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Book Review: “As Old as Time: A Twisted Tale” by Liz Braswell

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at GCU chapter.

This book arrived in my hands on January 16 and I finished it by January 18. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so engrossed in a book that I was able to finish it that fast. I knew little about the Disney Twisted Tales book series before I started As Old as Time by Liz Braswell, and I wasn’t too interested in it at first. After all, why mess with perfection? But, since Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie and I never tire of reading spin-offs and reimagining’s, I thought I’d give it a try.

And it was haunting. That’s not to say it wasn’t good (I wouldn’t have read so fast if it wasn’t), but that’s the only word I can think of for this Twisted Tale and it’s almost-happy ending. The story was suspenseful, the characters were entertaining, but the ending left me wanting more; that final happy moment at the end of most stories where everything doesn’t seem as bad as it was. Instead, I was left pondering the absence of a heart-soaring climax and the outrageously dark turn the story took.

What I enjoyed most about this re-imagining was how Braswell was able to take the more obscure characters from the 1991 movie who had very little screen-time and write an entire narrative based off of them, particularly the asylum owner Monsieur D’Arque (the creepy old man who agrees to imprison Maurice), and the Enchantress who cursed the prince. Every other chapter in Part 1 of this book focuses on these characters (and several new ones as well), their backstories, and what led them to make the choices they made. Belle and the Beast are still the central characters, but the more prominent characters such as Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and even Gaston, while still present, are not as central to moving the plot along as they were in the animated film.

Don’t expect this book to be a word-for-word account of the 1991 movie with only a few changes. Part 1 does a fantastic job with keeping the basic plot the same: there is still a cursed prince in a forgotten castle who has until his 21st year to find love; Belle is still the bookish and headstrong daughter of an inventor, who wants more than to be Gaston’s “little wife” in her provincial town. And yes, she trades her freedom for her father, deliberately sneaks into the west wing on her first night in the castle, and is saved by the Beast from a pack of wolves. But it’s at this point where the similarities end, and the story becomes less about a blossoming love and more about solving a decades-long mystery.

Belle, in this story, actually gets a chance to touch the rose when she is poking around in the West Wing, and doing so not only seals the enchantment, but also gives her a vision of the Enchantress and the curse she placed upon the prince and his castle. With true love no longer the deciding factor in breaking the curse, Belle and this Beast decide to investigate as much as they can about the Enchantress, in hopes of finding her, or another magic user, so they can reverse the spell. Don’t be deterred; there is still romance involved, but it is much more developed and slower going.

I never would have thought of a sleuthing mystery as a way to describe the tale of Beauty and the Beast, but that’s how it felt reading some of the chapters. It was entertaining to see Belle and the Beast interacting like old detective partners: researching in the library, bouncing theories off each other, uncovering secrets long buried. Similar to the perceptive Sherlock and his bumbling, inquisitive assistant were Belle and the Beast. It is during these moments that Belle and the Beast get to know and understand each other. She helps him to regain more of his lost humanity, while he demonstrates that he is not the complete monster she thought. A spoiled, lonely, and self-conscious prince? Sure. But not completely past redemption.

Unfortunately, for the hopeless romantics out there like myself, there is no ballroom dancing, no fight-to-the-death on a dark, stormy night, and no passionate kiss. To be honest, the climax and descending action reminded me of something out of Frankenstein, not a classic Disney romance. And the defeat of the ultimate villain was not very satisfying. Worse still, the characterization of Gaston left a lot to be desired. Perhaps this was done intentionally, but I was extremely annoyed whenever Gaston had any dialogue because of how childish and cliché it made him sound. I was hoping the story would add more to his character, not make him seem less realistic. He’s more forward in the movie, but in the book a moment of confusion and stress reduces him to babbling nonsense.

Even if the ending wasn’t all that I expected, we still get a similar tender moment between Belle and the Beast where she “brings him back” in a way. Similar to the 2017 remake, the culmination of the spell turns the castle servants into actual objects; but in this version, it has a darker effect on the Beast, meaning he will eventually lose his human soul entirely, becoming an actual beast forever (much like the situation in Disney Pixar’s Brave). He struggles with this throughout the story, and in the end, it is only Belle who is able to make him remember who he truly is.

Overall, this story is very well written, drawing readers into a suspenseful mystery. There are moments throughout the book where the dialogue or storytelling come close to a bad fan-fiction, but not so much to deter readers from reaching the end. Despite this, many readers may end up feeling a sense of incompleteness; there should have been much more to the ending of the story than what there was. Still, the moral of the story is much the same as the movie: beauty is found within, and anyone can change. If there’s one thing I did enjoy about the ending, it was that the two main characters masterfully displayed these truths, making me love them and their story even more.

My name is Margaret Padilla, and I'm studying Professional Writing for New Media, with a minor in Literature, at Grand Canyon University. Writing professionally for an outlet such as this has always been my dream, and I'm excited to bring my writing and storytelling skills to this team. When I graduate, I'm hoping to find a job with a non-profit organization that allows me to write what I'm passionate about. I would like to pursue a career in either copywriting, public relations, or grant writing. I live back up in Medford, Oregon with my parents, younger brother, and dog Grady. I love mountains, lakes, and going on long drives through the woods. In my spare time, I like to crochet, play piano, draw (I'm not very good), hang out with friends, go on long walks, and dream up ideas for my own future novels or short stories. My faith in Jesus is also very important to me. I want to honor God in all I do and say, whether I'm writing a school paper, designing a poster for class, or just struggling to get through my hectic week. I hope the things I share and write about will be an encouragement to all potential readers, whether they share my views or not.