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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
An interesting interpretation of the story of the villain, which we know from childhood.
I like that now there are many books about such "evil" people, because through their story we understand that they are people too, they have their fears and they also wanted to be loved.
I like that now there are many books about such "evil" people, because through their story we understand that they are people too, they have their fears and they also wanted to be loved.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"It had never occurred to me that Mrs. Baddeley loved me. Not until Anita said so. And it made me wonder - had I had it all wrong? Maybe she had always loved me, the way Jackson had, since I was a little girl. Why had it taken me so long to understand that? ... It was almost like the woman I had been in that moment was an entirely different person than the woman I was now. And she had come out without my knowledge or permission. I didn't like that person inside me who said and did mean, awful things. But sometimes it felt as if I had no control over her."
In full transparency, I have not read any of the other books in the Villians series. I'm not sure what possessed me to request this book on NetGalley in the first place, but I have to say: I am loving that so many "evil" characters in our classic fairytale stories are finally getting their spot in the spotlight. A few years ago I read [b:Heartless|18584855|Heartless|Marissa Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1477740245l/18584855._SY75_.jpg|26322524] and I fell in love with this notion that every evil character has their own story to tell from the time before they were known as the villain we all love to hate in our fairytale stories. Disney has obviously capitalized on this idea, spending money developing both books and films sharing the origin of villains such as Maleficent and of course, Cruella De Vil.
If you've seen the movie Cruella, this book follows a different origin to Cruella's hatred of dalmatian puppies, so know that going in. We start Evil Thing following Cruella from her early childhood days living in a loving family to her teenage years sent away to boarding school with her only friend, Anita, to her life as an adult, happily married and ready to take on the world. Cruella's life as a child and teenager was difficult, but by no means would I have expected Cruella to turn into the villain she is, if I didn't know better. I think my favorite thing about villain stories is that we get to know who the character is behind their pretty horrible decisions. As with everyone, no one can be reduced to a single story. Learning more about what leads people to make the decisions they do is a powerful responsibility of humans and one we often forget about taking the time to do. There are a lot of things I don't like about Disney and what they choose to spend their money and time on, but I truly appreciate what they're doing in giving villains a story and voice beyond what we know from the original story.
TW: fire, death of a parent, abandonment, eating disorder, grief, animal cruelty, depression, suicide
**Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Book Group/Disney-Hyperion for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In full transparency, I have not read any of the other books in the Villians series. I'm not sure what possessed me to request this book on NetGalley in the first place, but I have to say: I am loving that so many "evil" characters in our classic fairytale stories are finally getting their spot in the spotlight. A few years ago I read [b:Heartless|18584855|Heartless|Marissa Meyer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1477740245l/18584855._SY75_.jpg|26322524] and I fell in love with this notion that every evil character has their own story to tell from the time before they were known as the villain we all love to hate in our fairytale stories. Disney has obviously capitalized on this idea, spending money developing both books and films sharing the origin of villains such as Maleficent and of course, Cruella De Vil.
If you've seen the movie Cruella, this book follows a different origin to Cruella's hatred of dalmatian puppies, so know that going in. We start Evil Thing following Cruella from her early childhood days living in a loving family to her teenage years sent away to boarding school with her only friend, Anita, to her life as an adult, happily married and ready to take on the world. Cruella's life as a child and teenager was difficult, but by no means would I have expected Cruella to turn into the villain she is, if I didn't know better. I think my favorite thing about villain stories is that we get to know who the character is behind their pretty horrible decisions. As with everyone, no one can be reduced to a single story. Learning more about what leads people to make the decisions they do is a powerful responsibility of humans and one we often forget about taking the time to do. There are a lot of things I don't like about Disney and what they choose to spend their money and time on, but I truly appreciate what they're doing in giving villains a story and voice beyond what we know from the original story.
TW: fire, death of a parent, abandonment, eating disorder, grief, animal cruelty, depression, suicide
**Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Book Group/Disney-Hyperion for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Poor Cruella was used and unloved by her mother. She had no support after losing her husband and to see how blindly she was to keep her mother happy it’s really saddening.
Welp. I did it. I finally finished all of these.
This one was...fine. If they had all been like this, maybe I might have had a different opinion of the series. It was a stand-alone book, there was no reference to The Odd Sisters (THANK GOODNESS) or the Many Kingdoms. There was a passing reference to Princess Tulip (I still CRINGE) and the book of fairy tales, but like the rest of the series, it was disconnected from anything substantial.
