Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell (Spoiler Free)

Title: A Whole New World

Author: Liz Braswell

Genre:

Publication Date: September 1, 2015

Number of Pages: 384

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.

Welcome to a new YA series that reimagines classic Disney stories in surprising new ways. Each book asks the question: What if one key moment from a familiar Disney film was changed? This dark and daring version of Aladdin twists the original story with the question: What if Jafar was the first one to summon the Genie?

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.

Wow, this one was disappointing, and it kind of crushes my soul to say that.

I love the movie Aladdin, so the concept of a YA retelling really got me excited. I was dying to read this, and when I get approved on NetGalley, I thought I was going to die of excitement.

And then I started reading, and my excitement came to a screeching halt.

I was bored. So bored. Nothing about this book captivated me in the way that I so desperately wanted it to. This shocked me, consider the first chunk of the book is more or less a play by play of the movie. Even once the “twists” started up and the story veered in the other direction, I had to force myself through it. The characters fell flat and were entirely one dimensional, and I just couldn’t make myself connect with any of them. Somehow, something about this book made me keep a distance from the characters at all time, and that’s a big dealbreaker for me in books. I want to be there with them! I want to feel what they’re feeling, and root for them in their time of need. A Whole New World didn’t end up giving me any of these feelings.

It thoroughly pains me to say this, but I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. It would be 1, but I found the writing style itself to be pretty good. I think I’d pick up another book from this author for that reason.