A novella that tells the events of Beauty and the Beast from the Beast's POV? Perhaps expands on the already-established, but very short background on how he was turned into the beast, before Belle came and broke the curse? Yes, please!
Unfortunately, that is not at all what the reader gets in The Beast Within. The background is changed to the Enchantress being a jilted lover, the curse is not immediate, but takes quite some time to actually start up and, even then, it's mostly emphasized on how he looks older and not like a beast. Oh, and Gaston turns out to be the Prince's childhoodfriend. Also, Belle does not make an actual cameo or play much of a role at all.
Valentino admits that she was mostly inspired by The Picture Of Dorian Gray for the story, but it does not work. The Beast is not old, he is a beast and he is not portrayed in any way redeemable. I can't even see Disney's Beast in this guy, he is such a carbon-copy of Gaston, just add 'rich' and behaves like a major jerk, it makes me wonder why Disney allowed this to be published. Especially as the background for their Beast, one of the more well-liked Disney heroes.
The other problem is that a good chunk of the novel is focused on the OCs: the Odd Sisters. Call it a Continuity Nod to the Snow White novella, but here, they take over the spotlight and they are the ones who orchestrated majority of the events of the movie? The wolves attacking Belle, the curse being lifted, etc, etc. I came here to read about the Beast, not about some very annoying Original Characters!
And Valentino could have done so much better with this. There are still hints of some creepy or dark aspects of the curse and would be quite interesting to actually expand on (the servants disappearing upon their transformation, being nothing more than inanimate objects to certain observers) but are ultimately ignored. This feels more like a very, very loose, alternate adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Which could have worked, had it not been marketed as part of the Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
The only upside to this is, it makes me want to go look up fanfiction that expanded on the Beast's background or go and write some myself.
The Beast Within Has Nothing To Do With The Beast
A novella that tells the events of Beauty and the Beast from the Beast's POV? Perhaps expands on the already-established, but very short background on how he was turned into the beast, before Belle came and broke the curse? Yes, please!
Unfortunately, that is not at all what the reader gets in The Beast Within. The background is changed to the Enchantress being a jilted lover, the curse is not immediate, but takes quite some time to actually start up and, even then, it's mostly emphasized on how he looks older and not like a beast. Oh, and Gaston turns out to be the Prince's childhoodfriend. Also, Belle does not make an actual cameo or play much of a role at all.
Valentino admits that she was mostly inspired by The Picture Of Dorian Gray for the story, but it does not work. The Beast is not old, he is a beast and he is not portrayed in any way redeemable. I can't even see Disney's Beast in this guy, he is such a carbon-copy of Gaston, just add 'rich' and behaves like a major jerk, it makes me wonder why Disney allowed this to be published. Especially as the background for their Beast, one of the more well-liked Disney heroes.
The other problem is that a good chunk of the novel is focused on the OCs: the Odd Sisters. Call it a Continuity Nod to the Snow White novella, but here, they take over the spotlight and they are the ones who orchestrated majority of the events of the movie? The wolves attacking Belle, the curse being lifted, etc, etc. I came here to read about the Beast, not about some very annoying Original Characters!
And Valentino could have done so much better with this. There are still hints of some creepy or dark aspects of the curse and would be quite interesting to actually expand on (the servants disappearing upon their transformation, being nothing more than inanimate objects to certain observers) but are ultimately ignored. This feels more like a very, very loose, alternate adaptation of Beauty and the Beast. Which could have worked, had it not been marketed as part of the Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
The only upside to this is, it makes me want to go look up fanfiction that expanded on the Beast's background or go and write some myself.