Ensnared by Rita Stradling (ARC Review)

Ensnared by Rita Stradling

Release Date: May 23, 2017 (I believe – Netgalley said a different date)

DNF @ 18%

A Near-Future Retelling of Beauty and the Beast

Alainn’s father is not a bad man. He’s a genius and an inventor. When he’s hired to create the robot Rose, Alainn knows taking the money is a mistake.

Rose acts like a human. She looks exactly like Alainn. But, something in her comes out wrong.

To save her father from a five year prison sentence, Alainn takes Rose’s place. She says goodbye to the sun and goes to live in a tower no human is allowed to enter. She becomes the prisoner of a man no human is allowed to see.

Believing that a life of servitude lies ahead, Alainn finds a very different fate awaits her in the company of the strange, scarred recluse.

[This novel contains adult situations and is only suitable for readers who are 18+]

Erm, I’m not sure there was anything super wrong with it in a sense, but I just could NOT get behind the concept. Okay, sounds super werid, right? You’re all sitting there going, Mandy, if you couldn’t get behind the concept, then why in the book heck did you request this on Netgalley?

Okay, it was another one of those books that I put my own thoughts on what it was going to be onto the book without really reading the full description. I thought it would be Cinder except with Beauty and the Beast. I mean, there was androids, mechanics, and creepy robots. I was super sold. With the amazing results I had with TLC and Princess of the Tyrone in respects to futuristic fairytale retellings, I was sol.ddddddddddd. So sold.

However, what I got wasn’t quite what I wanted. The beginning was interesting enough. I was intrigued by the dynamic between mysterious man in the mansion, Alainn’s father going to prison, and the intricacies of the world that Stradling created. However, where they lost me was the robot aspect and the dynamics of the family.

The family dynamics were a total mess. I hated the father. I hated the brother – okay, I super hated him. I felt like the kooky inventor father aspect from Beauty and the Beast was lost from Beauty and the Beast. I wasn’t crazy about the new dynamic of this father, so I didn’t enjoy that.

And then there was the robot. Rose was all sorts of messed up. I was so not a fan of her. I just kept looking at her going, NO, NO, AND MORE NO. But I could handle a creepy robot. I’ve done it before in books and movies. However, what lost me was the fact that Alainn was going to the Beast’s house and pretending she was a robot. That’s right. – Alainn goes to live with the Beast pretending to be a robot servant for, like, two weeks or something because creepy robot Rose convinced her to do it in like 3 sentences.

Snow’s as disappointed Belle isn’t here for this, but I think we can all agree it’s for the best.

Um, um, erm, um, that’s something alright. I was just too creeped out by it. This girl had to pretend to be a robot and the Beast guy thinks she’s a robot. I AM CONCERNED. I get this could be intriguing to some people, but this is just not for me. It was far too creepy for me. Robots and me apparently don’t get along unless they are Iko. XD So I had to give it up because I couldn’t get behind this change in concept.

So, nothing super wrong – just a concept I was so not into. Therefore, no stars, and our DNF princess returns yet again!

Check it out:

• Goodreads
• Amazon

What do you think? Are there stories that start out one way and then totally change how you feel about them? Have you read this book? Let’s discuss in the comments below!