I received this book for free from Library, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Whole New World by Liz Braswell Narrator: James Patrick Cronin
Length: 8 Hours 30 Minutes
Series: Twisted Tales #1
Published by Disney Electronic Content on September 1st 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Fairy Tales & Folklore, General, Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic
Pages: 267
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: Library, Publisher
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What if Aladdin had never found the lamp? This first book in the A Twisted Tale line will explore a dark and daring version of Disney's Aladdin. When Jafar steals the Genie's lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish.To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war. What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.
Why Did I Listen To A Whole New World by Liz Braswell?
I am forever and always a massive Disney fangirl. I choose to go to Disney World as an adult sans children for vacation. Aladdin is among my favorite Disney movies. I used to have the Aladdin game for Super NES as a kid. So, the Aladdin love is strong with this book blogger. A Whole New World by Liz Braswell intrigued me because it attempts to retell the movie version story with a twist. I thought that the twist sounded fascinating and like something I would be into reading. However, given my pressed time, the audiobook version seemed like the right choice to finally get to this book. And lo and behold, my library had a copy so of course, I had to grab it and give it a chance.
What’s The Story Here?
First of all if you are not a child of the 1990s and have not seen Aladdin, perhaps do yourself a favor and watch it. Then come back to this review of A Whole New World. Okay, so Liz Braswell’s introductory Twisted Tales book takes on Aladdin and twists it. What she does is take the story and asks what would happen if instead of Aladdin getting the lamp and three wishes from Genie, Jafar gets the lamp. What we get is essentially a fun house mirror image of the story we all know and love. This is a world where Aladdin remains poor and trapped in the cave of wonders. Jafar essentially kills the Sultan and launches a reign of awful and tries to force Jasmine into marriage. Meanwhile, he does SOME good — feeding the poor and giving away money. Still, there are a lot of people who are not content with his rule.
What Did I Think Of This Audiobook?
Well, I do think that A Whole New World is eerily similar to the film Aladdin until the whole Jafar gets the lamp thing. I mean, it’s basically word for word, scene for scene. After Jafar gets the lamp, a lot of bizarre things happen which makes sense because this is a twisted tale. HOWEVER, I just had a rough time really connecting or caring. I also found myself kind of bored until the very end. I mean, the concept is very cool overall but this book was just not the one for me. I still would like to check out the next in the Twisted Tales series though.
How’s The Narration of A Whole New World?
Liz Braswell’s A Whole New World is produced by Blackstone Audio and narrated by James Patrick Cronin who is a new to me narrator. He is okay. I am not stunned into being impressed nor am I disappointed. I thought the narration was adequate. The audiobook is decently produced as well. I think that this appeals a lot more to me as an audiobook and that’s how I would recommend reading it if you are interested.
Sum It Up With A GIF:
Essentially Jafar does get the cool role in this book.
Other reviews of A Whole New World by Liz Braswell:
The Fictional Reader – “it wasn’t as mind-blowing as I’d hoped it to be.”
Disney In Your Day – “For me it was interesting and a quick read.”
The Irish Banana Review – “captures the magic. I was 10 years old all over again.”
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Thank you so much for featuring my review as well! Like you, I found it a bit weird that the first 25% of the book is basically the same as the actual tale, almost word for word. I ended up checking out the second book in the series, which I DNFed.
Great review!