The Beast Within

Villains #2

by Serena Valentino

Questo libro parla di vanità e arroganza, di amore e odio, di crudeltà e anche di bellezza. Il romanzo racconta la vera storia della Bestia, riemersa dalla nebbia del tempo. Una storia accattivante per scoprire i retroscena di una delle storie più amate di sempre, per conoscere il punto di vista di uno dei cattivi Disney, che mette in luce anche i lati più nascosti della loro personalità.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, Fiction, Fairy Tales, Middle Grade, Beauty and The Beast

142 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 22, 2014

About the author

Serena Valentino is best known for weaving tales that combine mythos and guile with her work on the comic book series GloomCookie and Nightmares & Fairy Tales, and her best selling Disney Villain Novels which have earned her critical acclaim for her unique style of storytelling, bringing her readers into exquisitely frightening worlds filled with terror, beauty and extraordinary female protagonists.

Her Disney Villain novel series would be best enjoyed if read in this order: Fairest of All: The Story of the Wicked Queen, The Beast Within: The Story of Belle’s Prince, Poor Unfortunate Soul: A Tale of the Sea Witch, Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy. Mother Knows Best: A Tale of the Old Witch and The Odd Sisters: A Villains Book to be released in Summer 2019. Book 7 will be out Summer 2020, Book 8 summer of 2021, and Book 9 Summer of 2022.

Serena lives in New Orleans with her dog Gozer, and a very tiny kitty named Momma.



Contact: Serena@serenavalentino.com

Reviews

[megs_bookrack · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Beast Within was rough, y'all. Yikes.



There's not a lot here and what is, wasn't great. Please know, this hurts my heart to write this.

I have all the books in this series and love how they look on my shelves, but...



I have read the first book in the series, Fairest of All, and gave it 3-stars. It was good, not spectacular, but interesting.

I don't know if maybe the fact that Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale made me more critical of this, or if it is just strictly the content that didn't agree with me.



First, I absolutely hated the Prince.



There was nothing redeemable about his character. Additionally, his story arc was 100% flat. He didn't evolve, grow or change AT ALL.

Spoiler Alert: Belle ends up with him and you're like, NOOOOOOO!



While reading his chapters, all I could picture in my head was Joffrey Baratheon, and any GOT fan knows that is not a compliment.



The story itself was all over the place. Some parts of the book were taken directly from the Disney movie (the original animated one that I have watched approximately 2,568,401 times) which normally wouldn't bother me, but the dialogue was exact and it didn't explore any of the scenes at all.

It felt so rushed and there was no heart behind it.

Picture: Beast saving Belle from wolves, here's a library, Gaston and Beast have a fight, a kiss, THE END. All in about 20-pages with no coherent connection or exploration of ideas, thoughts or feelings.



One thing I actually did enjoy was the friendship of the Prince and Gaston prior to him being cursed.

That was interesting and I thought that added to the original story in a unique way. Why couldn't that have been explored more?



With all this being said, even though this one let me down, I am definitely planning to read the rest of the books in the series. Maybe the others will work for me. You never know until you try!

Thanks for reading my rant.

[Mischenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to spend my entire, rainy Sunday reading nothing but Beauty and the Beast. After finishing Lost in a Book, I was still hungry for more. This review may contain some spoilers so read at your own risk.

The Beast Within begins with the Prince who’s sickened with the fact that he's been transformed into a beast. He's tormented by the three evil sister witches who have cast a spell on him. At this point Beast understands that only true love, both given and received, can break the curse that's been bestowed upon him.

The majority of the story heads back to the time when the Prince's life was perfect and he hadn't a care in the world. He was arrogant and vain. Here we learn about his best friend Gaston, and Circe, his beautiful and soon to be wife. This is where the questions begin. Is Gaston a real friend? Is the love the Prince feels for Circe true love that will have the power to break the spell?

It’s neat the way the author used the three sister witches in the story and the added twists. I truthfully enjoyed learning about the Beast before the curse as well, but the relationship with Belle fell short on detail and the ending came way to fast for me. I found it strange how Circe became so understanding in the last moments and she wanted everything to be fixed after spending the majority of the book bitter toward the Beast.

I still really enjoyed this and can’t wait to move on with the rest of the series. This is perfect fo middle-grade readers all the way up to adult.

4****

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Disney is now writing their own fan fiction. This wouldn’t bother me if only the fan fiction in question were consistent with the films that they themselves release.

The Beast Within is an entry in a series by Serena Valentino examining how the iconic Disney villains turned bad. Given this information, the book already has a strike against it—the villain of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast isn’t the Beast, it’s Gaston.

But the Beast is the more interesting of the two characters, being the only Disney Prince who’s an antihero. (At least the only animated one. Allowing for characters from their live-action franchises, he’s joined by Edmund Pevensie, Loki Odinson, and Kylo Ren. And I totally bring them up because they're relevant, definitely not because I'm infatuated with any of those characters. What do you take me for, a fangirl?) *clears throat*







Anyway…what was I saying? Oh yes, the Beast is an antihero of sorts—he starts out a rotten pretty person, loses his looks and status, becomes a decent chap when a girl is kind to him in spite of his ugliness and temper, and finally transforms into a hero when said girl (and his loyal servants) are threatened with violence and death. He’s one of the most dynamic characters in the Disney animated canon. Whereas a book about Gaston would have consisted solely of hunting and killing things. So even though the Beast/Prince technically does not belong in the lineup with Maleficent and Ursula, I was more than willing to read his story anyway.

