There’s not a lot of literary frills here, but the writing style is crisp and sufficient and easily held my interest even though I’m way past the targeted age group. I also appreciated the quick pace of the story and the very readable text. For one, I love the compact size. It makes it easy to carry, fun to read and somehow more appropriate for absorbing the fairy tale held within its pages. See what I mean? He needs his own category.Īssuming you can look past this oddity, there’s a lot to like about Valentino’s book. “Which word doesn’t belong with the rest?” the question might read, with your choices being: Evil Queen, Ursula, Maleficent, Beast. Valentino’s titles remind me of those word association questions from standardized tests as a kid. Bad enough to be a traditional Disney villain? Wouldn’t Gaston be a better pick? He also threw Belle’s father into a dungeon just for running onto the Beast’s property to escape a pack of wolves. I’m not so sure. It’s true that the Beast was originally cast under a spell because he was selfish and mean. Let’s get the weird part over right from the start. Do we consider the Beast in Beauty and the Beast a villain? For this particular post, I’m focusing on The Beast Within: A Tale of Beauty’s Prince. More recent titles in this young adult series shed light on the mischievous lives of Ursula and Maleficent. Her first book, Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen, was written in 2009 and explores the world of the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Halloween is over but I still have Disney Villains on my mind. Mostly because I started reading Serena Valentino’s Disney Villain series earlier this week.

The beast within by serena valentino