The tale is told as if it's happening once upon a dream: the lovely maiden meets her handsome prince in the woods. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the maiden finds out that she is a princess-a princess who has been cursed by a dark fairy to prick her finger on a spindle and fall into an eternal sleep. Though her three good fairies try to protect her, the princess succumbs to the curse. But the power of good endures, as her true love defeats the fire-breathing dragon and awakens the princess with true love's first kiss. The two live happily ever after.
And yet this is only half the story. So what of the dark fairy, Maleficent? Why does she curse the innocent princess? What led to her becoming so filled with malice, anger, and hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account, pulled down from the many passed down through the ages. It is a tale of love and betrayal, of magic and reveries. It is a tale of the Mistress of All Evil.
Another Disney Villains novel read! I can’t believe I waited so long to read this series! It’s is seriously good! Serena Valentino takes the Disney movies we know and love and tells us the other side of the story, the story we only thought we knew. In the Mistress of All Evil, we thought we knew why Maleficent did what she did to Aurora, but we were very, very wrong.
The story begins with Maleficent seeking out the odd sisters, needing their help in the spell she cast upon Aurora. Thanks to the three good fairies, her spell isn’t permanent as she intended and she wants their help to make it so Aurora will never awaken. Here we believe that Maleficent is as evil as we always thought, but the story doesn’t truly begin until we start to read the chapters regarding Maleficent’s childhood.
Poor Maleficent never had it easy, it seems everyone had condemned her to be evil before she even had a chance to find herself. This story will have you shooting daggers at Cinderella’s fairy godmother and the three good fairies who take care of Aurora as a child. And to think, I used to like Merryweather. Now, I know these are just stories and aren’t meant to rip apart the Disney movies we know and love so well. It’s just amazing how detailed the stories are in maintaining the character-likeness from the movies we know so well.
The story continues to do a bit of back and forth in showing us the present going-ons with Maleficent and even Aurora who is trapped in a dream world while under the enchanted sleeping spell. I quite liked this since poor Aurora is literally one of the only Disney princesses who doesn’t get as many lines as the rest. It was said that she was the only title character with the least lines, and I think that is in all Disney movie history, not just princesses too! So this added little bit with Aurora was rather intriguing.
Of course, the biggest surprise of them all ended up being the twist Serena threw into the story regarding Aurora! Wow! Did not see that one coming and just WOW! I want to know more, but of course the story is over and I don’t foresee there being any other answers to that fact other than what was already given. Of course, that wasn’t the only jaw-dropping secret that was revealed as there was yet another one thrown into the mix regarding the odd sisters themselves. Boy that was surprising! I can’t wait to see what will happen next in Mother Gothel’s story!
What I find really enjoyable about these books to date is how the movies we know and love are still being put into action! The outcomes are still the same, though there could be something new happening behind the scenes that we were never privy to before. And I love that Serena includes all the dialogue too, all those well-known and beloved lines! I am literally seeing the movie play in my head at these times!
I cannot recommend this series enough to my fellow Disney fans! As a Disney lover, I always enjoy seeing a Disney movie take a different twist here and there or like the other beloved Twisted Tales series that suggests what if something else happened instead…what then? These kinds of Disney novels are surprising, yet utterly delightful! I cannot wait to read the rest and I am dying to know what other villains Serena might take on next. I feel like I might know one possibility…though it might take a while to get that story, as Maleficent was hinted at for the first three books and she didn’t come around until the fourth one. So who knows, time will tell and I will be reading whatever else Serena decides to throw at us in this world!
Overall Rating 5/5 stars
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