A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale

With a retelling of a well known (and excellent!) Disney film, where this time the villain succeeds, I think I was expecting the villain's point of view to be foremost. But this is still Aladdin and Jasmine's story, and I think that detracts a little from the development of this alternate storyline.

Jafar is still an utter villain with little explanation about his motives or his background beyond what was said in the film and I was disappointed by his lack of character development. He is certainly very creepy, and is a much more dastardly villain in this book, but I would have appreciated understanding a little more about why he is so maniacal about wanting the adoration of the masses. Especially as it doesn't seem very realistic, given his temperament.

The first quarter of the novel recaps the film pretty faithfully, so it's a little slow to get into the story, until the twist happens and Jafar succeeds. I thought the character development of Aladdin and Jasmine was a bit better than Jafar, but still cursory and predictable. Even the romance between Aladdin and Jasmine felt too insipid, which was disappointing because there was the potential to develop it further. I do think it's much less of a case of insta-love than the film though so that is a plus. Where this novel excels is in how it expands on the 'street rat' culture and how Aladdin fits in with it, and in the politics of Agrabah. Aladdin's friends are fun to read about, and it's fittingly realistic and heartbreaking to read about the poverty in Agrabah that has reduced Aladdin to his way of life. Jasmine is a stronger female character in this as well, which was nice to see. She has a lot courage, and it was great to read her take charge.

The novel is understandably much darker than the film, however that aspect didn't sit very well with me. For Jafar to maintain his villainous status, it was necessary for some shocking things to happen, but at times I wondered if it really served the story or was just there for the shock value. In one case, I didn't understand the mechanics of how Jafar could do something to a certain character - it didn't make sense to me. And for the other shocking occurrences, I just found it very sad.

Overall, this is a well written story, that once it gets going perhaps moves too fast to really develop the characters. The book is young adult, but it feels middle grade in it's character development, and older YA in terms of darkness, so it's a little confusing to me. As a 'what happens next' it's pretty believable - in the dark turn the story takes and in the steps that Aladdin and Jasmine would take to reclaim the throne.

(I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.)

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: An Aladdin retelling with a darker twist.

Opening Sentence: A high white moon cast its light on the city below as brightly as the sun was said to shine in northern countries.

The Review:

I adore retellings and A Whole New World was certainly an action packed and entertaining read but with a darker perspective. BUT I couldn’t ignore the feeling that there was something missing. Although I haven’t watched or read Disney’s Aladdin for many, many years, the first half of this book felt like an almost exact remake. I expected there to be something massively different to set it apart but the differences only emerged about halfway through.

“…Rats, I was completely alone. Before I ran away, my closest friend was a tiger.”
Aladdin laughed softly. “Before I met you, my closest friend was a monkey.” He kissed her on the forehead. “We’re quite a pair.”

At first I wondered why I was continuing to read the story since I could guess almost every scene. There wasn’t anything spectacularly original, which left me feeling disappointed. I have found that other retellings refer to the original story, with general likenesses of main characters, but there is always something to set the tale apart. For most of A Whole New World, this wasn’t the case.

Despite this obvious problem, the story was entertaining and a quick read. It helped that I hadn’t read the original Aladdin for some time so it was a refreshing reminder of a childhood favourite.

Morgiana was only bleeding a little and carried a short sword in each hand – plus an extra scimitar in her right.
“Took you long enough,” Aladdin said accusingly.
“You said ‘no killing,’” she said, shrugging. “Stuff like that takes time.”

I enjoyed the focus on the ‘street rats’, especially Morgiana because of her laughable comments. The characters were well developed and pretty much exactly how I remembered them. I would have preferred a greater focus on my favourite, the genie, but alas that was another downside to this story.

Jasmine tilted her head, looking at him. “How are you holding up?” she asked gently.
“Oh, as well as can be expected,” he said, waving his hand. “Considering I’m, like, the last of my race, enslaved to an insane, power hungry, evil-did I say evil?-dictator with delusions of godhood…who won’t even make his final insane third wish and let me off the hook from all this. Maybe my next master will be someone nicer. Like the sadistic tyrant of a kingdom of vampires. Or something.”

