Beauty and the Beast: The Only One Who Didn't Run Away (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Beauty and the Beast: The Only One Who Didn't Run Away Kate Quealy-Gainer Mass, Wendy . Beauty and the Beast: The Only One Who Didn't Run Away. Scholastic, 2012. [288p]. (Twice Upon a Time) Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-545-31018-5 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-545-44314-2 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 4-7. Despite her name, Beauty is more plain than stunning, but she's not terribly concerned with her looks anyway. More important to her is being a dutiful support to her father and sister, who are depending on Beauty's resourcefulness even more after the family home has burned down, leaving them destitute. Prince Riley is similarly unconcerned with appearances, instead pursuing his scientific interests by conducting various experiments in the lone west tower of his parent's castle. After a witch curses Riley into a beastly form to prevent his further meddling with the elements, Riley and Beauty are brought together by a meandering plotline and afforded the expected happy ending that features them married, the curse lifted, and the witch defeated. The third in Mass' Twice Upon a Time series, the story is obviously a retelling, so its ultimate predictability isn't necessarily a flaw, but the various tangential subplots, involving an oddly truncated quest and an invisible royal family, serve more as pointless diversions than compelling additions. By placing the onus of the curse on a randomly spiteful witch, Mass removes the initial faux pas that makes the Beast's character and transformation so compelling; this does, however, allow both protagonists to be engagingly likable, and the alternating perspectives from both Beauty and the Beast provide readers with a complete picture of the two put-upon heroes. Secondary characters are equally charming, and the happy ending leaves one story thread enticingly unresolved, perhaps laying groundwork for another installment. Fans of the original tale might be disappointed by some of the revisions, but hopeless romantics will find plenty of fodder for their own fairy tales here. Copyright © 2012 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois