Book Review: Reflection (Twisted Tales #4)

Release Date: March 27. 2018
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Publisher: Disney Press
Length: 400 pages
Source: Gifted ARC

What if Mulan had to travel to the Underworld?

When Captain Shang is mortally wounded by Shan Yu in battle, Mulan must travel to the Underworld, Diyu, in order to save him from certain death. But King Yama, the ruler of Diyu, is not willing to give Shang up easily. With the help of Shang's great lion guardian ShiShi, Mulan must traverse Diyu to find Shang's spirit, face harrowing obstacles, and leave by sunrise--or become King Yama's prisoner forever. Moreover, Mulan is still disguised as the soldier called Ping, wrestling with the decision to reveal her true identity to her closest friend. Will Mulan be able to save Shang before it's too late? Will he ever be able to trust her again? Or will she lose him--and be lost in the Underworld--forever?

    

Review:

Protagonist: After Shang takes a fatal blow meant for her, Mulan, a young woman who pretended to be a man to enter into the army to spare her ailing father from certain death, Mulan needs to go into the underworld, Diyu, in order to bring him back. That is easier said than done. Mulan is still masquerading as Ping since she's going after Shang who doesn't yet know her identity and if anyone finds out she could be put to death. This book does a lot to really flesh out Mulan's character, in fact, I would say that who Mulan is, is a huge part of the overall story. I really loved delving into who Mulan is at her core, seeing some more backstory and giving her character the time she needs to grow, whereas the movie sort of throws montages and songs at you to denote character growth and camaraderie among the soldiers, here we get a deeper look into Mulan's character and who she decides to become.

Romance: Much like with Mulan's character I felt the romance here wasn't nearly as rushed as it was in the movie. In fact, it almost felt like they threw in the whole Mulan/Shang pairing as an afterthought since it's a Disney movie and needs to have a romance. Here things are taken at a slower pace. I mean, there's still a time limit to get out of Diyu by, but still the time is taken to not only solidify the bond between Shang and "Ping" that was sort of hand waved in the movie until that point, but also the romantic tension is really drawn out, in a satisfying way, and when time comes for a romance to officially blossom, it feels earned and a part of the journey instead of just tacked on the end.

World Building: So when it comes to the world building I'm pretty split. On the one hand, I love the world of Diyu that the author has included in this story. Every moment, even the lighter ones, had a small bit of dread tied to it as their time was running out, the settings and places they visited were so vibrant and alive, or in some cases were sharp and pointy, or even filled with death and despair, hey, it is the underworld after all. This was such a fun adventure to see these two characters on, with the company of a very vain lion guardian from the Li family named ShiShi. Here's the thing though, while it was a fun and exciting adventure, other than Mulan and Shang, none of the other characters from the movie were seen that much, they didn't have a role to play in the story and it was hard to view this as a Twisted Tale, especially in comparison to the other installments in this series, because this twist felt like a bit too much of a stretch.

Predictability: This was a bit of an uncomfortable time going into this book because, well, this series has never had a different author before, that on top of a story that takes place almost entirely in Diyu, somewhere not even touched on or mentioned in the movie, going into this story felt a lot like going into a dark room. Everything was new, I didn't know how anything was going to go, other than some vague and vast predictions that are pretty standard expectations going into any novel. With that I found a great many moments in this story to be full of twists and turns, there are a few moments where things are easy to pick up on, but the reasoning behind those things are really where the surprises are in store. Though I will say there wasn't anything too shocking, and nothing really shook me like in other installments in this series.

Ending: This ending it too idyllic for me. I mean, there's no other way to get around it. I loved the final climax, I felt it really hammered home a lot of the messages for this book and really fit with story already written, it was the perfect way to push onward towards the end, but, and I hate that I keep bringing it up, in the other installments in this series, there are always some consequences that give the ending that extra level of gravity, almost as if there were some harder consequences for straying from the story, whereas here well, it's a good ending and a great story, I was just sort of hoping for something a bit less idyllic.

Rating:

I seriously debated about this with myself for a while, I mean, this was such a fun adventure and I don't regret reading this book at all, in fact, I'll probably reread it someday, but I was hoping for a story that felt like it flowed from the movie better and an ending that held more weight.

