This is the tale of The Beast—that is, what happened to him before he met Beauty. The world is so vividly depicted I could amost see and taste the world Donna Jo Napoli describes. I wish there was such great Teen Fiction being published when I was a teenager!

This is a lion-type book. It is a “new take” on the beauty and the beast story. Orasmyn, the prince of Persia, is transformed into a lion by an angry fairy who witnesses him sacrificing a faulty animal during a ceremony. After Orasmyn is transformed and learns that only the love of a woman can turn him back into a human, he begins his quest. During his travels, he learns what it means to be a lion. He travels from Persia to France, where he eventually hopes he will find someone who will love him. The majority of the book deals with him being a lion. The end felt rushed a bit. Overall, Beast gets an A+ in lion content and B as an overall book. Definitely recommended for the cat therians.