This is such a tough rating for me. I want to give it five stars, but I want to give it two at the same time. A happy medium of 3.5 doesn't feel right though. I've always loved the Disney version of this fairy tale more than anything, and I loved this original version too. At the same time, I kind of hated it? No, that's too strong of an emotion. I was semi-bored through most of it. I love the story, but not the writing. However, it may have just been this translation, so I'm going to find another one and try it again. Better yet, when I brush up on my French enough to read a book, I'll read the original. Nothing is ever as good as a translation. At the same time, some of it was just so long-winded. The last 40 pages or so were history info-dump, "this is why the story happened". It could've been done in a much better way.

Translations aside, if this book was written today, I would've ripped it apart. The phrase "for a woman" or "for her sex" popped up more than once, and again, if it was a modern book, game over. However, this was written in 1740. It was a different world, and I understand that. I'm reading through the lens of 2018, where that shit wouldn't fly. I imagine this was pretty progressive for its time though.

I think, for nostalgia purposes, as well as how much I loved the story (and seeing where Disney changed things up), I'm going with 4.5. Maybe. This could change to a solid four or five. Maybe a three. Who knows? NOT ME.