Review: Disney Manga's re-release of full-color versions of their retellings of Beauty and the Beast (based on the 2017 live-action film version) continues with this volume, told from the viewpoint of The Beast himself (volume one, as told through Belle's eyes, is also reviewed on this blog; just scroll down a bit). Whereas Belle's version was told with bright colors and optimism overall, beginning with her life in her quiet village with books as her favorite companions, this version starts with The Beast's decadent lifestyle and cruel rule as a monarch ... right up until he's punished for his vanity and bitterness by being turned into a beast for all eternity, once the magical rose loses its petals, unless he can find true love. Though both books are great and need to be bought/read as companion volumes, I preferred The Beast's tale, told in dark blues and blacks befitting his own mindset and temper ... even as Belle arrives and slowly but surely brings out the human in him again. As even the film put viewers more into Belle's line of vision/viewpoint, here it was really nice strictly seeing what unfolds solely through the eyes of the jaded, forlorn beast, up to the very end when ... well, you know what happens. Both book are bursting with color and life, telling this timeless and (for many) most favorite of love stories, but The Beast's pain and subsequent redemption resonated more with me - hence the extra half-star, much as I enjoy both books. 4/5 stars
NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.
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