This is a excellently written book about inner beauty and what really matters in life and love. It loosely reminds one of the Beauty and the Beast story, but the characters are the author's own. The protagonist and narrator, Naef, is a crippled young man who has suffered abuses in his little village for as long as he can remember; but his life changes when a mysterious lion-man offers him to spend a year with him in his charmed tropical island. And this is the beginning of a great love story that makes your chest feel warm throughout, with some surprising (and very clever) turns. I recommend it to anyone with an open-mind, a liking for fairy tales and slash.