And Valentino has some promising ideas. There’s a lot of evocative imagery in this little book. I especially liked those creepy statues that move through the gardens when the Prince’s back is turned. This is a nod to the original tale by Gabrielle de Villeneuve, and I salute Valentino for putting it in. She did her homework!

But I don’t think she was given much time or freedom for this project. The pieces never seem to coalesce and the mood is all over the place, ranging from deliciously spooky and mature to kiddie-table slapstick. Don’t take this as a slight to slapstick comedy, I love the stuff when it’s done well. But it’s never been a strong point of Disney’s, and it really does not mesh with the story or vibe that this book was going for.

The metamorphosis of the Prince happens in an instant in most versions of this story, including the original, Disney’s 1991 version, and then the 2017 live-action remake of the ’91 animated film. In this book, it takes a few months, and the Prince starts to lose his mind along with his handsome body. He starts avoiding mirrors, but his official state portraits still show his evolution into a hideous beast—perhaps this plot point is a nod to The Picture of Dorian Grey. This is effective characterization. It made me pity him even as I rooted for him to learn his lesson, the narcissistic swine.

Unfortunately, the application of the curse is pretty silly. The Enchantress in this version is the Prince’s old girlfriend, Circe, whom he publically abandons when he finds out she’s a farmer’s daughter. (Um, Disney? Farmer’s daughters didn’t have a whole lot of free time for hanging out with royalty. This is kind of far-fetched). Circe has three older sisters—Lucinda, Martha, and Ruby—who then show up at the castle and lay the famous curse upon the Prince, cackling that he’ll never break it in time.

These three are exactly what I meant earlier about the uneven tone. They can be menacing occasionally, but mostly they’re a trio of silly cartoon characters. They squawk rhyming incantations while clobbering each other with household objects and falling out of their chairs. Like a production of Macbeth where the role of the Three Witches is played by the Three Stooges. They don’t belong in the same story with a cruel, beautiful young man who thinks his garden statuary is trying to kill him.



A few other problems in brief:

1). Gaston is here portrayed as the son of the Prince father’s steward (or butler or something) and the Prince’s best friend from early childhood. He actually tries to help the Prince on several occasions. While I think this is a nod to Darcy and Wickham in Pride & Prejudice and therefore enjoyed it—and there’s a great scene when the Beast finally transforms and tries to kill his friend—it’s not in character for Gaston AT ALL. The thing about narcissists is that they repulse each other. They can only be friends with docile, enabling persons.

2). Once Belle shows up, the whole story feels like it’s on fast-forward, with occasional inane commentary from those three goofy witches. The writing in these scenes is patchy at best, especially compared to those fun creepy passages in the earlier half of the book. This makes me think that Valentino just ran out of time. There is zero development of Belle’s character, or her relationship to the Beast.

3). The book insists that the story takes place not in France, but in an imaginary kingdom that has contact with France. The narrator even refers to Lumiere as “the flirty fellow with the French accent” even though we know that in-universe, they all have French accents. “They can sing, they can dance/After all, miss, this is France,” state the lyrics in “Be Our Guest.” Circe and her sisters make references to a mad queen who flung herself off a cliff to her death many years ago, implying that this is the same kingdom where Snow White and the Seven Dwarves took place. The shared universe idea is cute, but there’s nothing in the movies themselves to suggest that it’s the same country.

4). Finally, can we get this poor man a name? He is referred to in this book solely as “the Prince” or “the Beast”, even in the passages narrated from his perspective. I can understand if he forgot his name after years of enchantment, but then he and Belle should have figured it out at the end. On the interwebs, this character is sometimes referred to as Adam. Adam is not a particularly 18th century French aristocrat-type name, but it is a very nice name, that might be a literary reference in this context (Frankenstein’s Creature was also occasionally called Adam). So I’ll continue to call him Adam, but ANY NAME AT ALL IN CANON WOULD BE NICE.

At any rate, this isn’t horrible for a media tie-in, but it doesn’t quite reach its potential either. A short and harmless read, perfectly appropriate for ages ten and up. The flaws in the book appear to come from Disney rather than the author. I would happily read more of Serena Valentino’s work.

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second instalment in the Villains series, which rework the original tales from the initial villain's perspective.

Of the series, this is the title I was both the most eager and hesitant to get to. Eager, as the Beauty and the Beast films are so beloved to me. Hesitant, as I had never viewed the Beast as the story-line's villain and had, instead, reserved that spot for Gaston. I feared Valentino would approach the Beast from a less sensitive viewpoint than he deserved.

My fears were quickly assuaged and this allowed the Beast's quirks, personality and characteristics to remains much like the original. An understanding and prior knowledge of how his present predicament had befallen him was provided and it was in perfect keeping with everything already known about him.

There were also exciting additional characters that added some much needed individuality. It made for an entertaining reading experience seeing former character, from this series, reintroduced and particulars of future titles already hinted at.

The only downfall was the plot's finale. This adhered almost too much to the original and felt a bit like it rushed through its predecessor's plot points to finish the book. For me, I would have greatly preferred a protracted ending, that saw this book close as the original opened.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 1 out of 5]

What an utter disappointment.

Right off the bat they are changing the story that we know from the movie replacing the enchantress with three obnoxious villainous witches that frequent the castle to torture the Beast. Who thought that was a good idea?

