ARC Review: The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross

Title: The Beast's Heart
Series: n/a
Author: Leife Shallcross
Source/Format: First to read; eARC
More Details: Fantasy; Retelling
Publisher/Publication Date: Berkley; February 12, 2019

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

A sumptuously magical, brand new take on a tale as old as time—read the Beast's side of the story at long last...
I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both. I am the Beast. The day I was cursed to this wretched existence was the day I was saved—although it did not feel so at the time. My redemption sprung from contemptible roots; I am not proud of what I did the day her father happened upon my crumbling, isolated chateau. But if loneliness breeds desperation then I was desperate indeed, and I did what I felt I must. My shameful behaviour was unjustly rewarded. My Isabeau. She opened my eyes, my mind and my heart; she taught me how to be human again. And now I might lose her forever....
Lose yourself in this gorgeously rich and magical retelling of The Beauty and the Beast that finally lays bare the beast's heart....

I always look forward to retellings for the usual reasons. So it’s pretty obvious why I wanted to give The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross a try. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling told from the perspective of the Beast, and I was looking forward to what twists Shallcross would inject into a tale that’s already so familiar. I liked this book. It was long and it followed the general plot of Beauty and the Beast—so, if you know anything about the story, some parts of this one will feel familiar. Yet, The Beast’s Heart was still an interesting retelling.

From the first page, I was drawn in by Shallcross’s writing. It was descriptive and expertly conveyed what the Beast was going through as well as the setting and the magic present in the story. Shallcross did a good job at creating a better picture of the loneliness he went through during the time he spent isolated in a forest and then in his chateau. So, one thing I did see more of was what the Beast was doing before the usual starting point of the story, and when he had time alone thereafter. 

I also liked how Shallcross handled the other parts of the story. With so limited a focus, I was afraid that some of the other characters—like Isabeau’s family—would get lost while the story played out between her and the Beast. But, that wasn’t the case at all. There was a gradual progression of the story for both main and secondary characters. And I have to say that I enjoyed how those parts were ultimately incorporated into the rest of the story. Now, one thing I do have to talk about is how familiar parts of the story felt. Because this was a retelling that closely followed the original tale, it took away some of the surprise that might have come with certain revelations had there been more differences. It wasn’t that big of an issue. Other than that, the story was good. 

Overall, The Beast’s Heart was a solid retelling of Beauty and the Beast. And, if you’re a fan of the original tale, then maybe consider giving this one a try. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to whatever Shallcross writes next....

About the author....

Leife Shallcross’s first novel, The Beast’s Heart, a "luxuriously magical retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale", will be published by Hodder & Stoughton in May 2018. She is also the author of several short stories, including Pretty Jennie Greenteeth, which won the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Short Story. Leife has a bit of a thing for fairy tales, and is particularly inspired by those characters that tend to fall into the cracks of the usual stories. She can be found online at leifeshallcross.com and on Twitter @leioss.

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Disclaimer: This copy of the book was provided by First to Read for this review, thank you!

Music Monday (71): Lorde, & Backstreet Boys

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: I’ve always been a casual listener of Lorde’s music since her Pure Heroine album. It wasn’t until I decided to sit down and give Melodrama a full listen with no interruptions, that I fully realized how much there was to appreciate about Lorde’s music. Lyrically and sound composition wise, Melodrama is unquestionably great with songs like Green Light, The Louvre, and Supercut, among others. One of my personal favorites is Sober....

Andrea: Hi all! I'm currently listening to Chances by Backstreet Boys...

There’s bound to be a lot of music we’ve missed over the years. So, what new music are you listening to? Or, what are some of your favorite albums or singles?

Exploring Colored Pencils Part #1

I am by no means an expert at using colored pencils. I’m still learning the ins and outs. However, I have been playing around with them for a while and I’ve learned a few lessons over the past year or two based off of trial and error. And today, I want to compare the different brands of colored pencils I’ve used. 

Artist’s Loft Necessities

I received a set of these colored pencils within another set. And when I looked for them online, I didn’t see these specific ones. I was also a little surprised by how much the other sets by the same company actually cost. I mean, these aren’t too bad—and I can’t speak to how the other sets work—but I still wouldn’t go in expecting them to behave like a better known brand like Prismacolor. The Necessities have moderately vibrant colors. They show up well, and I like the look I was able to achieve with them. However, the white pencil doesn’t do much. So, preserving as much white-space on the page as possible was essential to having a good contrast between the light and dark areas. And, if you like a smoother look that doesn’t show obvious pencil marks, then this wouldn’t be the set to go with. However, these do have their uses, and overall, I like using them.

