Disney has released multiple Twisted Tales, classic Disney stories with interesting twists. Each twisted tale is a stand alone book featuring an adaptation of one of Disney’s beloved classics, so they don’t need to be read in order. As Old As Time, by Liz Braswell, focuses on the story of the Beauty and the Beast. Below is a review of the book, hopefully containing very few spoilers for those of you that haven’t read it.

So, for starters, if you haven’t read it – GO READ IT.

Beauty and the Beast isn’t necessarily my favorite story. Most people either love it or hate it. There’s a lot of missing pieces to the story and it’s just a very strange plot line to me. I am happy to say that I loved As Old As Time.

Through a strange plot twist, readers get a lot of content that seemed to be missing from the original story; such as, where is Belle’s mom? Braswell does a fantastic job of creating a backstory featuring Maurice and Rosalind, Belle’s enchantress mother, in a hostile time before Belle’s birth.

I love the set up for the backstory and a few of the encounters between the Beast and the Belle as the attempt to break this new version of the curse. Even though the whole concept of loving a beast is still bizarre to me, I felt like there could have been more of a connection between Belle and the Beast. It left me wanting more.

There are some interesting new characters introduced that feel seamless with the original story, and some original characters, such as Gaston, that could have been brought in to this new storyline a bit better.

Overall

I really want a sequel to As Old As Time. I really loved the backstory with Belle’s parents. The relationship with the Beast needed to be developed a bit more, which left me wanting more. I believe that I enjoyed this book more so than other people, in part because I am not a traditional Belle fan. It truly helped me develop an interest in her and her story in this Twisted Tale. I highly recommend giving the book a shot if you aren’t a tried and true Belle fan. If you are a die hard, I recommend reading Part I, focusing on Maurice and Rosalind, and then putting the book down.

Overall 4/5

What are your thoughts on As Old As Time?