Author: Liz Braswell
Series: A Twisted Tale #1
Publication: September 1st 2015 by Disney Press
Genre: Young Adult ~ Fantasy ~ Retelling
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Rating: 1/5
Review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?
When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.
What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.
A huge part of this book was just like the movie. Maybe that isn't so bad but I was just so bored by it. Once the author started twisting the story it was less predictable but equally boring to me. The thing I disliked the most was the writing. It wasn't good at all. It was way too colorless and lacked some kind of depth.
The characters were colorless as well. Especially Aladdin and Jasmine. The conversations between them didn't feel natural and I felt myself not wanting to read about them at all. At this point I was more interested in reading about Jafar, to be honest. At least there was a little bit of excitement with him because he's so evil. Really, I didn't enjoy reading about any of the characters.
I guess it's a good concept, reimagining classic Disney stories but it could've been written better, I think, and without making the characters so flat and uninteresting. So yeah, this book wasn't the right one for me, per se. I do hope others will enjoy it more than I did but I wouldn't recommend it.
About the Author:
Full time author, under the name Tracy Lynn. And Celia Thomson. And J. B. Stephens. And E.J. Braswell. But mainly Tracy Lynn.
Her series "The Nine Lives of Chloe King" has been adapted into a TV show by ABC Family.
I knew that this would be either the best thing or the worst. =/ Too bad it's the latter. Don't mess with the classics, right?
ReplyDeleteSadly enough, yes... =/
DeleteWhen I saw this cover and read what it was about, I was so excited. Seriously, you have no idea. But now I'm super disappointed. I'm so glad you reviewed it before I read it.
ReplyDeleteThis is just my opinion, of course. Maybe you and other readers will like it more but I saw a lot of other bloggers feeling the same about it as I did.
DeleteOne of the worst books you've read, ouch? I am 100% under the impression that this book was just a Disney sale grab. I mean Aladdin is doing AMAZING on Broadway and the DVD is being released next month (finally). Coincidence? I think not.
ReplyDeleteYes. It's been a few months since I read the book now and I still think it's the worst book I've read this year. =/
DeleteTo be honest, I thought this book was an insult to not only the Aladdin movie, but all things Disney. I’m a huge Disney fan and whenever a book comes out that brings a new spin on a fairytale, or classic film, I always jump at the opportunity to read it, but this book was just horrible and I admire you for getting through it.
ReplyDeleteThe writing was horrible, the characters were not only colorless, but lacking personality and over all the twists in the story did nothing to add that spark the book desperately needed. In Disney terms, it was lacking some serious magic.
The second book of Howl’s Moving Castle was a better rendition to Aladdin than this pathetic excuse for a book, which is a lot to say considering the two have nothing to do with each other.
Amen to that! (And I just love that you mentioned the second How'ls Moving Castle book because I'm a huge fan of those!). But yeah, it was pretty horrible and at least it seems like a lot of other people agree.
DeleteArgh, and from the premise it sounds so good! Thanks for the heads up, though. I won't waste time on it then.
ReplyDeleteMajanka @ I Heart Reading
I'd say give it a shot but it was really bad.
DeleteThat sucks. The cover is so gorgeous!
ReplyDelete