Prismacolor Premier

Of course with all art mediums, it takes time to develop a piece from start to finish. These colored pencils are no different. However, the effort was worth it, because the end product for the Prismacolor Premier colored pencils is by far my favorite of the bunch. Prismacolor is the best set of colored pencils I currently own. They can be expensive, but these pencils have a lot to offer that makes them worth their price. The colors are very vibrant. They blend well even without a blender pencil. It’s also relatively easy to create depth with a strong contrast between light and dark, and I can achieve a smoother gradation between the colors. If you want a smooth finish with little to no pencil marks, then this set would be a good one to start with.

Artist’s Loft Fundamentals

When I decided to do this post, I knew I was going to go use at least three sets of colored pencils I had in order to compare the pros and cons between each one. And this list couldn’t be complete without Artist’s Loft’s Fundamentals colored pencils. And…whew, it was a rollercoaster trying to use these for anything other than sketches.

Honestly, this was probably one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had with colored pencils in a very long time. As I was building the layers, I noticed that it was creating an effect that looked similar to cereal milk—specifically Lucky Charm cereal milk, after all the colors have bled off the marshmallows and mixed together. And the shadows weren’t where I wanted them to be. I resorted to using black to try and deepen the colors. One thing I noticed with the Fundamentals set is that once you have one layer of color down and you try to go over with another shade…yeah, don’t. By the time I actually reached the hair and the background stage, I actually thought about cheating and using the other Artist’s Loft set to try and fix the areas that were particularly egregious. But, I was committed to the process and decided to tough it out for the sake of this post.

Don’t get me wrong, the final image looks fine. I can achieve something with these pencils, but I, by far, prefer the Necessities set if I’m going to use Artist’s Loft colored pencils. In the end, theses are going to be reserved for paint use instead—they’re pretty light and don’t show through as much after additional color from another medium has been added on top.

But then, my co-blogger pointed out that the shadows aren’t as deep on the Necessities picture as the other two. For the sake of being impartial, I decided to go for a second round with the Necessities pencils to see how they worked on a picture with sharper shadows. But, that’ll have to wait for the second part, because this post is long enough as it is. So, part 2 will have more art, some swatches, and my final thoughts about these pencils.

Do you regularly use colored pencils? What’s your favorite brand?

The Friday 56 (147) & Book Beginnings: The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Medieval World by Andrew Jotischky & Caroline Hull

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Medieval World traces the development of peoples, cultures, and faiths between the coming of the barbarian invasions in the fourth century and the first voyages to the New World in the sixteenth. This colorful atlas illustrates the sweeping changes from the fall of the Roman Empire to the birth of Islam, the rise of Christianity, and the role of Judaism across Europe. Packed with vivid maps and photographs, this atlas is a perfect guide to Europe and its neighbors in the Middle Ages....

Beginning: "The 5th-century emperors in the West had been all but powerless for two generations before 476, and dislocation of the western provinces from central rule was an ongoing feature of the whole 5th century."

56: "Benedict envisioned his monasteries as self-sufficient communities supporting themselves through manual labour."

Comments: The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Medieval World is one of the books I recently checked out from the library. It's all about Medieval history, and I found a lot of the information fascinating. What are you reading this week?

Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Title: Dracula
Series: n/a
Author: Bram Stoker
Source/Format: Borrowed from the library; Hardcover
More Details: Fantasy; Horror
Publisher/Publication Date: First published 1897

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Written in the form of letters, diary entries, and news bits, Dracula chronicles the vampire's journey from his Transylvanian castle to the nighttime streets of London. There, he searches for the blood he needs to stay alive - the blood of strong men and beautiful women - while his enemies plot to rid the world of his frightful power. The now-famous cast of characters includes the English solicitor Jonathan Harker; his fiancee, the enchanting Mina Murray; and Van Helsing, the mysterious Dutch doctor and expert vampire killer...

So, Dracula is one classic book I’ve been meaning to read for a very-very long time. I was already familiar with the various adaptations of it, but I’d yet to read the original work. I didn’t get to it before 2018 was over, but in January 2019, I finally read it. I have no idea why I waited so long to read it. However, now I can say I understand why Dracula has remained so well-known and recommended since its initial publication. And while some of the language used is very outdated—as well as some eyebrow-raising and inaccurate medical procedures—the overall story was a solid piece of horror fiction.

Dracula was a long and somewhat complicated book. It was everything I was expecting it to be. Partially run-down and sort of (highly likely) abandoned castle? Check. Forests? Check. Vampires? Triple check.

There were also various odd and inexplicable incidents that happened to Jonathan Harker, and by extension the people he and his fiancée, Mina Murray, knew. As such, the story was well-suited to the mixed media format of letters, journal entries, and newspaper clippings. Because without the various—and sometimes brief—perspectives, much of the story outside of the experiences of Jonathan, Mina, Lucy, Van Helsing, and others would have been missed entirely. The various incidents only served to build up a, I guess you could call it, psychological aspect to the novel. Dracula—the character—was a suitably creepy antagonist, and there was a constant sense of suspense building over the duration of the book. Those, when combined with the horror elements, made Dracula a page-turner.

Have you read Dracula or seen any of the movies? What do you think about it?