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From School Library Journal

December 1, 2024

Gr 9 Up-In the process of recovering a lost lamb, the intrepid and self-sufficient shepherdesses Jos�phine and Clara stumble across the body of a young boy, who seems to have been killed by the terrifying and legendary beast plaguing their part of the French countryside. The boy's sister, Charlotte, still miraculously alive, is afraid to return to her brute of a father, regardless of the beast's presence; unable to bring themselves to doom Charlotte to more abuse, Jos�phine and Clara decide to fake her death. That sets off a chain of events that puts them in the crosshairs of multiple enemies if they are caught-the priest blaming the beast's attacks on their sins, the misogynistic and violent townsmen, the skilled and dangerous beast-hunters sent by the king, and the bloodthirsty beast himself, to say nothing of the cold and the threat of starvation. A witty, personable voice brings a modern sensibility to defiant historical girls who refuse to be made anyone's fools in a tale based on the real French legend of the Beast of G�vaudan. VERDICT Exciting historical horror; full of sharp turns and fast-paced action with a fiery, feminist heart.-Allie Stevens

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

October 15, 2024
When a beast terrorizes their village, girls in rural France must save themselves. It's 1765, and Jos�phine and her best friend, Clara, are busy tending to their flocks of sheep and preparing to survive the upcoming winter. After finding a dead body in the forest, they encounter Charlotte, a terrified child who's more afraid of her father's rage than of the mysterious beast that's being blamed for recent deaths in the area. Jos�phine and Clara come up with a plan: They'll help Charlotte by faking her death, making it seem as if she was killed by the beast and finding somewhere safe for her to live. Their plan works--but they soon realize that there are other girls who need rescuing from the evil men in their lives, especially because the local priest is blaming the beast's attacks on the girls' sins. Inspired by the true history of the mysterious Beast of G�vaudan, the novel has a setting that's immersive and rich. Fear of the beast provides some of the tension, but the terror is mostly derived from the constant threat of abuse from powerful men. Hope is found through the young women's finding ways to band together and protect themselves, giving this visceral and poetic story a strong feminist stance. There's also a lightly developed yet heartfelt romance between Jos�phine, who's white, and Clara, who's of Ethiopian descent. A dread-filled yet inspiring tale of the power that angry girls can wield. (historical note)(Historical horror. 14-18)

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From Publisher's Weekly

September 9, 2024
In 1765, 16-year-olds Joséphine and Clara eke out a subsistence lifestyle herding sheep in the village of Mende in the Gévaudan region of France. Amid daily harsh realities of disease, starvation, and the threat of male violence, Mende has become the latest in Gévaudan to be attacked by a mysterious and insatiable beast that mainly targets young women and teen girls. As theories develop around the possible supernatural origins of the creature, Joséphine and Clara realize they can use the attacks to their advantage, staging brutal deaths to sneak their friends away from their abusive households. But as both the simulated and real death tolls mount, the growing infamy of the beast attracts glory-seeking soldiers, exponentially complicating Joséphine and Clara's web of deception. Using a spirited first-person narration peppered with French expressions, Griffis (The Wicked Unseen) reimagines the historical beast of Gévaudan attacks into a tale of female rage and empowerment after abuse. While the exploration of patriarchy feels underdeveloped, sweet moments of queer romance and affirming female friendships round out this heart-pounding and gruesome historical thriller. Joséphine is white; Clara is French Ethiopian. Ages 12â€"up. Agent: Paige Terlip, Andrea Brown Literary.