If (like me) Tangled is your very favorite Disney film and ultimate comfort movie, you will either fall in love with or completely despise this book. It’s important to keep in mind that “What Once Was Mine” is a TWISTED tale, not a retelling. There are stark contrasts from the original story, and the overarching plot ends up being much, much darker, with certain elements that almost border on horror instead of light fantasy.

Instead of inheriting the healing powers of the sun, Rapunzel is born with the power of the moon, capable of causing harm to those closest to her. But even with this terrifying power, our princess is still the same lovable, clumsy, and innocent young woman with a strong and compassionate heart. The addition of new characters and the reworked stories of familiar friends are a wonderful touch.

My one complaint is that the story is frequently interrupted by the events of the storyteller’s real life, which I could have done without. I didn’t feel that it added anything to the experience, and it was an annoying distraction from the plot.

This was the first volume of Disney’s ‘A Twisted Tale’ series that I picked up, and I enjoyed it immensely. I will definitely be reading more in the future!

Prince of Song & Sea is one of the best retellings/twisted tales I have ever read. It answered all of my wants; a backstory and development for Eric’s character, a new and entertaining twist on a beloved movie, and expansion to the love story between Eric and Ariel.

Before his birth, Eric was cursed by the sea witch to die if he kissed anyone other than his true love. Ariel made a deal with Ursula that required her to convince the prince to kiss her before the end of three days. In this story, the sea witch is much more conniving and manipulative than what we see in the original movie, eager to play her two pawns against each other to further her own agenda.

Fans of Disney’s The Little Mermaid are sure to enjoy this book. The author clearly has great love for the film. The scenes that appear both in this book and the movie are true to the source material, down to the smallest of details and the scripted dialogue. I highly recommend watching the movie again beforehand so you can catch these moments.

This book also served to fill in the plot holes that the film left behind. Why couldn’t Ariel communicate with the prince through written word? Could Eric understand Sebastian’s whispering in the “Kiss the Girl” scene? How can certain objects (paintings, books, etc.) retain their original form while submerged in ocean water? All of these questions and more are answered in this book, while further developing the world of The Little Mermaid.

I cannot conclude this review without making mention of the wonderful representations all throughout this book. From a non-binary pirate captain to seafarer lesbians and a cunning warrior queen, this story truly has it all. There are numerous characters of color and multiple roles filled by women that are often male-dominated in media, including doctors, sailors, pirates, and more.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this read, especially to Disney fans. The story is incredible. The characters are detailed and vibrant. The love story between Ariel and Eric is reinvigorated with new interactions and heartwarming moments between the pair. This is definitely going to be one of my top reads of the years.

I loved this book! Quite honestly, this may be a new favorite of mine. Elizabeth Lim’s Six Crimson Cranes is full of brilliant storytelling, unpredictable twists, and breathtaking displays of magic! I was constantly surprised by the unexpected direction the story suddenly took and eager to learn more.

I originally picked up this book only because the cover review is from an author I greatly admire, but I am so glad I gave this story a chance. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, myths, and a hint of romance (especially the arranged marriage trope).

I absolutely cannot wait to start reading the sequel and conclusion to this duology.

I adored the first book in this duology, Six Crimson Cranes, but the sequel fell short of my expectations. These two books, although they share one interconnected plot, felt like two entirely different stories written by two different authors. The disconnect was uncomfortable and pushing through it to finish this book was painful.

Unfortunately, the love triangle that was barely present in the first book was needlessly expanded upon in this volume. The story would have conveyed the same feeling had the love triangle not been present and the characters been simply friends instead. It was entirely unnecessary and did absolutely nothing to forward the plot.

The entire first third of the book felt like a completely different story from the rest of the duology. The events were not very well explained and left me with more questions than answers. It felt half-baked, as if the author was forcing two stories together without rhyme or reason.

My expectations were high and I feel that I was let down. This was a truly underwhelming sequel to an incredible book. I wish that Six Crimson Cranes had ended without a cliffhanger and stood alone as its own book.

