Title: A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale
Author: Liz Braswell
Genre: Fairy-tale retellings
How I got the book: I bought it
Summary (from 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.
My Review (may contain spoilers!):
I’m not entirely sure what to think of this novel. The twist was that Aladdin never got the lamp in the first place. Jafar took the lamp from Aladdin and then knocked him back into the Cave of Winders where Aladdin was trapped. Without a genie to help him get out.
Sounds interesting, right? It was. Once Aladdin made it out of the cave, he, Jasmine, and a bunch of Street Rats formed an army against the new Sultan, Jafar. It was cool to see the poor rally against the rich and powerful.
However… The first 80 or so pages of the book seemed to be word for word from the Disney movie. I can see having Jasmine and Aladdin meet the same way, but there could have been slig differences.
Also, this nit-picky of me, but there was an overkill-use of italics. Words were emphasized that didn’t need to be. The italics was overwhelming on some pages making it hard to read. It was a distraction.
The point of view wasn’t consistent, either. It was third person switching between Aladdin and Jasmine. When they were together, it was always Aladdin’s point of view. There were two random chapters that were in Jafar’s point of view, which made it confusion as well.
Overall it was a great twist on the classic fairy-tale, but it definitely could have been tweaked a bit more.
A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell gets 3 out of 5 stars.
Favorite Quote:
“Having the freedom to choose is better than having everything you want.” –Liz Braswell, A Whole New World
Be sure to check out my Goodreads to see what I’ll be reading next!