My Rotten Stepbrother Ruined Beauty and the Beast (Ages 8+)
By Jerry Mahoney (Author) Aleksei Bitskoff (Illustrator)
Publisher ; Capstone (August 2017 )
The step-siblings Maddie and Holden are not the best of buddies, but their preparations for the Halloween costumes just refutes it. When Maddie chooses to go as the Beauty in Beauty and the Beast Holden decides to be the Beast. Though his nasty comments about Belle & the Beast and his shocking choice of costumes are not approved by the elders and eventually Holden turns up as a lawyer.
However their real adventure begins at the end of the day, when Holden makes an extremly rude comment on Belle and instantly a strange light blazing through Holden`s tablet draw them into the "real" world of Beauty & the Beast, where Maddie happens to be Beauty. The narrative flows with many hilarious twists...... As the Beast is imprisoned for kidnapping Bella and Bella`s father goes to courts against the Beast, It becomes the duty of Maddie and Holden the lawyer to protect the fairy tale by breaking the curse of the wicked fairy and proving that the Beast is not guilty! The narration is simple and the dialogs are light hearted and compelling : "Well hi hi hi! Resplenda giggled while circling around Maddie`s head.It`s that obnoxious guy and a sweetie pie! Guess she`s ready to uglify"?" However the author reinvents the fantasy while artfully providing the wisdom of " never judge a book by it`s cover" and of course believing in true love!
This age old fantasy: extended and twisted, is based on a French medieval setting though it`s given a touch of modernity through the story plot. And it appropriately touches the targeted kids by the thoughts of Holden and Maddy. At one instance when Holden discovers his tab while being in the fairytale, he starts thinking about playing "Astro Turbo Rush or Fudgie the fox 4". And quite naturally, he stops to play just one game of 'Fudgie the fox 4' before heading towards the Dark Forest seeking for Resplenda the fairy.
Perfect reading material for every girl from daydreamers to adventure seekers, as it combines fantasy with adventure, amusement and simple romance which eventually creates a brilliant,gripping fairy tale twist. A great series for reluctant readers as well !!
( With many thanks to Capstone and NetGally for the copy )
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