This is a huge letdown, the Beast should start off unlikable and then change and grow through the love of Belle, instead they've made him immediately sympathetic.

You are ruining the original!



I only read the first two chapters and could not power through because Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite movies and I could not bare to see it permanently tainted.

[Isa Cantos (Crónicas de una Merodeadora) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Don't forget, Beast, true love, both given and received, before the last petal falls".

No saben cuánto amo las historias que tienen que ver con La Bella y la Bestia... ¡y no saben cuánto amo cuando se ingenian giros geniales para historias nuevas!

En The Beast Within todo empieza con la Bestia recordando cómo llegó hasta el punto de depender de Bella para romper una maldición que le impusieron por vanidoso y egoísta. Ahora, lo interesante de este libro es que se aleja un poco de la versión de maldición instantánea por no ayudar a una viejita/bruja. Esta versión es mucho más retorcida y cruel. Aquí la maldición no depende de una sola bruja, sino de cuatro hermanas, una de ellas Circe. ¿Les suena ese nombre? Bueno, a mí sí. Y no es nada que se confirme en el libro, pero Circe es el nombre de una diosa hechicera griega que castigaba a sus enemigos convirtiéndolos en animales. ¿Coincidencia? No lo creo.

Me fascinó poder leer desde la mente del Príncipe cómo fue que se metió en el lío que terminó con su maldición. Y, de nuevo, no es la típica escena que todos tenemos en mente, fue más bien una colección de errores que terminó con su castigo inevitable. Y, por eso mismo, es increíble leer cómo poco a poco va perdiendo su humanidad y convirtiéndose en la Bestia que siempre temió tener en el interior. Es una perspectiva nueva que realmente la da nuevas luces al cuento clásico.

[kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this may be where I jump off of this series. I don't think it works for me.
Here's my unsolicited advice to the author: If you are enamored of these three bird-like witches, then by all means, write their story. Write a whole bunch of them. Original stories. Write their history and all the terrible things they've done. Enjoy doing that as it appears you thoroughly enjoy writing about them, but don't shoehorn them into stories where they don't belong. This is twice now that they've overtaken a story and I didn't enjoy it.
And if you are going to use Disney's version with Belle as the jumping off point, well, the prince was eleven when he was changed. Pay attention to your source material. The Beast and Gaston were friends? No. Just. No.
To readers: If you are looking for insight into the Beast, don't look here as you won't get it. The whole story is about him being messed about by four witches. Belle barely appears. You don't get to read about his transformation, how he goes from being beastly to a caring person. If you want that story, watch the Disney movie. It's got more insight than this.
There isn't anything more to it.
Done.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so disappointed with this. I had read Valentino's previous Disney villain novel "Fairest of All" and enjoyed it immensely. I'd also read previous works of Valentino's and enjoyed those as well. So when I saw this new story out, I did something unusual for me, and bought it without looking up reviews or reading through it a bit. Valentino had established herself a competent writer with a flair for darker themes, so I was confident in my purchase.
That'll teach me.
I'm not sure if she was trying out a new writing style, was told she was writing for a much younger audience, or simply had other projects that took away attention and time from this, but this particular story reads like an amateur attempt.
The writing is overly simplistic and choppy. It can't seem to decide if it's a really young childrens book, or a young adult book. Certain adjectives are used frequently, to the point of excess, oftentimes in the same sentence. The plot is thin and feels hastily thrown together. It's as though the author had a basic idea, and didn't have the time to properly develop it. Many words are devoted to things that aren't important, while character development and plot points get left behind. All of our characters are paper-thin, with no depth. The entire premise of the book depends on the turning of our selfish prince (or should I say "Prince" as he's referred to the entire time), into a human with an understanding of real love and compassion, and yet... we never see that transformation. He seems to go from selfish, to despair, to capable of real love, within the span of a few pages.

The overall plot idea is interesting, but there just isn't much to it all. I found I was more interested in the story behind the weird sisters, and the subtle little side plot with Ursula.

Even if we chalk this up to being a young children's book, I still find it disappointing, as the writing itself is choppy and inconsistent. Children's books do not need to be simple. Valentino is a good wordsmith. I've seen it. So I'm not sure what happened here.

The price is pretty hefty for the size of the book as well. $16 at a brick and mortar store, $13 on Amazon. While that is for hardcover there are full length adult novels available in hardcover for not much more than that. I read the book in one night.

I'll hold on to it for my collection, but overall, a disappointing read. If you can, flip through it at a local bookstore before you decide to buy.

I hear she is working on another story to explore Ursula's past, so I have hopes that this was a fluke and the new story will have more depth and the more complex writing style we've seen from Ms. Valentino before.

[Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the fact that this tale diverges from the original Disney movie, I loved it! This is from Beast's point of view. It follows his full transition from prince to beast and slowly maneuvers into the tale that we already know. I was rather intrigued with the characterization of Beast himself. This book gives a back story. As askew as it may seem to some it's still great!

[ZQ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novella was an incredible disappointment.

I took this book out of the library with high expectations. After all, I LOVED Disney's Beauty and the Beast and really enjoyed Valentino's graphic novels (particularly Nightmares & Fairy Tales), so I really couldn't see how this would go wrong. Ho boy.

(Fair warnings - I marked this review with a spoiler tag, but I will say anyway that I will be spoiling the heck out of this novella. I'm sorry, but there are points I really want to bring up. If you don't want spoilers, please skip this review.)

