A Whole New World in Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon

Aug 10, 2015 Cristina (My Tiny Obsessions) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I received an eArc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me really excited! I found out about when I was looking into fairytales retellings for a Top Ten Tuesday post a couple of weeks ago, I immediately marked it as “to Read”. My excitement grew when I started to roam around Netgalley and it was there, I requested it, even though my hopes were not high (I had just joined), but to my surprised this was my firs approved request and within 2 days I had I received an eArc from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me really excited! I found out about when I was looking into fairytales retellings for a Top Ten Tuesday post a couple of weeks ago, I immediately marked it as “to Read”. My excitement grew when I started to roam around Netgalley and it was there, I requested it, even though my hopes were not high (I had just joined), but to my surprised this was my firs approved request and within 2 days I had a book I actually really wanted. So, as soon as I was done with Heir of Fire, I dove into this… I have always loved Aladdin, so I was expecting to love this book… I didn’t!

What a disappointment and missed opportunity! The concept of this new Disney series is to put a twist on known Disney stories, which sound great, but the result was not good.

First off, the first 25% of the book is the Disney animated movie, verbatim!

I didn’t find Liz Braswell’s writing enjoyable. It was way too repetitive and at times over descriptive, while other times totally ignoring and forgetting to explain some situations. Also, I didn’t find the POVs clear, I like to know which side I’m reading, it helps to get into the characters and the story, but at times I had no idea… :(

The characters that we all know and love were underdeveloped and for me the only one that truly shone was Aladdin. Jasmine had some development, but I found it lacking and, at times, truly atrocious. The Genie’s contribution is really small here, given that he’s with Jafar the whole time, he never bonds with Aladdin, and they actually only speak once… what a shame!

Some messages really rubbed me the wrong way, liked this one, which is basically saying that damn your convictions, agree with what your girlfriend wants, because you won’t find better?

Oh, and that ending! What the hell was that?! I mean, at least there was SOMETHING in the book that I did not see coming, but that was bad… poor carpet, poor Genie, poor Sultan… And let’s not even mention Iago…

In the end, the little I enjoyed was based on the story I already knew, and if anything, it made me want to dust off Aladdin and push play.

Rating: 1.5 Stars ...more

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Apr 15, 2015 Stormi (StormReads) rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley-arcs, summer-coyer-2015, young-adult, part-of-series, retelling

Gave it a 3.5 on my blog.

So I will admit that this one had me a little curious. Disney taking it’s movies and twisting them into something else. I have seen a lot of reviews that are not so flattering and after reading it I can see why and for those who DNFed it I am wondering if they just didn’t give it enough time.

See about the first 25% of this book is pretty much exactly like the movie, and that was a lot of peoples problems. Then Jafar gets the lamp and your beloved Aladdin story turns into Gave it a 3.5 on my blog.

So I will admit that this one had me a little curious. Disney taking it’s movies and twisting them into something else. I have seen a lot of reviews that are not so flattering and after reading it I can see why and for those who DNFed it I am wondering if they just didn’t give it enough time.

See about the first 25% of this book is pretty much exactly like the movie, and that was a lot of peoples problems. Then Jafar gets the lamp and your beloved Aladdin story turns into something a bit more dark. Just think of the last part of the movie where Jafar gets the lamp and amping that up a bit..see it’s been twisted.

Jafar gets the lamp and wants to be Sultan, check. Then he wants to be the most powerful scorcerer in the world, check. Then his third wish he wanted Jasmine to fall in love with him, but the Genie can’t grant that wish. That wish is part of the three things a genie can’t do. He can’t make someone fall in love, he can’t bring people back from the dead and he can’t kill anyone.

This makes Jafar really upset cause he really wants to be loved by everyone. He starts a quest to find the darkest magic so he can break the three rules. He want’s to be idolized, he wants an army of the dead, etc.

Meanwhile, Aladdin and his street rat friends are trying to figure out how to get princess Jasmine out of the palace and to safety. Then they have to try and figure a way to stop Jafar before their whole city dies.

You don’t get a lot of the sweet and funny genie in this version. No he is very glum and sad and pretty much a slave to Jafar. He does try and help Jasmine a few times, but we never get to see the fun genie. It really is a bit twisted and some sad things happen that made me a little mad.

So overall, I enjoyed the story even though I had to go a little bit to get to the twisted and different Aladdin story. I am kind of curious to see how they might twist another Disney classic. At the same time I think it’s a poor attempt at Disney to try and make more money off of their already made classic movies. ...more

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Apr 08, 2015 Michelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: awesome-ending, book-by-author-i-read, kick-ass-protagonist, i-feel-it-in-the-heart, made-me-fangirl, too-good, 2015, it-is-just-me, yum, physical-arcs

This review can also be found on A Thousand Lives Lived, check it out for more!

Disney is honestly the best franchise in the entire world. Everything about the movies and the theme parks just makes me smile like a little girl, and even adults love the stories that make it up. Aladdin has always been one of my favourite stories of them all, and it carries the best characters: Genie, Jasmine, Abu, even Jafar. The world setting is extraordinary, and I love that Liz Braswell has twisted the original ...more

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Sep 14, 2020 Carey added it · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf

I'm choosing not to continue this book. It's a repeat of the Aladdin story with a twist. I've finally gotten to the twist. I've read spoilers and it's not something I want to continue. ...more

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