Beau & Bett Book Review

Book title: Beau & Bett - A Modern Retelling of Beauty and the Beast

Author: Kathryn Berla

In this contemporary gender-swapped version of Beauty and the Beast, Kathryn Berla presents to her readers Beau LeFrancois (Beauty) and Bettina Diaz (our modern-day Beast). Beau is a down-to-earth guy who prioritizes his family. He assists his father who is temporarily disabled, babysits his rowdy twin brothers, and even puts up with his future brother-in-law’s jabs so his engaged sister can plan her wedding in peace. So it’s no surprise that when Beau’s mother gets into an accident with Bettina (daughter of the owner to the sprawling Diaz Ranch), Beau volunteers to pay off the debt by working hours at the ranch. Warned about Bettina’s notorious reputation (and nickname), Beau is at first wary of approaching Bett. But over long sweaty hours together, eccentric meals, and too many outfit changes to count, Beau finds himself realizing there are two sides to every story.

Verdict: Berla’s story is an enjoyable and light read that I devoured in one day. The aspect I enjoyed most about the novel was getting to know Beau’s large and personable family. I loved the over-the-top, but incredibly sweet, depiction of Papa’s and Maman’s relationship as well as the antics of Del and Claude (a.k.a double trouble). Berla generated a great family dynamic, making it believable that Beau would genuinely want to take off Maman’s debt when she finds herself in the accident. And although Beau’s clan is much larger than the original Beauty’s family, Berla seems to have intended Beau’s close-knit family to substitute for Beauty’s father. The only complaint I have about Beau’s character is that he sometimes jumped between immaturity and adulthood; obviously, he displayed responsibility when he shouldered his mother’s debt, but other times, he would exclaim “Yuck!” when his parents kissed or awkwardly ask a girl to hang out. It just seemed uncharacteristic of a high school upperclassman.

As for Bettina’s character, I only wish readers had gotten to see more of her. I think that her perspective would have been really cool to read and would have given readers more insight to her personality and the circumstances that led to her nickname. Although Bettina’s nickname is central to the retelling of Beauty and the Beast, I didn’t find it plausible that a group of high schoolers would bestow such a lofty moniker on a girl who was more introverted than unlikeable. While the backstory of Bettina coupled with Bett’s personality might be a cause for her nickname, the name “The Beast” itself doesn’t sound typical of the average highschooler’s vocabulary when it comes to teasing others.

Though this novel is marketed as a romance, I felt that the relationship was too rushed. After all, Beau only worked weekends for a month, meaning that the romance spans over little more than a week. Regardless of the timeframe, I did appreciate how Beau and Bett spent their limited time with each other, whether by having fancy dinners together on Bett’s truck or doggedly fencing the ranch while opening themselves up to each other.

In all honesty, I think this story would have stood fine on its own without having to use the Beauty and the Beast fairytale as a scaffold. In fact, the retelling aspect of this novel complicates things like Bettina’s nickname origin (which I cannot get over because firstly, it’s not really a nickname a teenager would ever give to someone else and secondly, because the nickname and Bett’s backstory don’t really align with each other). Without using Beauty and the Beast, I think the author could have fleshed out her characters more, perhaps by giving readers Bettina’s point of view or by further exploring some grey areas, like why Bettina’s mom really left the family. With that being said, I did love finding the similarities between the original tale and this modern retelling. For instance, when Maman stopped to pick up the avocado on the Diaz Ranch property — which started this whole chain of events — I immediately connected this to Beauty’s rose. And when I read the name of Bettina’s high school, Castlegate, I could almost envision Bettina isolated in a crumbling tower. However, this isn’t to say that Berla didn’t add her own fresh twist to the story. From adding new characters like Masie and Khalil to spicing up the main characters’ personalities, she kept readers wondering what would happen next.

Though Berla’s novel is grounded in reality, her retelling adds a touch of magic to a familiar and classic tale.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed by: Siri Palreddy '20