Writing - the writing was incredibly bland and simplistic. Valentino violated "Show, Don't Tell" so badly, it made me cringe. We're always flat-out told if the characters are angry or upset or worried or happy or whatever. There are few actual indicators through their behavior or actions. In fact, the writing was so basic that it reminded me of those grade school-level readers that give very simple retellings of movies.

In all fairness, I know this wasn't written for adults. But it also wasn't written for children. If the fact it was for sale in the YA section of Barnes & Noble doesn't prove that, the unnecessarily excessive description of the Beast ripping wolves to pieces should.

The narrative also can't seem to decide on a voice. There's a paragraph or so that seems to be deliberately anachronistic (among other things, it asks "what's up with that?" of the readers), but the rest tries to sound ye olde timey. There are needlessly difficult words thrown in the basic prose. The POV, which is third-person limited (third-person but sticks with one person's POV at a time), jumps between characters without a natural breaking point. There were also several points when the audience was directly addressed by the narrator with "you", which came out of left field and made me think back on my high school writing workshops and cry.

Plot - The plot is a mess. Valentino couldn't seem to decide if she wanted to follow the movie plot with a "this is what happened behind the scenes" thing going or whether she wanted to make everything up. So we get plenty of things that blatantly contradict the movie (for example, the Enchantress was the Prince's fiancee and cursed him for dumping her because she was a peasant, not for seemingly refusing an old woman shelter) but also weird attempts to show things adhere to canon (the Prince throws a kingdom-wide ball where he sees Belle from behind and goes to talk to her, but JUST HAPPENS to be convinced by Gaston not to speak to her).

A lot o the story is dedicated to the Beast's time as the Prince, before he was cursed. That's fine... except the movie's story is put on hold for a good chunk of time as the Beast passes out and remembers/dreams about it (which makes little sense, considering he explicitly FORGETS his past for reasons never actually explained) and we get to read about the Prince abusively romancing a naive girl named Princess Tulip Morningstar (no, REALLY) after the Enchantress curses him. Valentino is clearly trying to establish a feeling of panic and doom for the Prince, but the aforementioned bland writing kind of ruins that. Also, the Prince doesn't transform right away. He does so gradually, in proportion to the cruel deeds he does. This could be interesting, except (A) it means we get countless chapters of him insisting he Totally Isn't Cursed (right) and (B) the descriptions of the start of his transformation are... getting age lines on his face. That's it. No mention of his hair getting wilder or his teeth and nails getting sharper. Perhaps I'm having trouble visualizing it, but if I was told that a human would gradually transform into Disney's version of the Beast, I would not imagine age lines as the first stage. Not to mention, besides being vaguely ageist, it's a massive letdown from how the movie revolutionized the image of the Beast.

Most of the flashback is spent repeating events to show that (A) the Prince is a dick, (B) he and Gaston are BFFs, (C) both of them used to be sweet kids but got to be jerks for some reason, and (D) the Prince is abusive to his new fiancee. I never found myself particularly caring much for it and just was really bored for most of it. Considering how little backstory we get for the Beast, that really is disappointing. Valentino had so many options, and she just went for, "The Prince drinks, hunts, flirts with girls, yells at his fiancee, and drives everyone away when he's clearly cursed". We also get very little of the servants in this time, which is doubly a let-down since they are virtually nonexistent in the movie's time.

When we get back to the movie's events, most of them are glossed over. Among them:

- Belle's refusal to come to dinner has the Beast overhearing her telling Lumiere she won't go. He just snarls "If she doesn't eat with me, then she doesn't eat at all!" to thin air and storms off. They don't even interact.
- Belle being scared by the Beast in the West Wing is summed up in several sentences. His actually fighting off the wolves gets one. (On the other hand, Belle's purple description of the Beast himself goes on for quite awhile.)
- The "Something There" montage is almost entirely skipped and summed up by the Odd Sisters screaming about how Belle and the Beast are now in love.
- The "Beauty and the Beast" ballroom scene is skipped entirely.
- The ending scene is almost entirely glossed over in favor of the Enchantress fighting with her sisters. Belle's line - "I love you" - is kept just so the Enchantress can make a point.

Anyone who enjoyed those scenes and would have liked to know how they were from the Beast's POV will be severely let down. It doesn't help that when we get to the movie's events, the story shifts to focus almost entirely on the Odd Sisters.

On one final note, I'm not sure how Valentino envisioned the timeline. The Prince was explicitly given until he turned 21 to break the curse. By the time the flashback is ending, the Beast and the servants are forgetting parts of their past lives that are very close (the Beast has entirely forgotten Gaston, who's supposed to be his best friend) and people who knew the Beast are forgetting him (Gaston completely forgets the Beast's castle, despite GROWING UP THERE). This would seem to be a part of the curse, except it's never mentioned when the Enchantress casts it and it makes no sense for her to have the Beast forget the very deeds she wants him to atone for. If it was forgetting because so much time has passed though, that makes even less sense. We don't know how old the Prince is when he's cursed, but he's old enough to be married. I can't believe that more than a few years have passed at MOST before he begins to forget significant people in his life.

