Book Review: As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale
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Hey! I’m back with another book review for As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell. This twist on a classic tale had me captivated from the beginning.
Full disclosure, I wanted this book for A WHILE. As a huge bookworm, and also a huge Disney fan I hope to collect ALL of the Disney books from the Villans’ Series, the Kingdom Keepers, and the Disney Twisted Tales (which this book is a part of.) I’m really excited about combining my love of Disney with my love of reading an as a result might be a little biased.
That being said I thought this book was one of the coolest things I’ve read in awhile! The Disney’s Twisted Tales series is put out by Disney’s publishing company Disney Publishing Worldwide which is a member of Hachette Books which was previously Hyperion Books. (I’m going to do a whole post on Disney’s growing publishing company later.) Disney Publishing Worldwide owns the Disney Twisted Tales, the Kingdom Keepers, and the Disney Descendants series, as well as some other series you wouldn’t even think of, like Melissa de la Cruz’s Blue Bloods novels (more on that series next week).
That being said the Disney’s Twisted Tales series is based on classic Disney films, but gives them some sort of twist. In As Old As Time the twist is “What if Belle’s mother cursed the Beast?” So, in this retelling Belle’s mother is the sorcerer that cursed the Beast at the beginning of the story.
The story starts out with the reader following the story of Maurice and Rosalind (Belle’s mother) as they settle down to raise a family. Belle’s mother is part of a group of people called the les charmantes; people with magical or enchanted powers. They are being hunted by the King and Queen who see them as a dangerous threat and Rosalind decides to do something about it.
Belle’s beginning of the story pretty much follows the original Disney movie perfectly. She is strong, independent, and constantly searching for adventure. I think Braswell did a wonderful job of keeping true to Belle’s character while also making her fit into the new story she created.
Belle’s story starts diverging from the original when she touches the enchanted rose and starts seeing flashbacks of her mother and even bits and pieces of the whole story from her mother’s memory. To know more than that you’ll have to read the book! No spoilers here!
The structure of the book itself flips back and forth between Maurice’s story and Belle’s story (or from the past to the present and back again) so if you’re the type of person who has trouble following stories that do that or just simply doesn’t like the format that way, maybe this might not be a book for you.
The book feels like a Disney film when you read it (maybe only die hard Disney fans will understand this , but it feels like it contains Disney magic.) It feels like a fairy tale with a modern twist and that’s what it is, but there’s a bit more substance and it fills in a bit more plot holes then the original tales, but it keeps that feeling of wonder and suspension of disbelief.
Currently, the book has a 3.85/5 star rating on Goodreads (which I think is a bit harsh, but I also think Goodreads is usually a bit harsh) and a 4.2/5 star rating on Amazon. My rating would probably fall more along 4.5/5 stars.
Overall, I thought this was a wonderful re-imagination of a classic fairy tale and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!
This is the full list of the Disney Twisted Tales and they all work as stand alone stories and can be read in any order, however, this is the official order. Which one do you want me to read next? Let me know down in the comments!
A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale
by Liz Braswell
“What if Aladdin never found the lamp?”
Once Upon a Dream: A Twisted Tale
by Liz Braswell
“What if Sleeping Beauty never woke up?”
As Old as Time: A Twisted Tale
by Liz Braswell
“What if Belle’s mother cursed the Beast?”
Reflection: A Twisted Tale
by Elizabeth Lim
“What if Mulan had to travel to the underworld?”
Part of Your World: A Twisted Tale
by Liz Braswell
“What if Ariel had never defeated Ursula?”
Mirror, Mirror: A Twisted Tale
by Jen Calonita
“What if the Evil Queen poisoned the Prince?”
Coming out: April 2, 2019
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