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Book Review: Escape from the Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #4) by Melissa de la Cruz

Escape from the Isle of the Lost (Descendants, #4)  by Melissa de la Cruz

Disney Hyperion, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1368020053

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Escape from the Isle of the Lost is the last book in Melissa de la Cruz’s media tie-in series to Disney’s Descendants franchise. For those not familiar with Descendants, be warned that this review is packed with all kinds of spoilers. The premise is that in the fairytale kingdom of Auradon, where all the “good” heroes, princesses, and sidekicks from Disney movies live (mostly) with their children in (mostly) harmony and privilege, the villains and their children have been banished to the Isle of the Lost, a barren, isolated place behind a force-field that prevents them from using magic. The Isle of the Lost has pro-Auradon propaganda everywhere, but the buildings are falling apart, the food, clothing, and supplies brought in from Auradon are spoiled, and the villains’ kids are growing up in abusive homes where evil and villainy are celebrated, becoming angry, defiant, deceptive, and mean. With the current king and queen retiring, their teenage son Ben is about to be crowned king, and, believing that it’s unjust to imprison children for their parents’ wrongs, he successfully argues in favor of allowing four kids from the Isle of the Lost to attend school in Auradon. This is the perfect beginning for an enjoyable, dark reimagining of Disney’s fairytale characters. Mal, the daughter of Maleficent, who revels in her wickedness, plans to use the opportunity to free everyone from the Isle of the Lost and help Maleficent take over Auradon. Instead, she finds herself becoming friends with the three other “villain kids” (VK’s) and appreciating the advantages, friendships, and even love that she discovers in Auradon.

Unsure of whether they can ever really belong in Auradon, the VKs have to overcome the messages they’ve received from their parents, and decide to use their powers for good instead of helping their villain parents escape the Isle to conquer Auradon. Jay, son of Jafar, turns out to be a great athlete. Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White, channels her obsession with beauty into creating beautiful clothes for friends and classmates. Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil, overcomes shyness and his fear of dogs. Mal, however, finds herself in love with King Ben, and as a VK is unsure of whether she can meet Auradon’s expectations that she be ladylike, or whether she wants to. Running back to the Isle, her friends (and Ben) follow her there. Before they can convince her to return, her childhood enemy, Uma (daughter of Ursula the sea witch) kidnaps Ben and threatens to kill him if Mal can’t bring her the magic she needs to escape the Isle of the Lost. Mal and the other VKs save Ben and keep Uma from taking over Auradon, with Mal accepting that she can do what needs to be done in order to be both the lady and hero that Auradon needs.

That’s where Escape from the Isle of the Lost begins. Ben, Mal, Jay, and Evie are all about to graduate from high school, and the VKs have all discovered that it feels good to be good. That dark reimagining I expected to stick with the series has dissolved on the part of the four kids from the Isle. Auradon’s Council expects Mal to travel to all the kingdoms on a “listening tour” and are dismayed that she wants to include the Isle of the Lost on her itinerary. Ben’s suggestion that students on the Isle of the Lost be allowed to apply to school in Auradon meets with disapproval, and as he’s about to back down, Mal finally convinces him that four new students should be allowed to apply in a general application process (unfairly included in this number is Dizzy, Cinderalla’s step-niece, who was specifically invited to attend school at the end of the last movie. My daughter is a huge fan of Dizzy, so this was a giant disappointment) A failure for the program to catch on (Isle kids don’t really see the appeal of being “good”) causes Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos to visit the Isle in order to promote it, at first unsuccessfully. After promising a huge celebration for the students who are successfully accepted, though, the Isle kids stampede to apply. In the meantime, Uma teams up with Hades to attract Mal into a dangerous undersea battle. Jay, Carlos, and Evie break into the Evil Queen’s castle in hopes of using her magic mirror to find Mal. Before Uma can defeat Mal, Evie dives through the magic mirror and pushes Mal up from the bottom of the ocean and away from Uma, although afterwards none of the VKs can remember what happened.

In addition to the drama on the Isle of the Lost, there are the events and decisions that go along with senior year and graduation.  Jay’s athletic ability has drawn the attention of three prestigious schools who want him on their team; Evie makes enough money from selling designs to her classmates to buy a house and open a fashion line; and Carlos, now with a girlfriend and dog, seems to have become a creative, caring, leader and support for his friends. Mal’s character, disappointingly, seems to have faded as she works to become the “Lady Mal” that the Auradon Council expects as King Ben’s girlfriend. The VKs prank the school, participate in a senior scavenger hunt, say goodbye to good friends, and go through the graduation ceremony.  The book closes with the reader’s knowledge that next year will bring four new VKs to Auradon, with Evie and Carlos to mentor them.

Descendants is a transmedia franchise, and it’s hard to evaluate the book outside of its context. De La Cruz’s books have each preceded (or followed) a movie musical, with the movie Descendants 3 set to appear at the end of July. While the idea behind the series has a lot of promise, the potential conflicts that could rise between VKs and the students of Auradon Prep have sort of fizzled as Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos have adjusted to living by the rules in Auradon. In the last movie, Mal used magic to cover up her insecurity and discomfort at trying to fit into the role she was being expected to fill. Now, she’s no longer using magic or rebelling, instead allowing herself to be molded into what the Auradon Council wants. Forgetting what it was like to be on the Isle of the Lost, she tries to sell the kids there on the benefits of being “good”. While other characters have grown and changed for the better, everything that was appealing in Mal has sort of drifted away in the wake of being the king’s girlfriend. Dizzy and her friend Celia (daughter of Dr. Facilier) both get some attention, but their characters don’t get developed as much as I hoped they would. Mal’s nemesis, Uma, who stole the last book and the last movie, gets a little attention, but she isn’t as dynamic or successful a character. Hades is introduced and given a fair amount of backstory and character development, but his contribution to the story is minor. I am sure some of these issues will get more attention in the upcoming movie, but there are an awful lot of loose ends. Evie and Carlos are the ones who really shine in this book.

There is an opportunity in the Descendants franchise that de la Cruz didn’t touch on, that I hope Disney hasn’t missed in the upcoming movie, and that is the opportunity for social justice to take center stage. Mal has proximity to the most powerful people in Auradon because of her relationship to King Ben, even though neither of them has really taken a major stand that the Council disagrees with. If her VK friends stand in solidarity to support allowing the Isle kids in who want to come to school in Auradon, what position would she take? If Ben opposes her, would she back down or support the VKs?  I can’t think of a more relevant moment to bring in the idea of letting imprisoned children go free rather than punishing them for the actions of their parents.

Cameron Boyce, the actor who played Carlos, died last week from SUDEP– sudden death by epileptic seizure. I suppose it’s possible for the Descendants franchise to continue with a new cast, but it’s certainly possible that this is the end of any new material. I hope we get to see what the VKs can really accomplish as they move forward, because it is our last chance to see the original four characters in action, and I really want to see what the resourcefulness, creativity, and determination of Isle kids can lead to when combined with the motivation to really do good instead of just “being good”.  If the movie continues to present Mal in the same “follow the rules, do what you’re told” model that appears in the book, I will be very disappointed.

Some of the relationships may be a little advanced for elementary-aged kids, but nothing goes further than a kiss. The first of these books came out when my daughter was just finishing third grade, and she has followed the Descendants franchise ever since.  If, like her, you are a fan of the franchise who has kept up to date (or know one), you will want to read this. If you haven’t read the previous books and seen the movies, you’ll feel, for lack of a better word, lost. Appropriate for grades 4 and up.

Recommended with reservations.

Posted on July 14, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Happy Death Day & Happy Death Day 2U by Aaron Hartzler

Happy Death Day & Happy Death Day 2U by Aaron Hartzler

Blumhouse Books/Anchor Books, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-9848-9772-5

Available: paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Remember the good old days when movie tie-ins were available for almost every film out there, and good authors wrote them?  Lest we forget, Alan Dean Foster, Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, and Orson Scott Card all took a shot at tie-in writing.  You read them for two reasons: they were able to add a level of detail that a film can’t convey, and they often had scenes deleted from the film, which made you feel like you were getting something new.  Tie-ins are still around, and here we have a two for one deal: both of the Happy Death Day films in one novel.  If you liked the movies, it’s worth reading these to recall the fun of a surprisingly clever horror film.  If you haven’t seen them, it’s still entertaining enough to be worth the read.

Teresa ‘Tree’ Gelbman is a shallow, insensitive college student who wakes up with a hangover in a stranger’s dorm room on her birthday.  Her character gets established quickly on her bolting from the dorm and making her way through the day.  She’s a grade-A bitch, with no redeeming qualities.  She treats her few friends and all strangers like trash, and pretends to be nice to others to maintain her social standing.  To top it off, she’s trying to screw her way to a good grade in her biology class by having an affair with a married professor.  At the end of the day, she gets murdered by an unknown assailant.  Upon dying, she… wakes up with a hangover in a stranger’s dorm room on her birthday.  That’s her fate: she’s condemned to re-live the same day over and over, getting killed by the assailant each time, until she finds a way to break the cycle.  The second book follows a similar pattern.  The main differences are Tree finds herself in an alternate timeline, and you get some explanation for why the time-loop thing happened in the first place.

As expected for a movie tie-in, both books follow the script very closely.  The level of detail added in is not very high, although there are a few minor brush strokes to flesh out some of the scenes a bit.  Tree’s feelings about her professor are one area where the additional detail makes her seem a bit human, as opposed to completely unfeeling.  The real challenge to writing a story like this is, how do you make a re-playing scene seem interesting to the reader?  The author does a good job of making the repeated areas seem new, by using different ways to explain them.  For example, instead of just writing ‘the sprinklers turned on, someone fell down, a car alarm went off’ over and over, he finds new ways to describe it.  One good example is saying ‘The day unfolded with Tree’s greatest hits: Sprinkler.   Alarm.   Person falling over.’  It’s minor, but it really does help make the story more readable, and not make the reader feel as if they are caught in a time loop of their own.  This is written well enough that you feel like you are reading an actual story, and not just a copy of the script.  The only minor drawback to the book is that if you are looking for added scenes that weren’t in the movie, you’ll be disappointed.  As noted, this follows the original premise very closely, and I couldn’t find any new scenes added in.  Whether that’s good or bad depends on the reader.

The final verdict: The Happy Death Day movies have enough originality that they translate well to book form, thanks to the author’s treatment of the script.  The book is also a quick read, with both films are fitted into only 272 pages, and it reads fast enough that most readers will be hooked enough to finish it in a sitting or two.  It’s perfect for summer beach fare, and the violence is mild enough that it’s palatable to young readers.  A good horror choice for both adults and young adult readers.

Contains:  violence

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on July 3, 2019 by , Reply

Book List: The Hunger Games and Battle Royale

With the news that a prequel to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is upcoming, Monster Librarian brings forth a blast from the past, compiled by Dylan Kowalewski in 2012 just before the first movie was released, with reviews by Jim Cobb and Michele Lee.

The Hunger Games and Battle Royale

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is an incredibly popular dystopian young adult series that has crossover appeal that very few other books have had, as both adults and teens love the books, and tomorrow The Hunger Games movie will open at theaters across the country.

Before Suzanne Collins had teens dueling to the death, there was another dystopian novel that had teens battling each other for survival, called Battle Royale.  Battle Royale was written by  Koushun Takami and was originally published in 1999.  The book is set in an alternate world in Japan, where a totalitarian government, in order to terrorize the population, renders a school bus full of middle school students unconscious, only to relocate them on a small island where they are given random weapons and are forced to battle each other until there is only one survivor. It has also been made into a well-regarded, controversial film that has been compared to A Clockwork Orange with a not-so-wonderful sequel, and a manga series.  Battle Royale is explicit in its violence, much more so than The Hunger Games, and that’s unexpected to many fans of Collins’ books who have heard that The Hunger Games is based on Battle Royale, but it has devoted fans of its own. Since the film was released, “battle royale” has taken on a new meaning– a fictional narrative or mode of entertainment (such as a video game) where a group of people are told to kill each other off until there is just one survivor.

So if you are a fan of The Hunger Games with a strong stomach, you might want to take a look at Battle Royale.

Speaking of  The Hunger Games, Jim Cobb of  Survival Weekly reviewed the first two books for us and Michele Lee reviewed the third and last one, Mockingjay. if you haven’t read the books yet now is the time to stop by your local library and pick up a copy!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press, 2010

ISBN-13: 978-0545310581

Available: New and Used

In the not-so-far-off future, the United States has been decimated by disaster and war. It is now a country called Panem, and is broken into twelve districts. There were at one time thirteen districts, but one of them tried to rise up against the government, referred to as the Capitol, and was annihilated. Katniss, our main character, is from District 12, the poorest district. The reader may infer that this district is located in an area corresponding to Appalachia. Capitol citizens may enjoy fine food and drink, but those who live in District 12 subsist on dog, wild game, and grains.

Each year, two delegates (one boy, one girl, aged 8-18) are chosen by lottery from each district to compete in the Hunger Games. The Games are held in a different environment each year and are televised to the masses across the country. It is a battle to the death among the delegates. Think Lord of the Flies meets The Running Man.

During the current lottery, Katniss’ young sister, Prim, is chosen. As allowed by the rules, Katniss immediately volunteers to take her place. Katniss knows sending Prim to The Hunger Games is nothing but a death sentence. Her intention in volunteering has nothing to do with wanting to compete. Rather, she is trying to save her sister.

