Book Review: Beaty and the Beast, Lost in a Book

Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What to say, what to say.

I've read to many retellings lately. I'm overwhelmed with how they fall short of the original stories. That isn't really their fault, but rather that I need more variety in my reading choices.

I digress. This edition of Beauty and the Beast takes place mid-story in the Disney version. Right after the Beast gifts Belle with the library two new characters, Love and Death, begin a dangerous game. Love who has sent her sorceress to curse the Beast to begin with and Death, who finds that she does not want to lose to her sister and sends and enchanted book to Belle's library.

Belle finds said book, escapes into the pages, and begins an amazing second life there, where she feels free and not alone. However, Death is attempting to trap her there so she cannot fall in love the with Beast and break his curse (thus, losing the bet).

Book Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie? 

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.