Once upon a time, I believed in fairytales.But then he took me.And he taught me that life isn’t a fairytale.He is scarred. Broken.A dark and wild thing.His beauty is violent and his words are cruel.His heart is a shadowed landscape where nothing can grow.He tells me he could never care for me, and he proves it every day.He’s destroyed my life.Tortured me.And worse… me.
And worse…
He’s trained me to beg for his affection.
This prison is a place where sunlight doesn’t reach.
He taught me that hate is born in darkness.
And then he taught me that sometimes love is too.
A standalone dark romance
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Speechless..
Not sure what words can adequately express what an encompassing emotional journey Zavarelli has delivered with Beast.
Definitely a dark romance – you are forewarned -but there were so many times just the slightest ray of light broke through , just enough light to give Bella the strength to go on.
Be prepared for a few twists that come from nowhere that will leave you shaken and another couple that will have you reaching for a tissue.
No matter how bad it gets – No peaking!
This book was hard to read at times…Ms Zavarelli was not kidding when she said DARK!
So much betrayal and deceit, I was heartbroken for these main characters.
Her father…
His friend…
Lie after, lie after, lie…it was such a web, I wasn’t sure my mind would ever be free and just when you think you can breathe, guess again.
This is a standalone, no cliff hanger, but there are some side characters that definitely deserve to have their story told. Based on the #1 behind this title, I think they may.
Yep, this ain’t your Mama’s fairy tale, be prepared.
4.75
OMG THIS STORY!!!!
I hated and loved it at the same time!!
It’s not an easy one.
It’s violent, raw…
It’s like watching an awful accident – you can’t just take your eyes off, no matter how ugly and painful it is.
Javier is blinded by his rage and need for vengeance.
Even when he start feeling something for Isabella, he keep hurting her because pain is the only thing he knows, it’s the only thing he lives for…
Bella can’t do much against sucha beast and she might seems just a weak girl who fall in love with his captor.
But there is a darkness in her that perfectly match Javi’s.
She is willing to take his pain because she can see what’s behind the monster.
Beast is the kind of dark tale I love.
But before diving in, please be aware that this rose has many thorns.
A POWERFUL STORY
Singer Isabella Rossi is at her wit’s end.
She can’t take anymore of those crackling flashes, horryfing noises and endless questions from reporters.
But Luke, her agent, keeps watch and holds her tight by the arm.
Isabella has no other escape.
She’s going to have to face the reporters…
—————————
A powerful story on the themes of mental, physical and revenge manipulation, among other things…
Once the first page has started, it’s impossible to stop along the way…
I finished the book four hours later, totally amazed by the captivating and unexpected ending !
A shock reading, a unique author : to discover for thrill seekers.
A perfectly dark story. Javier is the perfect “beast” of a man! Isabella is the innocent young women ensnared by Javier. Brought to his lair Isabella doesn’t know what to think. She is scared, alone, and finds out her life isn’t what she thought. What begins as revenge takes a dark sexy turn. Will Javier get his revenge or will Isabella tame the beast?
4.5 My Monster stars
Beautiful things were meant to be broken….
This isn’t your usual damsel in distress versus captor and it definitely isn’t a fairytale romance.
Right from the beginning of Beast, you’re thrust into the mind games, the darkness, the gripping and grittiness of the plot when Bella is stalked, persuade, obsessed over then eventually taken by her captor.
Beast is a swirl of dark mind games and twisted events.
The motive? revenge for the crimes of her father, the end game, death.
Bella endures endless mind games, caged, mentally tortured and sexually humiliated by her hooded tormentor, what once was pure becomes tainted.
Monsters don’t always come from the darkness, sometimes they hide in broad daylight.
There is more than one monster in Beast, twists and turns and revelations you wouldn’t expect. Truths are exposed and dark deeds are thrown into the light as Bella begins to see her beast for what he is, the child he once was, taken, deceived, used and trained to be a killing machine.
Bella:
He taught me that hate is born in darkness and then he taught me that love is too.
This is a story of two people who begin to learn from each other, through revelations new life is born and although the beginning cruel and gruesome Beast blossoms into a heartwarming story one I didn’t expect.
