“As Old as Time,” by Liz Braswell is an insightful and twisted take on the classic Beauty and the Beast fairytale.
Hello readers!! This is my very first book review so I hope you enjoy reading it. 🙂
Book: As Old as Time – A Twisted Tale
Author: Liz Braswell
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Pages: 484
Source: Amazon
Eternal Mind Review:
★★★★
Belle has yearned for adventure all her life and when she finally gets the opportunity she is a prisoner in a cursed castle, among lively objects, and an angry Beast. The beautiful enchantress who cursed the prince, his castle, and the inhabitants of the castle was no one other than Belle’s mother. Both Belle and the Beast look into the mysterious events that took place in the kingdom over 10 years ago. Was Belle’s mother a ruthless enchantress who abused her power to see others suffer or were the Beast’s parents the ones who abused their power over the kingdom? Belle and the Beast work together to uncover their family secrets to break the curse.
This story isn’t just about the enchanted castle, instead, it is about the people that reside in the kingdom and the villages nearby. Similarly, this story isn’t just about Belle and the prince who was cursed into becoming a beast, instead, it’s also about the enchantress who cursed the beast and her reasons for doing so. The classic beauty and the beast tale was a fairytale that avoided sensitive subjects or even describing the true feelings of the characters. I enjoyed reading, “As Old as Time,” because it made me reflect on my beliefs as a person and my behavior towards people with beliefs that are different from my own.
If you liked the classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast, or if fantasy is one of your favorite genres then this book is perfect for you. You get a deeper look into the thoughts of the characters and a richer, more descriptive plot. Plus the twist makes this story more interesting and gives you a lot to think about regarding the world we live in.
On the downside, this book was too long. I already know and love the classic Beauty and the Beast tale so when this book went on and on about how that story unfolds it was slightly boring because I already knew about it. For someone who doesn’t know the classic fairytale it might have been a nice read but I found it slightly repetitive. This story is supposed to be a twisted tale, therefore I was expecting the majority of the attention in this book to be on the twist. I wanted to be on the edge of my seat throughout this book. Not to say this book doesn’t have a twisted tale, because it does but the majority of the focus on this twist comes in once Belle and the Beast uncover the secrets.
Book thoughts:
Curiosity can be a great virtue if one acts upon it within reason. Belle was curious about the forbidden wing in the castle which led to the destruction of the cursed rose resulting in severe consequences to the prince (Beast) and his servants. Another character’s curiosity and strong beliefs led to the destruction and misery of several people and families.
Eliminating a person, community, or race is never a solution to any problem.
Just because you’re scared of someone doesn’t mean they’re dangerous. Now don’t get me wrong, if you know someone is dangerous then they probably are and you don’t need to question your judgement if you have the evidence. But being scared of someone based on only first impressions when you don’t actually have a valid reason to be scared other than their looks may not always be accurate.
Don’t judge someone only from their appearance as there is no guarantee it will match who they are within. First impressions may not be accurate or honest impressions. If you think you know a book just by reading the first page then think again. It takes time. No one reveals all of their layers at once.
Favorite Quotes:
“Everyone should have a journey-and everyone should also have a home, too. Go out into the world for adventure, come home for love.”The village was like an egg – she had developed there, she had been imprisoned there, and she was trying to break free. But it had a pretty shell.”The scariest, most frightening person can turn out to be quite a lovely character…if you give him time.”- As Old as Time – A Twisted Tale, by Liz Braswell
I hope you enjoyed reading this review!!!
Please let me know what your thoughts are on this book in the comment section below. 🙂
-Nav ✨
LunaLuminous 