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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
I loved the Land of Stories and this is along the same lines of it, although the writing and plots of Land of Stories were more on a Harry Potter level, while this one felt like it was directed more so at little kids.
Actual rating 1.5
This was so boring!!! It did not have the vibes y’all, I just wanted a good time. I wanted to feel how I felt watching the movies but honestly what did I expect, I didn’t even really like the first book!
This was so boring!!! It did not have the vibes y’all, I just wanted a good time. I wanted to feel how I felt watching the movies but honestly what did I expect, I didn’t even really like the first book!
Part of my 2018 Unhaul Challenge!
This book was so fun to read! I’m going to be completely honest here and say I’ve seen the TV movies for this book series, and I loved them. The book series doesn’t follow the movies, they’re more like filling in one after the other, and I really appreciate that because you can enjoy this series in both formats (book & movie) and you’re not just reading/watching the same plot.
While I liked this one much more than the first, I can see a lot of parallels between the two. There’s the four main villain kids who have to once again go up against their conniving parents while trying to find themselves in their new ‘good’ world. I think the reason I liked this one more is because the first half takes place in Auradon, and I enjoy that aspect of this series, and then the second half takes us on a journey through the Isle as we uncover a plot to once again take over Auradon. At the same time, King Ben is on his own mission searching for a mysterious creature who is destroying Camelot. It was fun, fast paced, and a good story with a genuine mystery at its heart. Plus, I really liked how these two plot lines came together at the end.
One of the things I wish this book had, however, was a MAP. If you’re going to spend a lot of time talking about locations the way the author does in this book, the least you could do is provide us a map so we can visualize these locations. Especially since this series involves multiple different kingdoms all combined into one. I mean, can you imagine how awesome that map would be? Other than that, this was a super fun book to read and I can see why younger kids like it so much! I think I like the movies just a tad bit more (I’m a sucker for musicals) but the books are still a great little trip into my favorite universe.
You can check out other full reviews, author interviews, and bookish talks at Tonkin About Books!
This book was so fun to read! I’m going to be completely honest here and say I’ve seen the TV movies for this book series, and I loved them. The book series doesn’t follow the movies, they’re more like filling in one after the other, and I really appreciate that because you can enjoy this series in both formats (book & movie) and you’re not just reading/watching the same plot.
While I liked this one much more than the first, I can see a lot of parallels between the two. There’s the four main villain kids who have to once again go up against their conniving parents while trying to find themselves in their new ‘good’ world. I think the reason I liked this one more is because the first half takes place in Auradon, and I enjoy that aspect of this series, and then the second half takes us on a journey through the Isle as we uncover a plot to once again take over Auradon. At the same time, King Ben is on his own mission searching for a mysterious creature who is destroying Camelot. It was fun, fast paced, and a good story with a genuine mystery at its heart. Plus, I really liked how these two plot lines came together at the end.
One of the things I wish this book had, however, was a MAP. If you’re going to spend a lot of time talking about locations the way the author does in this book, the least you could do is provide us a map so we can visualize these locations. Especially since this series involves multiple different kingdoms all combined into one. I mean, can you imagine how awesome that map would be? Other than that, this was a super fun book to read and I can see why younger kids like it so much! I think I like the movies just a tad bit more (I’m a sucker for musicals) but the books are still a great little trip into my favorite universe.
You can check out other full reviews, author interviews, and bookish talks at Tonkin About Books!
Better than the first book, but once again the lead up to each kids' challenge was far more interesting than the challenge itself. Not much of a challenge if you beat it in 3.2 seconds.
Amazing book. Would've had it done in less time since I couldn't put it down but of course, sometimes you get busy and can't read. Starting the third later on before bed again! Definitely recommended, preferred it to the first honestly. It captured me more than the first did.
First one was a lot better. The plot is more simple here, where you can tell how the plot is gonna go before it happens, even if you don't know the details. It was still interesting to see all the new characters that are glossed over in the movie, as well as knowing that Facilier's daughter was also moved to Auradon as a rehabilation effort though.
It was so much fun returning back to Auradon and the Isle of the Lost, however, in saying that, I still preferred the first book (which I gave a 3.5 stars).
I think this one got pegged down a half star mainly because I just wasn't as connected to the story and characters as I had initially been. Also, I found that it didn't feel as put together as the first one. It's hard to explain but it feels like this one was almost forced whereas the first book had a natural flow to it. I also found that sometimes characters seemed to know way too much about things that didn't make sense for them to know that much and this made some of the basic character and plot building fall out of logic.
Regardless, I still really enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to the third book, even though I had my heart set on a duology.
I found that Cruz fills you in/refreshes your memory straight away. So much so that I think you could get away without reading the first book, or maybe just watch the film (which was a really good representation of the first book)- Funny side note, I love how the musical numbers of the film were acknowledged and sort of mocked upon, in a good natured way.