Jaffar is the evil villain we all love to hate. He stayed true to that in this story and yes, he was definitely beyond cruel as well as crazy. With his powers as a sorcerer and the genie at his side, he was virtually indestructible!

I liked the romance too; Aladdin and Jasmine have the immediate chemistry that is seen in the classic tale. I loved Jasmine’s fierceness and fight for change. There is that element of darkness to everything but I liked that, it made the story at least a little different!

The girl looked horrified.
“They’re all just pretending to be poor?”
Aladdin chuckled wryly. “No, they’re not pretending. They’re not pretending to be poor, or shoeless, or homeless, or starving. All of that is very, very real. But sometimes it takes costumes and makeup and playacting for people to see the truth that is right under their noses.”

Overall, I’m afraid that A Whole New World felt a lot like a reminder of an old, well-known world.

Notable Scene:

“Don’t let life’s unfairness, don’t let how poor you are decide who you are. You choose who you will be, Aladdin. Will you be a hero who looks after the weak and powerless? Will you be a thief? Will you be a beggar – or worse? It’s up to you, not the things – or people – around you. You can choose to be something more.”

He nodded, lip trembling. He was too old to cry. He was.

FTC Advisory: Disney Press provided me with a copy of A Whole New World. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

I received this from NetGalley as an eARC! This doesn't affect my review in any way at all.

Thank you NetGalley (well Disney) for letting me read A Whole New World! This wasn't what I was expecting, in a good way, I think. At first, goodreads made me a bit cautious at starting, now however, I am happy that I gave this book a full chance!

What I Liked
About 60% of the way through the book takes a turn for the dark(er)! I'm not even kidding, this does get a lot darker than I was expecting, it was a tiny bit gory. No, this book wasn't overloading on gore, thankfully! I was shocked at how dark the final 40% was! Be warned, things get awful, and Jafar is an evillllll man!

It took me a while to get used to the writing style, it seemed to tell more than show. You know, like it pushes descriptions at you instead of making a movie for you. After a while, I did get used to the writing and the book began to get interesting! The story is actually really interesting, it does get very twisted like the serious promises. The characters are ones we know and love mixed in with some new (or at least new too me) characters like Duban.They were a great cast of characters, both loveable, and easy to root for. I mean, who wants evil Jafar to win? HE WAS PURE EVIL!

This isn't really about the book, more about the movie... I could NOT read this book without reading Genie's voice as Robin Williams and I always heard the sound track for the movie in my head! A Whole New World mostly buzzed through my mind as Agrabah descended into darkness haha... oh man... Disney music is way to catchy!

What I Didn't Like
One super crazy thing I found about A Whole New World was the first 25% at least. I was about to put the book aside and stop reading it all together, why? Because the first 25% is just like the movie, word for word, scene for scene. There are a few things not in the movie in the first 25% but still! I have read many Fairy Tale Retellings and none of them followed the movie as closely as A Whole New World. I will say that after 25% the book did branch away from the movie, thankfully and we finally began to see the stories true (dark!) colors.

I wasn't a fan of the writing style, nothing against he author. A lot of work goes into writing a book, I know because I write as well. Liz Braswell's writing was not my style, but that is okay! Others love books I don't love, or hate books I fan girl over, that's just life. Even though I didn't enjoy her writing, others will :)

This book was very hard for me to get into... mostly because of how closely the book resembled the movie. I LOVE Aladdin, but in this book, the characters didn't really get me invested in their story/peril. I wasn't pushed into feeling emotion for them or Agrabah, don't get me wrong, everything that happened to their city was awful, it just didn't invoke much emotion from me.

Verdict
A Whole New World is a dark Aladdin retelling, much darker than expected. Despite the rough start, this book did end up being enjoyable even if the characters didn't make me too invested in the story. Give this one a shot, see how it goes, and let me know :)!

What happens to a beloved story if you change one event? Does it unravel in a complete mess? Does it spiral out of control killing everyone and everything in its path? Or does it make its character rise to a new level therefore changing the plot so much that the new story is barely recognizable? In some books, that could be the case.. in A Whole New World though it really isn't.

