Of original content that gives way to conversations and If this had been an original story by Braswell I would have liked it more, because I did find the changes she made interesting, but I didn't like them in the context of the existing tale or the time period it resides in.Īlmost religiously true to the original while doing something completely different at the same time. Magic is no longer the norm in Belle's world -all within a very short time frame. The storyĪfter belief in magic had largely faded anĪround cursing castles and princes and why that

Pronounced here and it really does not work for me. Which I had very mixed feelings about there, but it’s much more She did the same thing with Once Upon A Dream, Rather than letting the Disney version of the story exist in its own I also felt both of them -and a lot of the other characters- were portrayed uncharacteristically.īraswell tries too hard to fit this into a real world context, Though the characters somehow wind up falling in love somewhere along the way. T here is very little chemistry between Belle and the Beast,Īnd what chemistry there is fairly screams ‘besties’, not He is ultimately a clue in the mystery of the Enchantress for Belle and serves little other purpose. Belle’sĮntire focus in this version is learning about her mother while the Beast is just. The ‘what if’ twist of this story puts Belle’s motherĪs the Enchantress, which is an interesting idea and could be a very good story on its own, but it completelyĬhanges the dynamic of what is supposed to be a Beauty and the Beast story. The 'what if' twist of this tale wound up throwing off the entire chemistry of the story, without infusing it with enough chemistry of its own to carry itself.Īs Old As Time did not work for four big reasons:ġ. At its core, this is not a Beauty and the Beast story -twisted, retelling, or otherwise. The Review: What sounded great in concept was disappointing in execution. Shocked and confused, Belle and the Beast must work together to unravel a dark mystery about their families that is twenty-one years in the making. Stranger still, she sees that her mother is none other than the beautiful Enchantress who cursed the Beast, his castle, and all its inhabitants.

And that is her primary concern.īut Belle touches the Beast's enchanted rose, intriguing images flood her mind-images of the mother she believed she would never see again. Belle also happens to be the captive of a terrifying, angry beast. She wants to explore the world, despite her father's reluctance to leave their little cottage in case Belle's mother returns-a mother she barely remembers. She longs to escape her poor provincial town for good. PG: for some violence, some disturbing images, and for politics that turn people violently against a specific class of peopleīelle is a lot of things: smart, resourceful, restless.

As Old as Time by Liz Braswell