A cursed prince sits alone in a secluded castle. Few have seen him, but those who claim they have say his hair is wild and nails are sharp–like a beast’s! But how did this prince, once jovial and beloved by the people, come to be a reclusive and bitter monster? And is it possible that he can ever find true love and break the curse that has been placed upon him?
Quick read series with a new take on the villains we grew up with.
3.5 Stars…
While I did enjoy this book, it lost some of the magic the first book had. That book read like a Disney/Grimm fairy tale mash-up and it was great. It felt like a timeless tale that could have been written ages ago.
This book? It felt like the author was told at the 75% mark to wrap-it-up and it was INCREDIBLY rushed. The last few chapters of the story went by in a flash…Beast chases Belle out of the castle…Beast saves Belle from wolves…Beast shows Belle the library…they fall in love…Belle goes to save her dad…Gaston attacks the Beast…Beast ‘dies’…Beast turns back to a Prince and they live happily ever after…boom, boom, boom. All this within a handful of pages. It was jarring. Especially considering this was all told to us through the three/four crazy sister witches and not as it happened to the characters.
I see some people here feel very strongly in their hatred of the sisters, but I don’t mind them. They add an interesting element to the stories that I enjoy…I just don’t like it when they take over a story, as they did here, and as they, unfortunately, look to do in Book 3.
Overall, I’ll continue on with this series because flaws aside, I am enjoying it. I just wish the author would stay true to the characters she’s supposed to be writing about.
A retelling of Beauty’s Beast.
Writing about why villains deserve empathy is just so amazing to me. There really are two sides to every story.
Tragic and romantic.
I love that these stories can be read in any order, or chronologically if you so choose. I like options. The cover is gorgeous as always with a surprise underneath! My favorite thing was the characters. They all just have such spunk to them!
I loved how certain characters are carried throughout the series causing havoc. The rhyming and spells brought so much fun into these books. There was less rhyming in this one than the first one, but that doesn’t mean it was any less magical.
I liked ‘The Beast Within’, but not nearly as much as the first one- “Fairest of All”. It honestly had me until the end. I feel the end got a little confusing right before the battle and then it was wrapped up quickly. I also thought a particular character would be focused upon more, so that felt a little lacking there, but that could be a personal bias.
Hint: sanitarium is not talking about the garbage place. This is talking about the looney bin. The insane asylum. Some parts of the story started not making much sense for me shortly after this. The flow stopped for me here cuz things weren’t really adding up.
Those are my reasons for the 3-star rating. Regardless, I’m still excited to read the rest of the series!!!
Great book to read
GREAT QUICK READ!
The Beast Within is the SECOND book in the Villains Series! As of now, there are 5 books in the series.
***I will leave a reading order at the very bottom of this review.***
Allow me to start off by saying that THIS IS A RETELLING. ITS IS NOTHING LIKE THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST MOVIE!!
Instead of the beast being cursed by the beggar lady, Beast has been cursed by Snow Whites cousins, The Odd Sisters.
If you have read the first book in this series, you know what to expect walking into this book. I loved it and cannot wait to see what this series has in store for us in the future.
*****READING ORDER*****
1. Fairest Of All
2. The Beast Within
3. Poor Unfortunate Souls
4. Mistress Of All Evil
5. Mother Knows Best
[THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS]
The second novel in the Villains series – The Beast Within – is menacing and alive in its account of Disney’s Beast from the animated film Beauty and the Beast. Valentino takes a deeper dive into the Prince’s story, illustrating his arrogance and pride, and showing us just how aware he was of his privileged station in life. While Valentino’s Prince does not really shed any new light on the original character, it is his interactions with others in the story, as well as his famous transformation, physical and otherwise, that drives this tale of beastliness and beauty.
Those three eerily charming Odd Sisters are quick to make an appearance in the Prince’s tale, setting the scene for – and reminding us of the rules of – the unnerving enchantment bestowed upon the Prince and his castle. This prelude clearly and cleverly puts the tale as old as time in the heart of Valentinoland. We approach the famous fairytale with intrigue and fear; it is shrouded in dark magic from the very beginning.
We are introduced to a great number of characters – including Circe, Tulip, Nanny and the theatrical Maestro – while getting to know a little more about our original film favorites, such as Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts, before they became household items. This review would not be complete without also welcoming that orange, black and white spy that creeps onto the pages and into our hearts.
Special applause goes to Valentino for developing our original favorites in a way that is true to their characters as we know them from the film. Cogsworth is renowned for being organized and reliable; Mrs. Potts has a way with people; and Lumiere is generally very poetic, especially when he speaks of love. I could not help but smile when I read these types of descriptors. I felt like I was reminiscing with old friends while learning more about them over a hot cuppa.
The transformations in the story are countless; the book could be triple the length just exploring each of them in a bit more detail! From Circe’s transformation from pig farmer’s daughter to enchantress, the evolution of the Prince’s relationships with Circe, Tulip and [SPOILER] Gaston, to the Beast’s physical transformation, there is never a dull moment.
The transformation theme of the story is also executed differently to Fairest of All. The Prince’s vanity, unlike the Queen’s vanity in Fairest of All, manifests from overconfidence rather than insecurity. The Prince has taken everything for granted, whereas the Queen fears the worst at all times. What is similar – and just as captivating in both books one and two – is the juxtaposition of parties and celebration with the protagonists’ inner tension and turmoil. (I love the images Valentino creates in Beast of parties and women of all descriptions with their fans – it reminded me of the ballroom scenes in The Man in the Iron Mask and Casanova.) This storytelling method gives the characters a complexity that is lacking in the Disney films. A whole new world indeed.
There is a lot to unpack in this book, and although I did feel a bit rushed through some of the story’s events, I give it five stars because it does a great job balancing continuity with creativity. Bonus points go to the Beast appearing on the dust cover and the Prince appearing “within.” We all know who the real Beast is here.
I liked the book, really, but I feel Valentino rushed through some parts and didn’t connect where in time we were in the story so the reader understood what was going on. It felt more like the story was going back and forth between the Beast/Prince and the odd sisters that it didn’t really feel like a book about the Beast. Belle only makes a cameo in the beginning of the book and towards the end, which is fine for me as it is more about the point of view of the Beast. Belle could have been given a little more development though to help along with Beast’s thoughts during this time with her.
The story starts out good and the author does a great job at giving us the Prince’s background and how he became the Beast. I really disliked his horrid personality and was shaking my head at his ignorance as the spell took shape. It delivered a few creepy points like the statues moving and keeping watch over him. Once he became the Beast, his emotions and mental state are detailed and I was yelling in my head for him to realize what love truly is and means and to grow up!
Now the cons. For one, just like the first book in the Villains series, there is no name to the prince. I know most of us know from other stories and movies that it is Adam yet he is never given the name. Second, the odd sisters take almost half the book and while Valentino writes these characters out perfectly with their annoying and disturbing personalities, I felt it took away from Beast’s story. Also, since this book is set in a series, there are other characters mentioned from the previous book but it doesn’t make a clear connection of whether they’re talking about the ones we are thinking of. It’s confusing more than anything. There was just too much going on and felt this book should have been longer to really flesh out the stories of all characters involved.
In the end, I liked the nod to the original story as well as to the Disney movie but it moved too fast and sometimes didn’t connect well between past and present. I would read it again but it leaves me with some questions.
I loved how it portrayed the Beast point of view from Beauty and the Beast