Characters - If you liked the movie's characters, this novella is really not going to sit well with you. To sum things up as best I can, *clears throat*

For starters, the characters in the flashback act incredibly different from their movie selves. While this is understandable (the novella is supposed to cover their changes in character, after all), it just feels off. For example, the flashback has the Prince and Gaston as the "best of friends", constantly referring to each other as "old friend", Gaston practically living in the castle with the Prince (including the time the Prince wants a romantic visit from his fiancee!), and mentions of them playing together as children and a never-explained backstory of Gaston saving the Prince's life. The story implies that the two are more like frenemies than actual friends, but most of the cruelty seems to come from the Prince's side. Gaston himself is only ever sincere. He warns the Prince that his fiancee is not who she appears to be. He helps the Prince put together a ball and introduces him to Princess Tulip. He calms the Prince when he's out of control, handles diplomatic meetings in the Prince's absence (which I doubt would be allowed), and is generally portrayed as being level-headed as the Prince goes insane.

When the story jumps to the movie's events though, Gaston is his canon self. In fact, he's a two-dimensional version of his canon self, since he doesn't even show his more cunning, ruthless side. He just seems to be there Because.

The Prince/the Beast's characterization is disgraceful. In the movie, he started off being "spoiled, selfish, and unkind", fell into a deep depression over the curse, and proved himself to be a better person through his interactions with Belle. Valentino went WAAAAAY overboard with his pre-cursed self. It's obvious she just decided to make him Gaston 2.0, right down to having him think how he likes girls who don't read or have thoughts or opinions of their own. He also considers spending time in Belle's village to be the height of fun, despite it clearly being shown as "provincial" and tiny in the movie.

Besides abusing his second fiancee, cruelly dumping his first for being a peasant, and spending all of his time spending tax money on booze and women, we see the Prince drive Princess Tulip's family to ruin and ORDER A HIT ON SOMEONE. Really! He asks Gaston to arrange for someone to kill a master painter, because he thinks the guy made him look too old in a portrait! And this is never brought up again! Never! In fact, none of the horrible things he does pre-curse are, which makes the idea of him being redeemed laughable. He just angsts a lot as the Beast, which gets tiresome quickly. We also find out that he wanted to kill Belle in a monstrous rage over her being in the West Wing and the wolves just distracted him from it, so between that and his sweet scenes with her being skipped, he doesn't come out looking good at all.

Most of the other characters from the movie play such a small part that they're hardly present. The servants do very little, especially since the curse somehow leaves the Beast unable to see them as living (which contradicts the movie MASSIVELY). Belle herself is almost a nonentity. Like I said, we skip the scenes of her standing up to the Beast and Gaston. Her big scene is when she's attacked by the wolves. Here, instead of riding her horse off and driving off the wolves for as long as she can, she runs into the woods on foot and sits there like a rock (or Bella Swan) as the wolves swarm her. Princess Tulip is meant to serve as a deconstruction of princess classic characters, but is pretty much just abused and dealt with off-page (though she's the only one I felt at all sorry for).

Then, there's the Enchantress (Circe, here) and her sisters, the three witches. It's painfully obvious which characters Valentino liked best. Those are the four who get the most pagetime and EVERYTHING done in the movies is attributed to them. Circe's test of character for the Prince? Her sisters' idea. The wolves attacking Belle? The witches sent 'em. Belle wanting to go back to her dad? The witches put the idea in her head. Gaston having Maurice committed to blackmail Belle? The witches not only tell him to do it, they personally introduce him to their old friend, the asylum head. As for Circe butting in, remember how Belle's love saved the Prince's life? Yeeeeeah...

The witches irritated me to no end. I get what Valentino was going for with them and I suspect they'd work better in visual format, but reading over and over and OVER how they wore boots and had "baby-doll mouths" and seeing them screech and finish each other's sentences and constantly interrupt to make "cryptic" comments (most of which were awkward references to the Snow White novella) just screwed up the narrative flow and REALLY annoyed me. It felt like the equivalent of trying to have a conversation while three small children are punching your legs and screaming and interrupting and laughing at their own jokes. I must admit, I admire Circe's inner fortitude for putting up with them. If I had to live with those three, I'd have done something drastic.

I think the worst part about the witches is that they're played up like they're so damned important. All notable plot twists from the movie are attributed to them. The Beast constantly goes on about how terrifying they are. He eventually starts describing his transformation as the "witches' curse", ignoring the fact that CIRCE was the one who cast it. There's one chapter dedicated to the witches talking about their involvement with Snow White's stepmother and also Ursula the Sea Witch, who of course is one of their friends. This is of no relevance to the story of Belle and the Beast, but it does spend all its time showing off the witches.

The people reading this novella are here for the characters from BATB. That's who they want to read about, not three witches. Even worse, despite them being treated as so involved in the story, it's pretty clear they don't matter all that much. It's contrived enough to believe they planned the entire climax (the movie showed that those events only happened because of several spontaneous decisions the characters made), but the witches themselves, despite their power, don't DO anything to actually alter the story's events. They want Belle out of the way to ensure that the Beast is cursed forever, but when their first attempt (to kill her with the wolves) fails, they decide to tell Gaston where Belle is... and only get around to that several chapters later, after spying on Belle and the Beast falling in love and wringing their hands and screeching over how they have no idea how to stop it. They DID have an idea, though! For some reason (that is, they were following the movie), they just held off on bringing in Gaston until later. It apparently never occurred to them to use their vast magic to send more wolves after Belle or start a fire while she slept or stop her heart or turn her to stone or any countless number of things. It's not even like the power of love is protecting Belle, since they later enchant her to want to see her father. Even if magic was out of the question though, they had plenty of other options. If they were friends with the asylum head, for instance, why bother with Gaston at all? Why not just call in a favor and ask for Belle herself to be involuntarily committed?

