Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2015
208 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Sarah has always been on the move. Her mother hates the cold, so every few months her parents pack their bags and drag her off after the sun. She's grown up lonely and longing for magic. She doesn't know that it's magic her parents are running from.
When Sarah's mother walks out on their family, all the strange old magic they have tried to hide from comes rising into their mundane world. Her father begins to change into something wild and beastly, but before his transformation is complete, he takes Sarah to her grandparents—people she has never met, didn't even know were still alive.
Deep in the forest, in a crumbling ruin of a castle, Sarah begins to untangle the layers of curses affecting her family bloodlines, until she discovers that the curse has carried over to her, too. The day she falls in love for the first time, Sarah will transform into a beast...unless she can figure out a way to break the curse forever.
"Starred Review. The story brims with thought-provoking insights and lyrical descriptions for readers to sink into—especially those who, like Sarah, dream of finding magic in the mundane." - Publishers Weekly
"This haunting tale successfully addresses the toll that long-term jealousy and revenge can have on families - and how love can heal even the deepest rifts." - Booklist
"With lush, descriptive language and complicated familial relationships, this complex story line challenges readers to pay close attention to the details. Hand this middle grade/YA crossover to tweens and teens who enjoy dark fairy-tale retellings." - School Library Journal
"Starred Review. Hellisen's narration is thoughtful and lyrical ... A wild, unique fairy tale." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about Beastkeeper was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Cat Hellisen lives in Cape Town, South Africa. She is also the author of When the Sea Is Rising Red.
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