Of Beast and Beauty

May 20, 2013
In Juliet Immortal and Romeo Redeemed, Jay gave an apocalyptic twist to Romeo and Juliet, and now she does so with the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast.” On a far-flung planet, the descendants of humanity have evolved into two camps: Smooth Skins live in domed cities, while the Monstrous—deformed by the influence of a goddess—scrape by outside, hated and feared. Does it make sense to draw an analogy to “Beauty and the Beast” when nearly every character is a mutant, rather than just one cursed individual? In any case, Jay’s characters are well-realized, and Isra, a blind princess destined to be sacrificed for her city, and Gem, a reluctant Monstrous warrior, have much more than superficial appearances to negotiate. There is a personal, romantic side to their struggle, but it’s the ideological, cultural, and cosmic perils that threaten to overwhelm them. Even if the story has only a tenuous relationship to the claimed source material, Jay’s setup is intriguing and her writing assured. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown.

Narrator Julia Whelan's skills as a narrator beautifully serve Jay's romantic and inspired riff on the fairy tale. She capably creates and maintains highly differentiated voices for half a dozen characters--two of whom have major narrative roles as well as dialogue between them. A princess named Isra is condemned by local politics to sacrifice her life for the perpetuation of her city's closed ecosystem. Gem, a desert-living mutant, becomes first her captive, then friend, then beloved. Eventually, the pair become the salvation of both their cultures. Between the author's imaginative blending of ideology and romance, and Whelan's evocation of true humanity in both Isra and Gem, this should reel in young idealists and cynics alike. F.M.R.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine