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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I feel like I enjoyed this one more than the first, but man the ending was so weakkkk. I found myself saying “that’s it?” for each THING that happened (no spoilers). I know I’m not the target audience here but man, these books are definitely geared toward young YA and MG. I’m going to read the next one soonish so I can watch Descendants 2 lol.
My library only had this book as an audiobook, and since I had never listened to an audiobook, I was a little skeptical.
I was wrong! I loved the audiobook! It was read by Sofia Carson, one of the actresses from the Descendants movie, and I think that helped a lot. She just made it sound like you were there, watching the story unfold and be swept up in all the action.
I'm glad I tried out the audiobook, because I listened to the whole thing at work, and it was nice as it kept me focused on both the story and my work, and I got a LOT done!
I think I was believing that this book would be about the movie (I haven't watched it yet, but am planning on it!), but it was more of a continuation of where the movie finished. Since I didn't see it, it felt a little choppy, but otherwise, I enjoyed the book.
This genre isn't really my cup of tea, but I wanted to read the series before the 2nd movie came out so that I would be able to understand it all.
Also waiting on my library to get the 3rd book in to read, so I'm pretty excited!
I was wrong! I loved the audiobook! It was read by Sofia Carson, one of the actresses from the Descendants movie, and I think that helped a lot. She just made it sound like you were there, watching the story unfold and be swept up in all the action.
I'm glad I tried out the audiobook, because I listened to the whole thing at work, and it was nice as it kept me focused on both the story and my work, and I got a LOT done!
I think I was believing that this book would be about the movie (I haven't watched it yet, but am planning on it!), but it was more of a continuation of where the movie finished. Since I didn't see it, it felt a little choppy, but otherwise, I enjoyed the book.
This genre isn't really my cup of tea, but I wanted to read the series before the 2nd movie came out so that I would be able to understand it all.
Also waiting on my library to get the 3rd book in to read, so I'm pretty excited!
Sequel to “isle of the lost “ and takes place right after “ Disney’s Descendants “ ) Mal and the rest of the VKs must return to the isle to figure out who sent such threatening messages. Figure out where their “ adoring” parents are and make it back in time for school on Monday. I love seeing how mals friendship is tested in her own feelings towards her friends , since even though she’s the daughter of the mistress of evil she must learn that ,that isn’t all she is. ( 2021 review )
in my opinion, this book was slightly less gripping than its predecessor, probably just because that one introduced the characters and therefore had its own distinct purpose, while this one is comparably pretty slow. i suppose technically the last one didn't have any more plot than this one does, but because it was so busy setting the scene, that kind of made up for the fact that the action didn't start until the end of the book. this one doesn't have that perk - i found all the "anti-heroes" stuff very dull, and the bit in the catacombs was the only bit that really appealed to me, but that quite literally took place in the last sixth of the story. it's a shame that the action took so long to begin, but i suppose its position in the storyline made sense. i did, however, find the whole concept of energy transference when applied to magic interesting - how magic is a physical force, and when it gets pushed out of one place, it must be moved into another - how the dome constantly holding out magic must be creating a serious rift in the atmosphere, and all that energy is getting redirected underground, going completely batshit. also, the description of what ‘evil’ is, as a living thing that actually uses people and objects to keep itself alive. the whole part about how magic can run awry and literally sprawl like a living thing and go balls to the wall insane and create an entire world within a world was seriously sick. i loved all the stuff that the transferred magic created by itself - the lake, the poison tree, the sand dunes, the city - and also how the doors kept appearing and taking the characters deeper and deeper into this fake world, even if it was a little cliched. i thought it was smart how they all needed to complete their challenges themselves, except for mal, which makes sense considering her downfall is her stubborn insistence on doing everything herself, and refusing help due to personal pride. i thought that was important character development for her. there are a few bones i have to pick with this book however (as per). i didn’t like how the prologue was called chapter 1 as it clearly was not chapter 1 - there was a chapter 1 right after it. smells like lazy editing to me. and i also didn’t like how it was called "disney’s descendants" - you can’t directly reference the company that invented these characters in a book in which the characters are meant to be REAL, you plums. it totally ruins the immersion. then there are the usual inconsistencies that are rife throughout this series, such as the part where genie is described as “floating”, despite the last book explaining that he had been reverted into human form, legs and all; how jordan apparently prefers to be bottled up rather than having a regular dorm room, even though genies supposedly despise being cooped up in their lamps, and desire to be freed; everyone being so peachy-sweet in auradon to the point of never stealing so much as a penny from each other, yet chad is such a prick to jay for no discernible reason; evie making her usual general shallow remarks, such as “red doesn’t look good on my complexion” as that's meant to be the sort of thing she’d say (not everyone who likes cosmetics is shallow and dull, writer), despite it making no sense in the context - i mean, she wears red lipstick all the time! why were harry and jace not cockney in the first book? it makes sense that they would be, considering their parents are, but in this book they’re actually written to say some medieval pip-pip cheerio shit like “crikey” and “guvnor”, while in the first book they just spoke ordinarily. also, jace is definitely not an english name. and while we're on the subject, these books are set in america, and are written by an american author, so why do they say so much british stuff? “mum”, not mom; “metres”, not yards; “year nine”, not eighth grade; and even using a "hot cup of tea" as an example of something tasty. why did ben think madame mim was mal’s mum? it wasn’t even like an “ooh, purple dragon with greenish eyes, maybe it’s maleficient!”, it was literally, “ben had nearly been killed by this bitch before, of course he was certain it was her, he would know that face anywhere”. and yet they look nothing alike! why are there so many 2-page chapters in this book? no book needs 45 fucking chapters, especially if it's only got under 300 pages. it feels lowkey racist that yzla, basically the only black girl in the entirety of the series so far, is constantly putting shit like “girl” and “yo” at the start of her sentences. ditto the fact that lonnie, the resident asian, asks for a lotus-print, red and gold dress, and that jordan, the other resident asian, has “oriental” rugs (what does that even mean?) and columns in her lamp. i do like how the VKs aren’t all scared of their parents, and don’t see them as villains (other than carlos, which makes sense because he’s timid and his mum is a bitch) - it’s more realistic after all that they just see them as their parents. i like the inclusion of the quotes from different classic characters after each new section of the book as it gives it a fairytale feel. i do think it’s a bit cliche how there’s only 4 talismans, one for each of the 4 main characters' parents - it would’ve been more realistic if there had been others down there, and that would’ve been a good way to introduce new characters. i will say the writing is slightly better in this book than in the last one, and the story is passable, but it’s my least favourite in the series.
