By now, you've probably spotted Disney books that look like they are for teenagers/young adults in Tesco. There are two different series in particular and in this post I'm going to talk about one of them.
In 2016, days before I was about to leave for a holiday to Disneyland Paris I decided I would buy some to read on my holiday. I really wanted Fairest of All and Once Upon a Dream (note: Once Upon a Dream is by Liz Braswell in the Twisted Tales series). The actual day before I went on holiday I tracked down and bought The Beast Within and Once Upon a Dream. Little did I know that there was a sequence to the villains series and The Beast Within was second. I ended up reading The Beast Within on my Eurostar journeys to and from Disneyland Paris and finished it. Safe to say I enjoyed it.
I went into the series expecting a new background story surrounding each of the villains about why they became villains. What I wasn't expecting was Serena to pull some incredible world-building and create characters that I love just as much as the ones already established in Disney. I was caught out when reading The Beast Within as her recurring characters of the Odd Sisters were introduced in Fairest of All but I'm thankful I didn't try reading from Poor Unfortunate Soul or Mistress of All Evil as I really would have been flummoxed.
I love how the books aren't set completely at a time before we meet them in the films - the stories intersect and I think that really helps in making it sound believable. I found it quite warming when I got to the climax of the novels, where the climax of the film is, and see scenes I was already familiar with being played out word for word, but trusting that everything that has happened up to that point, fits.
Reading through the story you begin to understand the characters and they have much more depth than they do in the films. Their motives become much more reasonable and not so superficial (Maleficent being upset for not being invited to a party? Nah. It's much deeper than that). Often it blurs the line between good and evil without tarnishing the characters we all love.
As for Serena's own characters, they are so well written that I think even though you go to the series for the Disney villains, you stay for her characters, to find out what happens next to them as their stories carry on throughout this timeline. Next we will find out how they fit in with Mother Gothel but they will also be getting their own book, which might have seemed odd at first but after reading Poor Unfortunate Soul and Mistress of All Evil, I'm just as excited to read it as I am for Mother Knows Best.
I highly recommend this series for any Disney lover, even if you aren't a keen reader. It helped me to get back into reading and I'd like to think it would help others too. I also recommend following Serena on social media as she loves talking to fans and sharing sneak peeks. If you do start reading them, I will always be up for a discussion.
Lotty
xx
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