don't really talk at all during classes, choosing to read instead. In fact, it got to the point that a teacher threatened to give me a referral if I ever bring a book into class again! However, when I'm not in that class, whenever I'm not working on something, I read.

Of Beast and Beauty is a (you guessed it!) Beauty and the Beast retelling. It's set on a different planet, where humans have split and evolved into two races: the Monstrous, who have scales, claws, and fangs, and the Smooth Skins, or humans, who have not evolved much at all. Both races are cursed, so that the Monstrous cannot cry and that the Smooth Skins are born with something missing, like vocal chords, an arm, a leg, etc. The planet is a desert except for several cities, which are held inside domes. The Monstrous live in the desert, barely surviving. The Smooth Skins live inside the dome, filled with fear and superstition.

The female main character, Princess Isra, is blind, only given sight for short bursts due to the magical roses in her domed city, Yuan. However, she has been raised to die. Once she becomes queen, she will be sacrificed to the same roses that give her freedom so that the dome will be maintained, and humanity doesn't die out. The man, Gem, is a Monstrous, caught stealing one of the roses from Yuan's garden in the hope that it can save is tribe from starvation. Between them, an unlikely bond forms as a tale about self acceptance, adaptation, and independence unfolds.

I loved Of Beast and Beauty, because both characters were struggling with what was happening around them, and struggling to believe in themselves. It could also represent racism, because the Smooth Skins hate the Monstrous with all of their being, and the Monstrous resent the Smooth Skins for what they have. The only flaw I could really find in it is that Isra seems to be a bit of a masochist, and has no faith in herself at all. I mean, who wouldn't protest being sacrificed, even if it was in the future? It's ridiculous.