As Old as Time: A Twisted Tale

I would definitely re-read this book in the future. A great gift for any beauty and the beast fan! Spoilers ahead!!! I really enjoyed this book and felt it would suffice very well as the original movie perhaps broken into 2 parts. The backstory is what really gave this book the bones. You get to delve into belles mother and father before her being born and get an insight into the history of the town, the king and queen, the prince , the plague and the mysterious disappearances in the town. There is a lot to digest in this book. There is mystery, magic, questions and little answers. The answers you do get explain the curse and the reasonings. I think we don’t always need a “and they lived happily ever after”. Sometimes you need real life conviction and taking the ending into your own assumption. You get a back story of the main villain and understand that sometimes self hatred can be worse than hatred for others. I enjoyed the non- Disney approach. There were moments of romance and violence. Something the cartoon movies shy away from. The ending was good for me- my favorite ending of the books I have read so far being “Unbirthday”. This book is my second favorite. I enjoyed the magic and mystery this book had and would recommended it to any beauty and the beast fan.

Good read . Interesting view of story. Not typical story line.

It took me a while to get into this book but in the end I really enjoyed it. There were many new facets to the story and outright differences from the Disney movie (all of the books in the Twisted Tales series are retellings of the Disney movies) as well as filling in obvious gaps/plot holes. I really enjoyed the subtle nods to the movie as well as the empowering of Belle. She was a strong character in the movie but in this book she has even more agency and thereby is even more awesome. This story gets really dark and upsetting at the end. It's not quite Stephen King but you may want to be mindful. I suppose it's not much of a spoiler to say that the asylum only hinted at in the movie is more prominent and it is exactly what real asylums were like in the past. If descriptions of what was done to patients would disturb you or your child, then you may want to skip parts at the end. Speaking of the ending, it was lovely. A different sort of happily ever after but one I wholeheartedly support. I kind of wish this was the story for the new live action remake.

Having the perspective of Belle's mother, who was an absent character in the movies we know, was such a different and refreshing view of the tale. The element of magic and the way it was handled throughout the story was so well-done. I wanted a bit more from the Beast and Belle romance towards the end of the story, but the focus on family and importance of selflessness was so well-done. Recommend you read and open your mind to a new point of view.

*Original review on Goodreads & My Blog* I just read the most wonderful story =) ♥ At first I was a little confused and then my light bulb went off! This starts a story of Rosalind and Maurice. Rosalind had magical powers as did many in the village. But the evil King and Queen didn't like this and starting taking all of the magical people away. They were attacked on the streets, etc. Most of these les charmantes were very nice people - ish. Most of the ones that were left, moved to right outside the village to a new village of their own. Maurice and Rosalind had little Belle =) ♥ Cut to awhile down the road and Belle is older, she trades the beast of a hidden castle to take her prisoner instead of her father. < -- yeah that sounds all crazy to those that don't really know the story but you will just have to read it to find out the whole beginning stuff =) No spoilers today! Belle finds that she's in an enchanted castle, or is she . . . Almost everything was fluttering and shuffling: the china was indeed waking from whatever slumber it enjoyed; dishes were carefully shuddering themselves to life; teacups were bouncing and trying to get out of their glass cabinet prison. The stove, which seemed so cheerful and warm and fiery at the end of the room, now began to yawn and stretch its great black iron arms and exhaust pipe. Bell drew into herself a little, alarmed. Stories of witches with their fires and stoves and terrible, terrible endings played through her head. Baba Yaga, Hansel and Gretel. . . Belle finds out about the curse on the place and wants to help the Beast and servants out. They also find out a revelation about the curse. What?! It was all just super fun to me and I enjoyed the twist on the tale. I also didn't have to listen to singing. I don't really like musicals! =( And the ending was pretty happy indeed. Happy Reading! Mel ♥

this book is in the twisted tale series. engrossing! hard to put down! all the books in the series are well written and worth reading. this one is no exception.

I enjoy the twists that this series gives to familiar tales, while retaining some familiarity - like the library. This one is phenomenal, as Belle tells the Beast. "Just books? That’s like saying Alexandria is just a library.” She ran over to the closest shelf and tilted her head, reading titles. “You don’t understand. I don’t understand how you don’t understand. Look—here’s an ancient text in Greek about astronomy…and next to it is everything Galileo Galilei ever wrote!! This whole section is about the stars and planets and the entire universe!” The author weaves in the usual suspects, while adding more for a unique flavor to the story. I liked the changes, and the almost HEA that begs for a sequel for their next chapter.

Part 1 of this book leaps back and forth between Belle's parents lives before Belle and scenes from the Disney movie the story is based on. It's kind of annoying reading chapters that are nearly identical to the movie. Part 2 is where the story twists and from there the plot is actually pretty great.

PARA UN REGALO

This book is the absolute best. I was so indulged in it that I read the entire thing in 5 hours..Continuously!

I absolutely can not wait to get all the hardcovers of the twisted tales series, the hard covers are absolutely gorgeous and stunning

Me han gustado mucho estas historias, te dan otra perspectiva de historias que ya conoces. Me gustó que le dieran una mamá a Bella. Me sigue gustando más el de la sirenita pero este es muy bueno!

alles gut, gerne wieder.