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The Beauty and the Beast (Illustrated with Interactive Elements) by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve
hannieb's review against another edition
5.0
This is so drastically different from Disney that I had to read it twice in order to appreciate it fully. Despite the differences, it doesn't mean the story is any less beautiful or magical. The MinaLima edition makes it only more so! To any hardcore Beauty and the Beast fans out there, your fangirl heart will not be complete without reading this original story.
Still a bit confused with the relationship and laws of the fairies (especially in Ch.8) to the characters, so may have to do some reading up on that.
Still a bit confused with the relationship and laws of the fairies (especially in Ch.8) to the characters, so may have to do some reading up on that.
pabloandres's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
katdfleming's review against another edition
3.0
I was all in until the beast transformed back. Then there was this hard-to-follow backstory about the different fairies and the King and Queen. I finally skimmed the last 20 pages or so because I was so confused and wanted to move on to another book.
janagaton's review against another edition
2.0
so upset that I didn't like this/: I enjoyed the experience of finally reading the original(?) story & all the interactive parts of this edition, but I couldn't deal with the 1740 language and repetitive vocabulary. I dont even want to talk about it anymore because the Disney version is my favorite and this was such a big disappointment unfortunately. ):
milavis's review against another edition
slow-paced
4.0
What was that ending??? Love it still ππ
d_night's review against another edition
5.0
Nothing like any of the movies I have ever watched.
1. Beast was not a jerk at all π
2. There is a whole Fairy World
3. The Villian is an old Fairy
(BIG SPOILER)
4. Beauty is Beasts cousin π€’
not bad thoughπ happy to finally know the real story π
1. Beast was not a jerk at all π
2. There is a whole Fairy World
3. The Villian is an old Fairy
(BIG SPOILER)
4. Beauty is Beasts cousin π€’
not bad thoughπ happy to finally know the real story π
kberry513's review against another edition
4.0
This particular edition of the book is amazing. MinaLima has done such an excellent job of illustrating and creating little interactive elements. It truly is a work of art.
On to the story. I can't believe I never read the original Beauty and the Beast, over all these years. I have read many many many retellings, and recently went to see the live action version of the film, which I very much enjoyed. The original story surprised me, especially because the Beast turns back to human long before the end of the book.
Firstly, it was confusing because no one really had names. There was the Merchant (Beauty's father) and her six brothers and five sisters (none had names), the Queen (the Beast's mother), the Unknown (the man Beauty falls in love with while she's dreaming aka the Beast in human form), the King (Beauty's real father) and then three Fairies, one is good, one is wicked, and one is the good one's sister and also Beauty's real mother.
The story goes like this: There's a merchant with six sons and six daughters, where all the daughters except the youngest are the worst (greedy, mean, etc). The youngest daughter everyone calls Beauty because of her personality AND her looks. The merchant loses his fortune when all his ships capsize and the family has to move to the country and work for a living, which all the other children despair over, especially the girls who had been stringing along a series of suitors who abandon them when they become poor, except Beauty. The Merchant goes on a journey when it seems like one of his ships survived and all the others ask for expensive gifts, but Beauty asks for only a rose. Of course, he discovers that the one ship didn't really change his fortune and gets lost on the way home, finding his way to the Beast's castle where invisible servants care for him. When he goes to leave, he plucks a rose from the garden for Beauty and the Beast appears and threatens him, until he mentions his daughters. The Beast tells the Merchant he will spare him if he returns with one of his daughters, but it has to be of her free will. Of course, the one who volunteers is Beauty and when she comes back, the Beast offers her father as much of the gold and jewels etc that he wants. Unlike in the Disney version, the Beast is immediately kind to Beauty and they converse over dinner every night, which ends with him asking Beauty to marry him and her declining every night. She has access to the whole castle, including enchanted scenes of plays being performed, a library, and trained monkeys/birds. Every night, Beauty dreams of a handsome man she calls the Unknown and falls in love with. She also dreams of a woman who tells her to keep her courage and feminine generosity. She gets homesick and the Beast allows her to go home to visit her family so they know she is being treated kindly, assuring him that she doesn't want to abandon him. He tells her it may kill him if she stays away too long and the Unkown tests her, saying she wouldn't really have to return. She tells him she won't break her word, even though she loves him, and that if she found out that one would have to die at the other's hand she would kill herself. Of course at home, only her father and brothers care she's back, her sisters' new suitors abandon them for her, which obviously doesn't help how they feel about her, and her father gives her advice about not "taking counsel from her eyes alone" and that she should accept Beast's marriage proposal. She returns late and finds the Beast almost dead, but then nurses him back to health, at which point when he asks her to marry him, she agrees. The curse is broken and she discovers the Beast and the Unkonwn are the same person - the Prince...and we are only half way through the story. The woman she dreamt of, the Fairy, turns up with the Beast's mother, the Queen, who disapproves of Beauty due to her commoner status, although the Prince is fine with it. The Prince's story goes like this - his father died when he was young and the Queen had to wage war to keep her neighbor from gobbling up the kingdom, so she gave the Prince to a (wicked) Fairy to raise. That Fairy tried to seduce him when he grew up and he turned her down, so she cursed him to find someone who would love him if he was ugly and stupid, until a young beautiful girl came of her own volition, even though she was afraid he would eat her, and then agree to marry him. The original Fairy noticed the loophole in the statement and that's why she endeavored to have Beauty end up at his place and talked to her through her dreams. As it turns out, the original Fairy's sister was married to the Queen's brother, the King even though due to some fairyish law, she wasn't supposed to, and they had a daughter. After the sister Fairy was banished, the original Fairy took her daughter and secretly swapped her with a similarly aged baby who just died - and spolier! that sister Fairy's baby was Belle! The Merchant isn't her dad, the King is! she's royal after all! And then the sister Fairy manages to work her way back from exile so everyone is happy. Oh and the wicked fairy gets her comeuppance as well.
