Review: The Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve

Title: The Beauty and the Beast
Author: Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve
Illustrator: Mina Lima
Translator: James Robinson Planché
Format: Hardcover, Illustrated with interactive elements, 208 pages
Pub. Date: January 31st 2017
Source: Mother in Law, Valentine's Day Gift


Book Description:

MinaLima, the award-winning design studio behind the graphics for the Harry Potter film franchise and the creators of the illustrated Jungle Book and Peter Pan, reimagine the beloved French fairy tale The Beauty and the Beast in this deluxe unabridged edition illustrated with stunning full-color artwork and nine 3-D interactive features—published to coincide with the release of the blockbuster Disney live-action musical film starring Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, and Emma Thompson.
Generations of readers have been bewitched by the epic love story of a beautiful young girl imprisoned in the magical castle of a monstrous beast. Now, the classic fairy tale is brought to life in this spectacular illustrated edition as originally envisioned by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in 1740.

Review:

★★★

Honestly, I wasn't familiar with the original story of Beauty and the Beast. Like most other people, I'm familiar with the animated Disney version, and now the 2017 live-action rendition of it also by Disney. I was really excited to read this when I got it as a Valentine's Day gift from my mother-in-law. I appreciate her thinking of me, because she knows it's my favorite of the princess films.

The physical book itself is stunning. The cover is very striking and classically designed. It comes in sealed clear plastic, so that the hidden elements in it stay in tact. The illustrations are beautiful, and go along with the text perfectly. I love that there are interactive components to this. Almost like a pop-up book, but for an older demographic. You can open the wardrobe, look at maps, and other neat little additions to the story. It's a beautiful look that I intend to keep on my shelves.

The actual story, however, is less of a victory to me. I understand that it was written centuries ago, and that it's been translated into English. But with that being said it was just kind of... Well, boring. It's long. It's tediously written. It's dry. I imagine this is how most high schoolers feel when they get assigned Shakespeare for summer reading. You know, the trope on sitcoms where "when will I ever use Shakespeare?!" comes up? Similar feel.

The story itself isn't bad, though it's very different from the version that most people know. Beauty has sisters, for example. And there's no Gaston character. But she's also just kind of there. Not particularly interesting, and it was a struggle to work up enough "care" to get through the story.

I think it's worth reading once, for comparative reasons. But I don't anticipate reading it again, unless maybe in French to brush up on my language skills.