Disney Villains meets Gotham? Sign me up!.......unfortunately this book did not meet the expectations I had. The story is based around Mary Elizabeth Heart, an intern at a police department, her criminal boyfriend James (aka Captain Hook), her missing best friend Ursula, and the other missing girl Mally (Maleficent). This story is essentially a police procedural mystery mixed with Disney Villain origin stories. The biggest issue I had was the way the story was told, it was definitely more explained then show, and it got a bit off putting the more I read. I stuck through the book because it has all the elements I normally love and I was determined to see it to the end. The entire magic system, world building, class system, just was a mess and honestly they really throw you in with so much explaining in the first few chapters. The story is advertised as “dark and edgy YA” but it honestly comes off more like a middle grade book with splashes of a little bit of cursing and a little bit of romance, but it definitely is not as “gritty” as I initially thought it would be. The thing about this is, the entire plot and world has so much potential, you could definitely make this an amazing gritty dark mystery with magic, but it came off more juvenile than I had anticipated. Mary is struggling to deal with her identity as part of the Legacy, also known as the “bad” kids ( aka families in the world who use to have magic, so think of essentially the big characters, in her case, I’m assuming Queen of Hearts), and her ambition to be a police officer. Her character has a tragic past , definitely like Dick Grayson more than Bruce Wayne vibes I got from her. She’s trying to solve a mystery and along the way finds that things are not what they seem and the mystery is bigger than even her. The plot is okay and the mystery was fine, I just felt that Mary was a bit juvenile for her supposed age and occupation, and found some of her decisions “meh”. Overall, this book was okay, but it could have been so much more. I’d definitely recommend it for readers who are about 12-15 age group. The book ends on a cliffhanger as this is the first book in the series, but the initial mystery is solved by the end of the first book. If your a fan of Disney’s Descedants or any kind of Disney reimagining this could definitely be up your alley, so give it a try!

*Thank you Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*