Kill the Beast

Kill the Beast by Serra Swift is a mostly cozy fantasy about identity, found family, and forgiveness with plenty of adventure, humor, and a little romance.

Lyssa is a complicated heroine, who overcharges the rich so she can defend the poor - but she also has a heart filled with vengeance and becomes enraged at the sight of and kills all hounds and other creatures in search of the Beast that killed her brother which has earned her the nickname of “the Butcher”.

By chance, a rich, vain man called Alderic also wants the beast killed so hires her for the task, becoming her companion on the quest to obtain the materials needed to craft the weapon that can successfully destroy it.

Along the way, we meet other acquaintances and we - and they - learn that everything is not as it seems.

Kill the Beast is a fun read for fans of feminist cozy fantasy, and although romance is not a focus, the world they inhabit is queer-friendly, and Lyssa herself is bisexual.

I listened to the audiobook, and it was well produced by Macmillan and well performed by Moira Quirk, with good pacing and emotion imbued in the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy for my honest review.

Support your favorite indie bookstore (and me) by using my link to order the audiobook from https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm60355 OR if you prefer using your eyes to read, support your favorite indie (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.