A clever and brilliantly executed plot that has you eagerly wanting to know the outcome.
Bella:
He is my tormentor. My greatest source of pain and fear. But somehow he has also become my sanctuary.
Beast contains dark disturbing scenes, told in dual pov’s, a standalone that leads to hea.
Wow. This book was great. Dark and gritty and twisted. The beginning of the story started out pretty slow, and the writing took some getting used to. It’s a bit choppy, and that style continues throughout the entire book. But as the story picks up about midway through, the style and everything else falls by the wayside as you get more and more wrapped up in the story.
I enjoyed this take on the Beauty and the Beast fairytale. It’s not Disney, for sure. But truly, it makes sense. The man, the Beast, believes himself too ugly to love. He hides himself away and refuses to come out. And when you learn of his dark and tortured past, you can understand why he feels this way. And Isabella – she too is a tortured soul. All she wanted was the love she never received. So when captured, she fell in love with the Beast, and the Beast fell in love with her.
The twisted tale of what happened to the Beast and how he was made into what he has become will drag you down into dark depths that are difficult to climb out of. And you won’t want to until you find the light shining in the end.
“I want him”
“I hate him”
A dark twist on Beauty and the Beast! This is no happy, Prince Charming romance. This is your dark, vengeance romance. Fans of Pepper Winters and Aleatha Romig this is a book for you!
Isabella “Bella” is a singer and songwriter but she is stuck in the fame of winning a singing competition. It’s not how she expected her life would be. Her PR Manager is arrogant and manipulating which doesn’t help in her spinning world of chaos. To add to her chaos; her father has gone missing and the one man she wants to speak with who might have answers she can get a hold of since apparently he lives in the shadows. On returning home, she finds red rose petals on her childhood front porch and mysterious notes in the mailbox. Who is leaving them?
Red roses are of comfort to her, but when she finds one in her hotel room instead of her phone the warm the woke up to starts to disappears.
Taken from her life of chaos and thrusted from hell into another; she is soon faced with Javier “Javi” the man who she has been wanting to see to discuss her father. She learns real fast she does not like his presence, she learns way he keeps to the shadows. No wonder why he calls himself a Beast!
Javi has so much hate and revenge for Bella’s father for what he did to him as a young boy, for taking him away and putting him in the secret training program. He takes Bella for vengeance, making her do his bidding and more; but soon his walls start to crumble with her submission and surrender. She sees him, truly which scares him even more!
Can Bella see past the demon that lurks in him and forgive him of his ways? Can Javi trust and mend his heart? Sorrow, anger, angst, tears are all collaborated to make this dark tale into a scorcher of a read!
The warning at the start of this book is right. This book is DARK! Very sensitive subject matter and yoy should read with caution if you are affected by these.
I loved it, like really loved this twisted story of a beast and his beauty. I did find the book a bit predictable but its based on my favourite fairytale so it could have been that. I do recommend this book if you love the dark and twisted because life is not all roses and sunshine.
A rollercoaster.
Isabella loves to sing. But the people around her don’t care about what she loves only what they can take from her. She feels lost and alone even though she’s always surrounded by people. She knows that her father and his job are wrapped up in secrets that she’s dealt with all her life. Until the day he goes missing and she doesn’t know what to do or who to trust.
Here we are introduced to Javier. He is broken, in such a way that he shouldn’t be able to be put back together. Isabella has known about him for most of her life but she’s never met him. She just knows that his life is a big secret in which her father is involved. She had no idea just how big that secret was, or the journey that meeting him would take her on.
When the disclaimer mentions that this is a dark retelling of a favorite fairy tale, it’s not wrong. This book is a beautiful kind of twisted. You know what’s happening is wrong and you feel as though you should look away but you just can’t. I felt off balance the entire time I read it. I didn’t know what direction the characters were going to go in from one moment to the next. It truly was a rollercoaster ride of emotions, mine and the characters. It clearly sets us up for the next story which I can only imagine will be Snow White and I find myself wondering just how much the author will mess me up next time, and knowing that I’ll enjoy it.
