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Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Gore, Sexism, Alcohol
I thought how everything was done with the history was impeccable and had me hooked from the start to the finish. I loved how this twist played out, and enjoyed how satisfying it was to finish.
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder
Minor: Suicide
Overall, I definitely recommend this book for Disney/beauty and the beast/twisted tales fans but it's not one of my favourites from the series
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Torture, Grief
Minor: Body horror, Sexism, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Blood, Grief, Toxic friendship, Abandonment
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder
It's an interesting "what if?" and it relies very heavily on the reader's knowledge of the Disney version of the tale, which is far far older than even the Perrault version. This reliance on the reader's knowledge is a drawback, as someone who is casually aware of the story would not be able to understand what is going on in this version, or be able to read other of these "twisted tales" without a thorough understanding of the Disney version of the story.
On to the story. The first half plays out almost exactly like the Disney movie, though with a lot of backstory about Belle's mother. The chapters alternate between Belle and Maurice in the present time, and Maurice and Belle's mother in the past, with nothing to differentiate the time periods, which is a major drawback, and I almost stopped reading when I couldn't figure out *when* the chapter was taking place. The book goes into detail about what the kingdom was like before the prince was cursed, but more specifically, *why* the enchantress felt it necessary to curse the Prince. Very interesting.
The story got much more interesting and intense when Belle finds the rose. As the daughter of the enchantress who set the spell, Belle's accidental touch destroys the rose, dooming the Beast and everyone who was caught in the spell to a life of being enchanted household items. The next sections detail their attempts to research how the curse came into being, who placed the curse and why, and how to break it.
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Abandonment
Overall, I was very close to not finishing this book. Halfway through, I was bored out of my mind. I didn’t like the back and forth to past and present. I only powered through because I hate not finishing, but it wasn’t anything special.
Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
Graphic: Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization