The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips
Im back again with yet ANOTHER blog tour organised by @TheWriteReads, im starting to feel well and truly apart of the gang now!
The Beast and the Bethany follows the story of Ebenezer Tweezer who is a 511 year old bit of an aristocrat who has a love for fancy things. He lives in a grand mansion with the Beast, the Beast is as the name suggests rather beastly, slimy and all together a little gross. Ebenezer sources unusual meals for the Beast and in exchange the Beast conjures up (by vomiting) something that Ebenezer most desires, a potion that keeps him youthful and wrinkle-free. At the beginning of the story the Beast demands that Ebenezer finds a child for him to eat, when Ebenezer refuses the Beast threatens to stop producing the potion that keeps him young, without it he will die. Ebenezer is then faced with an impossible choice to either find a child and feed it to the Beast or die of old age.
Ebenezer then sets out on a journey to find a child after many hilarious failed attempts he finds himself at a local orphanage to adopt a child. Ebenezer decides to adopt the naughtiest child in order for him not to feel so guilty, he then meets Bethany. Bethany's parents died in a fire when she was a baby and she has been in the orphanage ever since, she has a few failed adoptions under her belt as shes so misbehaved that no one can handle her. Ebenezer decides shes perfect to feed to the Beast.
This story is super fun, a really fast paced read that i couldnt put down! The illustrations are gorgeous and really add to the story, i get disappointed these days when middle grades dont have illustrations. I was delighted when i got to the end and realised that theres a second book coming out in 2021. This is yet another perfect book that i will buy and pass on to my 8 year old niece when shes old enough, im sure she would love it and find Bethany really fun to read about.
My only criticism really is that i would have liked Ebenezer to have been a bit more villainous, i was hoping for a Count Olaf from A Series of Unfortunate Events or Gru from Despicable Me vibe. The stakes felt pretty high that he needed that potion and i wanted him to try and trick Bethany a bit more.
Overall i was really impressed with the pacing, there wasnt a dull moment. I am really keen to see what misadventures they get up to in the next book. Thank you very much to Dave (@TheWriteReads), the publishers @egmontbooksuk and to the author for letting us read this book early and review it. Also very excitingly Warner Bros are making this book into a movie!!! Ill leave a link below for more info on that:
Info on the author and illustrator:
Jack Meggitt Phillips is an incredibly exciting new talent. He is an author, scriptwriter and playwright whose work has been performed at The Roundhouse and featured on Radio 4. He is scriptwriter and presenter of The History of Advertising podcast. In his mind, Jack is an enormously talented ballroom dancer, however his enthusiasm far surpasses his actual talent. Jack lives in north London where he spends most of his time drinking peculiar teas and reading PG Wodehouse novels.
Isabelle Follath is an illustrator who has worked in advertising, fashion magazines and book publishing, but her true passion lies in illustrating children’s books. She also loves drinking an alarming amount of coffee, learning new crafts and looking for the perfect greenish-gold colour. Isabellelives in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips publishes Autumn 2020 in paperback,
£6.99, for beasts of 8-12
