#cinderella and the beast

[nerdy-book-queen]

4/5 Stars

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for feedback.

What a fun adventure. This wasn't what I expected, in the best way. I expected a straight forward retelling, with Belle playing Cinderella's role and vice versus. Instead, I got to strong, independent women on a great adventure to save their kingdom in so many ways, their tales interwoven together in a fantastic way. 

Belle finds herself in Cinderella's cellar, forced into labor by her stepmother when she's found their via blackmail and magic, and helping Ella's prince find both his missing sister and his friend(Ella). She uses her mind and her knowledge of magic through her father's trade to escape Ella's stepmother and help save the kingdom.

Ella finds herself in Belle's home, and through Belle's father's actions, then is trapped in the beast's castle. As she stays, she meets the "beast" and learns more about her, embarking on a mission to break the curse.

Third act chaos ensures, drama is revealed, and our amazing leading ladies have to save the day.

I struggled with it at first but by the end I was having a lot of fun.

[reni-reads]

The Princess Swap 1 - Cinderella and the Beast or Belle and the Glass Slipper by Kim Bussing

Genre: Fantasy

Summary

Ella’s spent her life dreaming about adventure, but it’s hard to have adventures when you’re stuck with a stepfamily who treat you like a servant. When she unexpectedly wakes up in a land far, far away, she’s thrilled at the chance to embark on an epic quest. That is, until she finds herself trapped once more—this time in the castle of a dangerous beast.

Belle, meanwhile, has plans. Her family’s trading company is on the brink of ruin, and to save it, she’s going to enter—and win—a royal competition in the prince’s honor. But when she unexpectedly winds up in a cellar with a wicked stepfamily who have their own plans to keep her from the competition . . . things get complicated.

Happily-ever-after couldn’t feel farther away. Can Ella escape the beast’s clutches? And can Belle get rid of this stepfamily in time for the competition?

Review

The Story

was... meh. The premise sounded fun, but the execution left a lot to be desired. There wasn't much wrong with it, but my few gripes with it were pretty significant for me. I'll start with the negatives first, just to get them out of the way. For one, I thought the plot wasn't well-paced. Belle's "Cinderella"-part of the story didn't include many elements of the fairytale until close to the end, while Ella's "Beauty&The Beast"-part felt stretched out into oblivion. I also felt that the conclusion(s) felt incredibly rushed, and the way it was executed made me downright angry - I know a lot of Americans have a very biblical understanding of the concept of "forgiveness", but it's just not a message I would like my kid to read, personally, as I feel it's very toxic. The very end was pretty heartwarming though - especially in fairytales, I like me a good happy end.

The Characters

were really hit or miss. For one, I didn't like Ella or Belle very much. I liked the inclusivity that was portrayed with Ella (we need MORE disabled protagonists!!!), but I disliked her snotty attitude and potty mouth. Similarly, Belle kept her intelligence, but she also had to mention several times that she's different from all the other girls because of it. They both just fell into the tired "feminist subversion"-trope of taking a gentle, sensitive character and "girlbossifying" them, which always disappoints me. When I was the age of the target audience, I was incredibly smart and witty - and also a sensitive crybaby, and that's okay. We really don't need every female lead to be snarky and tomboyish, and I feel like at least one of them should have had a different characterization (simply because they were also pretty easy to mix up while reading, because they speak and behave extremely similarly).

The side characters were really good though - I loved Marie and Amir! Especially Marie had the potential to be an actual lead character, as she was the most nuanced character in the entire book. I could have done without the fairy godfather though, he seemed like a cheap attempt at comedic subversion that just didn't hit me where it should have lol.

The Worldbuilding

wasn't super offensive, but also... left something to be desired. I like the idea of having the "princesses" all live in an overarching kingdom ruled by another (non-fairytale inspired) King and Queen, and have different fairytale characters interact (like Ella and Belle's dads having a shared history etc.). However, since the book is inspired by fairytales and also for kids, I expected a lot more magic - especially in the Beast's castle! Where were my talking teapots and paintings??? Why didn't we see more transformation magic, or candy cane trees, or whatever? It's a fairytale, go WILD on the magic, please!!!

