I actually started the paper without bringing the Mormonism angle in, but my areligious classmate who is friends with several LDS people thought it was a good idea to bring it in openly, since as a reviewer I have that viewpoint. I was skeptical, but in talking to her about it, thought it would be okay. It could go either way, especially because I have a feeling that I didn't bring it in terribly skillfully. But I have read reviews of things like Harry Potter and Philip Pullman's trilogy from various denominations' viewpoints (Catholic, Anglican, fundamentalist, etc.), so it's not unheard of, at least in the children's reviewing world.
The entire second half of the paper isn't as well pulled off, I know--I didn't spend nearly as much time on it. I think you get the idea, though, of how Beauty is very tenuously a messiah-figure in the story, don't you? I don't think I could make it any stronger of a discussion on that half without lots more time, so I just kind of put it there. My roommate thought I quoted from the books too much in that half, too, and I agreed, but even though I chopped some of it, couldn't bring myself to chop all of it.
But I was glad to bring in the garden theme--that's what the whole class was about, and we rarely even brought it up in class. The speakers at the institute over the weekend that wrapped up the class were really good at bringing it up in various ways, though, so that was a little more satisfying.
Thanks for your comments.