Remember the cartoon... if you haven't had the pleasure, the first quarter of this book will be new to you. Aladdin is a poor street rat stealing her supper on the streets of Agragbah with his sidekick money, Abu. Jasmine is a princess forced to marry a prince to produce ah heir for the Sultan line. Jafar is a power hungry villain destine to find the lamp and take over the kingdom. Along the way, Rajah the tiger and Iago the parrot join the cast as well as the great and powerful Genie.

As I mentioned before, one event changes the outcome of the book meaning Aladdin doesn't get the lamp(Genie) but instead Jafar does. The street rat along with Abu and the carpet are forced to dig their way out and lead a rebellion to overthrow the new Sultan, or as we know him, Jafar. Jasmine, of course, comes to help him beginning the love story we know from the cartoon.

Now for my opinion... if you haven't seen the cartoon, it's a great book filled with high flying adventure and stunning scene description. If you have, well, it is very similar and almost feels like the writer took scenes from the movie and sliced them throughout the book adding bits and pieces to form the complicated albeit familiar story line. In reality, I expected more. Jafar to wish for something more unpredictable and for the story to actually change more than what was given. I did like Rajah more in this since he seemed to be more tiger than pussy cat. In truth, the animals behaved more like animals. Iago dumping his bowels down the back of Jafar's cloak was an added touch,

As I said, if you love the movie or have never seen it, the book is really well written and the characters are so fun that you will enjoy the humor, action, and intrigue. If the movie was so-so to you, maybe rent it from the library or borrow it from a friend. I give it four stars for writing and 3 star for orginality.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I think fans of the Disney animated film of Aladdin will be happy with how faithful A Whole New World was to the characters and spirit of that version. I haven't seen seen the animated film since it came out, which might have been almost two decades ago now! However, I immediately pictured each character as their voice took up the dialogue. The genie is the most memorable character for me, and he is still wise cracking in this version of the story. My problem was that I still see them as animated characters while I'm reading this. With all of the sophisticated reimaginings that have been coming out over the last few years, I think I was expecting something more since this was marketed as YA. This is literally the Disney version with a twist. While middle school readers might still find this engaging, I think YA's and adult readers of YA will find this disappointing. Don't get me wrong, this is well written and polished smooth, but it just doesn't have the complexity to engage mature readers. There is romance, adventure, and battle, but it is all focused on a single goal without really developing any subplots or deep character growth. Everyone is either black or white, and it goes without saying that small time "bad guys" like the street rats are all just thieves with hearts of gold when given a chance. Character motivations are limited to greed or noble things like love and compassion. That is all well and good, but YA readers are usually going to call "bull" when they read something that feels contrived. I think this is a book that you can share with an elementary classroom or read with your child who has enjoyed the movie, but I can't see it getting a lot of interest in a high school library. Language and situations are appropriate for grades 4+.

For some reason, I just couldn’t connect with the characters in this one, and I found myself wanting to skim a lot. The beginning of the book was pretty enjoyable – it was a pretty straightforward retelling of the movie, so it brought back fond memories (and had me singing the songs!). But, once the story veered off into the “new” storyline it just got – weird. I can’t even put my finger on why I didn’t care about what was happening. There was enough action and the story should have been interesting. Again, I just don’t think I cared enough about the characters – there wasn’t enough depth to them. In some ways, this felt like a middle grade novel. I was even thinking my two kids would like it – but then there would be a really violent scene (like a somewhat graphic beheading), and it just didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the book at all (and it made me rethink giving it to my kids – I think I’m going with no). I don’t know, I guess this book just didn’t work for me as a whole. By the time I got to the end, I was just happy to be done.

***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this one, but I am sorry to say they were dashed when I started reading. Here is what I liked: the author did an excellent job with the atmosphere and world-building. Her descriptions of Agrabah were incredible. However, the rest of the book left something to be desired. I'll be honest: from the premise, I was kind of hoping this book would be from Jafar's POV. But no, it was from Aladdin's and it was extremely boring. It was basically the movie all over again. There was no new information and zero character development. And the romance, which was a staple in the original Aladdin, was sloppily put together. There was some action and a little new stuff towards the end when they were planning to overthrow Jafar. Other than that, I was just wishing the book would end already.