Final Thoughts

Well. The book was a semi-birthday gift, and I'm glad I didn't have to pay money for it lol. The premise sounded amazing, but the execution just wasn't it for me. Since I'm a huge character reader, and I didn't like the deuteragonists at all, this book just wasn't for me. The writing style was flowy and clean, and the humor was there on occasion, so it was definitely entertainung. The book is objectively not bad at all, and if anyone of you wants to read a fun fairytale adventure, or has a kid who's into fairytales, maybe try it out!

Also, the cover is an absolute stunner!

Rating

Plot and Storylines: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Characters and Relationships: ⭐️⭐️

Writing Style and Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Setting and Worldbuilding: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Entertainment: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[janchei-reads]

Synopsis:

What would happen if Cinderella found herself in the beast's castle, and Beauty woke up in some evil stepmother's home? Fairy tales meet Freaky Friday in this series, where there’s a magical mix-up for every princess!

Ella’s spent her life dreaming about adventure, but it’s hard to have adventures when you’re stuck with a stepfamily who treat you like a servant. When she unexpectedly wakes up in a land far, far away, she’s thrilled at the chance to embark on an epic quest. That is, until she finds herself trapped once more—this time in the castle of a dangerous beast.

Belle, meanwhile, has plans. Her family’s trading company is on the brink of ruin, and to save it, she’s going to enter—and win—a royal competition in the prince’s honor. But when she unexpectedly winds up in a cellar with a wicked stepfamily who have their own plans to keep her from the competition . . . things get complicated.

My thoughts:

This was a fun read!

I liked the twist this book gave fairy tales: Ella being everything but a kind, sweet girl and instead one that curses like a sailor and wants to go on adventures, Belle using her smarts to help her fathers merchant business and the beast being... what the beast was.

The only thing I would have liked to see of more in the end was the relationship between Ella and Belle being explored more. After all, Belles dad all but adopted Ella! And yet, the two of them barely spoke a word. But this is whining on a high level and really a non-issue considering that none of the chapters in this book ever bored me.

The next mother who comes into my store asking for an easy to read english book for her teenage child will get this one recommended!

Other books in the Series:

The Princess Swap: Cinderella and the Beast/Beauty and the Glass Slipper

The Princess Swap: Snow White and the Dragon/Sleeping Beauty and the Seven Dwarfs

The Princess Swap: Rapunzel and the Sea Witch/The little Mermaid and the Tower

I finished reading this book on February 26th, 2025.

[mercerislandbooks]

Hooray for Kid's Books!

Middle-schoolers, butterflies, and fairy tales–oh, my! March is shaping up to be a fantastic month for children’s book releases, and we are fortunate enough to host events for three of them.

Aron Nels Steinke, author-illustrator of the much-loved Mr. Wolf’s Class graphic novel series, will be in the store on Tuesday, March 4 at 4:30pm to talk about Speechless, his latest middle grade graphic novel, and sign books. 

Speechless is the story of Mira, a 6th grader who loves making stop-motion movies, but struggles to share her passion with her peers. In fact, she is so anxious at school that she doesn’t speak at all. As if that isn’t challenging enough, Mira’s former best friend ends up staying with Mira’s family for several weeks while her mother is out of town. Will Mira ever find her voice and speak up for herself? Speechless is a funny, compelling graphic novel that will appeal to upper elementary and middle school fans of character-driven realistic fiction stories. Copies of Speechless and Aron’s other books will be available for purchase at the event.

On Friday, March 7at 4:30pm a trio of talented PNW author-illustrators will be at Island Books to celebrate the release of Papilio, which has already received two starred reviews! Ben Clanton, Andy Musser, and Corey R. Tabor collaborated on this innovative picture book about a caterpillar’s metamorphosis, with each creator illustrating a different phase of the transformation. Ben, Andy and Corey will be on hand to sign Papilio, as well as many of their other books, which will be available for purchase.