Circe gets a larger role than in the movie, which is a good idea. The Enchantress is a character who raises a lot of questions (like, did she actually curse an 11-year-old kid for not inviting a stranger in), but her development here just had me raising an eyebrow. She somehow fell in love with the Prince (despite, as I pointed out above, he was very obviously Proto-Gaston) and they got engaged, but their relationship is skipped over entirely. It's implied the Prince truly loved her, but we never see why (and he also comes across as a massive idiot for being surprised that a girl he met in Belle's tiny little village was a peasant, OH, IMAGINE THAT!)

She curses the Prince for cruelly dumping her because of her social status (all while her sisters laugh about the idea of Circe being a peasant because she's actually a real fairy princess, hello double standards!) and then proceeds to not pay any attention to him at all. She doesn't even consider checking on his progress until she learns that her sisters went behind her back and spied on him. Speaking of which, she knows they're spying on the Prince and hate him and repeatedly asks them to knock it off, but then is taken by surprise when they sidestep her questions and offer her a magic necklace which, surprise, surprise, keeps her incapacitated while they try to kill the Beast. It's also worth noting that in failing to keep an eye on the arrogant, somewhat violent man who she put a life-shattering curse on, she didn't realize that he ruined Princess Tulip's life and family until it was almost too late for her to help them. She also is just kinda sad to hear that changing a guy into a monster and not offering further guidance didn't cause him to be a better person and STILL makes no attempt to do anything until the last few pages of the story, when she shows up to steal Belle's thunder.

I will finish this by saying that I have not read the novella about Snow White's stepmother, which I've heard lots of people speak well of. Maybe this one was just a fluke. Maybe it was easier for Valentino to write for Disney's Snow White since that movie had considerably less in way of characters and plot to work around. I don't know. I do want to read the Snow White novella, if only to see if it turned out any better. One can only hope.

In the meantime, I recommend that anyone who wants a version of BATB from the Beast's perspective read "Beastly", by Alex Flinn.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is proving to be so incredibly talented at weaving these well-known worlds in a whole new way, providing interesting backstories and intertwining the tales to connect to each other (even when, from a logical standpoint, I know that many were in completely different time periods). I still appreciate the effort and the way she's building up interest in the mysterious evil three sisters, so that by the time you get to their stand-alone book, you have enough history to be interested in learning more about them. It also feels like a clever way to place the majority of blame for evildoings on the sisters instead of the usual villain, and helps to humanize and garner sympathy for the villains.

[Danny Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para morir, uno tuvo primero tuvo que estar vivo. Y la Bestia por fin podía decir que había encontrado el amor, que había vivido.

2.5

La verdad es que no fue nada de lo que esperaba, el libro es entretenido, muy fácil y rápido de leer pero no me convenció del todo, la Bestia me cayó mal todo el libro, si, ya sabíamos que es un hombre egoísta, superficial, etc, pero es que aquí fue insoportable por como se comportaba aun sabiendo ya lo del hechizo, además de que según yo, que recuerde, claro, en la historia de Disney no fue que se convirtió en la Bestia por lo que sucede en la historia. El libro en si esta bien, para pasar el rato, no es la gran cosa, pero me entretuvo bastante, además de que me gustó que metiera a Ursula en la historia, que uniera las historias fue interesante y me gustó eso, pero bueno, la portada me encanta y esperaba más.

[Katie.dorny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It showed a different story than the film and it got me out of my reading slump. It was a quick read and I'm excited to read the others by Serena Valentino!

[Justkeepreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beast within tells the story of how Prince Adam becomes cursed, how the curse takes place and what he is like before he meets Belle. It continues on to the bit where Belle and Beast fall in love, beast transforms back to prince Adam and they live happily ever after.

It has some scenes which we have come to know and love from Beauty and the beast. But adds dimensions to the story that we didn't know about before. Prince Adam being best friends with Gaston, Prince Adams past loves and the fact that he wasn't just cursed by one witch but four.

It adds great depth to the beloved story. I throughly enjoyed finding out more about Prince Adam/the beast.

I was only annoyed that they still didn't call him Adam but constantly the prince which was a tad annoying after it kept being repeated. When he has a name I feel like it should have been used.

But all in all a throughly enjoyable read.

Let me know what you thought about the book.

Happy reading everyone

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book while at Disney World and was really excited to read it, because Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie and I've always been curious about the prince's life before he met Belle. Unfortunately, this was just...it's just not very good. This is written like really bad fanfiction; certain choices the writer has made don't make sense time- or plot-wise in relation to the film (why would the Beast have been friends with Gaston? Why is he romancing women when the film makes it clear he was cursed as an early teenager?) and this book has no real character development. I wanted to really enjoy this book but sadly, I can't recommend it, even for a fun, light read.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty common knowledge, for people that know me, that I'm a rather big fan of Beauty and the Beast. I love the film, the songs are wonderful, and it just doesn't get old. Plus, that AMAZING library scene, I could just put on replay. When I spotted this book in the bookstore, I was unaware that this is in fact the second book in the series. Well, I went ahead and read it anyway.
This book was unique, and there was a different perspective shown on the Beast. I thought the story was interesting and definitely had that fairytale feel to it. I think the new characters that were added to this, especially the witches, were very much needed. It added individuality to the book, and kept me intrigued.
The issue that I had with the book, was the ending. I felt like I was reading the original. I think I could have enjoyed this more, if the ending was different, and didn't seem as rushed.

