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faelyn's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
alyshadeshae's review against another edition
1.0
This book was... Well, awful.
It didn't have to be. It was an interesting AU concept, but it's poorly written and barely edited. The story has potential. I love AU fanfic, which is basically what this is, (Hell, it's how Twilight started!), but it is executed (heh, Mary Elizabeth reference) so poorly.
I'm curious to see where the series goes and if it gets better, so I'll probably keep reading them as they come out, but I don't see much improvement.
It didn't have to be. It was an interesting AU concept, but it's poorly written and barely edited. The story has potential. I love AU fanfic, which is basically what this is, (Hell, it's how Twilight started!), but it is executed (heh, Mary Elizabeth reference) so poorly.
I'm curious to see where the series goes and if it gets better, so I'll probably keep reading them as they come out, but I don't see much improvement.
geanncrs's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
smittenforfiction's review
3.0
After loving Mayhem by Estelle Laure I jumped at the chance to read an ARC of her new book City of Villains.
"This dark and edgy YA series explores the reimagined origins of Maleficent, Ursula, Captain Hook, and other infamous Disney Villains like you’ve never seen before."
About The Book
whitneymouse's review against another edition
2.0
**Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Books for an eArc in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed my rating**
In this first book of a series, we find Mary Elizabeth Heart, a girl who dreams of being a detective and helping others in her neighborhood after the brutal murder of her parents and sister. Mary Elizabeth is a "Legacy", the descendant of a family line that had magic. However, magic has been dead for years and after Legacy kids start to go missing, including Mary Elizabeth's best friend, she'll have to choose between her found family and her dream.
I'm going to be completely honest...this book was a wreck. It was so clumsily handled. It becomes very obvious early on the "Legacy" kids are an analog for minorities, specifically the Black community in modern day America. They live in an area of the city that once was beautiful but is now crumbling apart. Some of the "Narrow" kids (those born without magical descent) try to copy their style of dress and their heart birthmarks with tattoos. A history teacher mentions a march that happened in the past for better infrastructure in the Legacy area, the Scar, and one of the Narrow kids says something to the effect of "they cost the city of Monarch thousands and looted and stole!" Another says a politician character is "going to make Monarch great again!" It feels like the author is hitting the reader over the head with this in a book about the origin stories of the villains. The *villains* are stand-ins for Black people and are constantly written as being in opposition to or unwilling to talk with the police in a book not by a Black author. This is problematic, to say the least.
The way they become the villains we know and love was not super unique but I did think how we got there was new. The actual antagonist isn't as much of a surprise as they should be. This all said, it was a wreck the way that a bad movie can be really entertaining. I wasn't ever bored even though this book has a LOT of problems. It was really funny, though I think most of it was unintentionally so. My absolute favorite thing is that Gaston is a detective and the author decided he needed a first name, so he's now "Officer Tony Gaston" and it cracked me up every time I thought about it.
I think this book was amusing, but I would recommend the author think long and hard about how she proceeds with the series since she decided to make the "villains" analogs for Black people. I'm curious to see how it plays out.
⭐️⭐️/5 stars
In this first book of a series, we find Mary Elizabeth Heart, a girl who dreams of being a detective and helping others in her neighborhood after the brutal murder of her parents and sister. Mary Elizabeth is a "Legacy", the descendant of a family line that had magic. However, magic has been dead for years and after Legacy kids start to go missing, including Mary Elizabeth's best friend, she'll have to choose between her found family and her dream.
I'm going to be completely honest...this book was a wreck. It was so clumsily handled. It becomes very obvious early on the "Legacy" kids are an analog for minorities, specifically the Black community in modern day America. They live in an area of the city that once was beautiful but is now crumbling apart. Some of the "Narrow" kids (those born without magical descent) try to copy their style of dress and their heart birthmarks with tattoos. A history teacher mentions a march that happened in the past for better infrastructure in the Legacy area, the Scar, and one of the Narrow kids says something to the effect of "they cost the city of Monarch thousands and looted and stole!" Another says a politician character is "going to make Monarch great again!" It feels like the author is hitting the reader over the head with this in a book about the origin stories of the villains. The *villains* are stand-ins for Black people and are constantly written as being in opposition to or unwilling to talk with the police in a book not by a Black author. This is problematic, to say the least.
The way they become the villains we know and love was not super unique but I did think how we got there was new. The actual antagonist isn't as much of a surprise as they should be. This all said, it was a wreck the way that a bad movie can be really entertaining. I wasn't ever bored even though this book has a LOT of problems. It was really funny, though I think most of it was unintentionally so. My absolute favorite thing is that Gaston is a detective and the author decided he needed a first name, so he's now "Officer Tony Gaston" and it cracked me up every time I thought about it.
