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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
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.
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.