This type of story may be a little cliche, but this book was charmingly sweet and very funny. The artwork is lovely as well.

Kyoshi is an incredible protagonist with amazing character development. This book is full of personal loss and grief, and tells a story of a young girl that is forced to struggle with those staggering emotions, while also confronting the truth of what it means to be the world’s next Avatar.

This was a much-needed expansion to the world of Avatar. We finally get to see the state of the four nations before the Fire Nation declares war on the world. I enjoyed how different Kyoshi’s experience is from Aang’s. She starts from nothing, living in a world where no one even knows that she is the Avatar, while Aang trained for the role from a very young age.

Kyoshi is such a fierce and commanding bisexual icon. I am in awe of her. The romance touched upon with Yun and developed with Rangi are both lovely. My heart aches for the pain that Kyoshi had to go through. I am very excited to see how her story further develops on the sequel.

There were parts of this book that I liked and many that I didn’t. It isn’t awful, it’s just lacking. Much of the plot was unexplained, with characters always alluding to plans without actually discussing them. It felt like lazy writing.

If you picked up this book just looking for spice, then put it down and find something else. It’s not until the last quarter of the book that you finally get there, and by that point it happens every other chapter and quickly grows stale.

The side characters were more interesting than the main couple. I enjoyed the relationship between the Scar and Simba characters. I found the ending satisfying and fitting for the plot and characters, but there were many moments that felt unnecessary.

A cute and simple manga about a girl who loves to clean traveling to another world cursed to be covered in dust. The art style is very pretty, and the variety of characters are quite interesting. I’m a big fan of the grumpy x sunshine trope.

My complaint is that the heroine falls too hard into that stereotypical ditzy, naive, airhead cliche common for young female protagonists in manga and anime. It’s bland and annoying. Hopefully her character will develop as the story progresses in subsequent volumes.

This murder mystery has everything you could want; a curious and clever heroine, a chatty canine companion, a rustic English village straight out of a storybook, a pair of gossipy husbands, a diverse cast of well-developed side characters and suspects, unpredictable twists and turns, and of course, a satisfying resolution to the mystery. I very much enjoyed this book and will most certainly pick up the second when I have a chance!

The chapters in Oliver’s perspective were a delight to read. He communicates and thinks exactly like how you would think a corgi would. He struggles to understand Emma’s human world and tries to make sense of it through smell, which often leads to more confusion for the both of them.

Knowing the end of the story, I realize that the hints and clues were there from the very beginning, but I was not able to put them together and figure out the answer before it was revealed in the story. I’m usually quite good at guessing the murderer in these types of stories, so I’m pleasantly surprised that this one was able to stump me.

My complaints are few, but major. This book takes place in England, but is written by an American author. It truly feels like she tried to throw every English phrase or word she knew into this story to try to make it seem more English. What this actually accomplished was unsettling the reader and pulling them out of the story.

Additionally, the beginning of this book was incredibly slow. It took me about a month to read the first half of this book. Once I made it past that halfway point, I finished it in two days. It’s just…boring. Emma spends more time searching for her dream house and the future location of her tea shop than she does trying to solve the murder. But once the plot eventually picks up, it really takes off and I struggled to put the book down.

This book was absolutely incredible. I can’t begin to come up with the right words to describe just how wonderful this story was. This is what fantasy is meant to be. I highly recommend this read. It truly stands apart from most in its genre.

The world-building is flawless. The author has expertly crafted seven unique kingdoms, each with their own laws, rulers, religions, and languages. The protagonists’ adventurers across each of them yields distinct thrills and challenges.

The protagonists and side characters are all complex, real, and well-developed. Their struggles and joys alike are vividly felt by the reader. From a grumpy old man to a young warrior in training, these characters cross all walks of life and each bring their own interesting story to the table. The characters breathe life into the story, helping the reader connect deeper with the plot.