#so if my acotar mutuals wonder why i spelled things out the way i did

[goforth-ladymidnight]

Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

For those of you who are looking for a good fairy tale retelling, @swiftsnowmane once recommended "Heart's Blood" by Juliet Marillier. Having stayed up until 3 o'clock in the morning to finish it, I am here to report that it is everything I wanted in a Beauty and the Beast retelling and then some.

It admittedly started off a little slow, and I wish there had been a pronunciation guide for the Irish names the way there was for the Romanian names in "Wildwood Dancing" (by the same author), but these are overall minor complaints. By the time Caitrin, our heroine, enters a certain private garden and the familiar elements of the fairy tale began falling into place, I was hooked. Part historical fiction, part fantasy, part romance, and part mystery, I had forgotten what it was like to stay up all night reading.

I think what made it such an especially compelling story was the nature of the curse, which Caitrin slowly becomes aware of and seeks to undo. Unlike "Beauty" by Robin McKinley (one of my favorite retellings) or "A Court of Thorns and Roses" by Sarah J. Maas (of which I have a love-hate relationship), the curse makes sense.

The novel "Beauty" was less concerned about the curse (which was vague at best and an afterthought at worst) and more about developing Beauty's character and her relationship with the Beast. Side note: Prior to the publication of Robin McKinley's novel, the character of Beauty had never been given much to do in the Beast's castle, but here she was given the chance to read. Sound familiar? I'm sure Disney took note, and the 1991 animated film seems to have inspired every rendition of Beauty ever since!

For example, Caitrin is a scribe in a time when most women weren't taught to read, much less write. Even in ACOTAR, SJM chose to make her Beauty (Feyre) illiterate, which made breaking the curse more difficult. Which leads me back to my original point about the believability of the curse in Beauty and the Beast retellings: ACOTAR is more concerned about making Feyre's life as difficult as possible so that Tamlin's (the Beast's) curse is almost impossible to break, even though it's already very complicated when it doesn't have to be.

By contrast, in "Heart's Blood", the curse feels more believable, though no less fantastical. To avoid spoilers, I won't say what exactly it entails, but, interestingly enough, it does not directly affect the "beast's" appearance. Granted, Anluan, the chieftain of Whispering Tor, still behaves like a beast in many ways (it wouldn't be a Beauty and the Beast retelling otherwise!), but the subtle ways in which he changes throughout the story more than make up for his lack of fangs and fur. And I grew to love him for it, just like Caitrin did.

This is one book I will be gladly adding to my collection. If only it had an illustrated cover as intricate and detailed as the one(s) made for Wildwood Dancing... I would be content.

Cover art by Kinuko Craft and Janaina Medeiros (@/janainaart)

Perhaps, one day it will.