Early Reader Review: The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips

Source: Received from the publicist and Simon & Schuster in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

The Beast and the Bethany by Jack Meggitt-Phillips
Publisher: Aladdin
Publication Date: December 8, 2020

 

Format: Hardback

Rating:

 

Synopsis: 

Beauty comes at a price. And no one knows that better than Ebenezer Tweezer, who has stayed beautiful for 511 years. How, you may wonder? Ebenezer simply has to feed the beast in the attic of his mansion. In return for meals of performing monkeys, statues of Winston Churchill, and the occasional cactus, Ebenezer gets potions that keep him young and beautiful, as well as other presents.

But the beast grows ever greedier with each meal, and one day he announces that he’d like to eat a nice, juicy child next. Ebenezer has never done anything quite this terrible to hold onto his wonderful life. Still, he finds the absolutely snottiest, naughtiest, and most frankly unpleasant child he can and prepares to feed her to the beast.

The child, Bethany, may just be more than Ebenezer bargained for. She’s certainly a really rather rude houseguest, but Ebenezer still finds himself wishing she didn’t have to be gobbled up after all. Could it be Bethany is less meal-worthy and more…friend-worthy?

Review: 

Can we first take a moment to appreciate the detail that went into this book? It looks amazing! The dust jacket has a stunning illustration with gold raised lettering. The end papers are a gorgeous purple and white, wallpaper-esq pattern, and when you unveil the book from the duck jacket it has a pressed image from a scene in the book. I adore attention to detail like this! I have hearts in my eyes even before I began reading the story. (Photos included...) 

This was just a good read. I read it all in one sitting and loved the plot and characters. The story is about everlasting life and Ebenezer's goal to have it. He accomplishes it by feeding things to a monster in his attic that he calls the Beast, and the Beast is getting more ambitious with his choices for snacks. This time the Beast wants to eat a human child and Ebenezer is determined to be young again. 

The characters include Ebenezer, the Beast, a bird shop owner, an orphanage director, and Bethany. They all have fun personalities that make this story have laugh out loud parts and allow the reader to have strong emotions toward them. I really liked the bird shop owner he was knowledgeable about birds and was one of the first Bethany sightings and he wad fun with her. Bethany is a confusing character, you want to fight for her but she is kinda a brat and a bully, so you also don't really like her. 

Another sparkling moment for this book was the amazingly detailed and expressive illustrations through out. They are just black and grey but really help the story along and bring the characters to life. 

The book is a horrendous in a good way, emotional, and hilarious all balled up into this wonderful middle grade read. I would read this again, it was such a delight the first time around. 

About the Author

Jack Meggitt-Phillips 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 P.G. Wodehouse novels.

About the Illustrator

Isabelle Follath is a freelance illustrator living in Zurich, Switzerland, with her
lovely husband, her sweet daughter, and her fabulous dog. She has worked for advertising agencies, magazines, and publishers for over fifteen years, but Isabelle’s true passion lies in illustrating children’s books. When not drawing, Isabelle can be found making lots of coffee, trying new crafts, or going on a hunt for new   art supplies and the perfect greenish-gold watercolor. Visit her online at IsabelleFollath.ch.