Having been raised in a cabin in the woods and accompanying her father on his hunting trips, Yeva (our Beauty) is clearly struggling with the demands of life in town. She is restless, and intensely dislikes the expectation that she will make herself a good match and do what society dictates she will. There is an inherent restlessness in Yeva that many will recognise.
Luckily – though it doesn’t seem that way – their father loses all his money on a business venture and the family are forced to leave town and return to their cabin. Yeva takes to honing her skills and goes hunting to help her sisters survive the cold winter. Only it’s clear that she is not the only thing in the woods.
Yeva is not an obvious heroine, and she is not without her flaws. Initially acting out of a desire for revenge, it is only when she learns to listen that she comes to see the truth of the Beast holding her captive.
The sections where Beauty is with the Beast are probably my favourite. I loved the atmospheric writing, and there was a real sense of loneliness that came through in the story.