Return to the Isle of the Lost
4.5/5 stars
I was already loving the way this book started, seeing as how I had seen many fanfictions of Descendants in which the kids of Auradon would beat and bully the VKs and they would just silently take it to avoid starting drama that could get them sent back to the Isle. Usually people portrayed it as Carlos because he gives off a weaker air but interestingly enough here it was Jay.
I knew about the messages for a while having read the preview of the book when it was released on Twitter. I was really into that as the central plot of having a strange enemy that would lead them back to the isle.
Then meanwhile you got Ben going on this weird Game of Thrones/Skyrim quest with Merlin and them where he starts learning more about the earthquakes they've been having and ends up seeing this giant ass dragon that looks exactly like Maleficent.
Holy crap, so apparently the anti-heroes are not gonna jump them. They're actually a radical group and Mal is like their Katniss.
The talismans part felt a little repetitive of the first book but I did love the part of the quest where Carlos goes to find his in the modern world and sees Cruella there and has to face his abuser was such a good scene.
The ending was a little anticlimactic considering I've never seen whatever movie Madame Mim is from so I wasn't really feeling her as a villain. But that very last scene where they see Jafar with the key and they talk about going to war with the Isle got me excited though.
Is "School of Secrets" that was advertised at the back of the book a continuation or what? Cause I've heard nothing about it.
A lot of people were complaining that their wasn't enough romance but I think she developed Mal and Bens relationship beautifully. Him being worried about her when they were on the island and he found the website was sweet. That reunion at the end was precious.
I guess the movie had so much Jaylos that I was hoping for a little here but I ain't complaining. The most I noticed was
1. Carlos wearing Jays clothes
2. Even though Mal was drowning and they were all scared for her Jay still didn't want Carlos to jump in for fear of him getting hurt.
4.5/5 stars
I was already loving the way this book started, seeing as how I had seen many fanfictions of Descendants in which the kids of Auradon would beat and bully the VKs and they would just silently take it to avoid starting drama that could get them sent back to the Isle. Usually people portrayed it as Carlos because he gives off a weaker air but interestingly enough here it was Jay.
I knew about the messages for a while having read the preview of the book when it was released on Twitter. I was really into that as the central plot of having a strange enemy that would lead them back to the isle.
Then meanwhile you got Ben going on this weird Game of Thrones/Skyrim quest with Merlin and them where he starts learning more about the earthquakes they've been having and ends up seeing this giant ass dragon that looks exactly like Maleficent.
Holy crap, so apparently the anti-heroes are not gonna jump them. They're actually a radical group and Mal is like their Katniss.
The talismans part felt a little repetitive of the first book but I did love the part of the quest where Carlos goes to find his in the modern world and sees Cruella there and has to face his abuser was such a good scene.
The ending was a little anticlimactic considering I've never seen whatever movie Madame Mim is from so I wasn't really feeling her as a villain. But that very last scene where they see Jafar with the key and they talk about going to war with the Isle got me excited though.
Is "School of Secrets" that was advertised at the back of the book a continuation or what? Cause I've heard nothing about it.
A lot of people were complaining that their wasn't enough romance but I think she developed Mal and Bens relationship beautifully. Him being worried about her when they were on the island and he found the website was sweet. That reunion at the end was precious.
I guess the movie had so much Jaylos that I was hoping for a little here but I ain't complaining. The most I noticed was
1. Carlos wearing Jays clothes
2. Even though Mal was drowning and they were all scared for her Jay still didn't want Carlos to jump in for fear of him getting hurt.
I love that it helps broaden the characters from the movie. It doesn’t loose pace and keeps you entertained. I can’t wait to continue the series!
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Actual rating: 3.5
I thought that this book wasn't quite as good as the first book in the series. Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos have become good characters. This made the characters not quite as interesting as they didn't have any evil schemes planned.
I also felt that there were far too many characters mentioned in this book. Names seemed to be thrown in but we didn't really know who these characters were and they were only mentioned once and then never mentioned again.
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more when I was younger as I am/was a huge Disney fan. This series is a lot of fun to read and if you are looking for a fun quick read then this series is perfect for that.
I thought that this book wasn't quite as good as the first book in the series. Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos have become good characters. This made the characters not quite as interesting as they didn't have any evil schemes planned.
I also felt that there were far too many characters mentioned in this book. Names seemed to be thrown in but we didn't really know who these characters were and they were only mentioned once and then never mentioned again.
I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more when I was younger as I am/was a huge Disney fan. This series is a lot of fun to read and if you are looking for a fun quick read then this series is perfect for that.
me gusto mucho mas que el anterior, pensé que iba a ser lo mismo que la secuela de peli pero creo que esta historia pasa antes, para los fan de Disney , muy recomendado!!