Middle grade author Kim Bussing joins us on Monday, March 10 at 4:30pm for our final kidlit event of the month. Kim’s debut novel Cinderella and the Beast, the first book in The Princess Swap series, received a starred review from Kirkus and was a Kids Indie Next List featured book. The second book in the series, Snow White and the Dragon, releases on March 4, just in time for Kim’s in-store event. Both books are entertaining mashups of familiar fairy tales that will have readers marveling at the ingenious changes made to settings, characters, and tropes. 

Kim will talk about her books and publishing journey before signing copies of The Princess Swap books, which will be available for purchase.

We hope to see you at all of these events, and please spread the word to all your kidlit-loving friends! As mentioned, books will be available for purchase at the events, but you can always order them in advance through our website.

— Sarah

[evelynshugos]

ICONIC DISNEY CASTLES

[romancemedia]

Inside Look into the Disney Princess Castles

[masterhallmark]

Rant incoming

I feel like the problem with a lot of Disney's live action remakes (and arguably Wish) is they're trying to appeal to a crowd that no longer exists, namely the people who used to claim that the Disney Princesses were sexist.

All the interviews tend to include, "Well she's not chasing a MAN anymore" which...almost no one sees the princesses like that, anymore. Virtually NO ONE still believes the princesses are man-chasing sexist caricatures of women.

Cinderella is now hailed as an abuse victim who stayed strong long enough to get help to get out of her situation. Anyone who says she should have saved herself is basically regarded as a victim blamer. And it's very clear in the film she wasn't looking to marry the prince, she just wanted a night off. She was the only one who wasn't in line to meet him. She didn't find out she met the prince until he went looking for her!

Snow White is now hailed for her negotiation skills, ability to calm down after extreme stress (she had a moment of panic and had to cry for a bit, but who wouldn't after finding out The Queen hired someone to kill you?), and ability to take charge of a house of adult men. And again, she was an abuse victim, this time trying to escape ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS. While she dreamed of her prince, it was secondary to her main goal of SURVIVAL. There are also entire video essays about how Snow White gave hope to people during The Great Depression.

Everyone acknowledges that Ariel wanted to be human BEFORE meeting Eric. We all know she was a nerd hyperfixating on humans, and also standing up to her prejudiced father.

We understand Sleeping Beauty wasn't the main character, the Three Good Fairies were, AND PHILLIP WOULD NEVER HAVE BEATEN MALEFICENT WITHOUT THEM! He literally depended on them! WOMEN SAVED THE DAY! But even then, is it really such a sin for a girl to fantasize about romance and fall for someone with corny pickup lines?

We all understand Jasmine just wanted someone to treat her LIKE A PERSON. She rejected every Prince before Aladdin because they treated her like a prize. So why did they need her to want to be Sultan? How did that make her more feminist when she already wanted to be treated like an equal and have a say in her future? Is it only empowering if you want a career in politics?

We admire that Belle, despite living in a judgemental village, was kind to everyone (even though she found the village life dull), and her story teaches girls that the guy everyone else loves isn't always a good guy. What's sexist about teaching girls about red flags? And she didn't start being nice to The Beast until he started treating her with respect and kindness.

Do I really NEED to defend Mulan or Tiana? I think they speak for themselves.

Rapunzel was yet another abuse victim who just needed a little help to get out of her bad situation. In this case, she also needed to learn that she was an abuse victim, and that what Mother Gothel did WASN'T normal, much like many victims of gaslighting.

And don't get me started on the non-princess animals.

Perdita had a healthy relationship with Pongo to the point she was open to express her pregnancy fears to him, and was ready to TEAR APART Cruella's goons for daring to touch her puppies as well as adopting the other puppies. Like, she was so ferocious the goons mistook her for a hyena! She's basically that "I AM THAT GIRL'S MOTHER!" scene from SpyXFamily if Yor were a dog. She and her husband were a TEAM.....but they made a Cruella live action to turn her into a girlboss?! The literal animal abuser!? THAT'S the woman you wanted to put on a pedestal when Perdita was RIGHT THERE!?

Duchess kept her kittens calm after they had been catnapped and was classy as heck. Nice to everyone regardless of social class during a time period where that was uncommon.

Lady stood up to Tramp when she believed he had abandoned her and didn't really care about her. She found out he was a heartbreaker and was like, "Nuh uh. No. You are not doing that to me! You put me through enough."

Miss Bianca from The Rescuers was IN CHARGE the whole movie, and was willing to risk life and limb to save an innocent child. THAT TINY MOUSE TOOK ON ALLIGATORS! And she picked Bernard to accompany her because he was the only one who wasn't ogling her. And then in the sequel SHE DID IT ALL AGAIN! I wish I were as brave as her.

Like, the public haven't accused these ladies of being sexist caricatures since 2014 (Actresses and actors don't count, they're out of touch like the rest of Hollywood) yet Disney is operating under the assumption that the public still thinks that way, hence all the "sHe'S nOt AfTeR a MaN iN ThIs VeRsIOn" talk.

The live action remakes are trying to attract an audience that doesn't really exist much, anymore, and back when it did exist, was comprised mainly of people who didn't actually watch the films. The Disney princesses are no longer seen as sexist, and feminine qualities are no longer seen as weak or undesirable.

[miyakuli]

** Permission to post it was granted by the artist Do not repost/edit the art without permission Please, support the artist on their pages too **

Jasmine - Madame X by John Singer Sargent Belle - The Swing by Honoré Fragonard Tiana - The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer Meg - Helena of Troy by Evelyn De Morgan Esmeralda - The Spanish Dancer by John Singer Cinderella - Marquise de Puysegur by Élisabeth Vigée Lebrun

Artist : errablo

Source

[nessa007]

THE LITTLE MERMAID (2023) ALADDIN (2019) BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017) CINDERELLA (2015)

[baltharino]

Enchanted (2007) + References

[gemwing1988]

Japanese cover art for the Disney Twisted Tales series. These are very amazing blend of beautiful yet spooky for some of the darker elements in this incredible young adult book series.

[lizheartz]

Palace Pets

[fizzy-elf]

[sophklaass]

real

[leaclark]

tangled mood board 🦎🌼🏮

[ladyazurith]

So both of my current hyperfixations are Disney related. (Twisted Wonderland and Lorcana). And because of this I can’t help but think of the Lorcana cards in relation to Twist. 

If you don’t know what Lorcana is, a brief explanation is that it’s a TCG (Like Magic the Gathering, Pokemon Card game, Yugioh etc) but Disney themed. And it has three types of character cards, Storyborn, Dreamborn and Floodborn. 

Storyborn is basically the characters as they appear in their canon story. Dreamborn is basically what they dream of becoming. Easy enough (There are cards for instance where Maleficent wins)

Floodborn, is where the characters have been altered by the ink. Their story changes completely. That's how you end up with things like “Gaston: Intellectual Powerhouse” where he’s a mechanical genius. (one of my personal favorites because of how funny it is.) 

There is also Lady Tremaine who became queen: 

My absolute favorite Floodborn story is Cinderella’s. In her Floodborn story, she becomes a royal knight. Given I am a believer of the Caterella theory, it opens up a lot of possibilities for that dynamic. 

And while I know the only thing the two projects have in common are that they are both Disney IP’s, It’s easy to imagine Twist as part of Lorcana, an entire Floodborn world where the character’s stories were altered, giving us the Great Seven. Esteemed heroes of their world, rather than evil villains.

There are a lot of other examples too, and all would be fun playing with the different Twist characters.

This one would be very relevant for Silver:

And this one just absolutely screams Vil :

Anyway, I've always enjoyed AU's so Lorcana is definitely fuel for that fire where Twisted Wonderland is concerned. Also wonder if there is anyone out there who plays both games like I do.

Follow ups:

Part 2

Part 3