I think this book was amusing, but I would recommend the author think long and hard about how she proceeds with the series since she decided to make the "villains" analogs for Black people. I'm curious to see how it plays out.
⭐️⭐️/5 stars
ladynightwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Four and a Half Stars **** Best enjoyed when you’re feeling like you need a little magic. Legacies can sympathize.
Mary Heart is a Legacy, a member of a community of people who used to have the ability to wield magic until a disaster caused all of the magic in her world to disappear, along with the friends and the relatives of many of the Legacies who worked at the tower in the center of their corner of the city. Now, the only thing remaining is a lake made of black water that is highly toxic where the building used to be. Now, Mary, her friends Ursula, James, and other Legacy peers, are stuck sans-magic while the wealthy members of the surrounding communities have moved into their previously magic neighborhood, now called the Scar, to take advantage of the anomalously perfect weather that is the only remaining indication that magic used to be the driving force there, slowly gentrifying the now broken-down Legacy community. In order to protect those she loves, Mary has turned to the regular way of dealing out justice: as an intern to the city police, with hopes of becoming like her hero, the current police captain who helped solve the murder of her parents when she was a young girl. When her classmate and fellow Legacy Mally Saint disappears one evening from the Wonderland club where all of the Legacy kids hang out, she knows she has to be part of the investigation and find her. The further into the investigation she and her partner, Bella, get, the more she realizes that something is wrong in the Scar, and someone close to her may be in danger as well.
This is the second book by Estelle Laure that I read back in 2020, and it was absolutely amazing. She’s a very talented author and she’s quickly made her way to my must read authors list where Sarah J Maas, Holly Black, Margaret Rogerson, and Riley Sager reside along with a few others I love. However, it wasn’t until after I read City of Villains that she solidified her place.
City of Villains turns the Disney franchise on its head and brings it into a modern and urban setting. I usually don’t like that kind of treatment. I’ve always been a fan of fairy tales in all their glory, and have loved the redemption stories, especially in the vein of Gregory McGuire’s The Other Stepsister and Jennifer Donnelly’s Stepsister, but my favorite part has always been that they stuck to the time period. Even though Laure does not do this, she takes the most prolific of the Disney villains, turns them human, and adds in a healthy heap of police procedural, vigilante justice, and scientific experimentation along with catastrophic disaster and creates something entirely new that is still just as enticing, even to a staunch traditionalist like me. It is something all its own and I have a deep appreciation for it and I’m excited to see where this goes!
Thank you to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for the chance to read an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review!
Mary Heart is a Legacy, a member of a community of people who used to have the ability to wield magic until a disaster caused all of the magic in her world to disappear, along with the friends and the relatives of many of the Legacies who worked at the tower in the center of their corner of the city. Now, the only thing remaining is a lake made of black water that is highly toxic where the building used to be. Now, Mary, her friends Ursula, James, and other Legacy peers, are stuck sans-magic while the wealthy members of the surrounding communities have moved into their previously magic neighborhood, now called the Scar, to take advantage of the anomalously perfect weather that is the only remaining indication that magic used to be the driving force there, slowly gentrifying the now broken-down Legacy community. In order to protect those she loves, Mary has turned to the regular way of dealing out justice: as an intern to the city police, with hopes of becoming like her hero, the current police captain who helped solve the murder of her parents when she was a young girl. When her classmate and fellow Legacy Mally Saint disappears one evening from the Wonderland club where all of the Legacy kids hang out, she knows she has to be part of the investigation and find her. The further into the investigation she and her partner, Bella, get, the more she realizes that something is wrong in the Scar, and someone close to her may be in danger as well.
This is the second book by Estelle Laure that I read back in 2020, and it was absolutely amazing. She’s a very talented author and she’s quickly made her way to my must read authors list where Sarah J Maas, Holly Black, Margaret Rogerson, and Riley Sager reside along with a few others I love. However, it wasn’t until after I read City of Villains that she solidified her place.
City of Villains turns the Disney franchise on its head and brings it into a modern and urban setting. I usually don’t like that kind of treatment. I’ve always been a fan of fairy tales in all their glory, and have loved the redemption stories, especially in the vein of Gregory McGuire’s The Other Stepsister and Jennifer Donnelly’s Stepsister, but my favorite part has always been that they stuck to the time period. Even though Laure does not do this, she takes the most prolific of the Disney villains, turns them human, and adds in a healthy heap of police procedural, vigilante justice, and scientific experimentation along with catastrophic disaster and creates something entirely new that is still just as enticing, even to a staunch traditionalist like me. It is something all its own and I have a deep appreciation for it and I’m excited to see where this goes!