To be honest, I think I actually like the Disney version better - Belle is much more interesting than the original Beauty (although that's a sign of the time period it was written in), but more than that I didn't really love the nonsense with the various fairies and the fact that Beauty turned out to actually be royalty - the story is much better if a commoner girl manages to break the spell. The whole second half could be cut (and usually is). I also don't love that the Merchant's other children (his only biological children) are pretty terrible. I've read retellings where they aren't so bad and I think I prefer those.
That being said, it's definitely an interesting read. And this copy is GORGEOUS. So I'm giving it 4 stars.
On to the story. I can't believe I never read the original Beauty and the Beast, over all these years. I have read many many many retellings, and recently went to see the live action version of the film, which I very much enjoyed. The original story surprised me, especially because the Beast turns back to human long before the end of the book.
Firstly, it was confusing because no one really had names. There was the Merchant (Beauty's father) and her six brothers and five sisters (none had names), the Queen (the Beast's mother), the Unknown (the man Beauty falls in love with while she's dreaming aka the Beast in human form), the King (Beauty's real father) and then three Fairies, one is good, one is wicked, and one is the good one's sister and also Beauty's real mother.
The story goes like this: There's a merchant with six sons and six daughters, where all the daughters except the youngest are the worst (greedy, mean, etc). The youngest daughter everyone calls Beauty because of her personality AND her looks. The merchant loses his fortune when all his ships capsize and the family has to move to the country and work for a living, which all the other children despair over, especially the girls who had been stringing along a series of suitors who abandon them when they become poor, except Beauty. The Merchant goes on a journey when it seems like one of his ships survived and all the others ask for expensive gifts, but Beauty asks for only a rose. Of course, he discovers that the one ship didn't really change his fortune and gets lost on the way home, finding his way to the Beast's castle where invisible servants care for him. When he goes to leave, he plucks a rose from the garden for Beauty and the Beast appears and threatens him, until he mentions his daughters. The Beast tells the Merchant he will spare him if he returns with one of his daughters, but it has to be of her free will. Of course, the one who volunteers is Beauty and when she comes back, the Beast offers her father as much of the gold and jewels etc that he wants. Unlike in the Disney version, the Beast is immediately kind to Beauty and they converse over dinner every night, which ends with him asking Beauty to marry him and her declining every night. She has access to the whole castle, including enchanted scenes of plays being performed, a library, and trained monkeys/birds. Every night, Beauty dreams of a handsome man she calls the Unknown and falls in love with. She also dreams of a woman who tells her to keep her courage and feminine generosity. She gets homesick and the Beast allows her to go home to visit her family so they know she is being treated kindly, assuring him that she doesn't want to abandon him. He tells her it may kill him if she stays away too long and the Unkown tests her, saying she wouldn't really have to return. She tells him she won't break her word, even though she loves him, and that if she found out that one would have to die at the other's hand she would kill herself. Of course at home, only her father and brothers care she's back, her sisters' new suitors abandon them for her, which obviously doesn't help how they feel about her, and her father gives her advice about not "taking counsel from her eyes alone" and that she should accept Beast's marriage proposal. She returns late and finds the Beast almost dead, but then nurses him back to health, at which point when he asks her to marry him, she agrees. The curse is broken and she discovers the Beast and the Unkonwn are the same person - the Prince...and we are only half way through the story. The woman she dreamt of, the Fairy, turns up with the Beast's mother, the Queen, who disapproves of Beauty due to her commoner status, although the Prince is fine with it. The Prince's story goes like this - his father died when he was young and the Queen had to wage war to keep her neighbor from gobbling up the kingdom, so she gave the Prince to a (wicked) Fairy to raise. That Fairy tried to seduce him when he grew up and he turned her down, so she cursed him to find someone who would love him if he was ugly and stupid, until a young beautiful girl came of her own volition, even though she was afraid he would eat her, and then agree to marry him. The original Fairy noticed the loophole in the statement and that's why she endeavored to have Beauty end up at his place and talked to her through her dreams. As it turns out, the original Fairy's sister was married to the Queen's brother, the King even though due to some fairyish law, she wasn't supposed to, and they had a daughter. After the sister Fairy was banished, the original Fairy took her daughter and secretly swapped her with a similarly aged baby who just died - and spolier! that sister Fairy's baby was Belle! The Merchant isn't her dad, the King is! she's royal after all! And then the sister Fairy manages to work her way back from exile so everyone is happy. Oh and the wicked fairy gets her comeuppance as well.
To be honest, I think I actually like the Disney version better - Belle is much more interesting than the original Beauty (although that's a sign of the time period it was written in), but more than that I didn't really love the nonsense with the various fairies and the fact that Beauty turned out to actually be royalty - the story is much better if a commoner girl manages to break the spell. The whole second half could be cut (and usually is). I also don't love that the Merchant's other children (his only biological children) are pretty terrible. I've read retellings where they aren't so bad and I think I prefer those.
That being said, it's definitely an interesting read. And this copy is GORGEOUS. So I'm giving it 4 stars.
book_nerd_1's review against another edition
2.0
I've only ever known the Disney version and I think I prefer it.
The story of the beauty and the beast is pretty good but it's really only the first half of this book. The second half is a very convoluted backstory that's exhausting to read and keep track of.
I really wouldn't recommend reading this to children for that reason and because the language would be too difficult.
The story of the beauty and the beast is pretty good but it's really only the first half of this book. The second half is a very convoluted backstory that's exhausting to read and keep track of.
I really wouldn't recommend reading this to children for that reason and because the language would be too difficult.