Book Review: As Old as Time (Twisted Tales #3)

Release Date: September 6, 2016
Author: Liz Braswell
Publisher: Disney Press
Length: 496 pages
Source: Library Book

What if Belle's mother cursed the Beast?

Belle is a lot of things: smart, resourceful, restless. She longs to escape her poor provincial town for good. She wants to explore the world, despite her father's reluctance to leave their little cottage in case Belle's mother returns—a mother she barely remembers. Belle also happens to be the captive of a terrifying, angry beast. And that is her primary concern.

But Belle touches the Beast's enchanted rose, intriguing images flood her mind—images of the mother she believed she would never see again. Stranger still, she sees that her mother is none other than the beautiful Enchantress who cursed the Beast, his castle, and all its inhabitants. Shocked and confused, Belle and the Beast must work together to unravel a dark mystery about their families that is twenty-one years in the making.

    

Review:

Protagonists: Going into this book I only expected to follow Belle's POV, or maybe the Beast's as well, but what I wasn't prepared for was also following the point of view of two unexpected characters. In the first part of this book, to break up the novelization elements before the big shift in the narrative, we follow the life of a young Maurice as he moves to an enchanting kingdom and courts a powerful enchantress. For the most part, Belle and the Beast are the same characters that we see in the film, but after the great shift that this book their focus is a bit different than it is in the movie. Honestly, there isn't all that much character development for these two, at least nothing all that different from what we see in the movie, but there are moments where there's a bit of a shift in the development and while it's not anything too dramatic, it's nice to see a different shift in a character development, even if the results are the same. As for Maurice and the enchantress, Rosalind, their characterizations are really well done. Maurice is this kind man with so much unconditional love, that just wants to help anyone in need, and Rosalind is this powerful enchantress with very strong beliefs in what's right and wrong and when that's mixed with her hot temper, well you can see how she got around to cursing an eleven-year-old boy. All the characters we read from are really well characterized and it's easy to slip in and out of their heads.

Romance: There was far less romance in this story than I anticipated. If we're going to talk about Maurice and Rosalind, that romance went by pretty quickly, although it's meant to since there's a large gap to cover in just half of the first part. Even though that romance went by very quickly and pretty much hit all the major milestones of a YA romance in just one chapter, their chemistry is palpable and since they're not the main characters, it's excusable that their romance is sped up so much. As for Belle and the Beast, their romance is pretty subtle. I mean, the romance in the movie is pretty subtle too, although the ballroom scene is probably one of the most romantic scenes from any Disney movie and it's missing in this book. Honestly, though the romance is done well, I just wish that it would have been a bit more obvious and that it would have hit the protagonists earlier even if they didn't admit their feelings to each other until close to the end.

World Building: When this book was first announced I had mixed feelings, on the one hand, I had just finished Once Upon a Dream, which is by far the most bizarre and confusing of these titles so far, and I didn't know what to expect with this one, on the other hand, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale and Disney movie, so I was pretty excited. Luckily this story dials back a lot of the changes to the formula between A Whole New World and  Once Upon a Dream. The twist isn't exactly something that happens during the course of the story we all know, as it was with A Whole New World, instead the enchantress that we hear about at the beginning is given a much larger role and made Belle's mother. However, from Belle's point of view the story is the same until one moment when everything changes, and in a way, there is the shift in the narrative like there was in the first installment in this series. Most of the world building not already seen in the movie comes from Maurice and Rosalind's backstory. The world is opened up and we learn a lot more about the Beast's kingdom and what would compel an enchantress to test a prince. Overall, the added backstory, that eventually plays a major role in the present, adds a lot of great complexity to the story and makes for an interesting read.

Predictability: For the most part this story was pretty predictable, at least once the first part of the story was over. In fact, there was a very noticeable lull for me, and I think that has to do with the fact that most of the mystery that Belle and the Beast are trying to solve in the second part is explained or at the very least heavily implied by the back story chapters from the first part. There are a few surprises here and there and once the third part begins the tension starts to build back up again, but there were times when a twist would finally be implemented or revealed and I wouldn't have much of a reaction because it was either already confirmed by the backstory or heavily implied that it took me a while before I realized that I was even supposed to have a reaction.