But in the end, this book was basically the same as all the other ones:
✖️-- Passive Female MC, made worse by Cursed Jewelry. Not as bad as Lady Tremaine / Book #8, but for pete's sake: can't characters have agency / do anything for a reason other than a curse/magic?
"But when I put them on, the oddest feeling came over me. It was probably all in my mind, but they made me feel so odd, so unlike myself."
✖️ -- Still Telling, not Showing. The entire story is told like a memoir, and all the major events happen off screen.
✖️ -- Mother Issues. Every. Single. One. of these books is basically some twisted version of effed-up mother/daughter relationships. Like, maybe for Snow White and Mother Gothel it makes sense, but it just would have been nice to see SOMETHING else explain why these villains went "bad."
✖️ -- Nothing happens for 90% of the book. It's just Cruella talking about her life.
✖️ -- And all of those life events do NOT explain why she turned into a puppy killing monster.
Don't get me wrong -- there's a "reason" -- she's grief-stricken and penniless and trying to earn her mother's love & approval (see above), but it doesn't make sense. She's spoiled and classist, but not evil and there is little time & text spent on exploring the psychological damage's she's incurred that would warrant such a change.
It's basically: "I'm angry! I want my Mama to love me! She doesn't approve!"
✖️ -- Also, the amount of times she switches her opinion of her mother was exhausting: she loves her, she hates her, she loves her, she hates her. It's lazy conflict.
I am very, very glad to be done with this series. I can honestly say I read every single book in the series, and it did NOT improve my opinion of the Lady Tremaine book. If anything, it makes it worse because again, mother-daughter relationships; cursed jewelry --> passive character; and we're back in the world of the Many Kingdoms again.
Next venture will be to read all of the Twisted Tales books. I remember distinctly not liking the first two -- Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty -- but I really liked some of the later ones -- Alice and Peter Pan.
Oh! And the Frozen one I didn't like. We'll see.
This one was...fine. If they had all been like this, maybe I might have had a different opinion of the series. It was a stand-alone book, there was no reference to The Odd Sisters (THANK GOODNESS) or the Many Kingdoms. There was a passing reference to Princess Tulip (I still CRINGE) and the book of fairy tales, but like the rest of the series, it was disconnected from anything substantial.
But in the end, this book was basically the same as all the other ones:
✖️-- Passive Female MC, made worse by Cursed Jewelry. Not as bad as Lady Tremaine / Book #8, but for pete's sake: can't characters have agency / do anything for a reason other than a curse/magic?
"But when I put them on, the oddest feeling came over me. It was probably all in my mind, but they made me feel so odd, so unlike myself."
✖️ -- Still Telling, not Showing. The entire story is told like a memoir, and all the major events happen off screen.
✖️ -- Mother Issues. Every. Single. One. of these books is basically some twisted version of effed-up mother/daughter relationships. Like, maybe for Snow White and Mother Gothel it makes sense, but it just would have been nice to see SOMETHING else explain why these villains went "bad."
✖️ -- Nothing happens for 90% of the book. It's just Cruella talking about her life.
✖️ -- And all of those life events do NOT explain why she turned into a puppy killing monster.
Don't get me wrong -- there's a "reason" -- she's grief-stricken and penniless and trying to earn her mother's love & approval (see above), but it doesn't make sense. She's spoiled and classist, but not evil and there is little time & text spent on exploring the psychological damage's she's incurred that would warrant such a change.
It's basically: "I'm angry! I want my Mama to love me! She doesn't approve!"
✖️ -- Also, the amount of times she switches her opinion of her mother was exhausting: she loves her, she hates her, she loves her, she hates her. It's lazy conflict.
I am very, very glad to be done with this series. I can honestly say I read every single book in the series, and it did NOT improve my opinion of the Lady Tremaine book. If anything, it makes it worse because again, mother-daughter relationships; cursed jewelry --> passive character; and we're back in the world of the Many Kingdoms again.
Next venture will be to read all of the Twisted Tales books. I remember distinctly not liking the first two -- Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty -- but I really liked some of the later ones -- Alice and Peter Pan.
Oh! And the Frozen one I didn't like. We'll see.
This isn’t even my favorite Disney villain, but this sure was my favorite book in the series! It was SPLENDID! Audiobook version gave me chills because it was so good! And the first book, that I can recall, that didn’t mention them dang Odd Sisters!! Not going to spoil it though!
I never thought I’d be interested in learning more about a different POV from Cruella. But safe to say her story was more amusing than the rest of the series!