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readandtellstories's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Honestly, I really did not enjoy this book. I enjoyed the first maybe half of it and then it went super downhill for me. The story wasn’t very believable and had too many moments of “oh they were so close, but then something terrible happens again.” I never felt like I got any satisfaction for the characters and their plight and by the end, I really didn’t care anymore. I also really wanted them to kind of circle back and parallel to the original story with Jafar’s last wish and the ending really left me wanting so much more. I was actually furious when I finished this book, so unfortunately it’s not high on the rating scale for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty
ninaleeray's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-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? No
5.0
This take on Disney’s Aladdin starts off familiar and takes a dark turn. Jafar with his evil magic goes to unimaginable lengths to become all powerful stops at nothing using Iago, genie and death to his advantage.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death of parent, and Violence
holiday7's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm not really the biggest fan of Aladdin. But I kind of liked this one. It was pretty good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, and Animal death
vixenreader's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The re-telling of “Aladdin” treads a fine line between a replica of the original source and fan-fiction, it is a lot better, and surprisingly more inspired, than it could have been.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, War, Murder, Death of parent, Violence, Slavery, Torture, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Police brutality, Body horror, Medical content, Body shaming, Confinement, Animal cruelty, and Gore
Minor: Fatphobia, Genocide, Classism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death
Ultranationalist governments, arranged marriage, starvation, thirst, poverty, theft, and drowning in sand are also featured in the text.ylienna'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? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Child death
Minor: Police brutality
writtenbydnicole's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
stormywolf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Partly inspired by a certain internet movie reviewer, and partly because I am a bit of a fangirl, I decided I wanted to dedicate the month of December to all that is Disney! This series of reviews will focus on Disney-inspired media, obviously, and will hopefully expand over the years. This year I wanted to get the ball rolling on their Twisted Tales series, books that promise to re-imagine the Disney stories we know and love as new, darker takes. Will they be successful, or will the originals' magic still hold?
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, there was a lot I liked in this story, but the execution was lacking. There are tons of valuable perspectives addressed throughout the story—of women in a patriarchal society, of poverty and morality, of power and justice—but without a central character to witness and react to these revelations and (hopefully) changes, it doesn't leave much of an impact when all's said and done. It is an interesting What If... story, to be sure, but would have greatly benefited from a tighter focus and/or more alterations to main characters. Still, as an introduction to the possibilities of these Twisted Tales, I'm definitely looking forward to what lies ahead, albeit with a bit more apprehension.
Read my full review at The Wolf's Den
Overall, there was a lot I liked in this story, but the execution was lacking. There are tons of valuable perspectives addressed throughout the story—of women in a patriarchal society, of poverty and morality, of power and justice—but without a central character to witness and react to these revelations and (hopefully) changes, it doesn't leave much of an impact when all's said and done. It is an interesting What If... story, to be sure, but would have greatly benefited from a tighter focus and/or more alterations to main characters. Still, as an introduction to the possibilities of these Twisted Tales, I'm definitely looking forward to what lies ahead, albeit with a bit more apprehension.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Slavery, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and War
journeythroughthechapters's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Thoughts
This was such a disappointment.
My experience reading this was amazing because I buddy read it with my best friend but we both hated it. Haha.
Things I liked:
- The Setting: I thought the way the atmosphere was described was really good. I felt like I could imagine Agrabah which was cool but not enough for me to enjoy this book.
Think I didn't love
- The Writing: The best way I can describe the writing is that the author just wrote everything she thought and turned it into a book. She used words like "unprincessy", "uppity", "teeny tiny". It was a real struggle to get through. Because the writing felt so clunky.
- The Characters: I think Jasmine was trying to be too much of everything. Morgiana was a cool character but we didn't get that much of her. Aladdin was good. I feel like he was the strongest character and most consistent. But all the other characters were average. It was mainly Jasmine that I didn't like and she took up A LOT of the story.
- The Logic: There were a few things in the end that didn't make sense. A couple of out of character things. People's actions. It was confusing and made no sense.
I wish loved this but I didn't. I'm happy it's done. Onto better reads. Let's hope.
Representation
POC (main character and side)
Content Warning
Loss of a parent, Animal Abuse, Decapitation/Body Horror, Death, Violence
This was such a disappointment.
My experience reading this was amazing because I buddy read it with my best friend but we both hated it. Haha.
Things I liked:
- The Setting: I thought the way the atmosphere was described was really good. I felt like I could imagine Agrabah which was cool but not enough for me to enjoy this book.
Think I didn't love
- The Writing: The best way I can describe the writing is that the author just wrote everything she thought and turned it into a book. She used words like "unprincessy", "uppity", "teeny tiny". It was a real struggle to get through. Because the writing felt so clunky.
- The Characters: I think Jasmine was trying to be too much of everything. Morgiana was a cool character but we didn't get that much of her. Aladdin was good. I feel like he was the strongest character and most consistent. But all the other characters were average. It was mainly Jasmine that I didn't like and she took up A LOT of the story.
- The Logic: There were a few things in the end that didn't make sense. A couple of out of character things. People's actions. It was confusing and made no sense.
I wish loved this but I didn't. I'm happy it's done. Onto better reads. Let's hope.
Representation
POC (main character and side)
Content Warning
Loss of a parent, Animal Abuse, Decapitation/Body Horror, Death, Violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty
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