Title: BEAUTY IN THE BEAST
Author: Christine Danse
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: 5 March 2012
Pages: 116
Status: electronic (ARC)

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

LibraryThing Info

Beauty In the Beast for purchase on CarinaPress.com

Friends, I was mighty excited when I saw that Christine Danse had a new novella out. I loved her debut, ISLAND OF ICARUS, and the follow-up doesn't disappoint.

BEAUTY IN THE BEAST works in a rather different vein than IoI. It’s still steampunk and it’s still romance, but this time the emphasis rests on fairy tales and storytelling, not academia and invention. Tara and her friends are performers on their way to London for a winter festival when a storm forces them to seek shelter. They find it with Rolph, a reclusive trapper who offers them a warm room in exchange for a few stories. They’re happy to oblige, and a steampunky fairy tale feast ensues.

I read a lot of short fiction, including both magazine and anthology inclusions and novellas published as books in their own right. BEAUTY IN THE BEAST belongs to the latter category, but its structure has more in common with the former. There’s a framing story with a satisfying narrative arc, but it’s a tad slight on its own. The true gems here are the shorter tales the storytellers and Rolph share to pass the time. All four blend magic and technology and utilize recognizable fairy tale structures. Danse does a beautiful job of juxtaposing these steampunk fairy tales with the framing story and with each other. Two of the stories have a clear impact on the frame as our heroine and the hero share tales which may or may not be true. The others encourage us to consider how magic and technology intertwine, and how they might colour these characters’ worldviews.

The result is a novella very much concerned with the nature of stories, and with the ways they can help us connect with others and make sense of our lives. I had a wonderful time mulling it over.

The story is, of course, modeled on Beauty and the Beast, but it’s more a riff off the material than a straight retelling. Readers will recognize many of the original fairy tale’s key elements, including the storm that drives travelers to take refuge with the Beast and the importance of flowers, but Danse breaks new ground, too. I particularly liked the way she handled two sides of the werewolf myth: the physical transformation which is the current vogue and the psychological shift to a wolf-like outlook that was more prevalent in the nineteenth century and before.

I happened to read BEAUTY IN THE BEAST on a night when my insomnia struck particularly hard, and it was a wonderful way to while away the sleepless hours. I would’ve liked to have become a little more invested in the romance, but the rest was more than enough to make up for it. The steampunk technology, theatrical bend and slightly different narrative structure were a pure pleasure. I most certainly recommend this to anyone who enjoys both steampunk and fairy tales.

3.5 stars – really liked it

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