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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
medium-paced
In all honesty, Beauty and the Beast has never been my favourite fairy tale. I find Beauty annoying - there's something so simperingly sickly about that request for a rose, and I've never quite trusted her. That being said: this was a surprise. I've never read the full original story before, and I was interested to discover that what I thought was the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale was really only half of it. Beauty awakened the Beast and saw his transformation into a prince about halfway through the book, and I was wondering if it would be followed by an extended essay, or something like that.
No. The story continues, and there's a long, long explanation about fairy infighting and baby swapping and a surprise heritage reveal, along with more shapeshifting and a creepy fairy babysitter trying to sexually groom their charge and failing miserably. It does come across as convoluted, if not a wee bit confused, and I can see why all the popular retellings stop where they do. I appreciate the surprise, though, and if I'm not likely to read this again anytime soon, I was nonetheless more invested in this particular story than I have been for some time. Beauty's still too saccharine for me, though.
No. The story continues, and there's a long, long explanation about fairy infighting and baby swapping and a surprise heritage reveal, along with more shapeshifting and a creepy fairy babysitter trying to sexually groom their charge and failing miserably. It does come across as convoluted, if not a wee bit confused, and I can see why all the popular retellings stop where they do. I appreciate the surprise, though, and if I'm not likely to read this again anytime soon, I was nonetheless more invested in this particular story than I have been for some time. Beauty's still too saccharine for me, though.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3 stars. I love Beauty and the Beast and almost all adaptations of the story (except for the Disney live action…no ma’am) so I’m glad that I’ve finally picked this up. It is definitely a very romantic story and it is well written. The illustrations are beautiful but it isn’t the most interesting read. It’s really wordy and just a bit dull and I felt like I was making no progress the more I read but I do just really love this story so much and for that I can’t give it less than 3 stars.
{Challenges completed:
✔Romance Readers Reading Challenge: The Bachelor Team Challenge - Week 8
✔For Love of a Book: Greatest Love Stories Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Pizza Delivery Team Challenge - Week 3}
{Challenges completed:
✔Romance Readers Reading Challenge: The Bachelor Team Challenge - Week 8
✔For Love of a Book: Greatest Love Stories Challenge
✔For Love of a Book: Pizza Delivery Team Challenge - Week 3}
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
I feel like I have to split my review for this into 2 factors.
The edition and the story.
The edition. Thus book visually is stunning! Its illustrations are so beautiful, the end pages, the cover, the way its put together all so lovely. Some of the interactive peices are a little confusing, and a little flimsy for a childrens book, but I appreciate the effort and if I was 5 i would love it.
The story. However if I was 5 I would be very very bored. The magic of the books exterior elements do not match the books story line. It is not as magical as it is trying to be. In fact its a horrible story at its base. Its trying to be about hope and seeing people for who they are. But actually its to anti-feminist for today market.
Overall I do not believe the price of this book to be worth its contents. As an adult I appreciate the story, didnt need the flimsy interior activities. As a child I think the activities would be great, the book would be boring. So not sure who this $40 hard cover childrens classic is marketed too?
The edition and the story.
The edition. Thus book visually is stunning! Its illustrations are so beautiful, the end pages, the cover, the way its put together all so lovely. Some of the interactive peices are a little confusing, and a little flimsy for a childrens book, but I appreciate the effort and if I was 5 i would love it.
The story. However if I was 5 I would be very very bored. The magic of the books exterior elements do not match the books story line. It is not as magical as it is trying to be. In fact its a horrible story at its base. Its trying to be about hope and seeing people for who they are. But actually its to anti-feminist for today market.
Overall I do not believe the price of this book to be worth its contents. As an adult I appreciate the story, didnt need the flimsy interior activities. As a child I think the activities would be great, the book would be boring. So not sure who this $40 hard cover childrens classic is marketed too?
“It’s very kind of you, Beauty, to love so ugly a monster, but you do well. I love you better than my life. I thought you would never return. It would have killed me. Since you love me, I will live. Retire to rest, and assure yourself that you will be as happy as your good heart renders you worthy to be”.
Thou shall love Beaty and the Beast✨ Jeg tror, at jeg nok er en af mange, der ofte har set Disneys fortolkninger af de store eventyr, før jeg har læst de originale værker. Således var jeg fx chokeret, da den lille havfrue i H. C. Andersens fortælling ender sine dage som havskum, eller da det gik op for mig, at I den oprindelige version af Tornerose, skrevet af den italienske forfatter Giovanni Battista Basile på et tidspunkt i 1500-1600 tallet, bliver Tornerose voldtaget, og i Susan Donnells roman Pocahontas, som jeg læste sidste år, er Pocahontas kun 12 år, da hun møder John Smith, og forinden har hun da både være gravid og fået en abort med en Kokuum-lignende type, hvis navn i romanen jeg ikke kan huske. Jeg var derfor meget spændt på at gå i gang med Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuves originale værk The Beauty and The Beast fra 1740, da Disneys Skønheden og Udyret uden tvivl er en af mine yndlings film. Og hvor der i romanen er byttet lidt rundt på kronologien, fx lærer vi først om Udyrets liv og skæbne til sidst, og Belle er den yngste ud af en stor søskendeflok, så er mange ting forblevet de samme. Det har være en nostalgisk og fantastisk læseoplevelse, endelig at opleve eventyret folde sig ud for mig, også i bogstavelig forstand i denne smukke illustrerede udgave med interaktive elementer fra @minalimadesign. Det er ikke bare illustrationer, som imponerer mig, jeg nød også fortællingen og ikke mindst det Shakespearanske sprog. Jeg anbefaler den derfor varmt til alle, der elsker Skønheden og Udyret🏰👸🏼🐗🥀
Thou shall love Beaty and the Beast✨ Jeg tror, at jeg nok er en af mange, der ofte har set Disneys fortolkninger af de store eventyr, før jeg har læst de originale værker. Således var jeg fx chokeret, da den lille havfrue i H. C. Andersens fortælling ender sine dage som havskum, eller da det gik op for mig, at I den oprindelige version af Tornerose, skrevet af den italienske forfatter Giovanni Battista Basile på et tidspunkt i 1500-1600 tallet, bliver Tornerose voldtaget, og i Susan Donnells roman Pocahontas, som jeg læste sidste år, er Pocahontas kun 12 år, da hun møder John Smith, og forinden har hun da både være gravid og fået en abort med en Kokuum-lignende type, hvis navn i romanen jeg ikke kan huske. Jeg var derfor meget spændt på at gå i gang med Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuves originale værk The Beauty and The Beast fra 1740, da Disneys Skønheden og Udyret uden tvivl er en af mine yndlings film. Og hvor der i romanen er byttet lidt rundt på kronologien, fx lærer vi først om Udyrets liv og skæbne til sidst, og Belle er den yngste ud af en stor søskendeflok, så er mange ting forblevet de samme. Det har være en nostalgisk og fantastisk læseoplevelse, endelig at opleve eventyret folde sig ud for mig, også i bogstavelig forstand i denne smukke illustrerede udgave med interaktive elementer fra @minalimadesign. Det er ikke bare illustrationer, som imponerer mig, jeg nød også fortællingen og ikke mindst det Shakespearanske sprog. Jeg anbefaler den derfor varmt til alle, der elsker Skønheden og Udyret🏰👸🏼🐗🥀
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The edition of this book is beautiful and the interactive parts are fun whilst reading. I did really struggle with this book because of the language, if you like classics and Shakespeare then you would enjoy this book. Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favourite films and reading this I found that there are not many similarities between the fairy tale and the films. I can understand why it has been changed but then others I don't know why. I found it a little confusing in places. I just ploughed through it as quickly as possible because I wanted to see how film related to the fairy tale but was left disappointed. Great book to read with children perhaps if they haven't seen the films.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've never seen any of the film adaptations of this book and so I went in only knowing what I'd heard about the Disney versions.
I don't need to watch Disney to know that these two stories are vastly different. I really enjoyed this book, it definitely exceeded my expectations. Some might say the ending was very idealistic and it was but it's a fairy tale, that's the whole point.
I don't need to watch Disney to know that these two stories are vastly different. I really enjoyed this book, it definitely exceeded my expectations. Some might say the ending was very idealistic and it was but it's a fairy tale, that's the whole point.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No