Yes, it's another Beauty and the Beast retelling. I can't help myself - I love that story and there is so much that can be done with it to make an interesting tale. Unfortunately however, in this case there isn't actually all that much that's 'new' about it. There are a few changes to the narrative; the servants are invisible rather than inanimate objects, for example, and Beauty has sisters in tale, but generally speaking it really is a literal retelling of the classic story.

I will say that the author's use of language to paint beautiful pictures is amazing; there is so much description of the castle, Beauty's home and the surroundings, it's really easy to picture the setting and get lost in the world. But  this does seem to come at the expense of the actual plot. It takes until about half way through for Beauty to meet the Beast, and while there is a little development of their relationship in the pages, it's skimmed over at lightening pace, and before you know it you're at the 'happily ever after' without actually knowing when/how the change from friends to love actually took place. 

There are so many little snippets of things in here that could have been expanded upon to give much more depth and interest to the story; there's a whole element of magic that's just glossed over - the library has books FROM THE FUTURE in it. There's also less drama than the original, so there's so much less to keep you engaged.

I enjoyed it as a quick, light read before I head into another book that I think may be quite heavy, and I know this is the first of a trilogy so it might get better, but there are definitely better versions out there.