I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell Series: A Twisted Tale #1
Published by Disney Press on 9/1/15
Genres: Fairy Tales & Folklore, Fantasy & Magic, Retellings, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 313
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon
What if Aladdin had never found the lamp? This first book in the A Twisted Tale line will explore a dark and daring version of Disney's Aladdin. 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.
Short and Sweet Review
A Whole New World, is a retelling of Aladdin, instead of Aladdin getting the lamp and three wishes Jafar gets them. Jafar uses his first two wishes on becoming the sultan and one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. Agrabah used to be a decent city but now the people live in fear and are even more worried about what Jafar’s final wish will be. Now Aladdin and Jasmine have to band together and lead the people of Agrabah into a rebellion.
I went into this book looking forward to seeing how different things would be if Jafar got the lamp and the wishes instead of Aladdin and honestly this book was boring. I feel like the things Jafar did were predictable and its like we knew what he would do in the book because he had the same motives in the movie. Aladdin on the other hand felt like he had no personality and he just wanted to save everyone in Agrabah against Jafar’s rule. Aladdin and Jasmine work together in this book and there’s obviously a romance but I feel like it fell flat and there were no sparks, it was like they had to be together because that’s what the reader would be expecting when you hear their names together. There wasn’t a lot going on in this book that made me feel like I needed to be glued to it, quite the opposite in fact. I just think everything was too predictable that it made this book boring and it didn’t help that the characters are so flat and one note.
I love retellings and seeing where an author can take a new idea but this first book in the A Twisted Tale series was a disappoint. I usually don’t say this but I do feel like the movie tops this book 100%.
Speak Your Mind