[zainab]

The Beast, an uppity, noble prince. But how did the handsome prince become such a terrible beast? That is the story this book tells. The curse that condemns him to a terrible loneliness and bitter sorrow. It is interesting to read the beast's point of view and the witch's curse becomes understandable.

[Lucy'sLilLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

UPDATE: I have no interest in this series anymore, now I have discovered authors like Brandon Sanderson.

This was an ok book – not great but ok. I LOVE Beauty and the Beast and I was so excited to get started on this and it wasn’t too bad but I was expecting more.

The book is kind of the same I felt and there wasn’t a lot of build-up on the original other than that it explained what happened before the beast was a beast and how he grew to be a monster. The idea that Gaston on the prince’s friend was something new but still not enough to get me too excited!

The back story of how the beast was cursed was ok but lacking a little something for me. I will be reading more of these twisted tales - this is my second having already read A Whole New World. I was really hoping -for more with these. Overall a nice easy read but not the most interesting or riveting.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars! I think that The Beast was just a little bit too harsh for me.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANBOY POV:
What an amazing retelling. This is a retelling that doesn't stray away from the original story.

CRITIC POV:
Some of the scenes look rushed. I won't recommend this book to readers who haven't seen or read Beauty and The Beast.

THE REVIEW

WRITING STYLE:
There is something hypnotizing about Miss Valentino's writing. Her prose knows when to grab you at the right moment. My only problem is sometimes it feels like there are parts that are just there for the sake of sounding poetic and musical. Other than that, Miss Valentino's writing is beautiful and loveable.

PACE:
Despite some of the paragraphs feeling rushed, I don't feel like the story is moving too fast. As a matter of fact, I love the transitions from one setting to another. Time moves back and forth without being confusing. That is talent.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
There is nothing new about the characters. I appreciate that because I know Miss Valentino is basing everything from the animated version. There are some new information and new characters, and it's amazing how those new elements blend perfectly with the classic version.

PLOT:
This novel still follows the same Beauty and The Beast story. However, its main focus now is Prince Adam and how he becomes the Beast. I love how the main conflict is what is really inside Prince Adam; is he a beast or a prince who has never experienced true love?

MY VERDICT:
If you want to see Beauty and The Beast from a new lens, this novel is nothing but perfect. It is a quick read, and it will totally entertain everyone who is a big fan of Beauty and The Beast.

RATING BREAKDOWN
WRITING STYLE: +1 STAR(S)
PACE: +1 STAR(S)
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: +1 STAR(S)
PLOT: +1 STAR(S)
MY VERDICT: +1 STAR(S)

[Britany · Rating 3 out of 5]

My final book of the year!

I've had this one on my physical shelf for a while, so always happy to get those off my list. This is a retelling of Beauty of the Beast from the Beast's viewpoint. This is one of my favorite Disney stories, so I was excited to finally dig into this one. It started out a little slow, telling us things this reader already knew. I appreciated the witch sisters that were introduced and all the secrets happening behind the scenes of a story as old as time. The middle went at a great pace and then the end literally wrapped up in 2 pages- way too fast. The book had pacing issues throughout. This was another book that had trouble deciding POV. The author switched from first person (beast) to third person to another first person throughout the book.

A nice journey with a different lens on a story I already know and love.

[The bookish life · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este segundo libro tambien me gustó mucho.
Así como el anterior es de personajes que ya conocemos un poco de su historia pero la autora escribe aspectos de los que conocemos poco o nada y logra hacer que se vuelva muy entretenido.

Me gusta que hay que leer los libros en orden ya que se habla de sucesos y personajes de los otros libros .

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I'm really enjoying my reread of this series so far. Yeah, I get it - I'm only done with book 2 but I'm happy. Plus, they are really easy to fly through because of how enjoyable they are (to me). All I'm going to say about this one is that it was so weird seeing Gaston and the Prince being friends. Trust me, it was. My mind was completely baffled and couldn't comprehend it one bit.

Then again, they could both be self absorbed from time to time and were annoying douche bags during others. So in a way, like teeny tiny way, I could see them being friends. Other than that, nope.

Now I did feel bad in the beginning because of what the girls went through. Then I the three annoying sisters and evil witches who love to rhyme came into the book and I was annoyed over them. I was glad that their youngest sister sort of put them in their place when it came to ruining chances for the Prince to be a better person.. because in the end - he did.

Definitely thought the ending was all kinds of cute and now I want to watch the movie!
____________________________
“Only one thing comforted him: he had finally learned what it was to love. And the feeling was deeper and more meaningful than anything he’d felt before. He felt like he was dying. To die, one must have first been alive. And the Beast could finally say that by finding love, he had lived.”



Now I abso-freaking-lutely love Beauty and the Beast. I mean that library scene gets me every time.





Any book that has to deal with my favorite movie and disney princess will definitely fall into my lap. I will devour that book.



So, this book is definitely from the Beast's perspective - just in case the cover didn't give that away. If it didn't become super obvious from the title and/or the book cover then drop the book, walk away, and never look back.

I found it really interesting to read more about his transformation. Because the movies give so little about it. I mean, it must've been painful to go from a human to a beast - but that's just my opinion since no one seems to do that today. I loved how his transformation and his mindset really flowed throughout this book and brought us to the Beast we know that Belle loves to this very day.

