Story Within the Fairytale: Lost in a Book, by Jennifer Donnelly

Saturday, July 21, 2018

Genre: YA fiction

Rating: ♥♥♥♥ Four out of five hearts= very good

About:

Everyone knows the story of Belle and her time in the Beast's castle- how she fell in love before the last petal fell, and found her own happily-ever-after. Based on the 2017 live-action Disney movie, this book tells the story of something that happened in between her capture by the beast and "the end". It's a hidden chapter, so to speak, of one of her unknown adventures in the Beast's castle.

Belle can't resist a good story. Books capture her and make her world a more special place- something she especially needs now that her life has been drastically altered by a mysterious Beast. Nothing is the same anymore, and she misses her father terribly. When the Beast gives her his library in an effort to cheer her, she's in awe of this wonderful room. Left by herself, however, she discovers a portal to a magical world inside a book, called "Nevermore". Will what she finds inside give her the freedom she craves- or bind her forever?

My Review:

I've always been in love with Disney's classic tale; the story of true love- not based on appearances, but on what really matters. So I just had to read Jennifer Donnelly's novel when I discovered it in our small local library- I mean, it's Disney, and is also very different from the romantic fiction I usually read.

_______________________________________________________________

LOVE IS NOT FOR COWARDS.

-Agathe

_________________________________________________________________________________

The characters are the same as you remember from the fairly recent 2017 live-action movie- witty, fun, and as always, extremely lovable and engaging. I really loved getting some "deleted scenes", in a way, of things that happened that weren't in the movie. There were some laugh-out-loud moments, sad ones, and heartwarming ones that make all good books what they are.

The Beast is the same as ever- he's been hurt and struggles with his anger, but his humor is still there somewhere. You can tell he's meant to be human, that he's a man on the inside, and his affection for Belle- not love just yet- is sweet.

_________________________________________________________________________________

"You may not be a 'perfect friend', but you're a real one. And I'm lucky to have you."

- Belle

_______________________________________________________________

Belle is also just about the same as the 2017 movie portrayed her, only a little deeper, I felt. She had a depth and heart the movie failed to portray.

Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, Chip- they're all there too. I think all of your castle favorites made it into the story, although some of the original town characters were missing (rightly so, since this was about a missing chapter during Belle's time in the Beast's castle). There's also some new evil villains and eccentric, but awesome characters that did not appear in the original. I feel as though all this new material did not take away from the movie or original story (as I worried beforehand), but instead added layers to it, giving it more depth.

I was also surprised to find how many insights this book had. I wrote down all my favorite quotes to use in my review and discovered that I ended up with about ten, all extremely good ones. Whenever I first picked up the book, insight was not what I was expecting from a Disney novel, but that's what I got. I could include all of the "thoughts of wisdom" in this review, but I'll leave some for you all to find in case you ever decide to read the novel. I can't resist leaving a few, though...

_______________________________________________________________

"We all make mistakes. The danger lies in letting those mistakes make us."

_______________________________________________________________

I found that a lot of spiritual truths that the Bible teaches were strongly and positively portrayed and mentioned by several of the characters. Rare, I've found, especially for secular YA or Disney fiction. Some quotes even sounded as if they'd been directly paraphrased from Bible verses.
Love, true friendship and choosing the real world over those found in books (think, "The world is not in your books and maps "....) were three of the main themes I found while reading.

One of my only problems with the story was that- yes, it's still secular fiction- God was never really mentioned. You write your own story was the answer in a world that seemed a bit hopeless. I wish this had been different, of course, but still, the book was a lot better and more inspiring than I had initially imagined it would be.

Also, the Gothic feel was a bit against my liking - it was kind of weird at times, honestly.

I'm glad I picked up Lost in a Book, though. It lead me through a sweet but dangerous adventure in Belle's world and gave me a different kind of story to read, for a change. Plus, I now have several lovely new quotes to enjoy.

If you're a Beauty and the Beast fan and decide to try out this novel, tell me what you think! I'd love to know if you enjoyed the book and what your favorite quote was.