Katniss is a hunter who has spent years learning the ways of the woods– tracking, fishing, trapping, woodcraft. Her mother is an herbalist who has taught her what plants heal and how to use them. To feed her family, Katniss has taken down all manner of wild game… but can she kill another human being?

The characterization in this book is phenomenal. You feel the emotional conflict within Katniss every step of the way. The other characters have distinct personalities that are realistically portrayed. Some are sympathetic, others not so much. Readers find themselves rooting for certain characters and hoping others are taken down quickly.

The action sequences are well planned and executed. They are both exciting and brutal. These might be kids, but they are kids who want to win at any cost.

This is one of my favorite reads this year. It is written for the young adult crowd (grade 7 and up). The book is the first in a trilogy, with the third book set to hit bookstores in a few weeks.

Highly, highly recommended.

Reviewed by Jim Cobb

 

Catching Fire (Hunger Games Series #2)by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press; 1 edition, 2009

ISBN-13: 978-0439023498

Available: New and Used

Catching Fire is book two in the Hunger Games trilogy. It begins a short time after the end of the first book. Katniss and Peeta, our star-crossed lovers, have returned to District 12 victorious. They are given new homes for their families, as well as wealth and status. For a brief period, all is well. Katniss also learns of a rumor about District 13. All her life, she has been told District 13 was uninhabitable, due to being destroyed by the Capitol in a war whose end result was the creation of the Hunger Games. She is now told there are indeed people living in District 13, people who are working to overthrow the Capitol.

As part of their duties as Hunger Games victors, Katniss and Peeta are to tour the entire country of Panem, visiting each district in turn. On the day they are to depart, Katniss is confronted by President Snow. He is not at all happy with how the Hunger Games ended, and believes there is a resistance movement sweeping through the districts that has chosen Katniss as their symbol of rebellion. President Snow explains to Katniss she must prove to the entire country her defiance in the Hunger Games was not an act of rebellion but instead driven by her love of Peeta.

During their victory tour, Katniss witnesses firsthand both acts of defiance among the populace and the Capitol’s iron-fisted way of dealing with those acts.

The next Hunger Games is a Quarter Quell. This occurs every twenty-five years and allows the Capitol to introduce some sort of twist to the event. This time around, it is determined that the participants will be chosen from all living previous Hunger Games victors. Katniss and Peeta are headed right back into the arena, with every opponent being someone who has survived previous Hunger Games.

Twists and turns abound in this book, but it does suffer from what I call “middle book syndrome.” In almost every trilogy, the middle book is the weakest of the three. The first book is usually exciting in that there is a goodly amount of world-building. The reader learns who to root for and who to despise. The second book often is not much more than a lead up to a dazzling conclusion in the third volume.

In this particular case, Catching Fire does contribute to the overall story. It is well-written and the characters are fleshed out well. But the reader, knowing there is another book coming, might feel this book goes a bit slower than necessary. Certainly by the time the actual Hunger Games begin, the reader is almost out of patience.

Overall, the book is a good follow up to the first volume, but it does move slowly. Recommended for all those who loved the first Hunger Games book.

Reviewed by Jim Cobb

 

mockingjay

 

 

 

 

 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic, 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0545663267
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

Ye gods, what a mule kick in the heart this book is. Katniss has seen the destruction of her town and most of the people she knew. She’s faced the Arena twice for the amusement of her world, and had to kill, and face her own death. Now she lives in the tunnels of District 13, being forced to become the star of the revolution.

Once again she’s trading her own well-being for that of others, but District 13’s president is determined to keep Katniss on a much tighter leash. War brings out a side of Gayle Katniss doesn’t like and Peeta, left behind in the Arena break out, is being tortured into playing Katniss’ opposite, moral booster for the Capitol and President Snow.

Even once rescued, Peeta has been so twisted by trackerjack venom and psychological reconditioning that he tries to kill Katniss more than once. Katniss, trying to deal with how very broken she is, has no real support, and at times it seems no one even cares about her, just The Mockingjay.

War isn’t prettied up at all for readers, which is a mixed blessing since there’s no real diluting of either battle, nor Katniss’ emotional trauma. Collins doesn’t even pretend that Katniss, or Peeta, or Gayle are valiant defenders of anything. They are people picking sides and fighting for what they feel is right, but in the process the tragedy they cause is just as real as the harm they endure spurring them to fight.

While it isn’t pretty, Mockingjay is an amazingly soulful story, sure to resonate with readers, teens and adults a like. Definitely a recommended read, but with a caveat for caution for anyone with trigger issues.

Reviewed by Michele Lee

Posted on June 24, 2019 by , Reply
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