Series
Genres
Description
Fantasy. Folklore. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. The third novel in Serena Valentino's (Fairest of All, Beast Within) "VILLAINS" trilogy, featuring the story of the Little Mermaid from the perspective of the sea witch Ursula.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016
Physical description
5.71 inches
Publication
Parragon Publishing (2016)
ISBN
1474846092 / 9781474846097
Library's review
It is rather disrespectful to the reader to present this as a book about Ursula, when she's really only the protagonist in (ironically) the prologue chapter. After that, Valentino continues and build upon what she started in the previous volume: wrestling the narrative away from the established
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Disney characters that the books are ostensibly about, and onto her original ones. If you accept and embrace that quickly, you might get a bit out of this book, which is really about continuing the story of princess Tulip, her nanny, her telepathic cat and the enchantress Circe (from book 2) and the Odd Sisters (from books 1 and 2). Ursula is definitely a presence in the story, but much more of a plot-driving device than an actual character. Like in "Beast Within", the climax is done through the far-off eyes of the Odd Sisters, but by that point, the story is really about them and not Ursula anyway, so it doesn't feel quite as anticlimactic as the last time around. As a chapter for anyone invested in the now ongoing saga of The Odd Sisters, their little sister Circe, and their adventures in a fairy tale land where all vaguely medieval Disney movies occur, this book's not just OK, it's actually rather pivotal as the narrative finally starts coming together and not feeling as skattered. As a tie-in book for "Little Mermaid" fans, it's a travesty. As a book in its own right, it's rather weak, with flimsily defined character motivations and very uneven dialogue and prose, but it's servicable. In absolutely every way I can think of, it's an improvement on "Beast Within", but I can't help but feel that it still doesn't reach to the knees of "Fairest of All". That book, while definitely having its many flaws, at least was exactly what it said on the packaging: the tale of a Disney villain. The next book up is about Maleficent (and is similarly set up here as Ursula and Tulip was in "Beast Within"), and I can only cross my fingers that my perhaps favourite Disney villain gets to actually hold centre stage in her book. Because the Sea Witch absolutely and definitely did not. Show Less
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User reviews
LibraryThing member FearStreetZombie
I was super excited to see this book and FINALLY be able to read it, but sadly I was let down horribly. I really expected this book to be about Ursula, it wasn't. She was only mentioned from time to time.
I really liked seeing her back story though and finding out why she was so evil and I am glad
I wasn't a fan of how this was written either. It is told in around 4 or 5 POV with no indication as to who was telling their part of the story until later in the chapter or so. It was really annoying and I didn't see the point in half of them, really. I mean yeah, they are a part of the story but they weren't THE story. They were side characters.
Also, the cat (I already forgot the name, I don't care). Any time she was brought up, instead of just saying her name, they described her. Again and again and again and again. Why? No, seriously. Why? We already know what she looks like, why the hell keep repeating? I should have kept track of how many times she was described. But whatever.
Who the hell are the sisters? The Three Sisters which makes zero freaking sense to me because they are constantly looking for their missing sister.... soooo.... why keep calling them the "three" when they are actually four? And the only three sisters I know of are those hag witches who are turn your stomach because their skin is so gross, their hair is stringy and they are....blind? I think. or have one eye? I dunno. But the three in this book were constantly said to be beautiful, so I have no idea.
The ending was so anticlimactic. It was so boring it was dang near pointless to keep reading. Even though I am sure everyone knows how The Little Mermaid ends, it would have been nice to have a ending worth actually reading. This was was like like a deadpan voice going "oh no. she was harpooned." or something.
All in all, it could have been better.
I really liked seeing her back story though and finding out why she was so evil and I am glad
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I never liked Triton in the first place. Who knew he was such a freaking punk a** jerk! You gotta be a real low life to treat a person that way and then be angry and wonder why they turned out the way they did.I wasn't a fan of how this was written either. It is told in around 4 or 5 POV with no indication as to who was telling their part of the story until later in the chapter or so. It was really annoying and I didn't see the point in half of them, really. I mean yeah, they are a part of the story but they weren't THE story. They were side characters.
Also, the cat (I already forgot the name, I don't care). Any time she was brought up, instead of just saying her name, they described her. Again and again and again and again. Why? No, seriously. Why? We already know what she looks like, why the hell keep repeating? I should have kept track of how many times she was described. But whatever.
Who the hell are the sisters? The Three Sisters which makes zero freaking sense to me because they are constantly looking for their missing sister.... soooo.... why keep calling them the "three" when they are actually four? And the only three sisters I know of are those hag witches who are turn your stomach because their skin is so gross, their hair is stringy and they are....blind? I think. or have one eye? I dunno. But the three in this book were constantly said to be beautiful, so I have no idea.
The ending was so anticlimactic. It was so boring it was dang near pointless to keep reading. Even though I am sure everyone knows how The Little Mermaid ends, it would have been nice to have a ending worth actually reading. This was was like like a deadpan voice going "oh no. she was harpooned." or something.
All in all, it could have been better.
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LibraryThing member KeriLynneD
I really loved this version of The Little Mermaid from Ursula's point of view. I especially loved that it follows the main Disney version and just gives Ursula's background and main motivation. I did feel a little lost at some points because I have not read the books on the Beast or the Evil Queen
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but it wasn't enough to make the story unreadable or confusing. I'll definitely be going back to read them and the other books in the series to see how Tulip and the other witches stories continue! Show Less
LibraryThing member Shahnareads
I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other two before this. Not that it was bad. It just seemed to have a lot of directions. I liked the simplicity of the others.
LibraryThing member MrNattania72
The Fates Causing Damage in The Enchanted Land
Basically, Snow White's Evil Queen, had s great back story and the introduction to the Fates was neat, The Beast Prince bored me to sleep 4x and Ursala's back story was okay, but Leigh Bardugo offered a much better back story for her reasons of being
Kinda Disappointed
Basically, Snow White's Evil Queen, had s great back story and the introduction to the Fates was neat, The Beast Prince bored me to sleep 4x and Ursala's back story was okay, but Leigh Bardugo offered a much better back story for her reasons of being
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Evil and a witch. Kinda Disappointed
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LibraryThing member Linyarai
As much as I like The Little Mermaid, I didn't like this version. It was very much like the Disney version, but also felt like it tried too hard to be deeper and more original.
LibraryThing member briandrewz
So far, this has been my least favorite of the Villains series. You would expect a book that features Ursula on the cover to actually be mostly about Ursula. It's not. About 50% of the book has to do with the Odd Sisters and their troubles with various other witches.
That being said, there are some
A weak installment in the series.
That being said, there are some
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scenes in the book that will be familiar to fans of the film, The Little Mermaid. And if you are very familiar with the movie and the scenes, you can do the voices in your head, which is always fun.A weak installment in the series.
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LibraryThing member Linyarai
As much as I like The Little Mermaid, I didn't like this version. It was very much like the Disney version, but also felt like it tried too hard to be deeper and more original.