The Beast Within (Disney Villains Bk2) by: Serena Valentino

OHHHHH MYYYY GOODNESS!!!!

I AM CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH THIS BOOK, PEOPLE!

Beauty and the Beast has always been my favorite Disney movie and Belle has always been my favorite princess because I can relate to her on so many levels (my nickname is Belle, our love for books, we would rather have a large library than a large closet full of clothes, our compassion, etc.). Also, I must mention how incredibly beautiful the cover is! I love just staring at the artistic work as I carry the book around.

I read this book first in the Disney Villain's Series because I wasn't aware (oops!) that all the books actually intertwined and connected with each other. I wish I would've started with Fairest of All because then some of the scenes may have made more sense. I did not love the writing style in this novel, but I adored the creativity that went into writing the story and the story itself was captivating. Maybe I would have enjoyed the writing style more if I would have read the first story in the series and had a stronger background.

Some things I liked about Valentino's writing and creativity was how she incorporated Greek Mythology and other Disney stories in this book. The woman's name that changed the Prince into the Beast was Circe. This year, I read The Odyssey with my students, so this was an interesting connection, especially since Circe in The Odyssey was the one that changed Odysseus' men into pigs. Valentino also incorporated Ursula into this story, which I later found out would lead into Poor Unfortunate Soul.

It was interesting how the author did not make huge changes to the original story, but she gave just enough background to truly develop the story. For example, she made Gaston into the Beast's best friend. The Beast and Gaston grew up together at the Palace. Gaston was the stable keeper's son. This made me wonder if some of the Beast's problems occurred because of Gaston. Gaston is often self-centered, in my opinion. The book even described him as, "go(ing) on about himself, bragging about his cleft chin, showing off his hairy chest, and singing his own praises up and down the town's main thoroughfares" (25). I feel that because of Gaston not approving of the Prince's fiancee, whom he believes to be a poor pig farmers daughter, this lead the Beast to also not like her. Maybe if they weren't such good friends or Gaston was less influential on the Beast, things may have worked out for them. Instead, the Beast said to her, "'Love you? Seriously? Look at yourself covered in muck! How could I possibly love you?"' (31). At this point, I started wondering if the Beast deserved what he got from Circe. He loved her and adored everything about her until Gaston had to go and mess things up for him! Was Gaston jealous? Probably! I think he liked having all the ladies attention on him and didn't want his friend to be happy... so selfish!

But then I think that I cannot blame it all on Gaston. The Prince should have been strong enough to stand up for the woman he loved, no matter what her background was or what type of family she came from. I still feel extremely conflicted on who to blame when it comes to the curse and I never felt like this was truly resolved. Valentino explained that both men were under the curse and didn't remember each other, but I found it odd that that storyline just seemed to fade away...

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to any Disney lover out there! I have enjoyed every second of the story and have admired the author's creativity. Once you get past the fact that the writing is not stellar, you will deeply enjoy a retelling of this amazing tale that's old as time...