Lemony Snicket meets Roald Dahl in this riotously funny, deliciously macabre, and highly illustrated sequel to The Beast and the Bethany in which Bethany and Ebenezer try to turn over a new leaf, only to have someone—or something—thwart them at every turn.
Once upon a very badly behaved time, 511-year-old Ebenezer kept a beast in his attic. He would feed the beast all manner of objects and creatures and in return the beast would vomit him up expensive presents. But then the Bethany arrived.
Now notorious prankster Bethany, along with her new feathery friend Claudette, is determined that she and Ebenezer are going to de-beast their lives and Do Good. But Bethany finds that being a former prankster makes it hard to get taken on for voluntary work. And Ebenezer secretly misses the beast’s vomity gifts. And neither of them are all that sure what “good people” do anyway.
Then there’s Claudette, who’s not been feeling herself recently. Has she eaten something that has disagreed with her?
I am so pleased to be part of this Ultimate Blog Tour for the beautifully quirky, witty sequel to The Beast and the Bethany. It's always tricky with any sequel - is it going to be as good as the first? And I'm pleased to say it's better.
In Revenge of the Beast we meet Bethany and Ebenezer Tweezer again, and after their escapades in the first book, they have decided that do-gooding and de-beasting is the order of the day. Let's not forget, Ebenezer has 500 years of beasting to make up for. The pair are joined by Claudette, the exotic, parrot-like bird that saved them from the Beast orginally... we say saved, she ate him... and she hasn't felt quite right since.
With the clue in the title, the Beast is after revenge, and he wants Ebenezer back, and whilst the signs pointed to exactly how he was going to do that. The build-up to this was quite long but in a good way, this helped us meet more of the quirky characters that make the story. For Bethany and Ebenezer, this was also about realising what they meant to each other and the relationship that they had as well as with the new people they meet. Bethany tries to make up for the wrongs she has made, and Ebenezer realises that, whilst the things the Beast gave him may have been what he wanted, the memories behind them weren't as good as he thought they were.
What I love the most about this is the writing and the dialogue between the characters, with terms such as 'git-face', 'moron' and 'nincompoop' it reminds me of comedy series that I used to watch back in the day (although with a lot less sweary behaviour and a lot more child friendly). It has a continuous thread of humour that just keeps going through the pages.
High praise from me for another excellent read, I have this tagged and ready for my son to read now that I'm finished. Another big thank you to The Write Reads for including me on this tour. This was a fantastic read to start the year and I can't wait for the next instalment.
I received this as a mobile publication in return for an honest review as part of The Write Reads Blog Tour.
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