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A review by housedesignerking
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
** spoiler alert ** Please note that I review each book I read as a whole product. I may list stuff that I liked about it, but I grade it as a whole, not on what I liked about it.
<Spoiler>Jafar is my favorite Disney villain. Because of that, I decided to read this entire book in one day, and I did. This book comes with a somewhat brilliant premise; taking one of Disney's stories and re-telling it with a twist. In this version? Abu does not get the lamp back from Jafar, the Genie does not call Aladdin his master, and there is definitely NOT the happy ending that is found in the Disney movie.
The new characters were very likeable, indeed. I found this particular 'version' of Jasmine to be somewhat down-to-Earth. The multiple climaxes throughout the story were very well-written. The way the author wrote the story kept me turning pages, chuckling at times, and liking Morgiana more with almost everything she said. The entire 'war' section of this book took up almost the last 100 pages was very well-written, as well.
However, I find myself completely disappointed with where this 'version' of the story ends up (This review will hopefully be hidden because of spoilers since I checked the box). For me, my rating was affected by several things; including that Jafar made a man's head spin around completely and then giving graphic details; that Braswell made this seem wholesome; that Aladdin did some stunts that were uncharacteristic of him; and finally, what Braswell decided to write in as Jafar's second to last line. "I wish . . . that when I die . . . all magic dies with me."
WHAT??!!
This was such a brilliant idea, but the end result was somewhat of a disappointment (no offense intended). Honestly, a better ending would have been one final similarity to the original: that someone, even if it wouldn't be Aladdin, had decided to mention that the Genie was still more power than Jafar; that Jafar would agree, feel so silly for not having thought of it sooner, and making his third wish to be the all-powerful genie. I'm saying that it would've been a better ending to copy the Disney version. Having Jafar take away all the magic in the world may have made the story more original, but I'm sure there would have been several better ideas than that.
As I said, Jafar is my favorite Disney villain, but I have to give this 1 star.
<Spoiler>Jafar is my favorite Disney villain. Because of that, I decided to read this entire book in one day, and I did. This book comes with a somewhat brilliant premise; taking one of Disney's stories and re-telling it with a twist. In this version? Abu does not get the lamp back from Jafar, the Genie does not call Aladdin his master, and there is definitely NOT the happy ending that is found in the Disney movie.
The new characters were very likeable, indeed. I found this particular 'version' of Jasmine to be somewhat down-to-Earth. The multiple climaxes throughout the story were very well-written. The way the author wrote the story kept me turning pages, chuckling at times, and liking Morgiana more with almost everything she said. The entire 'war' section of this book took up almost the last 100 pages was very well-written, as well.
However, I find myself completely disappointed with where this 'version' of the story ends up (This review will hopefully be hidden because of spoilers since I checked the box). For me, my rating was affected by several things; including that Jafar made a man's head spin around completely and then giving graphic details; that Braswell made this seem wholesome; that Aladdin did some stunts that were uncharacteristic of him; and finally, what Braswell decided to write in as Jafar's second to last line. "I wish . . . that when I die . . . all magic dies with me."
WHAT??!!
This was such a brilliant idea, but the end result was somewhat of a disappointment (no offense intended). Honestly, a better ending would have been one final similarity to the original: that someone, even if it wouldn't be Aladdin, had decided to mention that the Genie was still more power than Jafar; that Jafar would agree, feel so silly for not having thought of it sooner, and making his third wish to be the all-powerful genie. I'm saying that it would've been a better ending to copy the Disney version. Having Jafar take away all the magic in the world may have made the story more original, but I'm sure there would have been several better ideas than that.
As I said, Jafar is my favorite Disney villain, but I have to give this 1 star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror