Disney Cautionary Tales
Ridley Pearson and Abigail Larson
Netgalley Summary:
What you are holding is no ordinary book. This book contains scary stories. Thrilling and chilling tales that feature the worst Disney villains. They twist and turn through unfortunate circumstances. Maybe you’ve heard of a cave full of wonders where no one escapes alive? Or a huntsman carrying a a princess’s heart back to an evil queen? Don’t forget the horseman who lost his head. Literally. Something strange happens once you start reading. You might feel like you are in the story. Right. Inside. The. Pages.
Just ask Billie Templeton. She knows all about scary stories. Billie would rather such tales stay inside her book where they belong. If only her classmate, Tim, hadn’t found the mirror. The magic mirror. A mirror wrapped up and never to be opened.
But since when does Tim follow the rules?
Consider yourself warned.
Chilling tales, filled with twists and turns will leave you on the edge of your seat! Perfect for fans of Goosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
My Review:
7/10
Alright. We are back with some more Disney reviews, and what a better way to kick it off, than a scary story. What really pulled my interest into this book was the cover. I almost died when I saw what was on it. THE CAVE OF WONDERS! So this book is separated weirdly in chapters. It is basically a storybook. The different sections were of different villains or backstory, and the first one was Aladdin. I am a HUUUGE Aladdin fan, so after the first chapter, I was hooked. But sadly, Aladdin only came up that one time, so it was disappointing. But more on that later.
Another cool thing about this book was that the blurb on the back of the book, perfectly described the book. And that is hard to find in books, because usually the blurbs are short and sometimes overexcite the reader, but this back summary hit it right on the head. This book was quite captivating story and premise.
Also how the setup for the story talks about real world problems. Like the only reason most of this book happens is because people are locked inside the Disney Archives building, due to wildfires and the unsafe conditions. So that was a nice touch.
It definitely confirmed my suspicion that Disney uses real props and has an archive of everything ever used for a film. I only heard about it, but now there is proof. On the topic of the archives, what a way to transition. (I know, I am sooo cool)
Let’s talk about the characters. Firstly let me say, the two main characters were really triggering me at some points, despite them developing as characters and becoming friends. I mean doesn’t everyone know the first rule of time travel? Don’t mess with anything. Nothing. And that’s exactly what they did. Same with a movie, let it run its course. At some points, I got so annoyed I wanted to be sucked into the book, smack them across the face for being silly, then explaining the rules of time travel. Even though the characters were triggering, they still grew as people and changed into a better version of themselves.
The next thing I wasn’t too fond of was the movie and villain choices the author used. I mean there are a surplus of movies with quite epic villains, but instead of using one of those stories, the characters got sucked into The Rescuers. The Rescuers? Who has heard of that? And why that? Not Maleficent, Captain Hook, Hades, but the Rescuers?
OVERALL:
This book was a very fun read, despite The Rescuers section, and I think Disney fans will enjoy this MG storybook with Villains you love.