I received this book via NetGalley to give an honest review.

When I saw the title say Twisted Tales and then read the synopsis I wanted to read it badly. The a whole new take on Aladdin if Jafar got the lamp in the first place that just sounds like trouble.
The story starts off just like in the movie of Aladdin up until I want to say around 30% of the book which I would have read that part to my children because it was exactly like the movie.
Then we get to the part where Aladdin is suppose to give the lamp to the old man this is where the twist starts. We spend the rest of the story in the point of view of Jasmine and Aladdin and what they are seeing and going through. We meet different street rats we see how the poor people of Agrabah come together when they need to, to save their city. We see just how strong Jasmine truly is when in the face of danger and of course we see the love blossom between Aladdin and Jasmine no it is not like the movie at all.
I enjoyed the background of the dijnn when the Genie was talking to Jasmine I always wondering if the Genie was the only one or if there were more like him.
I also thought it was neat on how evil Jafar was and how he would stop at nothing to have the city and those within love him, I could see him taking over the world.
The reason I gave this book a 4 rating and not a 5 is only because I would have liked to have seen a chapter or two from Jafar's point of view. Being the villain that made the twist on this tale I thought he should have gotten a bit more spotlight, though I did like the rebelling of the city.
I do hope that with the blank pages that the author plans on either typing chapter numbers or adding drawings as it was distracting to me turning a page and seeing a blank square like something should be there.

I was intrigued by the premise: taking a well-known Disney film and retelling it with a switch. Starting with the Aladdin story, Braswell is flipping it so Jaffar is the star: he gets the genie, he becomes the Sultan.

The concept was unique. The world building was sufficient, if very reminiscent of the film. Action was almost never-ending, and it did manage to reference solidly to the movie. The writing tone is far darker, not a bad thing considering the story is Jaffar’s, but the darkness often became overpowering, taking away from characters and the joy. It was a heavy read, if fast paced, with a mission centric theme, and everything feeds to that mission.

Characters were broad brushstrokes, not particularly detailed and never given a solid chance to develop as complete. Sadly, what looked to be unique in concept (and succeeded in some ways) failed horribly to create a story that was both intriguing and engaging. This read more like fan fiction, yet never quite taking on a life of its own that would allow it to stand as a solid title.

I’m left feeling disappointed and slightly misled by both the synopsis and cover – both beautiful and evocative with plenty of room for goodness within. Certainly not a title that inspires me to read more from this series.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Great idea, but not quite executed to its full potential. I love the concept of reinventing classic Disney fairy tales and I love the story of Aladdin. The first quarter of this book follows the movie very closely. After that, many parts are similar to the movie sequel. I did like a few of the additional characters not in the original, but most are the same.
This version may be best for younger audiences.

Net Galley Feedback

I've been wanting to read the Twisted Tales series for quite some time, and finally requested the first book. To be honest, I'm not thrilled. Aladdin was never my favorite Disney movie, though, so it might just be unfortunate that it's the first book in the series. I'll probably still try the rest.

The book actually sticks pretty closely to the Disney movie in descriptions, characters, and setting. Everyone looks like their Disney movie counterparts. I had to check the inside cover to find that the book is indeed an official Disney product. There's no way they'd get away with it, otherwise; it'd be blatant copyright infringement, and Disney is rather strict about that.

Basically, the book takes the script of Aladdin and asks one question - what if Aladdin really did give Jafar the lamp instead of keeping it when he got stuck in the cave? We know what Jafar does with the lamp eventually, but what if he had it first, before Aladdin? A lot of the plot is familiar - Jasmine and her tiger, the hourglass with people stuck inside of it, the Sultan playing with his toys. It's really interesting to see the plot elements deconstructed and put back together in new ways.

I'm not sure whether I like this plot or the movie plot more; I never had strong feelings about Aladdin so I'm probably not the best judge.

It's alright. If you're a fan of Aladdin you might like it more than I did. I'm withholding judgment of the entire series until I read a few more, though.