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fireflyhollow 's review for:
The Isle of the Lost
by Melissa de la Cruz
When I first started reading this book, I didn't know it is a prequel to the Disney movie Descendants. If I had, I probably wouldn't have read it. In the story, all the villains from all the Disney movies have been banished to the Isle of the Lost (even if they died in the films) where they have to live without magic and off the scraps from the U.S.A. (United States of Auradon) for the rest of their days. Sigh. Of course all the villains end up having children - yet there are only single parents on the island - and all of their descendants have traits and names just like their parents. Mal is the daughter of Maleficent, Evie is the daughter of Evil Queen, Jay is the son of Jafar and Carlos is the son of Cruella de Vil. I suppose it makes sense that he villains would name their children after themselves since they are egotistical and evil after all.
The book begins ten years in the past on the birthday of Evie. Evil Queen has planned a magnificent party for her but failed to send Mal an invitation. This of course enrages Maleficent and reminds her of when she didn't receive an invitation to Aurora's christening so many years ago. Being the raging lunatic she is, Maleficent banishes Evil Queen and Evie from the society on the Isle of the Lost. Since they can't leave the island, they pretty much stay holed up in their castle for the next ten years when Evil Queen finally decides it is safe to send Evie back to public school where all the children are taught how to not make the same mistakes their parents made.
Mal still despises Evie, of course, and sets out to ruin her life over the birthday party she didn't get invited to ten years ago. Seriously. A birthday party. Ten years ago. But villains like to hold on to their grudges I suppose. When news comes that Maleficent's evil scepter, the Eye of the Dragon, has been awakened, Mal sets out on a mission to find it so her mother will finally be proud of her. She knows she cannot find it on her own and enlists the help of Evie, Jay and Carlos. Of course she only intends to use them to get what she wants, but things rarely go as planned.
Although it did take me a while to finish this book from the date I started, once I gave it my full attention it was a very quick and easy read. I know this book was intended for young teens, but I still felt it was very juvenile. The children were supposed to be extremely evil, but the most evil thing they did was trap someone in a closet or swipe items from people as they walked down the street. It's almost like the author is trying to coax young readers into thinking being evil is okay because what these characters are doing isn't really all that bad.
Just a side note - at one point in the book a structure is being guarded by poisonous spiders. My husband loves spiders; so, I've become fairly educated on them the past 6+ years. Spiders don't have poison... they have venom and are therefore venomous not poisonous. What made me even more irritated after reading this was that the deadly spiders were tarantulas. Seriously, Ms. de la Cruz... a simple Google search would have told you that tarantulas may have a pretty nasty bite because their fangs are so large, but they are not venomous to humans. The evil clan could have walked right through them without fear of death from a bite.
The book begins ten years in the past on the birthday of Evie. Evil Queen has planned a magnificent party for her but failed to send Mal an invitation. This of course enrages Maleficent and reminds her of when she didn't receive an invitation to Aurora's christening so many years ago. Being the raging lunatic she is, Maleficent banishes Evil Queen and Evie from the society on the Isle of the Lost. Since they can't leave the island, they pretty much stay holed up in their castle for the next ten years when Evil Queen finally decides it is safe to send Evie back to public school where all the children are taught how to not make the same mistakes their parents made.
Mal still despises Evie, of course, and sets out to ruin her life over the birthday party she didn't get invited to ten years ago. Seriously. A birthday party. Ten years ago. But villains like to hold on to their grudges I suppose. When news comes that Maleficent's evil scepter, the Eye of the Dragon, has been awakened, Mal sets out on a mission to find it so her mother will finally be proud of her. She knows she cannot find it on her own and enlists the help of Evie, Jay and Carlos. Of course she only intends to use them to get what she wants, but things rarely go as planned.
Although it did take me a while to finish this book from the date I started, once I gave it my full attention it was a very quick and easy read. I know this book was intended for young teens, but I still felt it was very juvenile. The children were supposed to be extremely evil, but the most evil thing they did was trap someone in a closet or swipe items from people as they walked down the street. It's almost like the author is trying to coax young readers into thinking being evil is okay because what these characters are doing isn't really all that bad.
Just a side note - at one point in the book a structure is being guarded by poisonous spiders. My husband loves spiders; so, I've become fairly educated on them the past 6+ years. Spiders don't have poison... they have venom and are therefore venomous not poisonous. What made me even more irritated after reading this was that the deadly spiders were tarantulas. Seriously, Ms. de la Cruz... a simple Google search would have told you that tarantulas may have a pretty nasty bite because their fangs are so large, but they are not venomous to humans. The evil clan could have walked right through them without fear of death from a bite.