As Old as Time by Liz Braswell – Honest Review
I want to say that all the thoughts here are my personal opinions. Reading is a unique experience, and what works for one person might not work for another. My aim is to share my honest perspective while respecting everyone’s take on the books we all love to discuss💖
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Apologies for the brief disappearance; I had a flare of the old chronic conditions! I’ve also been completing an essay and testing other things. Anyways, onto the review!
Disney Princess Beauty and the Beast: As Old as Time (Twisted Tales) by Liz Braswell
✨📚 3.75/5 Stars! 📚✨
This was all right. I found it more engaging than the previous Twisted Tales I’ve read. Some have criticised the focus on Maurice, but given the unique twist, it’s understandable. I particularly enjoyed muscular Maurice.
Belle was a bellend, to be honest. The author had her as a “stereotype reader” who was over the top. Everything she did: “I remember a book that did this”. It appeared at least once in every Belle chapter. It was weird and too much.
She tried to make Belle seem more intelligent than she was and included inaccurate philosophical/ancient quotes in the process. The author might have briefly Wiki’ed (I don’t think this is a word) some of them, at best.
The book’s food culture was a step up from A WHOLE NEW WORLD. The food descriptions were cosy and reminiscent of Disney’s charm.
Orphans are a key story with Disney. It utterly infuriated me when Belle, renowned for living with her father, talks about a hypothetical where she could tell villagers her mother died – she doesn’t mention if Maurice was dead, too. She then says how she would be a “poor orphan” based on one parent dying. It bugged me more than it should.
There was a chapter in which the Beast and Belle read the town census and discussed taxes. It wasn’t done interestingly, and I nearly DNF’ed at this point. There’s a way to do this, like include characters we care about (*cough* Lumiere, *cough* Cogsworth).
It felt that if the book wasn’t copying the animated film script word for word, it was the Beast and Belle saying, “I don’t know.” It wasn’t easy to read through. I think I’m giving it 3.75 to be nice and not another 3* if I’m honest.
Characters
Belle – Already talked about. A bellend.
Beast—He wasn’t much different from the movie, and the writer kept him in character, which I was glad about. I was happy she added more depth to him and more about his family, too.
Muscular Maurice – He was alright—nothing to rave about.
Gaston – Nowhere near enough of Gaston. As I’ve aged, he’s grown on me, and I was gutted he wasn’t in this much. I have my hopes for the later standalone Villains books, though.
The Furniture—All the furniture was in character and written okay, except for a bizarre scene with Mrs Potts. The writer also had a weird grudge against Lumiere’s girlfriend (maybe she doesn’t like dusting?).
I think I forced myself to see the positive in this one because the others fell flat. This was the best book in the Twisted series so far, and it hasn’t put me off reading the others yet.
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