Depravity (A Beastly Tale) Paperback – October 21, 2019

[...]Let me start by saying that I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This was Melissa’s first go around at publishing a more mature novel, which is just a polite way of saying that this book contains some more explicit nature and sexual content. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel going from the more teenage writing you see in Touch or her Judgment of Six Series, to a book that describes some pretty sexual acts, but Melissa has done a fantastic job retelling the classic and iconic story of Beauty and the Beast. This short book was just part 1 of a 3 part series, with each book being released within a month of each other.Now let’s get to the good stuff, the characters. Here, Melissa really did her research. Depravity was the perfect blend of the classic French tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and the iconic retelling by Disney. One of my favourite characters was the Baker, who reminded me a lot of Gaston and yet was a very minor character in the scheme of things. (spoiler) He was a bit of a creep, but a harmless creep. All bark and no bite. While he wants Benella, he never does anything to physically obtain her despite having the opportunity to. (end spoiler). I also loved how Melissa brought back Benella’s (who you might know as Belle, or the Beauty) two extremely selfish and vain sisters. Unlike Cinderella, these sisters are her blood, which makes they way they treat her so much worse. Benella herself was the Belle we all know and love. A sweet girl who loves two things unconditionally: books, and her father. Her loyalty to her family, even the sisters that mistreat her, was beautiful. We didn’t get to see too much of the Beast in part 1 of the series, but what we do see of him is fantastic. He is the grumpy, short-tempered beast we all know and love, but you get to see glimpses of his softer side… even if they are interrupted by his growling temper. All of the characters, no matter how minor or major, are excellently well written. You really grow to love some while hating others. Part 1 was mostly spent rounded out each character and really setting up what is to come in part 2.As for the writing… well, Melissa never did a problem with her writing. She can articulate a vast variety of emotions and feeling to her readers within a short paragraph. This fact has not changed when she switched over to a different target audience. Within a very short span (only 150 pages!) she really sets up the plot for the next 2 instalments without the reader ever getting bored. Every sentence was interesting, every character was fascinating, and every little tidbit Melissa added to the widely known tale was captivating. I was completely absorbed inside this novel the entire time reading it, and when it was finished, I was left desperate for more.I think you are picking up what I am laying down here. This book was fantastic. I would recommend it to anyone I felt was mature enough to handle the sexual content described. Let me tell you, if you love Beauty and the Beast, you will LOVE Depravity. An extremely easy 5 stars to give! This book comes out on June 16, 2015, and the second part, Deceit, is already out on amazon for preorder and will be released on July 21, 2015.If you want to know more about Melissa Haag’s more Young Adult writing you can look at my reviews for Touch, or the books in her Judgment of Six series/ Companion Novels: Hope(less)/ Clay’s Hope, (Mis)fortune, (Un)wise, (Un)bidden) on my blog: [...]

Spoiler warning: I will try not to give away any important details, but you might find a hint or two.Before buying a book, I will generally read all of the negative reviews, but only a few of the positive ones. I almost didn't get this book, because of those negative reviews, which pointed out flaws that detract from my enjoyment of a book:#1 Cliffhanger ending. I don't mind a cliffhanger IF the book has a proper and complete story arc - a true beginning, middle, and end (conflict, climax, resolution).The book does provide a complete story arc - sort of. The climax is not terribly climactic. The action does peak, just not dramatically. Likewise, the resolution is also understated and incomplete, but at least it's technically there.The ending isn't very satisfying as most of the plot questions are left unanswered, but at least the book ends at a somewhat logical point in the larger story, not completely "out of the blue, " as is so common in free kindle books.#2. Sexual content. I don't mind book sex, even dark, explicit sex IF (and it's a big IF) it's written extremely well. And, for me, the less innocent/mundane the sex, the better the writing has to be.I have to admit that the sexual content in this book is rather strange (mildly disturbing, yet written in an oddly naive/innocent style). The scenes are too dark and explicit for a sweetly innocent story, but too innocent to justify the title. Because of the fantasy plot/setting the strangeness of the sex doesn't detract too much from the story, but I don't think it would work in any other setting. Even so, at times Benella's sexual understanding, interpretations, reactions, and behavior seem a bit odd.#3. Underdeveloped characters. Again, I think the fantasy element saves the day. In a fairy tale, we expect or at least accept that the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad for little or no reason.#4. Weird length. Sort of novella-ish. Too long for a short story, too short for a true novel. However, in a free book, I'm less picky about length.#5 Grammar, punctuation, style... Not absolutely perfect, but surprisingly good for a free purchase. No glaring flaws that compromise comprehension.In trying to be objective, I feel I should this book a 2 star, maybe 3 star review.The flaws I listed are present, but yet the writing is surprisingly good.I don't want to like this story and these characters, but I do. I even plan on buying the second book, which (considering the flaws) is quite unusual for me.That being said, Book #2 (Deceit) will have to be less flawed than Book #1(Depravity) to interest me in book #3 (Devastation), especially if I am going to pay actual money for them.

I’m on my like 3 rd re read now and it’s still as good as I remember. They are quick reads with great plot and story. 10/10

Different, so different from the similar offerings on Amazon right now. This was well written and presented. I’m off to read the second in the series, can’t wait to find out what happens next.

L’histoire est belle et cruelle, foisonnante.La Belle ressemble à Cendrillon, possède des sœurs qui la prennent pour une moins que rien, un père érudit un peu cliché qui ne voit pas grand chose. Elle est là martyre des fils du forgeron. Elle se réfugie chez la Bête pour leur échapper, bien décidé à périr de ses mains plutôt que ceux des villageois. Mais la Bête est curieuse. Alors qu’il devrait la tuer pour avoir pénétré sur son territoire il est intrigué… Et c ainsi que va débuter cette histoire qui court sur 3 tomes que j’ai lu d’une traite. Flamboyant.

the book is very well written and manage to keep the reader involved. i recommend at least to read the excerpt

Yet another take on the original Beauty and the Beast, however I feel that readers would like this one.Essentially the story is stretched into parts and accordingly built upon by M.J.Haag. This first part - is all about our Beauty - her family, her life, her struggles and how she comes to accept the proposal of the Beast to stay with him. I also felt that Haag mixes up Cinderella's story a bit here and gives it a more contemporary angle to it.Looking forward to reading the next part.

I wasn't sure what to think about this when I read the blurb, but I have read other things by Melissa Haag so I thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did as it turned out to be really good! It was well written and well thought out. A whole world has been created (it feels a bit like district 12 in the Hunger Games). It was a different take on a classic tale and I enjoyed that. It is billed as a more adult book and while there was nothing that adult in this book (no descriptive sex or swearing but there was an attempted rape), I think it will get more adult in the next book.I found Benella a bit frustrating at times, I was really hoping she would stand up for herself and tell her sisters off but she was a bit of a doormat. She did progress as the book went on and she did hold her own against the beast so I think she is growing and it will continue into the next book.The beast is an interesting character, we know very little about him but I have some ideas about who he may be and why he is like he is. I'm looking forward to finding out more as Benella does.I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one in just under a month!