Wednesday, May 25

Book Review: Depravity by MJ Haag


Author: MJ Haag
Titles: Depravity (Beastly Tales #1)
Genre: Retellings, Romance, & Fantasy
Pages: Ebook
First Published: June 10th 2015
Where I Got It: On my shelf (Amazon Freebie)


A classic fairy tale with a new twist, the Beauty and the Beast saga begins with Depravity... 

Sixteen year old Benella is concerned with two things–avoiding the two village boys who torment her and scrounging for food to help feed her family. Unfortunately, the best wild fruit and vegetables are near the walls of the estate, a dark misty place inhabited by an unforgiving beast. 

When her tormentors lock her behind the massive gates, Benella knows her fate is sealed. Yet, the fate isn’t one she expects. Her encounter with the beast starts a bizarre cycle of bargaining for her freedom, a freedom the beast seems determined to see her lose. 

With the police closing in and the blood feud threatening them, Alena and Enre must overcome their pasts to save their packs’ futures.



Well – this certainly was a darker and grittier version of the beloved story of Beauty and the Beast. It took me by surprise, because yes it does say “Adult Romance” in the summary and all that, but it went DARK at points. And I didn’t feel like this was a romance at all. At least not yet.

Benella (aka Belle) is a 16 year old who’s only worried about getting food/money for her family and avoiding two a-hole guys who are out to get her. Once in a while she sneaks into a dark and magical estate to steal food even though everyone knows if she is caught trespassing three times the “beast” will punish them. 

Not much is known about the Beast, but he JUST that…a beast. It’s pretty obvious he was the old lord of the land, who has been turned into a ghastly creature, but the villagers do not know that yet. 

I hated Benella’s family! The two sisters were horrible and her dad did nothing ever….and I mean ever. However, she still loves them and puts her neck-on-the-line to find food/money. In between escaping the pervy Baker’s advances and the pissed off beast at the creepy estates. 

Yes, this story does follow a 16 year old girl, but it is NOT a YA, it even says it in the summary. There are nude scenes, whorehouse scenes, attempted rape scene, sex scenes, and a sex scene that was for sure more rape than sex honestly (poor Sara). How Benella has maintained her virginity thus far is a surprise to me especially with that Baker guy. These sometimes were “WOAH” moments, but I honestly didn’t mind them. I feel it added to the reality to the book and added a certain darkness to it. Many people didn’t like it or think it was necessary. However, people are forgetting that this is a dark time in this world. There is no money and people are struggling to just get food on the table. Dark times = Dark deeds and Dark measures. 

I do agree I wasn’t a huge fan of the whorehouse parts and I didn’t see how it really fit into the story.

OOOOOOOOH the ending. No. No. You cannot end like that. Now I am forced to read the next one. I’m sure what will happen next, but now I need to know. GAH.

In the end, I liked this quite a bit. It was a darker version and I liked it. I hated the family, the townsfolk, and the whorehouse scenes were meh. This is NOT a YA and don’t let the young age of the heroine fool you. This shall be stamped 5 stars. More 4.5, but I rounded. 




















5 comments:

Melliane said...

wow that's great you made me curious!

Blodeuedd said...

No, that is way too much rape for me

Carole Rae said...

Melliane, you better hurry. I think it may still be an Amazon freebie. ;)

B, LOL I'm sorry!

Anachronist said...

Oh I am intrigued! *heads to Amazon*

Carole Rae said...

Ana, hope its still free! :D