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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
This review can also be found at penandpaperss on Tumblr.
Review type: Quick whips
I was a little reluctant with this book at first. First and foremost, I never fancied myself into reading Disney books before. If anything, it wasn’t even in my line of interest despite my love for Disney. But my obsession for Disney grew stronger by the new movies such as Frozen and Tangled and I thought, “Hey, why not give this one a shot?” And you know what? This book was definitely worth the shot.
I have to say, I was a bit confused with the book at first. But clearly, that was my mistake since I thought the movie (Disney Descendants) for this book would have the same plot as the trailer. I realized way too late that the second book for Isle of the Lost does not exist. Rather, the continuation of the book is the movie. Which, I think, explains so much. The Isle of the Lost is actually an introduction of the characters which is amazing because it gives us an amazing background and feel of the characters before diving in head-first into watching the movie.
I love the characters here. Every single one of them, I might add. I watched the trailer before I read the book and I can really imagine Dove Cameron playing Mal (daughter of Maleficent) like a badass. I think among the four descendant-villains: Jay (son of Jafar), Carlos (son of Cruella De Vil), Mal and Evie (daughter of the Evil Queen [Snow White]) -- Mal was my favorite. There’s just something about her personality that just drew me to her on a personal level. And the fact that she was the first to show a certain personality that rids of the villain-descendant trope makes her twice as amazing. Honestly, none of these characters were a bore. They really get the readers involved. Their humor and their conflicting personalities as an entire group were really riveting!
What I hope we got out of the book is a little more of Ben, the son of Belle and Adam (the Beast) and Prince of Auradon (where the good live, while the evil live in the Isle of the Lost). I think he’s like every other prince: a prince who wants to prove himself worthy of the throne. But I like how he’s trying without that much assistance. He’s doing so much on his own and I think that calls for great independence. And the fact that he was dreaming of Mal just... EEP. I indirectly ship them because damn, they never even met in the book and yet they dreamt of each other. THERE GOES MY SHIPPER HEART. Hopefully the movie will do their story’s continuation justice.
Melissa de la Cruz is a FILIPINO AUTHOR. That’s right. We have the same flesh and blood (mostly blood, haha!). The fact that she made it this far into writing more than thirty books gives me so much hope! There is, definitely, hope for the more intellectual Filipino authors out there. She is an inspiration in more ways than one and the more I think about it, the more I believe that it’s possible for me to be published and known as a worldwide, best-selling author myself. Melissa’s writing is flawless and absolutely easy to the eyes (and ears).
Overall, this was a spectacular book. Not one of my all-time-favorites, but nonetheless deserves a five-star rating. Because who doesn’t love Disney-centric stories? I really wished she had added Hans’s son/daughter or Kristoff and Anna’s son/daughter. Anything Frozen-centric since the book was released just this year and I’m sure she had time to add Frozen into the picture. But no matter! The book is still amazing to me, and if you’re a Disney-geek-who-won’t-stop-singing-Disney-songs-for-at-least-a-day, then this evil book is just for you!
Watch Disney Descendants trailer here.
This book will definitely appeal to die-hard fans of Disney and the movie tie-in will add to its popularity. But it's not a great a book. None of the characters have much depth. And the story itself really isn't very compelling. The best I can say is that I did finish it. But I was glad to be finished. Still, it is an OK book for its target audience.