By the Book A Meant to Be Novel
Reviews
Cute and definitely had me kicking my feet but once the romance kicked into gear, it felt super rushed and not enough 🌶️🌶️🌶️ for my taste. Very PG romance. Loved the grumpy sunshine characters.
This is the 5th book I've read by Jasmine Guillory and I just don't think I'm a fan of her writing. I really tried to like this one, but I just couldn't get into it. I don't like the mcs, and the other characters had no personality.
This made me so giddy and I loved every page. THANK YOU
I’m swooning. Jasmine Guillory AND Belle? It’s almost too perfect.
I love how diverse the characters in this story were, with both of the main characters being POC as it differs from the original fairytale, which I believe is important in today’s society. Ultimately, this wasn’t a great book for me, it was more average. I had a hard time believing that the characters could actually fall for one another, but then again, maybe that’s because it’s based off of Beauty and the Beast and I never quite understood that relationship either. I just wasn’t fully into the book until it was over the halfway point to the last chapter. For a more in depth review: go to @delicatedayreads on Instagram
As a book club organizer, the BEST thing that you can find is a set of resources provided by the author for the book you are discussing. This book club kit for By the Book is a wonderful example of the best kind of book club kit. It includes an author interview, with insight into the inspiration for the book and the author in general. The discussion questions provided are specific to the book and generate a great discussion about the story and how each of us in book club reacted to it. There is also a guide and interview about the cover design of the book, which is something my book club doesn't always talk about, so that was a new idea for us to discuss. There were fun items in the kit like quizes, bookmarks, and writing prompts. For the host for the evening, there are suggestions about snacks and drinks, which is always so fun to tie to the book you are discussing. Overall, this book club kit made our book club discussion richer and more fun than we would have had otherwise.
This is how a retelling should be written! Great take on a classic tale! Love that it gives readers the opportunity to have their own modern day fairytale, and that the main character gets to have it all without sacrificing their integrity or values. It also healed my inner child that I didn’t have to imagine the main character as someone I can identify with, because they were someone I could already see myself as.
4.5*. This book was really cute and totally felt like the “Beauty and the Beast” retelling that it was meant to be!
Adorable. Absolutely adorable. Just comfortable and sweet and cute and romantic. Loved every moment of it. The characters are enjoyable, the plot works, all in all it just totally gets the job done. It was great to read a story about a woman who loves to eat but wasn't constantly in her head worrying about whether or not she was fat. Even when Izzy compared herself negatively to the actresses and models she was sure Beau was into, weight was never part of that mental conversation. I really appreciate that. Minor points deducted for the overused Disney Beauty and the Beast imagery. The story was cute enough that I'll allow it, but all the Lumière, kettle, This Provincial Life, etc, etc actually wound up taking me out of the story a bit. It was like a constant reminder that I was reading a story. Every time I'd fall into full immersion, another quirky little Disney bit popped up to pull me out again. It might have been better to pull images from different versions of the story, not just the Disney ones, or just made the retelling less literal. Otherwise, absolute love. Very grateful to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for the opportunity to read this book
Loved all of the characters.
Such a sweet retelling of my favorite childhood movie. I just wish it was longer.
i loved this sweet retelling of beauty and the beast!!
Oh my god this book was so much better than I expected. It is just fairytale retelling excellence. I was surprised at how much of a slow burn it is but it really worked for this story. The fact that she was living in his house let to such cute domestic moments between Izzy and Beau. I received an arc through netgalley.
concept alone gets a 5/5 (it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize). just incredible writing and i'll follow Guillory anywhere. cried, laughed, smiled
It had the elements of the original fairytale—the enormous library, a secretary cum housekeeper named Kettle, and, of course, the brooding, temperamental protagonist forced to wine and dine with an unsolicited visitor. The affection between the protagonists built up slowly and was feeling in all the ways that matter. I appreciated how layered and textured the plot was, and loved that the author established the plot without eroding the characters’ personal development. The author showed the gentle progression of the affection between the leads on one hand, and on the other, how they blossomed on their own
Cute! Their relationship didn’t go as deep as her others, but still enjoyable. Perfect for a girl’s trip to Vegas!
Omg I literally loved this book Would definitely recommend it
So sweet. Love all the Beauty and the Beast references and of course books! I love the progression of their working relationship into what it becomes.
Isabelle is living at home and questioning her career in publishing.
She is 25 and living at home and a assistant and the only black employee. She feels overwhelmed and under appreciated. She is now questioning if she should step away. She has been emailing Beau Hightower a spoiled rich guy who is suppose to be writing his autobiography. But no one has heard from him. While on a work trip in California she over hears her boss saying somone should just go to his house and talk him. Izzy volunteers to go. Thinking If she can get Beau to write this book she will get the promotion she deserves. This can't be hard a few pep talks and he will be back on track right?
What Izzy doesn't know is Beau is just as lost as she is and working through his own issues. Izzy knows she can help.him if he would just let her in. But will they both let down the walls and accept help.
Highlights
"It's okay if it’s bad," she said. "Just accept the badness now. For now, it doesn't matter if it's bad, it just has to be something. You can fix bad writing, you cant fix a blank page.”…"It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be just right, ….Just get something on paper.”
“If you write, then you're a writer. You don't have to have written a book or even feel good about your writing to get that title. And you have been writing you told me so. AIl that work you've already done? None of it was wasted. It's all building blocks; even if you can't see them, they're there. It will all inform the work you'll go on to do."
“Honestly, there are so many reasons why writers struggle with their books, and I promise you, they all do. There are tons of tips and tricks to getting through this, but-in my experience, at least-the only thing that works is just doing it. Sitting down every day and writing. Even every other day, or every fevw days. It's not about the number of hours, it's just the consis- tency. It's so hard at first, but it gets easier, a little bit, every time you sit down. And if you think you can't do it, I promise you, you can. Dont be discouraged if you think your work is bad; as long as you can get something on the page, that's a victory."
not me getting a writing pep talk through the book i’m reading to avoid writing 😂
“And of course it’s perfect, it’s yours.”
O M G