Thank you to Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion for the chance to read an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review!
wickederinperson's review against another edition
2.0
I couldn't get into the plot and the characters felt 1-dimensional.
unchainedreader's review against another edition
4.0
City of Villains By Estelle Laure Book Review
Summary
Mary Elizabeth Heart lives with her aunt in the part of the city known as the Scar. Most of the people who live in this part of the city are legacies of those who have lost their magic. When Mary Elizabeth isn’t at school or hanging out with her friends at Wonderland, she is working with a detective for the local police named Bella. When Mary Elizabeth’s classmates begin to go missing, Mary Elizabeth and Bella dive into the case.
Thoughts
This was a very quick read. I had a lot of fun trying to determine who some of the Disney characters were (some were really obvious, while others took some thinking). I wasn’t super attached to the character of Mary Elizabeth, and I kept imagining Bella as Detective Santiago from Brooklyn Nine Nine.
The story arc itself was gorgeous. Information was revealed in bits and pieces at just the right moment to provide some extra suspense. I do wish there was a little more geographical information so I could picture the layout of the city better in my mind.
Target Audience
Based on some of the subject matter, I would say this book is appropriate for young adult readers. I would be hesitant to consider this a middle grade novel.
Conclusion
This was a quick fun read that many teenage girls will enjoy reading. I am interested in seeing the second installment.
Rating: 4 Stars
Summary
Mary Elizabeth Heart lives with her aunt in the part of the city known as the Scar. Most of the people who live in this part of the city are legacies of those who have lost their magic. When Mary Elizabeth isn’t at school or hanging out with her friends at Wonderland, she is working with a detective for the local police named Bella. When Mary Elizabeth’s classmates begin to go missing, Mary Elizabeth and Bella dive into the case.
Thoughts
This was a very quick read. I had a lot of fun trying to determine who some of the Disney characters were (some were really obvious, while others took some thinking). I wasn’t super attached to the character of Mary Elizabeth, and I kept imagining Bella as Detective Santiago from Brooklyn Nine Nine.
The story arc itself was gorgeous. Information was revealed in bits and pieces at just the right moment to provide some extra suspense. I do wish there was a little more geographical information so I could picture the layout of the city better in my mind.
Target Audience
Based on some of the subject matter, I would say this book is appropriate for young adult readers. I would be hesitant to consider this a middle grade novel.
Conclusion
This was a quick fun read that many teenage girls will enjoy reading. I am interested in seeing the second installment.
Rating: 4 Stars
unchainedreader's review
4.0
City of Villains By Estelle Laure Book Review
Summary
Mary Elizabeth Heart lives with her aunt in the part of the city known as the Scar. Most of the people who live in this part of the city are legacies of those who have lost their magic. When Mary Elizabeth isn’t at school or hanging out with her friends at Wonderland, she is working with a detective for the local police named Bella. When Mary Elizabeth’s classmates begin to go missing, Mary Elizabeth and Bella dive into the case.
Thoughts
This was a very quick read. I had a lot of fun trying to determine who some of the Disney characters were (some were really obvious, while others took some thinking). I wasn’t super attached to the character of Mary Elizabeth, and I kept imagining Bella as Detective Santiago from Brooklyn Nine Nine.
The story arc itself was gorgeous. Information was revealed in bits and pieces at just the right moment to provide some extra suspense. I do wish there was a little more geographical information so I could picture the layout of the city better in my mind.
Target Audience
Based on some of the subject matter, I would say this book is appropriate for young adult readers. I would be hesitant to consider this a middle grade novel.
Conclusion
This was a quick fun read that many teenage girls will enjoy reading. I am interested in seeing the second installment.
Rating: 4 Stars
Summary
Mary Elizabeth Heart lives with her aunt in the part of the city known as the Scar. Most of the people who live in this part of the city are legacies of those who have lost their magic. When Mary Elizabeth isn’t at school or hanging out with her friends at Wonderland, she is working with a detective for the local police named Bella. When Mary Elizabeth’s classmates begin to go missing, Mary Elizabeth and Bella dive into the case.
Thoughts
This was a very quick read. I had a lot of fun trying to determine who some of the Disney characters were (some were really obvious, while others took some thinking). I wasn’t super attached to the character of Mary Elizabeth, and I kept imagining Bella as Detective Santiago from Brooklyn Nine Nine.
The story arc itself was gorgeous. Information was revealed in bits and pieces at just the right moment to provide some extra suspense. I do wish there was a little more geographical information so I could picture the layout of the city better in my mind.
Target Audience
Based on some of the subject matter, I would say this book is appropriate for young adult readers. I would be hesitant to consider this a middle grade novel.
Conclusion
This was a quick fun read that many teenage girls will enjoy reading. I am interested in seeing the second installment.
Rating: 4 Stars