The Villains Series by Serena Valentino

Serena Valentino has written several stories focusing on the villains from Disney films. I read a few of them in May 2020. They are supposed to stand alone but there is something that connects them all.

FAIREST OF ALL: the story of the Queen from Snow White. I was annoyed that Ms Valentino wasn't creative enough to think of a name for the Queen. It would have helped me connect with her story more. ⭐⭐⭐

THE BEAST WITHIN: the story of the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. First of all, I have issues that the Beast Prince Adam is portrayed as a villain here. Is he really? Arguably, the witch who cursed him is the true villain. And then there's Gaston and the madhouse owner who have evil tendencies. Personally, I stand by Adam being misunderstood. Belle is my favourite Disney Princess so I always have high hopes that retellings do her story justice. So far, it's been hit (such as As Old As Time) or miss (e.g. Beastly) for me. The Beast Within is unfortunately in the latter category because it is nowhere near as magical as I wanted it to be. Right from the start, it has so little resemblance to one of my favourite films. I really wanted to hit Prince Adam with my copy because his characterisation was off. And don't get me started on his 'friendship' with Gaston. Also, who was this Princess Tulip Morningstar? I wanted more of Belle. ⭐⭐

POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL: the story of Ursula from The Little Mermaid. I'm a poor, unfortunate soul because I feel like I didn't find out much about Ursula despite her face on the cover. Her villain backstory fell a bit flat and was rushed too. There were too many other things going on and the Odd Sisters appearing in every book is getting to be too intrusive and repetitive. I've had enough of this series now. Honestly, the only reason I finished this book was so I could complete some reading challenges. ⭐⭐⭐

MOTHER KNOWS BEST: the story of Mother Gothel from Tangled. OK, I didn't actually read this one. I'm missing one of this series. This was not intentional and it's not my fault. I bought a set of four books which for some unknown reason included Books 1-3 and Book 5 but no Book 4 even though it's advisable to read the series in order. Marketing fail 🤦. While reading the first three books, I was so indecisive about continuing the series and buying my missing book. It was 50-50. I rated the others no higher than 3 stars because they didn't have the magic of the Disney films I know and love. I didn't like how the focus was shifting more to the Odd Sisters when I wanted more villain backstory about the cover characters. I also didn't like how Serena Valentino avoided calling the villains by their names - it was often the Queen or the Beast etc. In the end, I realised I've given Serena three chances already and there's was nothing outstanding to convince me to carry on the series. It's a shame because I'm a huge Disney fan but these just don't hit the mark

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