Imagine if she'd been in the movie! Now, that would have been worth watching! Potts, Chip, Lumiere, and all the other servants, providing commentary about how the Beast regarded them as 'possessions' all along, something that is lacking in the movie.īelle's mother is also a strong, complicated woman and a very interesting addition to this fairy tale. She also delves into the past lives of Mrs. Her mother's a powerful enchantress, and due to the political climate of France during this time, makes terrible decisions that end up affecting Beast, his servants and castle, and ultimately, Belle and Maurice.īraswell does a great job of building up the relationship between Belle and the Beast, no cut scenes or implied insta-love here. In Braswell's retelling, there is a whole backstory about Belle's mother, a woman never mentioned in the film. Potts, and as much as I love her - well, she's a teapot. There's no instant charisma (like Tangled) or moving plotline and epic songs (like Moana). I watched this with my kiddo, and both of us were yawning halfway through. I liked this 'twisted tale' a lot more than I liked revisiting the 1991 film! Belle should be 'my' princess: she's a book lover and she's kind, and those both rate highly in my opinion. Shocked and confused, Belle and the Beast will have to unravel a dark mystery about their families that is 21 years in the making. And, stranger still, she sees that her mother is none other than the beautiful enchantress who cursed the castle and all its inhabitants. 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. What if Belle's mother cursed the Beast? As Old as Time is the third book in a new YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways.

:) I'm also preparing my three year-old daughter (who has never been to any of the Disney parks) by showing her a wide barrage of Disney movies. We're heading on a trip to Disney World soon, and like all good book nerds, I'm preparing by reading novels inspired by Disney movies.

As old as time by liz braswell