However, I had no idea that Prince Adam (aka the Beast) was friends with Gaston. Honestly, I don't even see why anyone likes Gaston - other than himself of course. Also the addition of more than one witch curse him was highly entertaining and definitely intrigued me even more. I always loved when he was cursed because he was such an arrogant asshole in the beginning and being a beast definitely helped make him more likable in my eyes.

I really liked this book but it's mostly because I've always been in love with this movie and the characters. I really liked getting to know more from his perspective.

[tamsbookishsideoflife · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hallo meine Lieben,
als riesiger Disney Fan, habe ich mich sehr über diese Version von "Die Schöne und das Biest" gefreut, welche die Vorgeschichte vom Biest erzählt.
Alles in allem bekommt das Buch 3, 5 Sterne von mir. Es waren zwar einige interessante Aspekte darin zu finden und insgesamt gab es schöne Easter Eggs, aber zwischendrin war es wirklich langatmig.
Kann man gern lesen, muss man aber nicht unbedingt. 😊

[Evelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved the classic Beauty and the Beast tale, and since she was an adult looking for books and retellings about it, and who would choose the Beast instead of the Prince at any time, without hesitation. This girl has just been given a 180-page story that tells how the Monster became who and what were the moments that led so far. This girl couldn’t have been happier to have been able to read this short book and be immersed in the story again, and to be revived before her one of her childhood favorite tales, through a new perspective.

Yes, this girl is me and I was looking forward to this story. So far, Serena Valentino has reached out to the tales she already knows, and even now she has managed to add a background story that is both believable and instructive. The volume itself first sounds in the voice of the Beast and then provides an insight into the life of the Prince. The beginning was a nostalgic experience for me, as soon as I threw myself into reading, I took it off my feet and increasingly encouraged me to just swallow and devour the pages, which wasn’t hard as the chapters are short and the story itself is very readable. As for the Beast side, there isn’t much new in it, but it does help a lot to bring to life the information already known. It creates a nostalgic atmosphere and shows why this tale is so popular. The passages about the Prince are substantiated, believable, magical, and mirror-reflective, as even today it matters what you look like, not what you are capable of, how you feel, and what your personality is, what your soul is like. He also managed to hate me a little for the arrogant prince, who only cared about his future being beautiful, wealthy and showing well next to him, like an exhibit, but people are not objects who have no emotions, and he points to that nicely. the writer. It shows that not all is beauty, and indeed inner values ​​are much, much more important.

I like this classic tale mostly because it shows that you can be anyone, happiness can find you too, and to do that you don’t have to turn away from yourself, you just have to point your side to others who you really are. Inner beauty is more important than outer. Serena Valentino invites us through the Prince on a real journey where the haughty Prince changes day by day, and who after a while is no longer himself.

Everyone knows the end, yet I pushed to manage to change, to see the world in a different color and not move on the black and white scale as before, and break the curse sooner as he tried, he wanted to change, but if the root had deteriorated, it will not make the apple beautiful and ripe. Real, tangible changes are needed, not appearances, and the writer pierced her heart well and was not afraid of cruelty either.

In some places, my heart is broken, and even though the volume is only 180 pages long, it conveys a lot more emotion than I initially expected. Of course, the Three Sisters also appear here, and it does not remain dry on stone. Where they can, they roast the volume properly and shape the course of the plot at will. In fact, the Beast is not the specifically villain (evil) raw material, at least for me, it is not, but a young man who has deviated from the path and is looking for a way to the light that will finally take him out of the darkness and show what may be his. if you drop your attitude and see people as what you really are.

[Suhailah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The only indication of what he had once been was his soulful blue eyes, which teemed with humanity.”

A Tale as Old as Time – flip tale of Beauty and the Beast

An enchanted castle, a curse, a huge library, a magic mirror- I just love Beauty and the Beast!

When I was little, Beauty and the Beast was always one of my favorites. I resonated the most with Belle out of any of the Disney princesses because of her compassion, love for books, taste for adventure, curiosity, and analytical ways of thinking.

It was so much fun to venture behind the scenes of how the beast became the beast. He was most definitely an arrogant, selfish, chauvinistic bully of a prince who deserved the curse! I loved the references to the original film as it felt like getting a backstage pass to secret footage!

I am also loving the continuation of the odd sisters plot and how it ties in with the last book and is paving its way into the next book. There was a lot of foreshadowing of what’s to come involving a certain famous sea witch—Ursula! So excited to continue the series. This is so much fun!

Now I’m craving to rewatch Beauty and the Beast – the live action film was beautiful!

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆. My favorite Disney princess movie, from when I was little, was and still is beauty and the beast. So I was excited to read this story and it didn’t disappoint!

It was amazing to see all the connections made, like referencing other Disney stories, and “plot holes” answered. I loved getting the back story as well and to see how much the beats/princes’ character developed throughout his story.


“𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜! 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝, 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍.” (this is me, I am belle)

“𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖: 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎, 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍.”

[Maud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely better than Fairest of All!

[Kerri Selby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beauty & the Beast is one of my favourite Disney films so I was really excited to read this book.

Cursed to turn into the Beast for being shallow & self-centred, the reader follows how the Prince tries to outwit the curse and the rapscallion Odd Sisters, so he doesn't remain a Beast forever.

I liked how the previous 'villian', Snow White's stepmum was mentioned, and a follow on Villian is spoken about.

[Lily.loves.adventures · Rating 5 out of 5]

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