Title: As Old as Time
Author: Liz Braswell
Series: A Twisted Tale #3
Publisher: Disney Press
Publication Date: September 6, 2016
Source: Library
I am a sucker for retellings of popular fairy tales. I realize that I probably tell you guys this every single time I read a retelling of any story, but just in case you are new to reading my blog I thought I would share that bit of information about myself again.
I was pretty excited to finally get my hands on As Old As Time, as it is a retelling of the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. I really wanted to see what Liz Braswell did with the story and how she transformed it.
So while if you have seen the Beauty and the Beast animated Disney movie, you will be some what aware of the basic plot of this book. Belle (Beauty) ends up a prisoner of the Beasts castle which is under a spell that will become permanent if he can not learn to love someone else and earn their love in return by his 21st birthday.
Where this book differs though is that there is more back story for Belle's mother and father and the town that had originally surrounded the castle. So we learn more about the history and how the Beast and his castle ended up under the curse (which in this case was put on them by Belle's mother - this is not a spoiler as it is something written clearly in the blurb of the book).
So what did I think of this book? Well for the first half I found myself really enjoying the back story of Belle's mother and father and the town surrounding the castle. Unfortunately, when we were actually with Belle (the story goes back and forth a little) there were so many instances of the book being word for word of the movie and I just didn't really enjoy that. I realize that it probably helps some people be able to make the connection from the book to the original Disney movie version, but I wanted more differences. I didn't want to read the movie.
It did start veering off at the second half of the book. There were still some instances of the book sounding almost exactly as the movie, but by that point I was over it and had accepted that there were going to be points of this in existence.
This book also tends to go a little darker than the original version, and I really liked that. I think Liz Braswell has a talent for dark writing. There were definitely some creepy points where I was pulled in and really into it. And I totally applaud her on those scenes. They were most definitely NOT in the movie.
So, while there were some misses for me there were most definitely some hits too. I do hope she keeps writing these!
My Rating
3 Stars
This review is based on a copy that I borrowed from my public library. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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