Beyond Ivy Walls by Rachel Fordham

Young Llama Thoughts
  • Adventurous
  • Christian Friendly
  • Easy Reading
  • Humerous
  • Youth Appropriate
Overall
4 Llamas

Review

I just adore re-written fairy-tale spinoffs! They are so cute and romantic!!! And this Beauty and the Beast inspired novel is soooooo sweet! I believe girls 14 and up would love this sweet story about inner beauty and love!

This book is about Sadie, a young women working in a duster factory to help provide for her family. But with no money for a room, she finds shelter in an abandoned building. However, the building belongs to the city’s most mysterious bachelor, Otis Taylor. Everyone thinks he’s been away studying music, not banished to the woods to hide his scars… As Sadie and Otis’ friendship deepens, they both realize there are secrets long since buried that could destroy them both…

This book was amazing! It had a sweet romance, wrapped in a very clean story about true love and hope! I just loved the plot, the mystery was fantastic and the overall focus on inner beauty was sooooo well written! This novel is a very clean read that I would totally suggest to teens 14 and up!

Now there are some dark topics mentioned. The “Beast” in the novel is a man with a disease that caused him to lose his hair, eyelashes and brows. In the 1900s they had “solutions” that would “cure” stuff like this, which usually involved horrible chemicals that would burn the skin and cause scars. Which is soooo sad! It is some-what emotional to read about, but the scars are a big part of Otis’ story.

Overall, what a sweet read!!!! I just love this book, totally suggest it and can’t wait to read more by this author!!!!!!!! I hope you all have a book-filled day! -The Young Llama Reader.

Pros

  • A very good read for teen girls 14 and up!
  • Romantic, sweet and wonderfully written!!!
  • A fabulous novel!

Cons

  • Mention of some scars and dark topics…

Reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, a recluse and a young woman discover that the scars of life are no match against an act of love.

Iowa, 1903. All of Monticello believes Otis Taylor has been away fostering his musical genius. But the truth is that his father exiled him long ago, rejecting Otis’s appearance and the scars that came with it. Now that he is the last living Taylor, Otis has covertly returned to settle his family’s affairs and rid himself of his past for good. However, he soon discovers that he may not have been the only abandoned Taylor and begins a tireless search for his missing toddler niece.

At twenty-three years old, Sadie West left her family farm and found employment at the Hoag feather duster factory. It isn’t a romantic job, but she’s hardly had a glimmer of romance since her beau went off to college, leaving her with no promise of a future together. Desperate to save money and help her family make ends meet, she trespasses and finds shelter in an abandoned building–and is thrown in the path of the town’s mysterious bachelor.

Otis’s wounds are deep, but as Sadie’s friendship with him grows, she begins to fall for the man beneath the mask. Locating his long-lost niece, however, is more difficult than either could have imagined, and Sadie West may be the key to Otis Taylor finally finding his way home.

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