Today is my spot on ‘The Beast and the Bethany: Revenge of the Beast’ blog tour, organised by WriteReads. This book was written by Jack Meggitt-Phillips, illustrated by Isabelle Follath, and is suitable for children over the age of eight.
My children and I really enjoyed this book, and you can read the book’s synopsis, our 4* book review, and author’s and illustrator’s bios below.
SYNOPSIS
Lemony Snicket meets Roald Dahl in this riotously funny, deliciously macabre, and highly illustrated sequel to The Beast and the Bethany in which Bethany and Ebenezer try to turn over a new leaf, only to have someone—or something—thwart them at every turn.
Once upon a very badly behaved time, 511-year-old Ebenezer kept a beast in his attic. He would feed the beast all manner of objects and creatures and in return the beast would vomit him up expensive presents. But then the Bethany arrived.
Now notorious prankster Bethany, along with her new feathery friend Claudette, is determined that she and Ebenezer are going to de-beast their lives and Do Good. But Bethany finds that being a former prankster makes it hard to get taken on for voluntary work. And Ebenezer secretly misses the beast’s vomity gifts. And neither of them are all that sure what “good people” do anyway.
Then there’s Claudette, who’s not been feeling herself recently. Has she eaten something that has disagreed with her?
OUR REVIEW:
This is the second book in ‘The Beast and the Bethany’ series. My children and I haven’t read the first one, but we quickly caught up with the characters and the events.
Ebenezer Tweezer is 511 years old. He lives with Bethany, who used to be an orphan, and a parrot called Claudette. Ebenezer had a Beast in his attic, but that’s a thing of the past. He is now Beast-free, and Bethany is adamant that they should ‘de-Beast’, or declutter, their house.
The Beast used to vomit out gifts for Ebenezer, and over the course of his long life he accumulated many items. He is not that keen on getting rid of everything, but Bethany can be very persistent. Their ‘de-Beasting’ is a success, however, soon the locals start complaining about the things they purchased. It appears that the items have a mind of their own…
Furthermore, Bethany and Ebenezer want to be good citizens, and this means ‘do-gooding’ or in other ways – being kind to others. The duo have no idea how to approach it though…
Soon, the pair discover that something is not right with Claudette. One minute she is her happy self, and the next her eyes go black and she turns mean. What does it all mean? And where is the Beast in amidst all of this?
You’ll have to read this book to find out. My children really enjoyed it and described it as ‘funny, adventurous, exciting, and mysterious’. My daughter rated it 4.5/5, and my son 8.7/10 (he likes to be different!). My daughter’s favourite character was Bethany as she liked her dry sense of humour. My son and I loved Mr Clinke, he was hilarious.
Many thanks to Farshore for a copy of this book, and to WriteReads for inviting us to this blog tour.
This book is out now and you can purchase it from here: https://amzn.to/3J6ByHb
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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 lives in Zurich, Switzerland with her husband, her daughter and her dog. She has been working as a freelance illustrator for advertising agencies, magazines and publishers for over 15 years, but Joy is her first picture book for children. Her work mainly uses ink, pencils and watercolour, alongside digital techniques.
Monika Reads 
Great review, I’m so happy you all enjoyed this book!
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Thank you 💕
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