Kill the Beast, Serra Swift
Kill the Beast, Serra Swift
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Kill the Beast

Author: Serra Swift

Narrator: Moira Quirk

Unabridged: 10 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/14/2025


Synopsis

“Moira Quirk's narration of this fantasy is outstanding...Quirk is a master of accents, which she employs to great advantage.”—AudioFile (Earphones Award Winner)

The Witcher meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this debut original faerie tale of revenge, redemption, and friendship—for fans of T. Kingfisher, Naomi Novik, and cozy fantasy with a dash of gritty adventure.

The night Lyssa Cadogan's brother was murdered by a faerie-made monster known as the Beast, she made him a promise: she would find a way to destroy the immortal creature and avenge his death. For thirteen years, she has been hunting faeries and the abominations they created. But in all that time, the one Beast she is most desperate to find has never resurfaced.

Until she meets Alderic Casimir de Laurent, a melodramatic dandy with a coin purse bigger than his brain. Somehow, he has found the monster’s lair, and—even more surprising—retrieved one of its claws. A claw Lyssa needs in order to forge a sword that can kill the Beast.

Alderic is ill-equipped for a hunt and almost guaranteed to get himself killed. But as the two of them search for the rest of the materials that will be the Beast's undoing, Alderic reveals hidden depths: dark secrets that he guards as carefully as Lyssa guards hers. Before long, and against Lyssa's better judgment, an unlikely friendship begins to bloom—one that will either lead to the culmination of Lyssa's quest for vengeance, or spell doom for them both.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

About Serra Swift

Serra Swift lives in Southern California with her husband and their Boston Terrier, Waffles. When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading or (let’s be honest) eating a snack. She is also the author of Kill the Beast.

About Moira Quirk

Moira Quirk co-narrated Ben Bova's Mercury and has narrated other popular audio books such as Rosie Dunne and Shadow of the Giant, for which she received Audie Award nominations. She is a successful comedian and can be heard on Nickelodeon’s cartoon My Life as a Teenage Robot as well as in The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, The Wild Thornberrys Feature, and Serendipity, among others.  She has also lent her voice to several video games, including Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and Haunting Ground.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anna on August 01, 2025

Check content warnings on this one before reading! Suicidal ideation, self harm, and harm to a pet are fairly big factors in the story. I was very excited to get an advance reader copy of this book after seeing it marketed as similar to T. Kingfisher and Naomi Novik - two of my favorites. Unfortunate......more

Goodreads review by jenny reads a lot on August 31, 2025

Full RTC Perfectly cozy and fun! Found family and non-romantic love! Queer MCs. 4.5⭐️| TikTok | IG | Thank you NetGalley and Tor for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.......more

Goodreads review by Teeth on July 31, 2025

you have to be fucking JOKING right now how dare you make me feel so many emotions about a buff woman with anger issues and a rich fruitcake......more

Goodreads review by Kera’s Always Reading on June 12, 2025

First off, our main character Lyssa is my current favorite fictional heroine. She is fierce and vicious, but also… still just a girl! Oh I loved her. After a monstrous Beast killed her brother, Lyssa has vowed to kill it. She just hasn’t been able to get close. After years of searching, years of hard......more

Goodreads review by Bre on July 20, 2025

Well, this is going to my whole personality now. This is a beautiful story about forgiveness and loving yourself and others for who they are. Lyssa is The Butcher, a contract killer who hunts fairies because one of them, The Beast, killed her brother. She is all sass and jagged edges, only seeing th......more


Quotes

"I devoured this book! Full of revenge, monsters, and found family, Kill the Beast is riveting and thrilling!"—Sarah Beth Durst, New York Times bestselling author of The Spellshop

"Heartfelt, dark, and yet very fun, Kill the Beast is a fresh fairy tale that pulls apart old tropes and artfully reconstructs itself as a new story about friendship, grief, and forgiveness."—J.R. Dawson, the author of The First Bright Thing

"This cheerful, brawling adventure has everything you could want: bloody revenge, exquisite tailoring, and a very good dog."—Davinia Evans, author of Notorious Sorcerer

"A glorious adventure, filled with heart and heroics, friendship and redemption, monsters and hope. I love Lyssa and Alderic, and I loved this book."—H.G. Parry, author of A Far Better Thing

"I wholly adored this fun, bloody, and phenomenal fantasy debut. With a queer friendship story, a feral bisexual main character, and a lot of heart, this is definitely one you'll want to get your hands on!"— M. Stevenson, author of Behooved

"Swift’s novel falls in the twilight between melancholy and adventure, punctuated with brutality, occasional gore, and shocking moments of joy. The foreshadowing is excellent, stringing action scenes and a delightful berserker/sunshine dynamic on a thread of delicious tension.... An excellent recommendation for all fantasy readers."—Library Journal (starred review)

"Fans of folklore and fairy tales will enjoy pondering the tinges of "Beauty and the Beast" woven into Swift's debut."—Booklist

"Adventurous and warmhearted."—Shelf Awareness