Reviews

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

peters_book_nook's review

5.0

This retelling of my all time favorite Disney film is a real shock! To begin with it's very similar to the movie, even using some of the dialogue. But then it starts to get twisted. This alternative route is amazing! I cried when the Sultan gets murdered by Jafar and was amazed at home badassed Jasmine was. The Genie has a happy ending but not as we know it.

beata_maria's review

dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

amandamaney's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

stufflebee's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.0

wheelylauren's review against another edition

2.0

Only gets an extra star because at least jasmine had a more active role than she did in the movie

whosbradpitt's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

1.5

Read this aloud to the older kid, and I'm kind of hoping not to have to continue the series tbh.

I'm game for a retelling and an interesting twist. This had some of it, but it also had long segments setting the stage that were straight from the Disney movie, more like the junior novelization genre. Aladdin himself is more interesting, as is Jasmine. Jafar is certainly horrible - the violence is intense and gratuitous. (It very much felt like "Look how dark I can be! I'll describe this violent death! See! Dark and twisted!) If we do feel the need to continue, I think I'll say to hell with the order and pick a story I like more as a baseline.

If you're good with some spoilers, I suggest this review: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/fea4a745-8d13-4681-9b50-d0f4aa490eec

esw_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

rymoffatt's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

missposabule's review against another edition

3.0

I had a hard time ranking "A Whole New World." On the one hand, I was enthralled throughout the book, came to love the characters, and wanted to know how everything would end. On the other hand, this book is kind of stupid. It is a dark retelling of a Disney movie - if anything, it's just a step above Disney fanfiction. There's literally a section of this book that involves Jafar torturing The Magic Carpet, which is weirdly fucked-up, but I guess in-character? The thing is, I liked this fanfiction (though I could have done without the carpet-torture) and I enjoyed every moment of it. It just won't win any Pulitzers.

hooked_on_books23's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

okay this was actually so interesting to read, it was such a cool twist on aladdin (what if aladdin had never found the lamp?) LIKE OMG
the way that liz braswell interpreted aladdin in her own way was amazing, it was so cool, it was like we were diving into a crazy "what-if" question that we all have every now and again
i also love how she kept the romance between aladdin and jasmine, just how they fell in love was twisted slightly, and i ate it up
this book wasnt normally on my radar, except from the fact that its on my bookshelf, but im not mad that i decided to read it