When I discovered the Twisted Tales series, I was immediately sold. New versions of fairytales, with amazing covers, nice titles AND published by Disney? What’s not to love?! Still completely dazzled by the new live action version of Aladdin, I choose to start the series with A Whole New World by Liz Braswell. (The series consists of books by different authors.)

What if…

The concept of the series is rather straightforward: we know the fairytale but what if…? In the case of this particular book, the author explores what would have happened if Aladdin had never found the lamp. Apparently, quite a lot. The story starts out as usual: Jasmine goes to the market, accidently steals an apple and is rescued by street rat Aladdin with whom she hits it off right away. Their happiness is cut short as Aladdin is arrested by the Royal Vizier, Jafar. Locked away in a dark prison, Aladdin is approached by an old man who convinces him to join his search for a lamp. The man promises that Aladdin “will get exactly what he deserves”. (Which is not at all a suspicious remark…no, not at all. I would trust someone who says something like that too.) Of course, that’s when the sky comes crashing down. But in this version, it’s not Aladdin who frees Genie. Now that the power-hungry Jafar has the lamp, Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu, and Carpet have to join forces to save the kingdom.

A Twisted Tale

There are quite a lot of hints to the the original Disney movie in A Whole New World: the cover shows the shadow of Jafar as we know him, there are multiple quotations including the classic “All this for a loaf of bread?” and the first chapter starts in a typical 1001-nights atmosphere. You can feel the sun burn on your skin and the sand whisper underneath your feet.

Unfortunately, the style changes drastically when the plot twist is introduced and this has a bit of an alienation effect. In the summary at the back of the book, it says that this version aimed to introduce the concept of revolutionaries in the story. To me, however, it felt more like someone put the characters of Les Misérables in a time machine and dumped them in the world of 1001 Nights. I had constantly the impression that something was off about it. Discussions about inflation, a bunch of street kids who organise an underground resistance reminiscent of the French revolution, and Aladdin who mentions his “limited upwards mobility”. The total picture just doesn’t work out. The writing style is clearly aimed at a younger audience, but then, out of the blue, Jasmine describes the role of women to be “stuffed with babies”.  I thought that was rather unexpected way of putting things in a book for young teenagers. Maybe I’m just getting old 🙂

It breaks my heart because I was so enthusiastic about this series, but I simply did not enjoy this book. I even have to admit that I stopped reading about 50 pages before the end. I just didn’t care anymore. Which leaves me with quite a conundrum regarding the other books in the series. Those covers continue to enchant me…Will I give Liz Braswell another chance and pick up As Old as Time (I can never resist alternative versions of Beauty and the Beast)? Or should I read Reflection, a retelling of Mulan by Elizabeth Lim? Decisions, decisions…

Nevertheless, for this one, only one out of five gemstones, I’m afraid:

Age Category: Young teenagers

Trigger Warnings (click here, may contain spoilers)

Very mild. Warnings for parental death.

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores. If you decide to buy it via one of the following links, I will receive a small percentage at no extra charge for you!

Amazon.nl: Paperback English edition

Similar to this

Twisted Tales is an extended series that contains both the classics as more recent Disney movies (e.g. Frozen). Aren’t these covers amazing:

When doing research for this post, I discovered Aladdin: Far from Agrabah by Aisha Saeed. This novel is based on the live-action remake by Disney and contains a lot of adventure, humour, and makes the relationship between Aladdin and Jasmine a bit more realistic. I’ve added it to my TBR-list. Have you already read this new Disney book?

In need of more fairytale retellings? Then definitely check out A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (you can find my review here) and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (review).