#BATBathon TBR and Recommendations

Happy Friday, fellow book nerds! I hope you're all excited for the start of the Beauty and the Beast Readathon tomorrow. To kick off the 'thon, I wanted to share some recommendations of my favorite BATB retellings, as well as my highly unrealistic TBR pile for the readathon. You can find all the readathon challenges and details over here on the announcement post.

My Recommendations

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. You've probably heard of this one unless you've been living under a rock for the past three years. And if you follow me on Twitter, it should come as no surprise that it's one of my recommendations. I'll be completely honest and admit that ACOTAR didn't totally hook me the first time around. It wasn't until I read A Court of Mist and Fury that I fell head over heels for this series, so if you're reading it for the first time and find your attention drifting, stick it out. I promise it's worth it. Also, you can definitely read both ACOTAR and ACOMAF for this challenge, because ACOMAF is sort of a Hades and Persephone retelling! As you can tell, I am completely unbiased and not at all trying to push you into reading my favorite book. :)

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge.  It's been five years since I last read this book (what?! how?!), so I'm a little foggy on all the details, but what I do remember is that I wholeheartedly loved it. You can read my review here. Cruel Beauty combines Greek mythology with the Beauty and the Beast fairytale in a wholly unique way, and it has a totally swoon-worthy bad boy villain/love interest.

Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay. Apparently I was on a BATB in 2014 because I read Of Beast and Beauty shortly after finishing Cruel Beauty (and reviewed it here). This is more of a sci-fi BATB retelling that takes place on another planet. I've forgotten a lot of the details of this one as well, but I remember getting pretty darn emotional at the end. Tears were shed.

The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon.  I'm not sure if The Bird and the Sword is officially categorized as a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but it does involve a girl who is taken to live with a cursed prince, so I'm going to count it. Plus, I love this book and I need more people to gush over it with me, so there. :)

Honorable Mentions:

• Hunted by Meagan Spooner
• Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier
• A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

My TBR

In no particular order:

• The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross
• East by Edith Pattou 
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik
• Entreat Me by Grace Draven 
• Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer 
• Beauty by Robin McKinley 
• Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley 
• Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge by Lisa Jensen 

What books do you all plan on reading? Are we reading any of the same ones? Let me know in the comments, and happy reading!