A Whole New World
Twisted Tales, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: It’s been on my TBR forever.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: CCPL
Dates Read: 2/29/24 - 3/2/24
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): James Patrick Cronin

The Characters:

Aladdin
Jasmine
Jafar, Abu, Genie, Morgana, The male bestie whose name I cannot remember

The Story:

I do not know what I was expecting but this was not it. This re-imagining where Jafar gets the lamp and takes over agrabah is intense. Yet in between the sneaking, villainy and fighting we still get a love story.
Contrary to my initial belief I only burst into song thrice. ( )

I didn't love the story but I loved the way this book looks. What you can't tell from the image is that the orange details reflect the light and so it shimmers. I love a sprayed edge and this orange is so pretty. All of the pages are subtly decorated and topping this off with it being a hard cover, this book looks and feels really special.

The first 100 pages are a retelling of the original story of Aladdin which was necessary but it was a long time to be waiting for the twisted tale. When the new story did begin it was... fine. It was a darker twist on the classic with nothing overly inspiring but it's exactly as advertised.

I liked the strong leading role Jasmine takes and was surprised by the harsh portrayal of the Sultan but in retrospect, Braswell makes a good point. While we're speaking of characters, I was disappointed with the lack of involvement of the more entertaining characters: Abu, Genie and Iago. They are only mentioned briefly and sporadically.

There are some more violent than expected scenes so would definitely stick to the age rating of 12+.

I wouldn't go out of my way to read it but if you're a Disney lover, it's a nice book just to return to that world. ( )

Really quite liked it. Was a but dark coming up on the end but overall really liked the twist as a whole ( )

James Patrick Cronin (Narrator)
Love a new twist on an old story.
Very enjoyable ( )

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

I ADORE everything Disney. And, in particular, Aladdin has always been one of my absolute favourite Disney movies. So, when I heard about this book, I was (quite obviously) so incredibly excited! A book asking "what if everything had just gone horribly wrong and Jafar ended up actually obtaining the Genie's lamp?", what could be better? Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed, and this book didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Now, for me, this wasn't quite as terrible as other reviewers seem to have found it. But still, there were a lot of things that just didn't work for me and I ended up finding this kind of a meh read. For starters, the first 25% or so of the book is basically the exact same thing as the movie, with even characters saying the exact same lines. Of course, I see why this may be needed to introduce the story, but nevertheless became pretty annoying fairly quickly. Things really started moving only once Jafar summoned the Genie and started using his wishes to become ruler of Agrabah and the world's most powerful sorcerer. From then on, we start following Aladdin and Jasmine as they plan to take the throne back.

My biggest disappointment was definitely in the characters. I hoped that having the story in book form we would get to know the characters a lot better than we do in the movie. Unfortunately, while we are given some backstory for Aladdin and Jafar, this is really minimal. For the rest, the characters for the most part recreate their movie counterparts, but end up losing a lot of their appeal in the process. The Genie, in particular, had almost nothing of the funny, witty and sparkling Robin Williams character. True, he doesn't have much to be happy about, having Jafar as a master, but I still felt like there was a lot missing there.

It wasn't ALL bad, though! I liked the fact that we saw a lot more of the poorer Agrabah, and came to know the Street Rats, the poorest of the poor who survive on thievery alone. This was definitely an element that was worth reading about, and it was very interesting to see them risk everything to free their city. And the female characters definitely had a much bigger role to play than in the movie, with the tough, no-nonsense Street-Rat-leader Morgiana and a very different Princess Jasmine. Book-Jasmine is still the sassy princess we all love, but this time round she is much more an active element of the plot. Once she is deposed by Jafar, Jasmine takes matters into her own hands and, rather than marrying him, starts to lead the revolution so that she may become sultana again. She witnesses poverty and war, and it changes her, and I loved her for this.

Overall, this was a pretty average read, although it may have suffered because my expectations were so high. It definitely had a way darker tone than the movie did (characters DIE! And there is torture!! And war!!!), but it suffers a bit in character development (or lack thereof). There were some different elements that are worth exploring, but overall I was disappointed. The idea behind this was amazing though, and I would say that if it intrigues you, you should still check it out, maybe through your local library.

For more reviews, check out Book for Thought. ( )