Plot:
From the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi comes the first novel in a brand-new series set at an elite international boarding school, that’s a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast.
Will the princess save the beast?
For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?
His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can't shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…
As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.
Review:
I must confess from the very beginning that I have been a fan of Sandhya's work for quite a while now (and would go as far as calling her debut one of my favourite books of all time). That being said, I think that did more disservice to the book than it did it a service, as it meant that my expectations were even higher than they would have normally been - and if you want to sell me a boarding school Beauty and the Beast retelling, then you must know my expectations will be high by default. That being said, Sandhya Menon raises to the challenge once more in what I can only call the most pleasant of surprises! (whether or not it really is a surprise when you were already expecting a book to be good is a whole other story)
I think it's safe to say that if you, like myself, are attracted by the idea of a modern, diverse take on the age old tale, then you shall look no further. Sandhya takes a lot of the key elements of the original story, while also adding enough new things to make the story her own. Plus, there's a boarding school!!
Menon crafts a delightfully angsty story of family feuds, curses and their many forms, duty, family and first loves. Dare I even go as far as saying that this a quality old school romcom with an edge. It has many great traditional romcom elements (i.e: The Meet Cute that they don't realise is a meet cute, the wholesome unexpected date that's not quite a date, the bonding over shared traumatic experiences, the everyone-in-their-friend-group-is-waiting-for-them-to-get-together etc). At the same time, the author pours new wine in the age old bottles by subverting some of the more questionable elements that have become recurring within the genre; the mean girl may not be quite as mean at the end of the day, the gruff love interest may be brooding without being abusive, the duty vs love dilemma comes moreso from within than from others, and other things that you may just have to discover for yourself.
I truly loved the way Sandhya played with the readers' as well as characters' expectations in many ways. The story often takes an aura of fabulism and makes one question the meaning of things you are told - is the curse a 'real' curse or is it real enough as long as everyone believes it to be so? Does salvation comes from outside or can it be found from within? Is a 'beast' born or is it made?
All of that being said, the book is also an addictive, fun and readable wholesome love story set at a posh boarding school. Can you tell how much that excites me? You have the great build up, the angst, the banter, it is *chef kiss*. You also have a lovely sibling bond and some interesting friendship group dynamics, which I wish we would have seen slightly more of, but I was sold on it all nevertheless.
CANNOT TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I AM FOR EVERYONE TO READ THIS!! I am even more excited about this being a series and cannot wait to see what the next installment shall eventually bring.
Until the next time ...
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