Pretty early on I had my suspicions about a certain character but even though I was right, I was completely way off the mark with what I thought was going on. As you can see, this wasn't at all as predictable as I was assuming.
The humour in this is cute. It's definitely a kid's book with some of the silly jokes and cringey parts. I did love the cringe though as it is classic Disney. For example, I loved when Cruz would say something pretty obvious (but not obvious to me because I need to brush up on my old school characters, *cough, cough*, Yen Sid) about a character. I.E. Cogsworth's loyal efficiency being as regular as clockwork. It also felt like the author just really took the time to know her characters by implementing a sort of "inside joke", if you get what I mean.
I found myself compelled to flit back to the chapter title after I read the chapter to see if it became obvious as to what it was hinting at/linked to (although they were far from cryptic riddles), because I couldn't guess for the life of me what the chapter would include beforehand, just from the title.
I did feel like they were thrown into the mega quest a little too late in the story (my first real suspicion that this would be more than a 2 book series) but I think they also did that on the first book. Nevertheless, I was apprehensive because I thought the storytelling would become rushed when all the action began and break the nice pacing that the book had and if that happened I wouldn't get it.
Although the ending didn't feel rushed like I feared, it was very anticlimactic and a random duel was thrown in towards the end to round up the side plot and to add a bit of action... However I would have rather been left without it.
I'm left with one confusion... If what Mal had already destroyed regenerated in some way, then won't the others eventually regenerate too?
Overall, this was a decent read, which was fun but also had some nice messages about self belief and choosing your own destiny. I think these are great morals for younger children, who are the target audience of this book. I can't wait for the third book to come out!
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy!! ^_^
Gén
I think this one got pegged down a half star mainly because I just wasn't as connected to the story and characters as I had initially been. Also, I found that it didn't feel as put together as the first one. It's hard to explain but it feels like this one was almost forced whereas the first book had a natural flow to it. I also found that sometimes characters seemed to know way too much about things that didn't make sense for them to know that much and this made some of the basic character and plot building fall out of logic.
Regardless, I still really enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to the third book, even though I had my heart set on a duology.
I found that Cruz fills you in/refreshes your memory straight away. So much so that I think you could get away without reading the first book, or maybe just watch the film (which was a really good representation of the first book)- Funny side note, I love how the musical numbers of the film were acknowledged and sort of mocked upon, in a good natured way.
Pretty early on I had my suspicions about a certain character but even though I was right, I was completely way off the mark with what I thought was going on. As you can see, this wasn't at all as predictable as I was assuming.
The humour in this is cute. It's definitely a kid's book with some of the silly jokes and cringey parts. I did love the cringe though as it is classic Disney. For example, I loved when Cruz would say something pretty obvious (but not obvious to me because I need to brush up on my old school characters, *cough, cough*, Yen Sid) about a character. I.E. Cogsworth's loyal efficiency being as regular as clockwork. It also felt like the author just really took the time to know her characters by implementing a sort of "inside joke", if you get what I mean.
I found myself compelled to flit back to the chapter title after I read the chapter to see if it became obvious as to what it was hinting at/linked to (although they were far from cryptic riddles), because I couldn't guess for the life of me what the chapter would include beforehand, just from the title.
I did feel like they were thrown into the mega quest a little too late in the story (my first real suspicion that this would be more than a 2 book series) but I think they also did that on the first book. Nevertheless, I was apprehensive because I thought the storytelling would become rushed when all the action began and break the nice pacing that the book had and if that happened I wouldn't get it.
Although the ending didn't feel rushed like I feared, it was very anticlimactic and a random duel was thrown in towards the end to round up the side plot and to add a bit of action... However I would have rather been left without it.
I'm left with one confusion... If what Mal had already destroyed regenerated in some way, then won't the others eventually regenerate too?
Overall, this was a decent read, which was fun but also had some nice messages about self belief and choosing your own destiny. I think these are great morals for younger children, who are the target audience of this book. I can't wait for the third book to come out!
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy!! ^_^
Gén
So there's a lot of continuity problems now in the series. Since the books advertise the movies you would think they would be better about it but I'm finding I like the books a lot less. This second one involves the VKs going to the Isle again when in the second movie they supposedly hadn't been back and no one else had yet to come over to Auradon yet. It's making me enjoy the books less that these important details are just getting ignored and making for a confusing time especially for young readers who were looking to read more from what they saw in the movies. The second book requires you to have seen the first movie since these events take place after it but then ignore a lot of what happened. It's just kind of a mess.
Interesting. I want sure how the books tied into the movies, and I'm still not 100 percent. But overall a nice story.