Wednesday 1 June 2016

Book Review: The Rakshasa's Bride by Suzannah Rowntree


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Summary (from Goodreads):
Preeti Kamla has the evil eye. It’s the only explanation for the tragedy and disgrace besetting her once wealthy family. But when a handsome stranger in the village square tells her he has broken her curse, Preeti almost believes him.

Until a twist of fate whisks her away from everything she knows, and the gruesome Demon Rajah claims her as his bride.

A rich and romantic retelling of Beauty and the Beast in the style of a Bollywood epic. Novella, approximately 18,000 words.



So, I knew basically nothing about this book going in, other than that it was a fairytale retelling. I realised maybe halfway through that it was supposed to be Beauty and the Beast. It's also a Christian allegory, although this is fairly subtle, and I didn't realise this either until a fair way in. Of course after I realised these things I knew roughly what was going to happen, but I still wasn't sure what route the author was going to take and so the ending wasn't that predictable, and I felt there was an interesting twist. I thought it was an interesting, although very quick read; I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it, but it certainly made me think, even a while after I finished it, and the story was well written and engaging. Overall I'm glad I decided to take a chance and read it, despite not knowing much about it.

This book counts towards the Once Upon a Time challenge, in the Fairytale category.

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