Book Review: Once Upon A Dream by Liz Braswell

Author: Liz Braswell
Series: Twisted Tales #2
Publisher: Disney Press
Release Date:April 5th 2016
My Rating: 3 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

What if the sleeping beauty never woke up? Once Upon a Dream marks the second book in a new YA line that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways.

It should be simple--a dragon defeated, a slumbering maiden, a prince poised to wake her. But when said prince falls asleep as soon as his lips meet the princess's, it is clear that this fairy tale is far from over.

With a desperate fairy's last curse infiltrating her mind, Princess Aurora will have to navigate a dangerous and magical landscape deep in the depths of her dreams. Soon she stumbles upon Phillip, a charming prince eager to join her quest. But with Maleficent's agents following her every move, Aurora struggles to discover who her true allies are, and moreover, who she truly is. Time is running out. Will the sleeping beauty be able to wake herself up?

*Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from Netgalley and Disney Press in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion of this book or my rating in any way.

Sleeping Beauty has always been one of my Top 3 Disney animated movies. As a little girl, I remember being captivated by Aurora's relationship with the animals, but also by the three fairy godmothers. One thing I've always been attracted to, that I don't think I've ever told anyone before, was Maleficent's raven. I had a soft spot for that animal, even though he did ultimately belong to Maleficent, making him one of the bad guys, but he was a pretty bird. I was always sad when he ended up being turned into stone. Anyway...

I was very excited to see how the author would remake this story and make the villain win. There have been many remakes of the story, but I was really curious to see if this book could match the original movie's lavish world, with the medieval-looking drawings and details.

I have to say, I was a bit disappointed with the first quarter or so of the book. The plot was slow-paced and the language used made me think the book was intended for middle-grade aged readers. Which is not bad, except I was expecting more, for some reason.

I have to say though, I'm glad I pushed through and kept reading. Around the middle of the book, the story started picking up and it became the dark story I hoped it would be. It touched on some really delicate themes, like suicide and child abandonment, and I'm really happy the story went there. It was also really interesting to see that Aurora/Rose isn't shown as the delicate princess with the pretty voice and gorgeous hair that the movie shown, but she's more than that. She basically becomes the hero in this story, and I liked that very, very much.

I can't say I liked Prince Phillip very much. Probably because we see him mostly from Aurora's perspective, and he is yet another person who hid things from her. Even so, I was expecting more from the daring prince who faced a dragon for a girl he didn't even know.

The world-building was good. I liked how the story is told from the lens of a war won by the villain. Unlike the previous book in the series, I felt like Maleficent really was a villain in this story. She was cruel, she was ruthless, and she was deranged. Far more dark than the movie allows the audience to see. I still feel that, for a story where the villain wins at first, there were so few scenes told from her perspective.

I did enjoy this book more than the other one, however I think the first part of the book, as I said before, could have been a bit more fast paced, and maybe used a more mature language. I saw that the next book in the series is about Beauty and the Beast, and I can't even explain how much I want to read about that library that Beast has in his castle. So I'll definitely read the next book in this series.

Early Book Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

Author: Liz Braswell
Series: Twisted Tales #1
Publisher: Disney Press
Release Date: September 1st 2015
My Rating: 3 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?

When Jafar steals the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book from Disney Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


When I first heard of this book, the 5 year old in my did crazy happy dances. What could be better than a Disney movie retelling where the bad guy wins? So I was ecstatic to read this book.

The idea of the book is great. Although not one of my favorite Disney movies, I always loved Genie (Robin Williams, may he rest in peace, was amazing in this role). And although he was twisted and mean, Iago was my favorite pet sidekick, along with Abu. Though Iago was funnier in my eyes.

Because the book was focused on what if Jafar had gotten the lamp, we don't get to see much of Iago or the Genie. We get to see how life for the Street Rats was, how they go from being just the poorest of the poor to being the bravest of the brave. We see a darker Agrabah and I really enjoyed that. Usually the fairytales we get to read/see nowadays are lighter than this book, so it was a good change to see a darker story. There were some details that I didn't see coming, mostly relating to some characters and how they reacted to magic. I also liked some of the stories that were new to the story, like a little bit of Genie's backstory, or the beginning of the book, with Aladdin as a kid. I also liked the little moments that tied the book to the movie.

There were a few things that I was hoping would be different. For instance, there's an insta-love element that I feel could have been avoided. In the movie it was acceptable, because there is  a limited time frame that filmmakers have to put together a good story. But in a book setting, I feel like the love story of Jasmine and Aladdin could have been built a little bit more. I also would've wanted to see a little bit of growth in the characters. There were new characters used in this book, some of which were great and did feel a little changed by the end of the book. But the well-known characters could have had a little bit more growth in them by the end of the story.

A Whole New World was an interesting take on the story of the magic lamp and Aladdin. I've sometimes wanted to know how the story would look like if the bad guy won, so it was good to see a story like this. I'm curious what stories will be retold in the future.