This story is full of darkness, pain, betrayal, and love. No one is who they seem to be and figuring them out was a puzzle that I enjoyed immensely. For the first time in a while I was shocked and surprised in ways that I didn’t expect. While this book might not be for everyone it was certainly something I’m glad that I had the opportunity to read.
My favorite part of the entire book would have to be the epilogue. So often I find myself not content with how many of them go. This one did not disappoint. Just like the rest of the book I was thrown by how much I could be deceived and like it. If you’re looking for a bright and sunny fairy tale then look elsewhere, but if you are willing to see this story from a different side, then by all means do as I did and devour this book.
Enthralling… Riveting…. BEWARE THIS IS A DARK READ…. I devoured this, could NOT put it down. Twist and turns that kept me on the edge…. A. Zavarelli has done it again. Highly recommend this, definitely will push your heart and limits. But oh so good!!
Damn, A. Zavarelli is the queen of dark and twisted, and nothing proves that better than Beast!!
We’ve got Javi and we’ve got Isabella. He’s the Beast. He’s damaged and twisted and seeking to break sweet little Isabella. Why? Well, you’ll have to read to find that out. But, will he actually break her? Or will she break him? Such mind fucks going on in this book. Javi is running one, certainly. But, perhaps he’s not the master of mind games that he thinks he is. Perhaps this sweet girl he’s been stalking, he’s obsessed with, will run a game on him, on his heart, perhaps?
I don’t want to give any spoilers, so just let me say this. Yes, Beast is dark and twisted, but it’s not irredeemable, Javi is not irredeemable. There are lots of plot twists and WTF moments, but in the end, what I was left with is that Beast is somehow a beautiful, albeit in a crazy ass way, fairy tale and you will absolutely fall in love with Javi and Isabella, just as they fell for each other. It’s not pretty, it’s dark and insane, but it is beautiful in its own way.
Thank you for the ARC and the chance to read this wonderfully twisted story!
Now I know why the Caged Bird Sings
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
Isabella Rossi has been caged
By her talent and then by her father and then by her abductor -Javier Castillo
I don’t wanna give away the story.
It’s a major,dark twist to the Beauty And The Beast.
It’s a Perfect Storm Of Circumstances!
The first 50% of the story moves very , very slowly
It spikes in speed and like a box thrown down the stairs somersault a lot.
There’s three parallel tracks running .
Love
Revenge
Betrayal
The story has darker elements that can act as triggers.
They didn’t bother me though.
Too Mild for me.
The only botheration was single sentence format.
That annoyed me a lot
The plot was very attractive , very John Le Carrè.
In fact the last 20% of the story actually made me draft my review
Now the feels
The mood was grim , dark and hopeless.
In the first half I had trouble connecting.
The latter half I latched on and it became interesting
River’s character was most surprising .
Although had a very hard-to-believe twist.
I loved the ending .
Almost gave me a heart attack
TWICE!!!
Hope you get the irony :p
Beast (Twisted Ever After, #1) is a really dark twisted tale loosely inspired by Beauty and the Beast and it was so deliciously despicably good.
It was a tale of right and wrong where the boundary lines were ever so much blurred and obscured.
And begs the overall question is an eye for an eye fair.
And is it right that the innocent should pay the cost for the sinner’s actions.
That the horrors once visited upon your head you bestow on a blameless young girl ultimately to punish said sinner.
And also then in the grand scheme of things will it actually make you feel better and less broken to shatter someone else.
Beast is told from both Javi and Bella’s POV and apart from the occasional visitation from a few minor characters these two are really the main event.
with the story focused mainly on them both.
And what a performance to behold it is.
As Javi systematically sets out to annihilate and destroy Bella all for her father’s actions.
And Bella crumbles so tragically with Javi’s harsh treatment.
Then is again confused and left floundering by his seemingly affectionate actions totally contradicting himself in an effort to break Bella down emotionally.
This was at times a very dark and brutal read but slowly a flicker of connection sparks drawing these two into a new dynamic.
And I could see a light in the distance.
And As they slowly fall deeper down the rabbit hole we get to experience the descent with them.
So I really enjoyed Beast, and though at times Javi was hard to understand and like I did get the where and why of it.
Bella herself was such sweetheart with a total lack of belief in herself which was so sad considering her character and individual talents and as this story progresses she slowly starts to come into her own and I was her one-woman cheering squad urging her on.
So This was so well written and easy to read and I found I especially adored the epilogue.
Was a lovely look into Javi and Bella’s future.
On a final note just got to say, that cover, man its hot loved it so much.
I am very Happy to recommend Beast it was a great read.
Holy mother of all things dark and twisted!
Bella just won a singing competition and they turned her into a pop princess, or they’re trying to. Her dad has gone missing and may be dead. And someone is stalking her. Javi was turned into a murderer. The agency took him at a young age and tortured him, made him the monster who now watches Bella’s every move and has plans on kidnapping her, breaking her, and returning her to her father a shell of a person. Can the beauty ever love the beast who took her freedom?
I loved the twist on Beauty and the Beast! The parallels were amazing: the scars, the growling, the library, and even the whole thing revolving around the father’s mistakes.
That being said: this n=book is DARK! Bella is incredibly strong. She knows she’s the ‘caged bird who comes to fear freedom and find safety in captivity.’ Yet, she is still able to make the choice to love Javi. She grew up hearing bits and pieces about him and I think in a way, even though she resented his involvement with her father, she felt for him and cared about him enough that she’s able to overlook his treatment of her and see the good in him.
I didn’t like Javi in the beginning. His story unfolds slowly, but it’s not until the end that his actions become understandable. Every single person in his life betrays him in some way. He is truly alone until Bella. It’s heartbreaking.
I was also worried the happily ever after wouldn’t come. The ending had me clenching my fists and praying it didn’t go the way it was seeming to. I seriously almost cried!
Excellent story!
“Though scarred and hardened, he is a work of art. One so twisted, Poe could write infinite sonnets about the darkness he carries around with him. A beautiful monster.”
Pushing the limits of right vs. wrong, hauntingly and poetically written this one will reach in your gut and bleed you dry. Deeply dark, with characters that exude depravity, feral emotion, causing the reader to feel….everything. Vividly intense and twisted, but so beautifully and amazingly crafted.
Don’t go down the rabbit hole if you’re even remotely turned off by dark, and if you’re not ready to question everything you thought you understood, or expecting hearts and flowers (at least in the traditional sense) get out of the sandbox now. Completely unexpected, utterly blew me away, I will chance saying this is the Author’s best work to date and that is saying something because I am a huge fan. Riddled with tragedy, triumph, betrayal, and an emotional thrill ride that may not let me pick up another book for days. I thank the Author profusely for allowing me to voluntarily review.
“Javi is the poison I drink so willingly because nothing else has ever tasted so sweet. He is everything. The light and the dark. The solace and the pain. The torment and the peace. And I can’t imagine having him here with me.”
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
I can’t believe that I haven’t read any of this authors books before. Talk about starting off with a bang.
I couldn’t resist but to read this in one sitting. This is a twisted and darker version of Beauty & the Beast.
Javi wants revenge. To do that he intends to break Bella. Both are strong characters which I loved.
This book had my dark loving heart bursting with joy. Reading this book had me on the edge of my seat, taking deep breaths and grabbing the alcohol. I absolutely loved this story and am looking forward to reading more of this series. In the meantime I’ll be reading her previous books.
A dark, twisted, completely engrossing and emotional read. You will definitely need a box of Kleenex nearby when reading this masterpiece. Just a truly brilliant tear jerker of a page turning story.
Where do you start when a book leaves you breathless at every turn? Expect the unexpected and come play in the dark with Beast. I craved and devoured this book from beginning to end. There is no predictability…there’s anger, hurt, tears, fire, passion so intense your heart beats as fast as wild horses. You’ll cry from heartache, and you’ll scream with delight. Simply unforgettable. A. Zavarelli’s darkest yet and my top favorite!
Strap yourself in, take a dive into the deep dark world of Beast and hold on for the ride of your life with this one…you won’t forget it.
I really enjoyed this very well written, super suspenseful story and characters!! Can’t wait to read more of this author!!