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A review by daydreamer35
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell
3.0
3.5 stars
This was an interesting retelling of Disney's Aladdin! The beginning kept really close to the movie (I mean really close) but added some side details (this actually really bothered a lot of people, and I'm not sure why. It stuck close to the movie yes, almost line for line, because it is retelling it. It's not the retelling where the plots are really close like common retellings. It literally is "if we changed one aspect of the movie, here's what would happen". To do that, they have to keep some parts the same. I'd be more pissed if it started at the Cave of Wonders with Jafar getting the lamp and leaving you with "well you've seen the movie you know how the beginning started". Any way, rant over, review continuing). Then the two split, the book heading in a much dark direction than the fun-loving, family-friendly movie.
The book splits from the movie when Jafar gets the lamp from the Cave of Wonders instead of Aladdin. He then takes over Agrahbah, ruling as a ruthless sultan. Jasmine is left to group up with the Street Rats of Agrahbah and lead a revolution against Jafar to take back her throne. This leads to some nice lessons on the gray areas of good and evil, and how you don't have to agree with someone's views to like them.
The characters are the same that you would expect from the movie, though the events in the book change them slightly. Jafar is seen as more deranged and crazy than just a straight evil villain. We even see a dark side to Jasmine, which I didn't necessarily hate but definitely brought out the seriousness of the situation. Aladdin is still the street-wise smart-alec we know and love and the genie is even still funny at times, offering references that we, as the audience, catch but leaves the other characters confused. We also get a little more of a back story of Aladdin and Genie too, which was nice :)
I've heard a lot of comments about how the book is so fast paced that the characters have no depth. I didn't really get the "no depth" thing from reading it, but I do agree that the book is very fast paced which didn't leave you a lot of time to get familiar or attached to any the characters really (aside from the characters from the movie which we already know and love). Honestly, if I were looking at this as just a book (one that wasn't based off the movie I adore), I don't know if I would like it as much. It's the fact that I already know the main characters from the movie that helped with my attachment to the characters.
The ending was the only other thing that really bothered me. I really didn't like the way they defeated Jafar and was kind of let down. I won't spoil anything but it just wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for some round-about way to connect it back to the movie but by the end, it was almost a completely different story that was actually very predictable (if I had been thinking of this as it's own book I would have called the ending a mile away. But since it was a retelling, I was hoping for some connection back to the movie in the end).
Overall, the book is jammed with far more action than the movie could offer with alliances being formed among the most random assortment of people. The book has a much darker vibe than the movie (this is no longer a family-friendly movie though still acceptable for younger adults to read) and I think tries too hard to break away from the movie and be it's own book. By the end of the book, there is nothing to connect it back to the original movie anymore aside from the characters. Basically, I wasn't thrilled over the plot, though it was entertaining because the familiar movie characters were in it. If this book wasn't a retelling of the movie, I probably wouldn't like it.
This was an interesting retelling of Disney's Aladdin! The beginning kept really close to the movie (I mean really close) but added some side details (this actually really bothered a lot of people, and I'm not sure why. It stuck close to the movie yes, almost line for line, because it is retelling it. It's not the retelling where the plots are really close like common retellings. It literally is "if we changed one aspect of the movie, here's what would happen". To do that, they have to keep some parts the same. I'd be more pissed if it started at the Cave of Wonders with Jafar getting the lamp and leaving you with "well you've seen the movie you know how the beginning started". Any way, rant over, review continuing). Then the two split, the book heading in a much dark direction than the fun-loving, family-friendly movie.
The book splits from the movie when Jafar gets the lamp from the Cave of Wonders instead of Aladdin. He then takes over Agrahbah, ruling as a ruthless sultan. Jasmine is left to group up with the Street Rats of Agrahbah and lead a revolution against Jafar to take back her throne. This leads to some nice lessons on the gray areas of good and evil, and how you don't have to agree with someone's views to like them.
The characters are the same that you would expect from the movie, though the events in the book change them slightly. Jafar is seen as more deranged and crazy than just a straight evil villain. We even see a dark side to Jasmine, which I didn't necessarily hate but definitely brought out the seriousness of the situation. Aladdin is still the street-wise smart-alec we know and love and the genie is even still funny at times, offering references that we, as the audience, catch but leaves the other characters confused. We also get a little more of a back story of Aladdin and Genie too, which was nice :)
I've heard a lot of comments about how the book is so fast paced that the characters have no depth. I didn't really get the "no depth" thing from reading it, but I do agree that the book is very fast paced which didn't leave you a lot of time to get familiar or attached to any the characters really (aside from the characters from the movie which we already know and love). Honestly, if I were looking at this as just a book (one that wasn't based off the movie I adore), I don't know if I would like it as much. It's the fact that I already know the main characters from the movie that helped with my attachment to the characters.
The ending was the only other thing that really bothered me. I really didn't like the way they defeated Jafar and was kind of let down. I won't spoil anything but it just wasn't what I expected. I was hoping for some round-about way to connect it back to the movie but by the end, it was almost a completely different story that was actually very predictable (if I had been thinking of this as it's own book I would have called the ending a mile away. But since it was a retelling, I was hoping for some connection back to the movie in the end).
Overall, the book is jammed with far more action than the movie could offer with alliances being formed among the most random assortment of people. The book has a much darker vibe than the movie (this is no longer a family-friendly movie though still acceptable for younger adults to read) and I think tries too hard to break away from the movie and be it's own book. By the end of the book, there is nothing to connect it back to the original movie anymore aside from the characters. Basically, I wasn't thrilled over the plot, though it was entertaining because the familiar movie characters were in it. If this book wasn't a retelling of the movie, I probably wouldn't like it.