Book Synopsis:
What if Belle's mother cursed the Beast?
When Belle touches the Beast's enchanted rose, memories flood through Belle's mind — memories of a mother she thought she would never see again. And, stranger still, she sees that her mother is none other than the beautiful enchantress who cursed the castle and all its inhabitants.
Shocked and confused, Belle and the Beast will have to unravel a dark mystery about their families that is 21 years in the making.
My Review:
5/5 stars. This is only the second Twisted Tale book I’ve read - the first one I read years ago at this point - and I loved it. I love Beauty and the Beast, and this was a great retelling that added more depth and plot. It had a good mix of humor, heart, and action. There were a few small things about the writing style I didn’t like, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment.
Belle is one of my favorite Disney princesses, so I was excited to read this book. I like fairy tale retellings and I had already read the Frozen twisted tale, which I loved. This series of Disney retellings seem to stick pretty close to the original but add in more storylines and character depth. They take what's great about the Disney movie and make it better. That's what this book did.
The first part of the book alternates between the perspectives of Belle in present day, and her father, Maurice, in the past. I thought this was an interesting technique to build up the mystery. You learn about Belle parents and the backstory of the kingdom, but the mystery doesn't get fully resolved until the end. It added to the suspense of the story because the readers knew things about Belle's parents before she figured anything out. By the second part, the point of view is primarily Belle for the rest of the book, but the POV occasionally switches to another character like Maurice or the Beast once in a while.
Early on, I was a little confused about the ages of the characters and when certain events happened. Things would be mentioned as happening X number of years ago, but the way that thing was described another time wouldn't really line up with that. It made more sense as the book went on, but small things like that were a little confusing.
This book has a lot of action, but it was also really funny. I found myself laughing aloud many times, usually when Belle's inner thoughts commented on the absurdity of the talking and walking furniture. Belle was witty, Beast was funny in a charming, awkward way, and the servants had their own humor as enchanted objects.
I loved that some characters were flawed and complicated, especially Belle's mother. She does some bad things - one really bad thing in particular - but you can understand her motivations and why she acts the way she does. Even though she does a bad thing, the king and queen weren't good people either. Neither party was innocent, and that's what makes it so complex and nuanced. You root for Belle's mother, but still feel bad for the Beast and his servants.
One small detail I noticed in terms of the writing style was the overuse of ellipses in dialogue. Some lines of dialogue would have four sets of ellipses in one sentence. The author put them in to mark pauses and for dramatic effect, but it was too much. It's like she didn't trust her readers to know when there should be a natural pause in a sentence.
I liked the development of the relationship between Belle and the Beast. It was similar to how it was done in the original movie, but a little better. People often fault Beauty and the Beast for showing Stockholm Syndrome (which I disagree with), but this book didn't have any implication of that. Belle chose to stay and help the Beast, and the Beast gave her plenty of opportunity to leave after the initial capture. You also get more depth into the Beast character, which helps the relationship develop.
Belle and the Beast complement each other, and that's shown very well in this book. They learn from each other and their strengths and weaknesses balance out. One of my favorite moments is towards the end of the book, when Belle and the Beast are in a dangerous situation. They both simultaneously think about what the other person would do in that situation - Beast using logic and planning, and Belle relying on her impulse. It shows their character development in the story, which they got from each other.
This book had a great amount of action and suspense. I read the last fourth of the book in one sitting because it was so exciting and intense. The villain was so menacing and threatening, and there were lots of twists and secrets revealed that kept me reading. The stakes were high, but had hopeful solutions that made you want to keep reading to find out how problems would get resolved.
The ending felt a bit rushed to me. After the villain was defeated and everyone was together again, it felt like it ended very quickly. I would've like even just a few more pages of conclusion and happy endings. The ending was set up for a sequel, which probably won't happen because it's a series of standalones, but I was itching to read more after the way it ended.
As far as an age rating goes, I'd say tweens and older. There's occasionally very mild language, but it's barely there. There are a couple cheek and head kisses, but no full kisses or anything bad. The biggest content warning is the violence, especially during the climax. There are semi-detailed descriptions of torture and pain being caused, and descriptions of the state of the torture victims. This could be upsetting to some readers, so be aware of that.
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