Ending: Every time I go into one of these Twisted Tales, I always expect it to end the same way or similarly to the movie it's based off instead though the endings tend to be more complex and not end as perfectly tied up with all the heroes rewarded and the villains foiled. The final climax of this story sure was interesting and had one of the most interesting twists I believe I've ever seen. The actual ending of this story wasn't what I expected. Things in these Twisted Tales have real consequences and I love that the author doesn't pander to deliver a perfect happily ever after where everything is back to normal and all our heroes have an idealistic perfect ending. The funny thing is that I know this is a stand alone, and it definitely works as such, but there's a bit of a door left open at the end and I kind of wish there were more, but at the same time I can kind of draw my own conclusions on what happens.

Rating:

Honestly, the first part of this story holds so much promise and sucks me right into the world and these characters, but the middle part has a bit of a lull, in fact, it took me a few days to get through it since I would take breaks and it would take me a while to get back to the story, but it does pick up again for the final part. The story itself is great, It's just that I wish the information was spread out a bit more and that we didn't already know most of the answers to the central mystery too early.

Book Review: Once Upon a Dream (Twisted Tales #2)

Release Date: April 5, 2016
Author: Liz Braswell
Publisher: Disney Press
Length: 448 pages
Source: eGalley via NetGalley

What if the sleeping beauty never woke up? Once Upon a Dream marks the second book in a new YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways.

It should be simple--a dragon defeated, a slumbering maiden, a prince poised to wake her. But when said prince falls asleep as soon as his lips meet the princess's, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over.

With a desperate fairy's last curse infiltrating her mind, Princess Aurora will have to navigate a dangerous and magical landscape deep in the depths of her dreams. Soon she stumbles upon Phillip, a charming prince eager to join her quest. But with Maleficent's agents following her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are, and moreover, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?

    

Review:

Protagonist: So Aurora is by all accounts a quintessential Disney Princess. There wasn't much substance to her in the movie and very little character building beyond "beautiful" and "a good singer." However in this twist on the classic tale we see Aurora make a similar discovery and grapples with trying to figure out who she is. I really enjoyed the character development of Aurora in this book, instead of seeing a girl who is in such utter despair because she can't ever see "that guy she met in the forest that one time", we see a confident, smart, fierce, and brave princess who will do whatever it takes to escape her dreamworld and take down Maleficent once and for all.

Romance: So when Aurora sees Phillip for the first time in this dream world, due to the magic that Maleficent has cast, she doesn't recognize him, though he does recognize her. This time though, luckily there's no love at first sight, and through their journey towards the truth and their hope for freedom they get to really know each other. This time around the love seemed genuine, though granted love at first sight doesn't really feel real unless you're a small child. It took a little time but eventually I even started to root for them.

World-Building: So the world building in this book is weird. I'm going to try and explain it as best I can without spoilers, but essentially the author managed to change both one thing and everything. In this book as soon as Phillip kisses Aurora he too falls asleep and enters Aurora's dream world. In this dreamworld events transpired differently it's in this messed up mirror world that we first see Aurora, with a new set of memories, trapped inside her parents' castle. I'm very split on how I feel about the world-building, on the one hand it does make for a fun and fantastic fantasy adventure, on the other hand it's so off base of the Disney movie that while there are callbacks to the film here and there, the source material gets lost among the world-building and doesn't hold the same magic as A Whole New World did.

Predictability: So for the most part I expected this book to be pretty predictable. It was easy to see where certain storylines were going to go and where foreshadowing would lead our characters. That being said there are a few twists in this story. They aren't all that many, but there are some moments where either something came completely out of the blue or that the author had led me to believe a lie.

Ending: Okay so the ending I felt was done pretty well, Like the first installment in this twisted series, the final climax of the book, in a lot of ways, mirrored the movie, albeit with some rather obvious changes. However, it's the calm after the storm that I liked best. This moment is where everything comes to fruition the battle has concluded and for good or bad, it's time to sweep up the mess and move on, so to speak. Since this is a series of standalone twisted tales there is a very conclusive ending to this tale, and in fact one that up until the last sentence or two I didn't quite think we'd get enough closure on.

Rating:

So, I think if the introduction into this world wasn't so jarring, or if it didn't change so drastically it would have been easier to connect this story with the movie and tale it twists, but since the twist comes so late in the story, it really wouldn't have been prudent to add the same amount of set up as the first book in this series.